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Atlastsomebodydid，butitwasnotthecaptain。
“He’ssendingforinstructions。”IwrotetoPinkerton。
“Formoney。”hewroteback。“ShallIstrikeout？Ithinkthisisthetime。”
Inodded。
“Thirtythousand。”saidPinkerton，makingaleapofcloseuponthreethousanddollars。
IcouldseedoubtinBellairs’seye；then，suddenresolution。
“Thirty-fivethousand。”saidhe。
“Fortythousand。”saidPinkerton。
Therewasalongpause，duringwhichBellairs’scountenancewasasabook；andthen，notmuchtoosoonfortheimpendinghammer，“Fortythousandandfivedollars。”saidhe。
PinkertonandIexchangedeloquentglances。Wewereofonemind。Bellairshadtriedabluff；nowheperceivedhismistake，andwasbiddingagainsttime；hewastryingtospinoutthesaleuntilthemessengerboyreturned。
“Forty-fivethousanddollars。”saidPinkerton：hisvoicewaslikeaghost’sandtotteredwithemotion。
“Forty-fivethousandandfivedollars。”saidBellairs。
“Fiftythousand。”saidPinkerton。
“Ibegyourpardon，Mr。Pinkerton。DidIhearyoumakeanadvance，sir？”askedtheauctioneer。
“I——Ihaveadifficultyinspeaking。”gaspedJim。“It’sfiftythousand，Mr。Borden。”
Bellairswasonhisfeetinamoment。“Auctioneer。”hesaid，“I
havetobegthefavourofthreemomentsatthetelephone。Inthismatter，IamactingonbehalfofacertainpartytowhomI
havejustwritten——“
“Ihavenothingtodowithanyofthis。”saidtheauctioneer，brutally。“Iamheretosellthiswreck。Doyoumakeanyadvanceonfiftythousand？”
“Ihavethehonourtoexplaintoyou，sir。”returnedBellairs，withamiserableassumptionofdignity。“Fiftythousandwasthefigurenamedbymyprincipal；butifyouwillgivemethesmallfavouroftwomomentsatthetelephone——“
“O，nonsense！”saidtheauctioneer。“Ifyoumakenoadvance，I’llknockitdowntoMr。Pinkerton。”
“Iwarnyou。”criedtheattorney，withsuddenshrillness。“Haveacarewhatyou’reabout。Youareheretosellfortheunderwriters，letmetellyou——nottoactforMr。DouglasLonghurst。Thissalehasbeenalreadydisgracefullyinterruptedtoallowthatpersontoholdaconsultationwithhisminions。Ithasbeenmuchcommentedon。”
“Therewasnocomplaintatthetime。”saidtheauctioneer，manifestlydiscountenanced。“Youshouldhavecomplainedatthetime。”
“Iamnotheretoconductthissale。”repliedBellairs；“Iamnotpaidforthat。”
“Well，Iam，yousee。”retortedtheauctioneer，hisimpudencequiterestored；andheresumedhissing-song。“Anyadvanceonfiftythousanddollars？Noadvanceonfiftythousand？Noadvance，gentlemen？Goingatfiftythousand，thewreckofthebrigFlyingScud——going——going——gone！”
“MyGod，Jim，canwepaythemoney？”Icried，asthestrokeofthehammerseemedtorecallmefromadream。
“It’sgottoberaised。”saidhe，whiteasasheet。“It’llbeahellofastrain，Loudon。Thecredit’sgoodforit，Ithink；butIshallhavetogetaround。Writemeachequeforyourstuff。MeetmeattheOccidentalinanhour。”
Iwrotemychequeatadesk，andIdeclareIcouldneverhaverecognisedmysignature。Jimwasgoneinamoment；Trenthadvanishedevenearlier；onlyBellairsremainedexchanginginsultswiththeauctioneer；and，behold！asIpushedmywayoutoftheexchange，whoshouldrunfulltiltintomyarms，butthemessengerboy？
ItwasbysonearamarginthatwebecametheownersoftheFlyingScud。
CHAPTERX。
INWHICHTHECREWVANISH。
AtthedooroftheexchangeIfoundmyselfalong-sideoftheshort，middle-agedgentlemanwhohadmadeanappearance，sovigorousandsobrief，inthegreatbattle。
“Congratulateyou，Mr。Dodd。”hesaid。“Youandyourfriendstucktoyourgunsnobly。”
“Not
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