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“Thechoiceisyours，gentlemen。”saidI，“and，Ibelieve，theeagerness。IamnotyetsurethatIhaveanythinginyourway；
evenifIhave，thereareahundredthingstobeconsidered；andIassureyouitisnotatallmyhabittodobusinesswithapistoltomyhead。”
“Thatisallveryproper，Mr。Dodd；thereisnowishtocoerceyou，believeme。”saidFowler；“only，pleaseconsiderourposition。Itisreallydangerous；wewerenottheonlypeopletoseeyourschooneroffWaimanolo。”
“Mr。Fowler。”Ireplied，“Iwasnotbornyesterday。Willyouallowmetoexpressanopinion，inwhichImaybequitewrong，buttowhichIamentirelywedded？Ifthecustom-houseofficershadbeencoming，theywouldhavebeenherenow。Inotherwords，somebodyisworkingtheoracle，and(foragoodguess)
hisnameisFowler。”
Bothmenlaughedloudandlong；andbeingsuppliedwithanotherbottleofLonghurst’schampagne，sufferedthecaptainandmyselftoleavethemwithoutfurtherword。
IgaveNaresthecorrespondence，andheskimmeditthrough。
“Now，captain。”saidI，“Iwantafreshmindonthis。Whatdoesitmean？”
“It’slargeenoughtext。”repliedthecaptain。“Itmeansyou’retostakeyourpileonSpeedy，handhimoverallyoucan，andholdyourtongue。Ialmostwishyouhadn’tshownitme。”headdedwearily。“Whatwiththespeciefromthewreckandtheopiummoney，itcomestoabiggishdeal。”
“That’ssupposingthatIdoit？”saidI。
“Exactly。”saidhe，“supposingyoudoit。”
“Andthereareprosandconstothat。”Iobserved。
“There’sSanQuentin，tostartinwith。”saidthecaptain；“andsupposeyouclearthepenitentiary，there’sthenastytasteinthemouth。Thefigure’sbigenoughtomakebadtrouble，butit’snotbigenoughtobepicturesque；andIshouldguessamanalwaysfeelskindofsmallwhohassoldhimselfundersixcyphers。Thatwouldbemyway，atleast；there’sanexcitementaboutamillionthatmightcarrymeon；buttheotherway，I
shouldfeelkindoflonelywhenIwokeinbed。Thenthere’sSpeedy。Doyouknowhimwell？”
“No，Idonot。”saidI。
“Well，ofcoursehecanvamoosewiththeentirespeculation，ifhechooses。”pursuedthecaptain，“andifhedon’tIcan’tseebutwhatyou’vegottosupportandbedandboardwithhimtotheendoftime。Iguessitwouldwearyme。Thenthere’sMr。
Pinkerton，ofcourse。He’sbeenagoodfriendtoyou，hasn’the？
Stoodbyyou，andallthat？andpulledyouthroughforallhewasworth？”
“Thathehas。”Icried；“Icouldneverbegintellingyoumydebttohim！”
“Well，andthat’saconsideration。”saidthecaptain。“Asamatterofprinciple，Iwouldn’tlookatthisbusinessatthemoney。’Notgoodenough，’wouldbemyword。Butevenprinciplegoesunderwhenitcomestofriends——therightsort，I
mean。ThisPinkertonisfrightened，andheseemssick；themedicodon’tseemtocareacentabouthisstateofhealth；andyou’vegottofigurehowyouwouldlikeitifhecametodie。
Remember，theriskofthislittleswindleisallyours；it’snosortofrisktoMr。Pinkerton。Well，you’vegottoputitthatwayplainly，andseehowyoulikethesoundofit：myfriendPinkertonisindangeroftheNewJerusalem，IamindangerofSanQuentin；whichriskdoIproposetorun？”
“That’sanuglywaytoputit。”Iobjected，“andperhapshardlyfair。There’srightandwrongtobeconsidered。”
“Don’tknowtheparties。”repliedNares；“andI’mcomingtothem，anyway。Foritstrikesme，whenitcametosmugglingopium，youwalkedrightup？”
“SoIdid。”Isaid；“sickIamtohavetosayit！”
“Allthesame。”continuedNares，“youwentintotheopium-
smugglingwithyourheaddown；andagooddealoffussingI’velistenedto，thatyouhadn’tmoreofittosmuggle。Now，maybeyourpartner’snotquitefixedthesameasyouare；
maybeheseespreciouslittledifferencebetweentheonethingandtheother。”
“Youcouldnotsaytruer：heseesnone，Idobelieve。”criedI；
“andthoughIseeone，Icouldnevertellyouhow。”
“Wenevercan。”saidtheoracularNares；“
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