"So?" he
said slowly. "But why?"
"Put it at a whim," I said sharply, "and get on with your tale.
. . . If you interrupt again, Jimmy, I'll strangle you, or attempt
to. You may have observed that I'm ready to fight anybody, this
afternoon."
Farrell looked at me earnestly. "I see what you would be driving at,
sir," said he, becoming the humble tradesman again. "And I admire.
But, by God, sir!" he broke out, "it won't do! It shan't do! No man
is going to shoulder that man's sin, to rob me of him!"
"Get down from that horse," said I. "You can mount him again, if you
choose, later on; but, first, finish the story."
"All very well," said Farrell, "to put it in that dictatorial way,
when you've taken the heart out of a man. . . . Well, Hales headed
back for Valparaiso, scarce believing his luck. There he interviewed
the ministry, got a provisional concession, and started out for the
island again, to make good--and found another inhabitant alive and
kicking.
"--He behaved just as well as before, and better--for I was frank
with him and knowledgeable.
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