u feel putty strong 'bout this bus'nis,' I says.

"'Yes, sir, it's a matter of princ'ple with me,' he says, knockin' his
fist down onto the table.

"'How does the outcome on't look to ye?' I says. 'Goin' to be a putty
close race, ain't it?'

"'Wa'al,' he says, ''tween you an' me, I reckon it is.'

"'That's the way it looks to me,' I says, 'an' more'n that, the other
fellers are ready to spend some money at a pinch.'

"'They be, be they?' he says.

"'Yes, sir,' I says, 'an' we've got to meet 'em halfway. Now,' I says,
takin' a paper out o' my pocket, 'what I wanted to say to you is this:
You ben ruther more prom'nent in this matter than most anybody--fur's
talkin' goes--but I'm consid'ably int'risted. The's got to be some money
raised, an' I'm ready,' I says, 'to put down as much as you be up to a
couple o' hunderd, an' I'll take the paper 'round to the rest; but,' I
says, unfoldin' it, 'I think you'd ought to head the list, an' I'll come
next.' Wa'al," said David with a chuckle and a shake of the head, "you'd
ought to have seen his jaw go down. He wriggled 'round in his chair, an'
looked ten diff'rent ways fer Sunday.

"'What do you say?' I says, lookin' square at him, ''ll you make it a
couple a hunderd?'

"'Wa'al,' he says, 'I guess I couldn't go 's fur 's that, an' I wouldn't
like to head the list anyway.'

"'All right,' I says, 'I'll head it. Will you say one-fifty?'

"'No,' he says, pullin' his whiskers, 'I guess not.'

"'A hunderd?' I says, an' he shook his head.

"'Fifty,' I says, 'an' I'll go a hunderd,' an at that he got out his
hank'chif an' blowed his nose, an' took his time to it. 'Wa'al,' I says,
'what _do_ ye say?'

"'Wa'al,' he says, 'I ain't quite prepared to give ye 'n answer
to-night. Fact on't is,' he says, 'it don't make a cent's wuth o'
diff'rence to me person'ly which way the dum'd road comes in, an' I
don't jest this minute see why I should spend any money in it.'

"'There's the _princ'ple_ o' the thing,' I says.

"'Yes,' he says, gettin' out of his chair, 'of course, there's the
princ'ple of the thing, an'--wa'al, I'll think it over an' see you
agin,' he says, lookin' at his watch. 'I got to go now.'

"Wa'al, the next night," proceeded Mr. Harum, "I went down to the hotel
agin, an' the' was about the same crowd, but no Staples. The' wa'n't
much goin' on, an' Purse, in pertic'ler, was lookin' putty down in the
mouth. 'Where's Staples?' I says.

"'Wa'al,' says Purse, 'he said m