you won't,
either,' says he. I told him he'd make money if he could get somebody to
take the bet. Humph! the swab!"

For the first time Galusha asked a direct question.

"Did--ah--Mr. Pulcifer actually--ah--bid for your Development shares,
Captain Hallett?" he inquired.

"Oh, he come as nigh to doin' it as I'd let him. Hinted maybe that he'd
give me as much as he did Snow, fourteen fifty. I laughed at him.
I asked him what made him so reckless, when, the last time he and I
talked, he was tryin' to sell me his own shares for ten. And now he
wanted to buy mine at fourteen and a half!"

"And--ah--what reason did he give for his change of heart? Or didn't he
give any?"

"Humph! Yes, he gave a shipload of reasons, but there wouldn't any
one of 'em float if 'twas hove overboard. He ain't buyin' on his own
account, that I KNOW."

"Oh--ah--do you, indeed. May I ask why you are so certain?"

"For two reasons. First, because Raish ain't got money enough of his own
to do any such thing. Second, and the main reason why I know he ain't
buyin' for himself is because he says he is. Anybody that knows Raish
knows that's reason enough."

Galusha ventured one more question.

"When he--ah--approached you, did you--that is, what excuse did you give
him for--for your lack of interest, so to speak?"

"Hey? I didn't give him any. And I didn't tell him I wasn't interested.
I am interested--to see how far he'll go. I sha'n't tell him I've sold
already, Mr. Bangs; your Boston friends needn't worry about that. When I
sign articles I stick to my contract."

They had reached the Phipps' gate by this time and there they parted.
The light keeper strode off, rolling heavily, his beard blowing
across his shoulder. He had been, for him, remarkably good-humored and
talkative. Galusha was inclined to attribute the good humor to the fact
that Captain Jethro considered he had made a good bargain in selling his
own shares at a price so much higher than that obtained by Snow and the
rest. The next time they conversed the good humor was not as apparent.
But that occasion was almost a fortnight later.

And, meantime, Mr. Pulcifer had become the center of interest in East
Wellmouth and its neighborhood. An important figure he always was,
particularly in his own estimation, but now the spotlight of publicity
which beat upon his ample figure had in its rays the blue tinge of
mystery. The question which all Wellmouth was asking was that which
Capta