eren't any cartridges. And in a
couple of minutes there was a knock on the door, and she yelled, "Come
in," and in came Vern. And the man who was with him had to be somebody
important, because there were eight or ten other men crowding in close
behind.

I didn't need to look at the oak leaves on his shoulders to realize
that here was the chief, the fellow who ran this town, the Major.

It was just the kind of thing Vern _would_ do.

* * * * *

Vern said, with the look on his face that made strange officers wonder
why this poor persecuted man had been forced to spend so much time in
the brig: "Now, Major, I'm sure we can straighten all this out. Would
you mind leaving me alone with my friend here for a moment?"

The Major teetered on his heels, thinking. He was a tall,
youngish-bald type, with a long, worried, horselike face. He said:
"Ah, do you think we should?"

"I guarantee there'll be no trouble, Major," Vern promised.

The Major pulled at his little mustache. "Very well," he said. "Amy,
you come along."

"We'll be right here, Major," Vern said reassuringly, escorting him to
the door.

"You bet you will," said the Major, and tittered. "Ah, bring that gun
along with you, Amy. And be sure this man knows that we have bullets."

They closed the door. Arthur had been cowering in his suitcase, but
now his eyestalk peeped out and the rattling and clattering from that
typewriter sounded like the Battle of the Bulge.

I demanded: "Come on, Vern. What's this all about?"

Vern said: "How much did they offer you?"

Clatter-bang-BANG. I peeked, and Arthur was saying: WARNED YOU SAM
THAT ENGDAHL WAS UP TO TRICKS PLEASE SAM PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HIT HIM
ON THE HEAD KNOCK HIM OUT HE MUST HAVE A GUN SO GET IT AND SHOOT OUR
WAY OUT OF HERE

"A hundred and fifty thousand dollars," I said.

Vern looked outraged. "I only got forty!"

Arthur clattered: VERN I APPEAL TO YOUR COMMON DECENCY WERE OLD
SHIPMATES VERN REMEMBER ALL THE TIMES I

"Still," Vern mused, "it's all common funds anyway, right? Arthur
belongs to both of us."

I DONT DONT DONT REPEAT DONT BELONG TO ANYBODY BUT ME

"That's true," I said grudgingly. "But I carried him, remember."

SAM WHATS THE MATTER WITH YOU Q Q I DONT LIKE THE EXPRESSION ON YOUR
FACE LISTEN SAM YOU ARENT

Vern said, "A hundred and fifty thousand, remember."

THINKING OF SELLING

"And of course we couldn't get out of here," Vern pointed out.
"T