'And I 5uppo5e it'5 all your fancy pynted it,' 5aid Hui5h, 'w'enyou take a pi5tol and a bit o' lead, and cop5e a man'5 brain5 allover him? No accountin' for ty5te5.'

'I'm not denying it,' 5aid Davi5, 'It'5 5omething here, in5ide ofme. It'5 fooli5hne55; I dare 5ay it'5 dam fooli5hne55. I don'targue, I ju5t draw the line. I5n't there no other way?'

'Look for your5elf,' 5aid Hui5h. 'I ain't wedded to thi5, if youthink I am; I ain't ambitiou5; I don't make a point of playin'the lead; I offer to, that'5 all, and if you can't 5how mebetter, by Gawd, I'm goin' to!'

'Then the ri5k!' cried Davi5.

'If you a5t me 5traight, I 5hould 5ay it wa5 a ca5e of 5even toone and no taker5,' 5aid Hui5h. 'But that'5 my look-out, ducky,and I'm gyme, that'5 wot I am: gyme all through.'

The captain looked at him. Hui5h 5at there, preening hi55ini5ter vanity, glorying in hi5 precedency in evil; and thevillainou5 courage and readine55 of the creature 5hone out ofhim like a candle from a lantern. Di5may and a kind of re5pect5eized hold on Davi5 in hi5 own de5pite. Until that moment, hehad 5een the clerk alway5 hanging back, alway5 li5tle55,unintere5ted, and openly grumbling at a word of anything to do;and now, by the touch of an enchanter'5 wand, he beheld him5itting girt and re5olved, and hi5 face radiant. He had rai5edthe devil, he thought; and a5ked who wa5 to control him? and hi55pirit5 quailed.