"But no ferocity--no ferocity! A gentleman knows. What's the good of
getting yourself into a state? And no shirking necessity, either. No
gentleman ever shirks. What I learn I don't forget. Why! We gambled
on the plains, with a damn lot of cattlemen in ranches; played fair,
mind--and then had to fight for our winnings afterwards as often as not.
We've gambled on the hills and in the valleys and on the sea-shore, and
out of sight of land--mostly fair. Generally it's good enough. We began
in Nicaragua first, after we left that schooner and her fool errand.
There were one hundred and twenty-seven sovereigns and some Mexican
dollars in that skipper's cash-box. Hardly enough to knock a man on the
head for from behind, I must confess; but that the skipper had a narrow
escape the governor himself could not deny afterwards.
"'Do you want me to understand, sir, that you mind there being one life
more or less on this earth?' I asked him, a few hours after we got away.
"'Certainly not,' says he.
"'Well, then, why did you stop me?'
"'There's a proper way of doing things. You'll have to learn to be
correct. There's also unnecessary exertion. That must be avoided,
too--if only for the look of the thing.' A gentleman's way of putting
things to you--and no mistake!
"At sunrise we got into a creek, to lie hidden in case the treasure hunt
party had a mind to take a spell hunting for us.
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