"'Yes,' he says, 'if it comes to that.' "'Wa'al,' I says, 'it putty most gen'ally does come to that, don't it? Now, the's one feller that's doin' ye more harm than some others.' "'You mean Staples?' he says. "'Yes,' I says, 'I mean Staples. He don't really care a hill o' white beans which way the road comes in, but he thinks he's on the pop'lar side. Now,' I says, 'I don't know as it'll be nec'sary to use money with him, an' I don't say 't you could, anyway, but mebbe his yawp c'n be stopped. I'll have a quiet word with him,' I says, 'an' see you agin.' So," continued Mr. Harum, "the next night the' was quite a lot of 'em in the bar of the new hotel, an' Staples was haranguin' away the best he knowed how, an' bime by I nodded him off to one side, an' we went across the hall into the settin' room. "'I see you 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.'