"So I said nothing, and went back to the pen and waited; and the next thing I knew the hurry-up wagon had taken me to the Tombs. I tell you it was pretty tough bein' chucked in with a lot of thieves and burglars. The bill of fare ain't above par, you know, and the company's worse. I sat in my cell and waited and waited for my lawyer to show up, for he had said he'd be right over. But he didn't come, and I had to spend the night there. Next morning the keeper told me that my lawyer was in the counsel-room. So down I went with two niggers, who also had an appointment with their lawyers. It's a nasty, unventilated hole, and they lock you and the attorneys all in together. Ever been there?" I shook my head. "'Well,' says he, 'now have you got a bondsman?' "'A what?' says I. "'A bondsman--someone to go bail for you.' "'No,' I answered, for I knew nothing about such things. "'What! I thought you told me you had a lot of friends who had money! You haven't been trifling with me, have you?' "I knew I hadn't told him anything of the sort, but I thought that maybe he had forgotten; so I said I hadn't any friends who had any money, and knew no one to go bail for me. "'Bad! very bad!' said he. 'You've got to have money to get out. Isn't there anyone who owes you money, or haven't you got some _claim_ or something?' "Then all of a sudden it flashed over me about the diamond and my fifty per cent. of the reward, and then something in his eye made me think again. It seemed to me that I had seen him before somewhere. I couldn't remember just where, but the more I hesitated the surer I was. Then it came over me that a few days in jail, more or less, made mighty little difference when I was going to be a rich man so soon, and I decided I had better hang on to what I'd got. "'No,' said I, 'I ain't got nothin'.' "'You lie!' says he, growing very red. 'You lie! You've got a claim against the United States Government.' "Then he saw he'd made a break. "'Why, they all told me you caught a smuggler, or something, and had a claim against the Government for a hundred dollars.' "'A hundred!' I yelled. 'Twenty thousand!' "'Oh!' said he, 'as much as that? Why, I'll get you out this afternoon.' "'How?' said I. "'Well, you will have to assign your claim so I can raise the money on it. It's a mere form.' "But the thought came into my mind, Better stay there ten years than let him have the claim; so I said that I didn't understand such things, and I'd just wait until I could be tried. "'Tried?' said he. 'Why, you won't be tried for months.' "My heart sank right down into my boots. "'Don't be a fool!' he went on. 'Here you are, sick and in prison, and if you don't raise money to get a bondsman you'll stay here a long time. You might die. And if you assign that claim to me, I have a pull with the Judge and I'll have you out by supper-time.' "'I guess I'll wait awhile,' said I.