“I’ll tell you,” replied Blood. “There’s a hooker called the _Yan-Shan_ piled on the rocks down the coast, and we’re going to leave our cards on her--savvy?”
“What’s the matter, d’you say?” cried Ginnell. “Why, it’s the _Yan-Shan_ I was after meself.”
Blood stared at the owner of the _Heart of Ireland_ for a moment, then he broke into a roar of laughter.
“You don’t mean to say you bought the wreck?” he asked.
“Not me,” replied Ginnell. “Sure, where d’you think I’d be findin’ the money to buy wrecks with? I had news that mornin’ she was lyin’ there derelick, and I was just slippin’ down the coast to have a look at her when you two spoiled me lay by takin’ me ship.”
“Well, if that don’t beat all!” said he. “And maybe, since you were so keen on havin’ a look at her, you’ve brought wreckin’ tools with you in case they might come in handy?”
“That’s as may be,” replied Ginnell. “What you have got to worry about isn’t wreckin’ tools, but how to get rid of the boodle if it’s there. Twenty thousand dollars, that’s the figure.”
“So you know of the dollars,” said Blood.
“Sure, what do you take me for?” asked Ginnell. “D’you think I’d have bothered about the job only for the dollars? What’s the use of general cargo to the like of me? Now what I’m thinkin’ is this, you want a fence to help you to get rid of the stuff. Supposin’ you find it, how are you to cart this stuff ashore and bank it? You’ll be had, sure, but not if I’m at your back. Now, gents, I’m willin’ to wipe out all differences and help in the salvin’ on shares, and I’ll make it easy for you. You’ll each take seven thousand, and I’ll take the balance, and I won’t charge nuthin’ for the loan you’ve took of the _Heart of Ireland_. It’s a losin’ game for me, but it’s better than bein’ done out entirely.”
Blood looked at Harman, and Harman looked at Blood. Then telling Ginnell that they would consider the matter, they went on deck to talk it over.
There was truth in what Ginnell said. They would want help in getting the coin ashore in safety, and, unless they marooned or murdered Ginnell, he, if left out, would always be a witness to make trouble. Besides, though engaged on a somewhat shady business, neither Blood nor Harman was a scoundrel. Ginnell up to this had been paid out in his own coin, the slate was clean, and it pleased neither of them to take profit from this blackguard beyond what they considered their due.