them for us.  Is not the battle gained by the sweat and danger of the common soldier?  Are not the honour and fruits of the victory the general’s who laid the scheme?  Is not the house built by the labour of the carpenter and the bricklayer?  Is it not built for the profit only of the architect and for the use of the inhabitant, who could not easily have placed one brick upon another?  Is not the cloth or the silk wrought into its form and variegated with all the beauty of colours by those who are forced to content themselves with the coarsest and vilest part of their work, while the profit and enjoyment of their labours fall to the share of others?  Cast your eye abroad, and see who is it lives in the most magnificent buildings, feasts his palate with the most luxurious dainties, his eyes with the most beautiful sculptures and delicate paintings, and clothes himself in the finest and richest apparel; and tell me if all these do not fall to his lot who had not any the least share in producing all these conveniences, nor the least ability so to do?  Why then should the state of a prig[Footnote:  A thief.] differ from all others?  Or why should you, who are the labourer only, the executor of my scheme, expect a share in the profit?  Be advised, therefore; deliver the whole booty to me, and trust to my bounty for your reward.”  Mr. Bagshot was some time silent, and looked like a man thunderstruck, but at last, recovering himself from his surprize, he thus began:  “If you think, Mr. Wild, by the force of your arguments, to get the money out of my pocket, you are greatly mistaken.  What is all this stuff to me?  D—­n me, I am a man of honour, and, though I can’t talk as well as you, by G—­you shall not make a fool of me; and if you take me for one, I must tell you you are a rascal.”  At which words he laid his hand to his pistol.  Wild, perceiving the little success the great strength of his arguments had met with, and the hasty temper of his friend, gave over his design for the present, and told Bagshot he was only in jest.  But this coolness with which he treated the other’s flame had rather the effect of oil than of water.  Bagshot replied in a rage, “D—­n me, I don’t like such jests; I see you are a pitiful rascal and a scoundrel.”  Wild, with a philosophy worthy of great admiration, returned, “As for your abuse, I have no regard to it; but, to convince you I am not afraid of you, let us lay the whole booty on the table, and let the conqueror take it all.”  And having so said, he drew out his shining hanger, whose glittering so dazzled the eyes of Bagshot, that, in tone entirely altered, he said, “No! he was contented with what he had already; that it was mighty ridiculous in them to quarrel among themselves; that they had common enemies enough abroad, against whom they should unite their common force; that if he had mistaken Wild he was sorry for it; and as for a jest, he could take a jest as well as another.”  Wild, who had a wonderful knack of discovering and applying