"Sergeant Quick has a life to lose like the rest of us." "Thank you kindly, sir," he answered; "but that, in my opinion, would be too much.

Five per cent.

was what I suggested." So it was written down that Sergeant Samuel Quick was to receive five per cent.

of the total profits, if any, provided that he behaved himself and obeyed orders.

Then he also signed the agreement, and was furnished with a glass of whisky and water to drink to its good health.
"Now, gentlemen," he said, declining the chair which Higgs offered to him, apparently because, from long custom, he preferred his wooden-soldier attitude against the wall, "as a humble five-per-cent.
private in this very adventurous company I'll ask permission to say a word." Permission was given accordingly, and the Sergeant proceeded to inquire what weight of rock it was wished to remove.
I told him that I did not know, as I had never seen the Fung idol, but I understood that its size was enormous, probably as large as St.Paul's Cathedral.
"Which, if solid, would take some stirring," remarked the Sergeant.
"Dynamite might do it, but it is too bulky to be carried across the desert on camels in that quantity.