To Have And Have Not

HARRY MORGAN-SPRING
'Do you know how many days there are?'
'Fifteen.'
'No. There's sixteen with to-day and a day each
way makes eighteen. Then there's the rod and reel
and the line from to-day.'
'The tackle's your risk.'
'No, sir. Not when you lose it that way.'
Tve paid every day for the rent ofit. It's your risk.'
'No, sir/ I said. 'If a fish broke it and it wasn't
your fault, that would be something else. You lost
that whole outfit by carelessness.5
'The fish pulled it out of my hands.'
'Because you had the drag on and didn't have the
rod in the socket.'
'You have no business to charge for that.'
'If you hired a car and ran it off a cliff, don't you
think you'd have to pay for it?'
'Not if I was in it/ Johnson said.
That's pretty good, Mr. Johnson,' Eddy said.
'You see it, don't you, Cap? If he was in it he'd be
killed. So he wouldn't have to pay. That's a good
one.'
I didn't pay any attention to the rummy. 'You
owe two hundred and ninety-five dollars for that
rod and reel and line/ I told Johnson.
'Well, it's not right/ he said. 'But if that's the
way you feel about it why not split the difference?'
I can't replace it for under three hundred and
sixty. I'm not charging you for the line. A fish like
that could get all your line and it not be your fault.