Finding that the debtor intended to cheat him out
of the money, although he could easily have raised the amount
of the debt had he so wished, the importer sent for a
Camorrist and told him the story.
"You shall be paid," said the Camorrist.
Two weeks later the importer was summoned to a cellar on Mott
Street. The Camorrist conducted him down the stairs and
opened the door. A candle-end flaring on a barrel showed the
room crowded with rough-looking Italians and the debtor
crouching in a corner. The Camorrist motioned to the
terrified victim to seat himself by the barrel. No word was
spoken and amid deathly silence the man obeyed. At last the
Camorrist turned to the importer and said:
"This man owes you three thousand dollars, I believe."
The importer nodded.
"Pay what you justly owe," ordered the Camorrist.
Slowly the reluctant debtor produced a roll of bills and
counted them out upon the barrel-head. At five hundred he
stopped and looked at the Camorrist.
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