Captain Murdock rolled his eyes.
“Now, ain’t that just like one of these gents?” he demanded. “He wants to eat, instead of obliging his skipper with a drink. Is that the way for one gentleman to talk to another?”
The clouds of battle were gathering about his brow. He was puffing his cheeks in a way he had when he was angry, and I did not want to quarrel. Now that I look back on it, it was destiny and not myself that made me answer as I did.
“Murdock,” I said, “you’re not the man to send a friend out in the rain hungry. Give me some food first, and I’ll drink with you all night.”
Captain Murdock seemed singularly relieved. Some piece of humor which I could not understand made his stomach shake with merriment.
“All night!” he chortled. “Will you, now, by gad? Well, it ain’t like me to r
