) As he opened his door his ear caught a slight
shuffling sound; whereupon he smiled and stepped quickly down the
passage to the turn of the companion way.
"No hurry, Farrell!" he called; and Farrell, arrested, turned slowly
about on the stair. "Man, you're like the swain in Thackeray:"
Although I enter not,
Yet round about the spot
Oft-times I hover--
"Solicitous, were you?--thought I might be sea-sick?"
"I was wondering," Farrell stammered. "Seeing that you didn't turn
up at meals--"
(Here I must read you a queer remark from the letter in which Jack
reported this encounter. Here's the extract:--)
"_Do you know, Roddy, that silly simple answer gave me half a
fright for a moment, or a fright for half a moment--I forget
which. . . . What I had to remember then was my discovery that I
had my second keyboard in reserve and could pull certain stops
out of him at will. . . . But seriously, I wouldn't, without
that power, back myself in this experiment against a man who
obstinately persisted in forgiving.
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