THE STORY 287 



see,' I replied, and jabbed it in his face. You 

 wouldn't believe it, but he went in ' pop ' Hke 

 when you push a cork down into a bottle. Then 

 I ran round and secured him. 



" Well, I pointed out to him next morning the 

 error of his ways, and he promised to make no 

 more attempts to escape. ' Look here,' said I, 

 ' I've been pretending to you I was cracked. 

 I'm not. I just got you down here because I'm 

 a friend of French's and I don't want you to set 

 Lewis on him, and here you'll stay till I choose 

 to let you loose. It's as bad for me as you — 

 worse, for you're a beastly slow companion. 

 Anyhow, here you are and here you'll stick till 

 I give you leave to go.' At that he began saying 

 that he had no enmity to you at all and that if 

 I'd only let him loose he'd go back to Ireland and 

 make no more trouble; but I told him straight 

 out I wouldn't trust him, and there the matter 

 ended. I had written a letter to you, and I had 

 it in my pocket. A half-witted sort of boy came 

 round the place and I gave him the letter and 

 sixpence to post it. Did you get it? " 



" We did." 



" I felt when I gave him it hke old Noah letting 

 the dove out of the ark, and then we settled down 

 to our tinned meat and biscuits — Oh, Lord! I 

 don't want to talk or think of it. We played 

 beggar-my-neighbour with an old pack of cards. 

 Then my tobacco gave out. Giveen didn't mind. 

 He was quite happ}^ on the tinned meat, and he 



