“Oh—er—thanks,” said Sir James in a tone of discomfort.
“That wouldn’t have been any use to us,” said the Terror.
“Of use to you?” said Sir James.
“Yes; if he’d caught you, there wouldn’t be any reason why we should fish your water,” said the Terror.
Sir James looked puzzled:
“But is there any reason now?” he said.
“Yes. You see, you were poaching,” said the Terror in a very gentle explanatory voice.
“And you caught three fish,” said Erebus in something of the manner of a chorus in an Athenian tragedy.
Sir James sat bolt upright with a sudden air of astonished enlightenment:
“Well, I’m—hanged if it isn’t blackmail!” he cried.