“Don’t you remember the Captain warned us not to play cards——”
“They always do that to be on the safe side,” said Timothy, but he was obviously uneasy. “Of course, if I knew they were crooks——”
“Knew! Good lord! Anybody will tell you. Ask the purser. Anyway, you’ve been stung and you can do nothing. The best thing to do is to grin and bear your losses. It is experience.”
Timothy felt the three honest shillings in his pocket and whistled dismally.
“Of course, if I were sure——”
He turned abruptly away and raced down the main companion-way to the purser’s little office under the stairs.
“Mr. Macleod, I want to see you.”
“Yes, sir,”—all pursers are a little suspicious,—“anything wrong with your bill?”
“No—not unless his name’s Bill. Shall I come in?”
The purser opened the half-door and admitted him to the sanctuary.