Job leaned over and gazed at the water quietly. There was a look about his jaw which Bayard did not like. He came out from under the salt-house and moved the keg close beside the broken pile.
“What were you doing when I found you? I’ve been looking for you everywhere—last night, and all day.”
“I was havin’ it out,” said Job doggedly.
“Having?”—
“It lays between me and the rum, God and the devil. I was set to see which would beat.”
“Why didn’t you come straight over to see me?”
“I couldn’t.”
“Couldn’t put your feet up those steps and walk in?”
“No, sir. I couldn’t do it. I come over twenty times. I couldn’t get no further. I had to come back to Trawl’s. I had to do it!”