"Perhaps I have."
"Or y' may be bluffin'."
"Perhaps I am. Don't you think it would be better if you sat down and talked pleasantly?"
"If I'd a wife like you," commenced the captain, obeying, "I'd----"
"I am quite sure you would. Bullies like you always enjoy wife-beating."
"I ain't a bully;" he wiped his face with a flaunting red bandana handkerchief, breathing heavily.
"Yes, you are, and a coward, who thought to frighten me. Now I am about to frighten you."
"Huh!" Strange laughed scornfully. "There ain't man, woman, or kid kin make me sing small. Though I don't deny," he added gracefully, "as you'd make Old Nick squirm."
"Thanks, but I am rather tired of costermonger compliments. Come to business. You accuse me of being mixed up in a conspiracy?"
"Well, an' ain't it true?"