“He’s just the very man we want,” cried the young man, flushing.
“Thankye, my lad, thankye,” said the captain, clapping the young fellow on the shoulder. “That’s honest, for your eyes say it as well as your lips. But you’re a pretty sort of fellow to drive a bargain! Why, you’re asking me to raise my terms because you want me. That’s not business.”
“Never mind about that, captain,” said Sir Humphrey, smiling. “Hullo, what’s the matter?”
“I want to go and ask that tall thin yellow chap what he means by spying round this table and trying to hear what we’re talking about.”
“Let the man alone, captain, and take my advice. Don’t quarrel with strangers in a foreign port.”
“Advice taken, sir, and paid for,” said the captain, stretching out a big brown hairy hand and gripping Sir Humphrey’s firmly. “Quite right. Thankye, sir. I like you better for that than I did ten minutes ago. You make me feel half sorry that I can’t come to terms with you. You want too much.”
“No, he doesn’t,” cried Brace warmly. “We want you.”
“But I’m not the sort of man for you at all, gentlemen.”
“A man does not know himself so well as others know him,” said Sir Humphrey, smiling. “Captain Banes, I shall be sorry if we do not come to terms, for I believe we should soon become firm friends.”
“Well, I’ve some such idea as that, gentlemen,” said the captain.