It was Gwyn who commenced, and just as if they had been conversing on the subject for some time,—
“Major very angry?”
Joe nodded.
“Awfully. Said, knowing what a state of health he was in, it wasn’t fair for me to go on trying to break my neck, for I was very useful to him when he had his bad fever fits—that it wasn’t pleasant for him to stop at home, expecting to have me brought back in bits.”
“He didn’t say that, did he?”
“Yes, he did—bits that couldn’t be put together again; and that, if this was the result of having you for a companion, I had better give you up.”
Gwyn drew a deep breath, and kicked his heels together with a loud clack. Then there was a long pause.
“Well,” said Gwyn, at last; “are you going to give me up?”
Joe did not make a direct answer, but proposed a question himself.
“What did the Colonel say?”