“Sure, they have ferries where I come from, too.”
There was silence. Bervick felt keen and alive and strangely excited, as though something important was going to happen to him. He looked at the Chief in an almost detached manner. Hodges was frowning, he noticed. Hodges was very young and not yet able to grasp the problems of loneliness and rivalry.
“Someday,” said the Chief at last, “somebody’s going to teach you a lesson.”
“I can wait.”
“I think it would be a good idea,” said Hodges, “if you went and fixed whatever you have to fix. You’re not getting anywhere now.”
“O.K.,” said Bervick, “I’ll fix it.”
“You going to do it alone?” asked Hodges.
“Sure, it’s too late to get anybody else to help. I couldn’t ask the Chief because he’s too high-ranking to do any work.”
“Shut up,” said the Chief. “I could do it alone if I wanted to.”
“Then why don’t you?”