"Sit down, sir," said Tom Mitchell.
The fat man obeyed with a grunt.
"I think it rather hard that a man like me—"
"Pardon me," said the captain, coldly; "allow me to remark, before you go any further, that I have no need of you, and did not send for you. You it is who, in the company of several other gentlemen, have come to me. All of you have, I dare say, serious reasons for taking this extraordinary step. I have in no way solicited the honour. All I can do is to listen to each in his turn. I have seen one and settled with him; if you have anything to say to me, speak."
This speech, pronounced in a clear, bold tone, not unmixed with sarcasm, at once, as if by enchantment, calmed the irritation of the fat man. At all events, it compelled him to dissimulate it. After, therefore, mopping his head and face several times with a pocket handkerchief, and coughing once or twice behind his hand, he spoke—
"I was angry, sir," he said, "and own it freely."
"Be pleased, sir, to come at once to business," continued Tom Mitchell; "another person waits."
"You are, I believe, well acquainted with me?"
"I have known you a long time," remarked Tom.
"Sir, I have a nephew; he is the son of my wife's brother," began the other, "a very near relative."