"The hell you say!"
His sardonic comment brought a sudden chill to Kenneth Torrance. He feared one thing that would render his whole value useless. He asked quickly:
"What have you done?"
"Those seals," Sallorsen's labored voice continued "—they've killed eight of us. Now they're killing all."
"But have you killed any of them?" Breathless, Ken waited for the answer be feared.
"Yes. Two."
The men were all staring at Ken, so he had to hide the awful dejection which clamped his heart. He only said:
"That's what I feared. It changes everything. No use trying to reason with them now." He fell silent. "Well," he said at last, trying to appear more cheerful, "tell me what happened. Maybe there's something you've overlooked."
"Yes," Sallorsen whispered. He started to come forward to the torpooner, but stumbled and would have fallen had not Ken caught him in time. He put one of the captain's arms around his shoulder, and one of his own around the man's waist.
"Thanks," Sallorsen said wryly. "Walk forward. Show you what happened."