"Are you deaf, clodpoll?" roared the captain. "A bottle of rum, and instantly!"
"Yes, Captain, and the—and the money, sir?"
"The money, you dog! Where is the crown-piece I gave you this morning?"
"I had to buy the dinner, sir, and——"
"Zounds! You'll answer me, will you? You're the most pestilent knave man ever had to serve him. 'Tis money, money, all day with you. Would that Sherry Minshull had left you to the hangman! Begone, sirrah! and——"
"Pardon!" said a voice in French from the door. "If I am in the way——"
"Come in, Monsieur," said Aglionby, springing to his feet. "And you, booby, be off and do my bidding."
Simmons vanished precipitately. Monsieur de Polignac gasped as he entered the overheated room.
"Phew! It would roast an ox."
"Shut the door. I am nursing a pestilent rheum."