"You lie!" said Ralph. Rage made him cold.
Joe advanced until their bodies almost touched, Ralph held himself in readiness. He meant to make Joe strike first. But the blow was not delivered.
"Damn you!" Joe whispered thickly. "I'll make you swallow that some day. I never forget a thing. I make men pay."
"Why postpone it?" said Ralph clearly.
Joe's voice weakened. "Well, I don't want to make a racket," he grumbled.
"Sure, you don't want to make a racket!" cried Ralph with quick scorn. "A racket would spoil your game! You like darkness and quiet, don't you?" Suddenly the comic aspect of the situation presented itself to him, and he laughed. "There's nothing doing to-night, Joe," he said. "I'm on the job. You might as well go back and have your sleep out."
It was an incontrovertible truth. Joe turned abruptly, and went back over the gangplank, swearing under his breath.
III
ON THE LITTLE RIVER
The next day passed as if the scene of the night had not taken place. The question of the girl passenger did not become acute again, because all the men were too busy to pay her any attention. When they arose to their breakfast Joe Mixer's bearing toward Ralph was as near as he could make it unaltered from the day before. In this a less open nature would have perceived something more dangerous than candid enmity, but it was characteristic of the easy-going Ralph to meet him halfway.