"Well send—hic—her if you wanter."
"Where is the operator?"
"At home, I reckon, if he ain't, that's where he oughter be this time in the morning."
"Do you know when he will be here?"
"'Bout midnight, if he counts on lookin' out for the express."
"Can you tell me what time it is now?"
It was rather a difficult matter for the tipsy party to get at his watch; but he was in an obliging mood, and after some trouble succeeded in clutching the timepiece.
"Come here an' see for yourself," he said, after trying in vain to make out the position of the hands. "I reckon I must have bought four or five watches by the looks of these, though I'm blest if I remember anything about it."
"You've only got one there," Jet said, as he gazed over the stranger's shoulder. "It lacks only ten minutes of being twelve o'clock; I shan't have long to wait."
"I'd stay with you if I didn't have to call upon a sick friend," the man replied after some difficulty, and then he staggered on, while Jet paced to and fro as if only by exercise could he control his impatience.