"I think you did," Peter Gross acknowledged with a twinkle. "But didn't you fix our appointment for to-night?"
"Ye should have carried a gun," Roaring Rory reproved. "Leastwise a belayin'-pin. Ye like to use your fists too well, Peter. Fists are no good against knives. I'm a peace-lovin' man, Peter, 'twould be better for ye if ye patterned after me."
Peter Gross smiled, for Roaring Rory's record for getting into scrapes was known the length and breadth of the South Pacific. Looking up, he surprised a merry gleam in Captain Carver's eyes and Paddy striving hard to remain sober.
"I'll remember your advice, captain," Peter Gross assured.
"Humph!" Roaring Rory grunted. "Well, Peter, is your head clear enough to talk business?"
"I think so," Peter Gross replied slowly. "Have you explained the matter I came here to discuss?"
"Summat, summat," Rouse grunted. "I leave the talking to you, Peter."
"Captain Rouse told me you wanted some one to take charge of a company of men for a dangerous enterprise somewhere in the South Pacific," Carver replied. "He said it meant risking life. That might mean anything to piracy. I understand, however, that your enterprise has official sanction."
"My appointment is from the governor-general of the Netherlands East Indies," Peter Gross stated.
"Ah, yes."