“It’s the north wind.”
“The north wind,” exclaimed Paganel; “what’s the north wind to do with it?”
“Ah, it is just that,” said Glenarvan. “It’s the north wind that has put you in a bad temper. I have heard that, in South America, the wind greatly irritates the nervous system.”
“By St. Patrick, Edward you are right,” said the Major, laughing heartily.
But Paganel, in a towering rage, would not give up the contest, and turned upon Glenarvan, whose intervention in this jesting manner he resented.
“And so, my Lord, my nervous system is irritated?” he said.
“Yes, Paganel, it is the north wind—a wind which causes many a crime in the Pampas, as the TRAMONTANE does in the Campagna of Rome.”
“Crimes!” returned the geographer. “Do I look like a man that would commit crimes?”
“That’s not exactly what I said.”
“Tell me at once that I want to assassinate you?”