“Lot’s of snobs here,” commented Joe, after nursing his grievances in silence for some time. “Take Duncan Fordyce, for instance; turned me down this evening when I asked to be introduced to a girl he was dancing with. I’ll get even with him, never fear.”
Barnard ran an appraising eye over his companion, and a mental picture of Duncan brought a smile to his lips. “Don’t try any hanky-panky business with Fordyce,” he advised. “He might knock you into the other world.”
“I’m not such a fool as to try physical force; but there are other ways of getting even,” Joe frowned, then winked. “I know a thing or two about the Fordyce family.”
Barnard blew ring after ring of smoke into the air and watched it evaporate with idle attention.
“Go carefully, Cooper,” he cautioned. “Damages for slander are heavy.”
“It’s no slander, but gospel truth,” affirmed Joe. “I had it straight from mother’s friend, Mrs. Watson, who was companion to Mrs. Fordyce before they went abroad, and I know it’s true by the way Duncan Fordyce acted when he heard me allude to the kink in his family,” and in a few words he described the scene in the Turkish Bath.
“That explains Fordyce’s lack of cordiality at Captain Nichol’s quarters after the drill,” commented Barnard. “If I were you, Cooper, I’d steer clear of arousing his wrath.”
“He can’t injure me,” Joe swaggered with the courage induced by overindulgence. “And you’ve been mighty white this evening; it’s only right I should tip you off.”
“Keep your confidences to yourself,” Barnard rose and kicked the fire into a brighter blaze. “The matter does not concern me.”
“Doesn’t it, eh? Well, if I was planning to marry a girl, an’ I heard her family were dotty——” he stopped and shrank back as Barnard swung on him.