He did not know it; had never seen it.
It was no use to say, in the absence of that gentleman, that Captain Shivernock had given him the bill. It would be equally foolish to tell the Haddock Ledge story in the absence of the generous stranger, who had declined to give his name, though he was kind enough to say that he had spent a few days in Belfast. Since neither of these fictions was available in the present emergency, Laud "went back" on Donald Ramsay. He did not love the boat-builder, and so it was not a sacrifice of personal feeling for him to do it. On the contrary, he would rather like to get his "rival," as he chose to regard him, out of the way.
"But you paid him a considerable sum of money some two months ago," suggested Captain Patterdale.
"Not a red!" protested Laud. "I never paid him any money in my life."
"You bought the Juno of him."
"No, sir; nor of any one else. She don't belong to me."
"But you are using her all the time."
"Captain Shivernock got tired of her, and lets me have the use of her for taking care of her."
"Didn't you say you owned her, and that you were going to change her name from Juno to Nellie?" demanded the captain, sternly.
"I did; but that was all gas," replied Laud, with a sickly grin.