“You are a first-rate fellow, captain; I like you almost as well as I do my own brother.”
“You are a sensible young man, Somers,” replied De Banyan, slightly relaxing the rigid muscles of his face.
“You are a brave man, and as brilliant as you are brave. I have only one fault to find with you.”
“What’s that?”
“You will draw the long-bow.”
“In other words, I will lie. Somers, you hurt my feelings. I took a fancy to you the first time I ever saw you, and it pains me to hear you talk in that manner. Do you think that I, an officer and a gentleman, would stoop to the vice of lying?”
“You certainly do not expect any one to believe those wretched big stories you tell?”
“Certainly I do,” replied the captain with dignity.
“But they contradict themselves.”
“Perhaps you don’t believe there ever was such an event as the battle of Magenta.”