The old man glared at him. "It's not all right, sir, and you know it. But go ahead. I don't belong to the plot of this household, anyway. I'm only a side issue." Howard and Florence passed out, and he shouted after them. "Do you hear me? Only a side issue."
Just then Bodney came in. "You are a what, Uncle William?" he asked, looking about.
"I said a side issue."
"What's that?"
"If you haven't got sense enough to know, I haven't the indulgence to tell you."
"Where did you get that pipe, Uncle William?"
"I got it in the Rocky Mountains," said the old fellow.
"It must have come there about the time the mountains arrived. Whew!"
"Now, look here, George Bodney, don't you bring up the tail end of an entire evening of insult by whewing at my pipe. I won't stand it, do you hear?"
Bodney undoubtedly heard, but he did not reply; he went over to the desk and began to look about, moving papers, as if searching for something. "I left my knife here, somewhere," said he. "Must have a little more light." He turned up the gas drop light on the table, went back to the desk, and, pretending to find his knife, turned down the drop light lower than it had been before.