“How the —— should I know? Look here, Kennedy, you must do it, after all.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Tut, tut, man, you must.”
“But my ward?”
“Come. We’ll make it quarantine, as you want. That’s six years, and you can —— your ward.”
“I’ll do it.”
“That’s the talk.”
They sat and discussed plans and whisky for nearly an hour. Then Maguire said good-night.
“You shall have the speech the first thing in the morning,” he said at parting. Then as he walked down the long corridor, he muttered, “Now then, Stirling, look out for the hind heel of the mule.”
Peter found Costell still waiting for him.