“I walked,” said David.
“Walked?” the man snorted incredulously.
“I took the wrong train,” explained David pleasantly. “They put me off about a mile below here. I walked back to this flag station. I'm going to wait here for the next train north.”
The little man laughed mockingly.
“Oh, no you're not,” he said. “If you walked here, you can just walk away again!” With a sweep of his arm, he made a vigorous and peremptory gesture.
“You walk!” he commanded.
“I'll do just as I please about that,” said David.
As though to bring assistance, the little man started hastily toward the tug.
“I'll find some one who'll make you walk!” he called. “You WAIT, that's all, you WAIT!”
David decided not to wait. It was possible the wharf was private property and he had been trespassing. In any case, at the flag station the rights of all men were equal, and if he were in for a fight he judged it best to choose his own battle-ground. He recrossed the tracks and sat down on his suit case in a dark corner of the shed. Himself hidden in the shadows he could see in the moonlight the approach of any other person.