“This is most unseemly,” said Halibut. “We’d better both go home and leave it for another day.”
“When do you propose going, then?” asked the Major.
“Really, I haven’t made up my mind,” replied the other.
The Major shrugged his shoulders.
“It won’t do, Halibut,” he said, grimly; “it won’t do. I’m too old a soldier to be caught that way.”
There was a long pause. The Major mopped his brow again. “I’ve got it,” he said at last.
Halibut looked at him curiously.
“We must play for first proposal,” said the Major, firmly. “We’re pretty evenly matched.”
“Chess?” gasped the other, a whole world of protest in his tones.
“Chess,” repeated the Major.