"You're gettin' round, Colonel?"
"A deal better, Major. I want to speak to you."
"Fire away, old Cockywax! You remember Hopkins?—Cartwright Hopkins—man with a squint—at Mooltan—expression of his, 'Old Cockywax.'"
"I remember him. Died of typhoid at Burrampore. Now you listen to me, old chap, and don't talk—you only make yourself cough."
"It's only the dam fog. I'm all right."
"Well, shut up. That child in the next room—it's her I want to talk about. You're the only man, as far as I know, that knows the story. She doesn't. She's not to be told."
"Mum's the word, sir. Always say nothin', that's my motto. Penderfield's daughter at Khopal—at least, he was her father. One dam father's as good as another, as long as he goes to the devil." This may be a kind of disclaimer of inheritance as a factor to be reckoned with, an obscure suggestion that human parentage is without influence on character. It is not well expressed.
"Listen to me, Roper. You know the story. That's the only man I can't say God forgive him to. God forgive me, but I can't."
"Devil take me if I can!... Yes, it's all right. They're all in the next room...."
"But the woman was worse. She's living, you know...."