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Nor did the fog in itself appear to her very formidable. He was let this excuse be made for him a landsman, comparatively new to the Islands. Probably Mr. Fossell and Mr. Pope and the Vicar took the same view. The news of the wreck had excited them, and they were offering to accompany Sir Cæsar and Mr. Rogers to St. Hugh's Town, on the chance of some information.
He wondered what Fossell would say Fossell, sitting there, so imperturbable, with his shiny bald head if he knew. "Game and!" announced Mr. Rogers.
Indeed, I was going to ask Mrs. Fossell to forgive me if I spoil one of her quartettes by withdrawing. To tell the truth, I am not myself a slight dizziness " "A glass of hot brandy-and-water?" suggested Mr. Fossell. "Nay, then, a thimbleful I insist!" The Commandant made his excuses as politely as he could, and found himself in the street.
Regularly, month by month, his pay-sheet had been accepted; regularly the full amount had been handed to him by Mr. Fossell, agent at Garland Town for Messrs. Curtis' Bank on the mainland. Clearly there was a mistake somewhere, and often enough his conscience smote him, urging that he ought, in honour, to call attention to it.
She closed her triumph, a few rounds later, by trumping the Commandant's ace and king. Mr. Fossell looked at his partner, in sorrow rather than in anger. Mr. Rogers laughed uproariously as he counted up the tricks. "Double or quits, I suppose?" he suggested. But the Commandant rose. "Your pardon, Miss Gabriel," he said, laying his half-crown on the table, "if I play no more for money to-night.
The Commandant lifted a hand to his brow as Mr. Fossell, whose turn it was, took up the cards and began to deal methodically, without a trace of discomposure. "Half a crown! and if he lost, one penny left to last him to next pay day!" A terrible thought seized him. "And what if, when he presented himself at Mr. Fossell's bank on pay-day, the money was not forthcoming?" Nonsense!
Fossell in her heart of hearts abhorred cards, and would be only too grateful for release, to look after the preparations for supper and scold the parlour-maid outside. So the Vicar and Mrs. Fossell cut out, and Mr. Fossell and Mr. Rogers replaced them as partners against Mr. and Mrs. Pope. Mr. and Mrs. Pope always played together. No one knew why, but it had come to be an understood thing.
I like to find a serious moral where I can." The Commandant counted the coins and dropped them into his pocket. Their weight seemed to make a man of him again. He bent and affected to examine the madrepore. Mr. Fossell bent also. He was on the point of asking in a low voice, that the clerk might not overhear for an explanation of Miss Gabriel's gossip.
The Commandant caught at the edge of the counter, while his heart leapt, and the bank premises seemed to whirl around him. "Fifteen-eighteen-six ... be so good as to verify it, if you please," said Mr. Fossell, counting out the coins the blessed coins! "But I want you just to take a look into the thing. Looks like a piece of coral, eh? See the delicate lines of it?
A few minutes later the Commandant found himself seated opposite Mr. Fossell, with Miss Gabriel and Mr. Rogers for opponents Miss Gabriel on his left. He prepared to enjoy himself, for whist meant silence, and he could have chosen no better partner than Mr. Fossell, who played a sound game, and with a perfectly inscrutable face.
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