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It was simply a matter of stretching the orbit to extreme eccentricity as all the ships went round the planet. After the fourth go round he was fully five diameters out at aphelion. He touched the Lawlor drive button and everybody had that very peculiar disturbance of all their senses which accompanies going into overdrive.
"Gentlemen," he said in his soft voice, "I see that my friend Lawlor has not wasted his lessons in manners. At least you know enough to rise when a lady enters the room."
"Who fired him?" asked the new man, with an expectant smile, like one who waits for the point of a joke, but he caught a series of strange signals from men at the table and many a broad wink. "I fired him, Gregory," answered Lawlor. "I fired Nash!" He turned to Bard. "You see," he said rather weakly, "the boys is used to callin' Nash 'the chief." "Ah, yes," said Bard, "I understand."
As for Bard, he stuck by his original apparent indifference. For he still felt sure that the real William Drew was behind this elaborate deception and the thing for which he waited was some revelation of the hand of the master. The trumps which he felt he held was in being forewarned; he could not see that the others knew his hand. He said to Lawlor: "I think a man named Nash works on this ranch.
"I've been taught to let an older man go first," said Bard, smiling pleasantly. "After you, sir." "Any way you want it, Bard," answered Lawlor, but as he led the way down the hall he was saying to himself, through his stiffly mumbling lips: "He knows! Calamity was right; there's going to be hell poppin' before long."
The sailor closed his eyes, tilted back his head, twisted his face to a hideous grimace, and then opening his shapeless mouth emitted a tremendous wail which took shape in the following words: "Oh, don't you remember sweet Alice, Ben Bolt, Sweet Alice, with hair like the sunshine " "Shut up!" roared Lawlor. It required a moment for Shorty to unkink the congested muscles of his face.
For the rest of that morning and part of the afternoon Hoddan and his Cousin Oliver worked at the battered ship's Lawlor drive. Hoddan was pleased with his cousin's respect for his device. He unfeignedly admired the cannon his cousin had designed. Presently they reminisced about their childhood. It was pleasant to renew family ties like this. The riders came back about sunset.
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