human
Guess you signed the pledge when the shaft snapped.... Coughin' up stale beer all Tuesday night, an' all nex' day made you feel you weren't fit to die on a Thursday.... You can't run a bluff of that sort on Saint Peter. He'd smell your breath a mile off, an' say, 'To the devil with any Jack who can't take his liquor decent-like when he's paid off without fillin' up when he's signed on!'...You struck a wrong job in goin' to sea. You ought to be a brewer's drayman.
gpt
Peridot, said Ingersoll suddenly,
human
No, Monsieur, I think not. Women are marvels at times; but this one may not even live. Mademoiselle Yvonne is doing what she can----
gpt
I know, I know! Now do me a great favor. When we berth at the quay Mademoiselle and I will slip away quietly in the confusion and darkness. See to it that none of the strangers learns our name. I'll warn Monsieur Tollemache myself. Get all these people to Julia's. Tell her that the lady, Madame Carmac, is very wealthy, and that the man with the broken arm is Mr. Carmac's secretary; so every sort of expenditure will be met, though Julia's kind heart would leave nothing undone for a shipwrecked crew if they were paupers. There may be some inquiry about Mademoiselle Yvonne; but refer to her only by her Christian name, and say she lives at Madame Pitou's.
human
I ask this, explained Ingersoll,
gpt
spat Peridot.
human
You're not leaving Pont Aven because we pulled these fools off Les Verrés?
gpt
No, no. I need a little holiday, and I'm taking it now. That is all. We shall come back to the old life--never fear.
human
You mean that, M'sieu'?
gpt
I swear it.
human
Of course, M'sieu', you understand that I cannot silence the tongues of the whole town?
gpt
I don't care what anybody hears tomorrow. Remember, if poor Madame Carmac dies, no other person will have the slightest interest in my whereabouts. If she lives, and is able to travel, she will certainly endeavor to get away from Pont Aven as speedily as possible. Peridot, it is Yvonne I am thinking of, not of myself.
human
Monsieur, you can count on me absolutely.
gpt
And not a word of this to a soul?
human
But you need not lie at all. Simply forget what I have told you--as to my reason for tomorrow's journey, I mean.
gpt
Monsieur, it is forgotten already.
human
Sorry you missed the skipper's homily, Ingersoll, he said.
gpt
I laughed like a hyena. I hope the people in the cabin couldn't overhear me. By Jove! to tell you the truth, I didn't even remember that there was a dead man aboard.
human
The best tragedies indulge in a what is called 'comic relief', said Ingersoll dryly.
gpt
Give Yvonne a hail, will you? I want a word with her.
human
Yvonne!
gpt
Yes,
human
Socrates wants you.