'
"'They'll putty it up this evening,' he said. 'I'm a married man,
an' - ye used to know the Board.'
"I e'en said what was gied me in that hour. Ye know how a drydock
echoes. I saw young Steiner standin' listenin' above me, an', man,
he used language provocative of a breach o' the peace. I was a spy
and a disgraced employ, an' a corrupter o' young Bannister's morals,
an' he'd prosecute me for libel. He went away when I ran up the
steps - I'd ha' thrown him into the dock if I'd caught him - an'
there I met McRimmon, wi' Dandie pullin' on the chain, guidin' the
auld man among the railway lines.
"'McPhee,' said he, 'ye're no paid to fight Holdock, Steiner, Chase
& Company, Limited, when ye meet. What's wrong between you?'
"'No more than a tail-shaft rotten as a kail-stump. For ony sakes
go an' look, McRimmon. It's a comedietta.'
"'I'm feared o' yon conversational Hebrew,' said he. 'Whaur's the
flaw, an' what like?'
"'A seven-inch crack just behind the boss. There's no power on earth
will fend it just jarrin' off.'
"'When?'
"'That's beyon' my knowledge,' I said.
"'So it is; so it is,' said McRimmon. 'We've all oor leemitations.
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