Page:Doctor Syn - A Smuggler Tale of the Romney Marsh.djvu/158

 whether he had breakfasted. Jerry replied that he certainly had had a snack or two, but that broiled fish always did go down very pleasant with bread and butter and fresh milk, and accepted with alacrity the invitation from the captain to bring a chair and help himself.

The captain got up, filled a pipe and lit it, and the Doctor did the same; then both men pushed their plates to the centre of the table, leaning their elbows on the cleared space; and Jerry in the centre, for all the world like a judge of some quaint game of skill, watched the opponents as they drew deliberately at their pipes, sending preliminary battle clouds across the table before the real tussle began—aye, a fight of brains, each one desirous of ascertaining how much the other knew or guessed about these strange events, but each very fearful of betraying what he guessed. So Jerry watched them, feeling certain that a battle was imminent, wondering upon what side he would be called to fight, and what the end of it all would be; but with all his watching and wondering he didn't forget to eat, and eat heartily, too, for Jerry's maxim was, "Eat when you can, and only think when you've got to."

The captain spoke first.

"Doctor Syn, you heard me say at that inquiry yesterday that I was no strategist, that I was only a fighter."

"I did," returned the cleric.

"I know everything inside, outside, and