"
I found that the good fellow had a similar trouble of his own (not yet
having heard from his mother), so he fell readily into my plan, which
was that of cross-questioning the chairman about my dear one, and I
about his, and then meeting secretly and imparting what we had learned.
Anybody may laugh who likes at the thought of two big lumbering fellows
afraid to face the truth (scouting round and round it), but it grips me
by the throat to this day to see myself taking our chairman into a quiet
corner of the smoke-room and saying:
"Poor old O'Sullivan! He hasn't heard from his old mother yet. She was
sick when he sailed, and wouldn't have parted with him to go with
anybody except myself. You haven't heard of her, have you?"
And then to think of O'Sullivan doing the same for me, with:
"The poor Commanther! Look at him there. Faith, he's keeping a good
heart, isn't he? But it's just destroyed he is for want of news of a
great friend that was in trouble. It was a girl . . . a lady, I mane.
You haven't heard the whisper of a word, sir .
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