interested manner. But when he proceeded to ask me
mysteriously whether I remembered what had passed just now between that
Steward of ours and "that man Hamilton," I only grunted sourly assent
and turned away my head.

"Aye. But do you remember every word?" he insisted tactfully.

"I don't know. It's none of my business," I snapped out, consigning,
moreover, the Steward and Hamilton aloud to eternal perdition.

I meant to be very energetic and final, but Captain Giles continued to
gaze at me thoughtfully. Nothing could stop him. He went on to point out
that my personality was involved in that conversation. When I tried to
preserve the semblance of unconcern he became positively cruel. I heard
what the man had said? Yes? What did I think of it then?--he wanted to
know.

Captain Giles' appearance excluding the suspicion of mere sly malice,
I came to the conclusion that he was simply the most tactless idiot
on earth. I almost despised myself for the weakness of attempting to
enlighten his common understanding. I started to explain that I did not
think anything whatever. Hamilton was not worth a thought. What such an
offensive loafer . . . "Aye! that he is," interjected Captain Giles
. . . thought or said was below any decent man's contempt, and I did not
propose to take the slightest notice of it.

This attitude seemed to me so simple and obvious that I was really
astonished at Giles giving no sign of assent. Such perfect stupidity was
almost interesting.

"What would you like me to do?" I asked, laughing. "I can't start a row
with him because of the opinion he has formed of me. Of course, I've
heard of the contemptuous way he alludes to me. But he doesn't intrude
his contempt on my notice. He has never expressed it in my hearing.
For even just now he didn't know we could hear him. I should only make
myself ridiculous."

That hopeless Giles went on puffing at his pipe moodily. All at once his
face cleared, and he spoke.

"You missed my point."

"Have I? I am very glad to hear it," I said.

With increasing animation he stated again that I had missed his point.
Entirely. And in a tone of growing self-conscious complacency he told me
that few things escaped his attention, and he was rather used to think
them out, and generally from his experience of life and men arrived at
the right conclusion.

This bit of self-praise, of course, fitted excellently the laborious
inanity of the whole conversation. The whole thi