' I said.

'Nothing,' said Jack, 'except that I'm damned proud of you, Joe, you
old ass!' and he put his arm round my shoulders and gave me a shake.
'I didn't know it was in you, Joe--I wouldn't have said it before,
or listened to any other man say it, but I didn't think you had the
pluck--God's truth, I didn't. Come along and get your face fixed up.'

We got into my room quietly, and Jack got a dish of water, and told one
of the chaps to sneak a piece of fresh beef from somewhere.

Jack was as proud as a dog with a tin tail as he fussed round me.
He fixed up my face in the best style he knew, and he knew a good
many--he'd been mended himself so often.

While he was at work we heard a sudden hush and a scraping of feet
amongst the chaps that Jack had kicked out of the room, and a girl's
voice whispered, 'Is he hurt? Tell me. I want to know,--I might be able
to help.'

It made my heart jump, I can tell you. Jack went out at once, and there
was some whispering. When he came back he seemed wild.

'What is it, Jack?' I asked.

'Oh, nothing,' he said, 'only that damned slut of a half-caste cook
overheard some of those blanky fools arguing as to how Romany's knife
got out of the sheath, and she's put a nice yarn round amongst the
girls. There's a regular bobbery, but it's all right now. Jimmy
Nowlett's telling 'em lies at a great rate.'

Presently there was another hush outside, and a saucer with vinegar and
brown paper was handed in.

One of the chaps brought some beer and whisky from the pub, and we had
a quiet little time in my room. Jack wanted to stay all night, but I
reminded him that his little wife was waiting for him in Solong, so he
said he'd be round early in the morning, and went home.

I felt the reaction pretty bad. I didn't feel proud of the affair at
all. I thought it was a low, brutal business all round. Romany was a
quiet chap after all, and the chaps had no right to chyack him. Perhaps
he'd had a hard life, and carried a big swag of trouble that we didn't
know anything about. He seemed a lonely man. I'd gone through enough
myself to teach me not to judge men. I made up my mind to tell him how I
felt about the matter next time we met. Perhaps I made my usual mistake
of bothering about 'feelings' in another party that hadn't any feelings
at all--perhaps I didn't; but it's generally best to chance it on the
kind side in a case like this. Altogether I felt as if I'd made another
fool of myself and b