Page:The Toll of the Bush.pdf/55

‘The room opens on the side verandah, and has no door leading into the house, so the old man thought he would fix a bell to ring inside in case it might be wanted. He likes little jobs like that, and gets dreadfully interested in them. Well, he’d about got it fixed, when the rope of the step-ladder broke, and he fell and barked his shin.’

‘Not badly, I hope.’

‘Pretty bad; but it’s a painful thing anyway, and it has made him irritable, because he’s an active man and can’t stand laying up. But would you believe it, that thundering brute Raymond wins two games out of three all the same. It has come to this: that when the old man crawls out on top, Eve and I want to rush outside and shout “Victory!” and when he gets beat, as he mostly does, I feel like taking Raymond down the beach and kicking him.’

‘And why don’t you do it?’

‘Well, Raymond has the reputation of being a champion full-back, and though he must be a good deal out of practice now, still it’s surprising how a knack like that clings to a man.’

‘Have you really no better reason for wanting to get rid of him than his chess-playing abilities? Geoffrey asked curiously.

Sandy shifted uneasily. ‘What’s the matter with that for a reason ?’ he asked.

‘You might so easily give him a hint that would solve the trouble.’

‘If I did that, and it came to the old man’s ears, he would never forgive me,’ Sandy replied. ‘Then also I want a man I can get on with, and he’s not that. I don’t like him.’

Geoffrey nodded absently.