"
"Would you consider an offer to leave the Arab and be chief of the
Narcissus?" Matt queried. "I'm thinking of buying her, and if I do
I'll give you twenty-five dollars a month above the regular
Association scale."
"I'll go ye," murmured Reardon, "on wan condition: Ye'll shpend some
money in her ingine room, else 'tis no matther av use for ye to talk
to me. I'll not be afther breakin' me poor heart for the sake av
twenty-five dollars a month. Sure, 'twould be wort' that alone to see
the face av ye, young man, afther wan look at the coal bill."
"What repairs would you suggest? Do you think she needs another
boiler? I noticed she has two. We could move those two over and make
room for another."
"Do nothing av the sort, sir. Before ould Webb got her she'd been
usin' bad wather down on the East African Coast, I'm thinkin', and it
raised hell wit' her. 'Tis the expinse av retubin' her condensers
that always frightened ould Webb, and whin he lost conthrol the
blatherskite booby av a port ingineer the new owners app'inted come
down to the ship, looked her over, wit' niver a question to me that
knew the very sowl av her, and reported to the owners that what she
needed was another b'iler." And Terence Reardon laughed the short,
mirthless chuckle of the man who knows.
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