Wan toot out av it means a ton av coal gone to hell an' a
dhrop av blood out av the owner's heart!" An' from that time on the
best I iver hearrd out av that whistle was a sick sort av a sob."
Matt laughed as Terence Reardon's natural propensity for romancing
came to the front. He thanked the chief for the latter's invaluable
information, and, with a mental resolve to have Terence Reardon
presiding over the engines of the Narcissus at no distant date, he
returned to the city.
CHAPTER XLVII
THE TAIL GOES WITH THE HIDE
The following morning Matt called upon MacCandless, the general
manager of the Oriental Steamship Company. Mr. MacCandless was a cold
individual of Scotch ancestry, with a scent for a dollar a trifle
keener than most; and Matt Peasley, young and inexperienced in
business fencing, was never more aware of his deficiencies than when
he faced MacCandless across the latter's desk. Consequently, he
resolved to waste no words in vain parley. MacCandless was still
looking curiously at Matt's card when the latter said:
"I called with reference to that big freighter of the Oriental
Steamship Company--the Narcissus. Is she for sale?"
MacCandless smiled with his lips, but his eyes wore the eternal
Show-me! look. He nodded.
"Foolish of me to ask, I know," Matt continued complacently, "since it
is a matter of common gossip that you would have been delighted to
have sold her any time these past eight years.
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