"I have a clear right," I insisted, overruling all objections raised
by the Colonel; and taking it into my hands I read the names aloud,
"Colonel Annesley, Mrs. Blair, maid and child." I pronounced the name
with great contempt.
"You talk of purser's names," I said sneeringly. "What do you think of
this? Blair, indeed! No more the woman's name than Smith or Jones, or
what you please."
"Speak more respectfully of a lady," cried the Colonel, catching me
tightly by the arm.
"Lady? Oho! Don't, Colonel, drop it. At any rate, she is not Mrs.
Blair; you may take that from me," I said as impressively as a judge
on the bench. "And what's more, Colonel, I wouldn't press charges you
can't substantiate against me, or I may hit back with another not so
easy to meet. Try to stop me at the next station, and I'll stop your
pal--ah, don't"--he had a cruelly strong hand--"your Mrs. Blair, and
she'll find herself in a particularly tight place."
"We'll see about that," said the Colonel, who kept a stiff face, but
was, I think, rather crestfallen. "I shall act as I think best.
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