He quite expected the Marsh.wiggle to give him an angry reply, but he only said, “That’s the spirit, Scrubb. That‘s the way to talk. Put a good face on it. But we all need to be very careful about our tempers, seeing all the hard times we shall have to go through together. Won’t do to quarrel, you know. At any rate, don‘t begin it too soon. I know these expeditions usually end that way: knifing one another, I shouldn’t wonder, before all‘s done. But the longer we can keep off it.”
“Well, if you feel it’s so hopeless,” interrupted Scrubb, “I think you‘d better stay behind. Pole and I can go on alone, can’t we, Pole?”