"Worse," said Jeffers complacently, meanwhile refilling Mike's glass.
"While we were on active service together, I've seen you go through all
kinds of things and never look like this. What is it? Reaction from
this afternoon's--or, pardon me--_yesterday_ afternoon's emergency?"
Mike glanced up at the chronometer. It was two-thirty in the morning,
Greenwich time. Jeffers held the bridge from midnight till noon, while
Black Bart had the noon to midnight shift.
Still, Mike hadn't realized that it was as late as all that.
He looked at Jeffers' lean, bony face. "Reaction? No, it's not that.
Look, Pete, you know me. Would you say I was a pretty levelheaded guy?"
"Sure."
"My old man always said, 'Never make an enemy accidentally,' and I think
he was right. So I usually think over what I say before I open my big
mouth, don't I?"