Taking a drink, when a man was cold and felt the need of it,
was not--
At that point in the argument two of his own men entered, stamping
noisily upon the threshold. They were laughing, from pure animal
satisfaction over the comforts within, rather than at any tangible cause
for mirth, and they called to Ford with easy comradeship. Dick
Thomas--the Dick whom Buddy had mentioned in connection with
Josephine--waved his hand hospitably toward the bar.
"Come on, Campbell," he invited. He may have seen the hesitancy in
Ford's face, for he laughed. "I believe in starting on the inside and
driving the frost out," he said.
The two poured generously from the bottle which the bartender pushed
within easy reach, and Ford watched them. There was a peculiar lift to
Dick's upper lip--the lift which comes when scorn is the lever. Ford's
eyes hardened a little; he walked over and stood beside Dick, and he
took a drink as unemotionally as if it had been water. He ordered
another round, threw a coin upon the bar, and walked out. He had rather
liked Dick, in an impersonal sort of way, but that half-sneer clung
disagreeably to his memory.
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