Instead of being a mere matter between himself and Miss Sally, it was involving men and women, one after the other.

It seemed to become a fight between himself, a singer stranger in Kilo, and an endless chain of interested citizens.

Already there was Pap Briggs, who hated book agents; the Colonel and Skinner, who hoped to win Miss Sally; Mrs.Smith, who would serve as a defense against Eliph's attacks; and, as he walked down the street, he seemed to see in every man, woman, and child, a possible ally of either the Colonel or Skinner.
But he tucked his sample copy of Jarby's under his arm more securely, and braced up his courage.

He even whistled as he approached the hotel, but, when he glanced up at the attorney's office and saw Toole and the Colonel with their head together, he stopped whistling.

If Toole was going to take either side, Eliph' would have liked to claim him.