One Way to Drown Sorrow Ford walked up to the bar, with a smile upon his face which Sam misunderstood and so met with a conciliatory grin and a hand extended toward a certain round, ribbed bottle with a blue-and-silver label.

Ford waved away the bottle and leaned, not on the bar but across it, and clutching Sam by the necktie, slapped him first upon one ear and next upon the other, until he was forced by the tingling of his own fingers to desist.

By that time Sam's green necktie was pulled tight just under his nose, and he had swallowed his gum--which, considering the size of the lump, was likely to be the death of him.
Ford did not say a word.

He permitted Sam to jerk loose and back into a corner, and he watched the swift crimsoning of his ears with a keen interest.

Since Sam's face had the pasty pallor of the badly scared, the ears appeared much redder by contrast than they really were.