This, with Dennis, invariably led to mischief, and with Alister to intolerance.

The phase was quite familiar to me now, and I knew it was coming on when they would talk about the pilot.

That the pilot was admirably skilful in his trade, and that he was a most comical-looking specimen of humanity, were obvious facts.

I quite agreed with both Alister and Dennis, but that, unfortunately, did not make them agree with each other.

Not that Dennis contradicted Alister (he pretended to be afraid to do so), but he made comments that were highly aggravating.