Davy Byrne, sated after his yawn, said with tearwashed eyes:

And is that a fact? Decent quiet man he is.

I often saw him in here and I never once saw him — you know, over the line.

God Almighty couldn’t make him drunk, Nosey Flynn said firmly. Slips off when the fun gets too hot. Didn’t you see him look at his watch? Ah, you weren’t there. If you ask him to have a drink first thing he does he outs with the watch to see what he ought to imbibe. Declare to God he does.

There are some like that, Davy Byrne said. He’s a safe man, I’d say.

He’s not too bad, Nosey Flynn said, snuffling it up. He’s been known to put his hand down too to help a