touch such an awful objec’, not for a million pounds.

While Minkie was out of the room the Guv’nor tried to recover his good humor.

“You must not pay heed to my little girl’s way of expressing herself, Schwartz,” he said. “We have rather encouraged her to be outspoken, and she has always been remarkably intelligent. Try that port. You will find it good, a ’74, the last bottle, worse luck.”

“Here’s to Holly Lodge and its owner, his wife and his charming daughters. May we all be sitting here this time next year!” cried [Pg 86]Schwartz, lifting his glass and glancing at Dolly.

[Pg 86]

It was a pleasant enough toast in its way, but again I had that feeling under the fur that the words meant a lot more than they expressed. Dan naturally said he saw nothing particular in them, but you will find I was right. I noticed, too, that Schwartz drank two glasses of the wine in quick succession, though he had declined a liqueur the previous evening. I mentioned this to Dan, but he only growled:

“You see a sparrow behind every bush. Schwartz is a rotter, but he is behaving himself. Why, I have known Jim shift a quart of beer after he had said he wasn’t thirsty, just because Mam told him to get some lemonade.”

“Have you ever picked a bone after turning up your nose at a dog biscuit?” I asked.

“Yes, but there might have been cat in the biscuit.”

I turned my back on him. He thinks that sort of low-down humor is clever, and he hurries away to tell Bob how he scored off [Pg 87]me. Of course, he made tracks to the stable the moment dinner was ended, with the result that he missed quite a thrilling episode.

[Pg 87]

Mam and Dorothy went to the drawing-room, but Schwartz, who was listening intently, heard Minkie go into the morning-room, whither I had followed her to study the mongoose at leisure. After a minute or two, he made the excuse that he wanted to show the Guv’nor a letter which he had left upstairs, and he came out, though I heard Poll warbling “Kiss me and call me your darling.”

He closed the door, walked across the hall to the foot of the stairs, and tip-toe’d back to the morning-room. Minkie looked at me, and I looked at Minkie.

“Now for it!” she whispered.

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