Thomas, who had been chalking his cue, advanced to the table. "Hallo," he said, "where's the other ball?"
I looked at the table, and there were only two balls on it!
"That's an extraordinary thing," I said in amazement. "I'm almost certain we started with three."
"Did you put me down?"
"Certainly not; I shouldn't dream of doing such a thing. I don't say I mayn't have slipped down myself when nobody was looking. Myra, did you notice which pocket I was trying for that time?"
We felt in all of them, and at last found my ball in one of the bottom ones. It must have gone there very quietly.
"Score, marker?" I asked confidently, as I prepared to continue my break.
"Oh, you're going over the crease," cried Myra.
I took my ball back an inch. "Will you tell me the score?" I said.
"Stevenson (in play) three; Inman, two. Inman's two were both wides."