Monkey was all alert.
"What did he say, sir?"
"Not much," muttered the other. "Enough, though."
Monkey drooped his eyelids and tilted his chin. His face became a masterpiece of secrecy and cunning.
Old Mat turned his lips inward.
"I've warned him off," he said, "you might snout about a bit and rout out what he is after."
The other nodded.
"Monkey's the man, sir," he said, and stole away on tip-toe.
That evening the old trainer, driving through the village, came on the discomfited artist and drew up to have a word with him.