"What's the time, dad?" he asked, and lit the gas.
The clock on the mantel-piece never went: for it was Edward Caspar's solitary household task to wind it up.
The father, by no means a match for his artful son, produced from a baggy pocket a five-shilling Waterbury watch in place of the old gold hunter that had come to him from Lady Blanche's father, the twelfth Earl Ravensrood.
His ruse successful, Ernie delivered a direct attack.
"Where's the ticket, dad?" he asked casually.
"What ticket?"
"The pawn-ticket."
"I don't know," irritably. "Don't worry me. Turn out the light. I want to get a nap."
Ernie obeyed.
Soon Edward Caspar's breathing told its own tale.