“‘That we will. You’ll never have any more trouble with it now,’ said Jim, helping to push the great case into the car.
“‘I think I had better go with you and see it stowed away in the bank,’ said the butler.
“‘All right,’ said Jim, nothing abashed. ‘You can’t come in the car, though, for Lord Blackbury’s box will take up all the spare room. Let’s see; it’s twelve o’clock now. Well, you be waiting at the bank door at half-past one, and you will just catch us.’
“‘All right; half-past one,’ said the butler.
“‘Good-day,’ cried my chum; and away went the car, while I made a bit of a short cut and caught it around a turn of the road. We drove right off into the next county, got a down-train to London, and before midnight the colonel’s silver was fused into a solid lump.”
I could not help laughing at the versatility of the old scoundrel. “It was a daring game to play,” I said.
“It is always the daring game which succeeds best,” he answered.
At this point the train began to show symptoms of slowing down, and my companion put on his overcoat and gave other signs of being near the end of his journey.
“You are going on to Dover?” he said.
“Yes.”