"Is that where you're hurryin' just now?"
"Well, no: not at this moment," Captain Cai had to confess.
"Where, then?"
"Oh, look here—"
"You needn't tell, if you don't want to. But I'm goin' to a funeral at eleven o'clock," said Mr Philp. "Eleven A.M.," he added pointedly. "Not that I hold with mornin' funerals in a general way: but the corpse is old Mrs Wedlake, and I wasn't consulted."
"Relative?" asked Captain Cai.
"No relation at all; though I don't see as it matters." Mr Philp was cheerful but obdurate. "A bargain's a bargain, as I take it."
"That fact is—"
"And a man's word ought to be good as his bond. Leastways that's how I look at it."
"Here, take the darned thing!" exclaimed Captain Cai. His action, however, was less impulsive than his speech: he removed the hat carefully, lowering his head and clutching the brim between both hands. A small parcel lay inside.