"Please lean right back.... Thank you."
The cold steel was withdrawn from my throat, and I breathed more freely.
Nobby wriggled to get to my sister, but I held him fast.
"So it was burglars," said Daphne.
"Looks like it," said I.
I glanced at the leader, who had taken his seat upon the club-kerb. His right hand appeared to be resting upon his knee.
"I think," said my sister, "I'll have a cigarette." I handed her one from the pile and lighted it from my own. As I did so—
"Courage," I whispered. "Jonah ne tardera pas."
"I beg," said the spokesman, "that you will not whisper together. It tends to create an atmosphere of mistrust."
My sister inclined her head with a silvery laugh.