Arthur swung himself off, laughing.
"Gorman goes everywhere," he answered. "If I were you I should try one of the big railway stations. So long!"
I rose to my feet, and taking down my hat commenced to brush it. Mabane looked up from his work.
"Where are you off to, Arnold?" he asked.
Some curious instinct or power of divination might indeed have given me a passing glimpse of the things which lay beyond, through the portals of that day, for I answered him seriously enough—even gravely.
"The prophet has spoken," I said. "I must obey! I shall start with Charing Cross."
CHAPTER II
Why the man should have spoken to me at all I could not tell. Yet it is certain that I heard his simple and courteous inquiry with a thrill of pleasure, not unmixed with excitement. From the first moment of my arrival upon the platform I had singled him out, the only interesting figure in a crowd of nonentities. Perhaps I had lingered a little too closely by his side, had manifested more curiosity in him than was altogether seemly. At any rate, he spoke to me.
"Do you know if the Continental train is punctual?" he asked.