“Oh, I say,” protested Bellmark.
“It is perfectly correct, Roy. The lid is soldered on.”
They looked at each other in varying degrees of wonder and speculation. Only Carrados seemed quite untouched.
“Now we may as well replace the earth,” he remarked.
“Fill it all up again?” asked Bellmark.
“Yes; we have provided a thoroughly disintegrated subsoil. That is the great thing. A depth of six inches is sufficient merely for the roots.”
There was only one remark passed during the operation.
“I think I should plant the tree just over where the tin was,” Carrados suggested. “You might like to mark the exact spot.” And there the hawthorn was placed.
Bellmark, usually the most careful and methodical of men, left the tools where they were, in spite of a threatening shower. Strangely silent, Elsie led the way back to the house and taking the men into the drawing-room switched on the light.
“I think you have a tin opener, Mrs Bellmark?”