“Well, most of them had been in the rag, and, of course, they were sorry for me, being the only one actually caught. However, the lunch never came off. There was a queer old fellow standing on the steps of the court who got me by the arm as I came out. Said he wanted to speak to me on important business, and would I lunch with him. I didn’t know what he could possibly have to say to me, for I had never seen him before; but he looked—it’s rather hard to describe how he looked. He wasn’t exactly what you’d call a gentleman, in the way of clothes, I mean; but he struck me as being a sportsman.”
“Horsey?”
“Not the least. More like one’s idea of some kind of modern pirate, though not exactly. He talked like an American. I went with him, of course.”
“Of course,” I said, “anyone with an adventurous spirit would prefer lunching with an unknown American buccaneer to sharing a commonplace feast with a mob of boys. Did you happen to hear his name?”
“He said it was Hazlewood, but——”
“But it may not have been?”
“One of the other fellows called him Cassidy later on.”
“Oh,” I said, “there were other fellows?”
“There were afterwards,” said Sam, “not at first. He and I lunched alone. He did me well. A bottle of champagne for the two of us and offered me a second bottle. I refused that.”
“He came to business after the champagne, I suppose?”