‘Have you that railway-guide I brought home a week ago?’
‘I believe I have somewhere. Just look in the cupboard.’
The guide was found. Richard consulted it for a few moments.
‘I have to go out of London,’ he then observed. ‘It’s just possible I shan’t get back to-night.’
A little talk followed about the arrangements of the day, and whether anyone was likely to be at home for dinner. Richard did not show much interest in the matter; he went upstairs whistling, and changed the clothing he wore for his best suit. In a quarter of an hour he had left the house.
He did not return till the evening of the following day. It was presumed that he had gone ‘after a job.’
When he reached home his mother and Alice were at tea. He walked to the kitchen fireplace, turned his back to it, and gazed with a peculiar expression at the two who sat at table.
‘Dick’s got work,’ observed Alice, after a glance at him. ‘I can see that in his face.’.
‘Have you, Dick?’ asked Mrs. Mutimer.
‘I have. Work likely to last.’