"Sure!" he replied. "You have the floor—shoot!"
"You don't know me?"
"Not from the great Lum-tum, though your voice is kind of homey."
"I'm Sir John Custance. Danjuro's been faking me up. He's down here with me."
"Gee!" said Mr. Van Adams. "Aren't you the fresh thing now, Sir John? So you're down for the obsequies incog.? That's what I've come for—matter of respect. Flew down from Park Lane after breakfast."
"I'm on my way west. We only stopped here for an hour or two, as Danjuro had some business."
"I've ordered lunch in a private room overlooking the square. Come right up, Sir John, you'll be able to see everything from there."
"Thank you. But I'm still in the dark. I'm right away from the office now, as you know. I saw Commander Muir Lockhart here just now, but I couldn't speak to him...."
He took me by the arm and led me along the corridor to the lift. "Captain Lashmar, of your force and the five men of the patrol boat are being buried to-day," he said; "also Captain Swainson, of the Atlantis, and the boys murdered on his ship."