"Doctor," said he, "that Scotchman's head!"
"I am not a Scotchman," I retorted impatiently.
"Well," he breathed heavily, "I will admit it was a very bad joke."
I was on the point of replying that it was not a joke at all, when I recovered my temper. After all, it is trying to the temper to sit opposite to a man whom you know to be a prime ruffian, however impotent his aspirations may be. Since I had unveiled his plot, even though no credence was given it, still Holgate was harmless. But, as I have already said, I am a man of precautions and I held my tongue. I think he had taken me only for a man of impulse.
"I must confess I do not see the joke," I answered.
"Now you come to insist on it, and shed the cold light of reason on it, no more do I," he said with a laugh. "Jokes are very well behind the footlights."
I shrugged my shoulders. "Think what a fool I look!" I said coldly.
His friendliness increased. "My dear fellow," he said, bending over to me, "I give you my word I've held my tongue. I thought of that. I didn't know you'd take it so seriously."
"Your profession should have been the stage," I answered.
He nodded. "Low comedian. I wish I had. They make good salaries, I believe, instead of beggarly——"