“Not with him, I think. Seemed to be rather down on girls in general,” said Oscard coolly.
“Then you know him?”
“Yes, a little. I have met him once or twice, out, you know. I don't suppose he would know me again if he saw me.”
Which last remark does not redound to the credit of Guy's powers of observation.
They paused. It is wonderful how near we may stand to the brink and look far away beyond the chasm. Years afterwards they remembered this conversation, and it is possible that Jack Meredith wondered then what instinct it was that made him change the direction of their thoughts.
“If it is agreeable to you,” he said, “I think it would be wise for me to go down to Loango, and gently intimate to Durnovo that we should be glad of his services.”
“Certainly.”
“He cannot be buying quinine all this time, you know. He said he would travel night and day.”
Oscard nodded gravely.
“How will you put it?” he asked.