“Weighted with lead!”

“Phwat’ll the shtring be for?”

“What gun’ll fire a thing like that—look at the size of it—it’s bigger than a twelve-bore!”

“How could that kill a man?”

“Bust his artery, they said.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“It’s a fact.”

“A bloody shame it is.”

“Bloody clever I call it.”

The burst of excited comments, by no means separate and consecutive, that followed the scavenger’s revelation was checked by Poole.