“It was open, and not seeing anyone about, I went in uninvited. From a room in the back I heard voices, and so I walked in there, too. There were two men sitting at a table. One of them was explaining something to the other, and they had on the table what looked to me like a model of a torpedo, or something of that sort.”
Ding-dong pricked up his ears.
“A mu-mu-model of a tut-tut——”
“Yes, of a torpedo. Then, too, there were a lot of plans.”
“Her-her-hold on!” cried Ding-dong, his words tripping all over each other in his excitement. “Wer-wer-what did the men lul-lul-look like?”
Pepper looked rather astonished.
“How do you expect me to get on with my story if you keep butting in?” he asked in an aggrieved tone of voice.
“I’ve a per-per-particular reason,” cried Ding-dong.
“Well, one had a big black beard, an ugly-looking customer, and the other——”
But he got no further.