"You are sure?"
"Oh, yes, quite sure. I should have seen it the next day."
"And you have not seen it at all?"
"No."
"Would you have noticed it, without fail? Your grandfather has quite a collection of canes, I have noticed."
"Yes; but I would have seen Arthur's if he had left it."
"You know it, then?"
"Yes. I remember we spoke of it particularly that evening when he first came. I made some teasing remark about it being dandified to carry a cane, and he retorted that he carried it for protection. He said, I remember, that a gold headed cane was quite as effective as a sandbag, and more elegant. He advised me to carry one of Dandy's canes if I ever had occasion to go out alone in the evening."
"He said that? Just that?"
"Yes. We were just talking nonsense, you know. It was when he first came."