“Yes, ever since.”
“She’s dead, you s’y?”
“Yes.”
“But ’ow’d you know she’s dead, if you ’ain’t seen ’er since?”
“I have seen her. I saw her dead body at Putney.”
“At Putney! Well, I’m blowed!”
A roar from beneath, the slamming of many doors, and the quick rush of a crowd up the steps, announced the arrival of a train. “Pardon, sir,” said the man, “this is the 5.41 Mansion House. But don’t go aw’y. There’s somethin’—Tickets, if you please.”
In a minute the collector had ended his task. While sorting his bundles of pasteboards he said:
“Nobody ever tell’d me that before. An’ you ain’t the only one on ’er track. Are you in the police?”
“No.”