"Why, Robert, where did you come from?"
"From Belfast last."
"Did he die before you got there?"
"Die? Who?"
"Why, old Mr. Montague."
"He isn't dead."
"Yes, he is. The telegram came this forenoon."
"But I helped him on shore myself at seven o'clock this morning."
"He died at half past seven, the despatch says. And you didn't know it?"
"No, I didn't. That's strange. But I started for home as soon as I saw him in the carriage, and slept all the way down."