'It's all right,' he said, forcing a note of easy geniality into his voice. 'We're a couple of cats.'
'Cat-burglars?'
'No. Just ordinary cats.'
'Belonging to the cook,' prompted the bishop from below.
'Belonging to the cook,' added the headmaster.
'I see,' said the man at the window. 'Well, in that case, right ho!'
He stood aside to allow them to enter. The bishop, an artist at heart, mewed gratefully as he passed, to add verisimilitude to the deception: and then made for his bedroom, accompanied by the headmaster. The episode was apparently closed.
Nevertheless, the headmaster was disturbed by a certain uneasiness.
'Do you suppose he thought we really were cats?' he asked anxiously.
'I am not sure,' said the bishop. 'But I think we deceived him by the nonchalance of our demeanour.'