“It is principally unacquaintance with worms,” replied Thorndyke. “They are a highly interesting group of animals, both in regard to structure and habits. You ought to read Darwin’s fascinating book on earth-worms and learn what an important part they play in the fashioning of the earth’s surface. But the marine worms are not only interesting; some of them are extraordinarily beautiful creatures.”
“That was what Phillip Rodney used to say,” said Margaret, “but we didn’t believe him, and he never showed us any specimens.”
“I don’t know that he ever got any,” said Varney. “He made great preparations in the way of bottles and jars, and then he spent most of his time sailing his yacht or line-fishing from a lugger. The only tangible result of his preparations was that remarkable jury button that he fixed on Dan’s oilskin coat. You remember that button, Mrs. Purcell?”
“I remember something about a button, but I have forgotten the details. What was it?”
“Why, Dan lost the top button from his oiler and never got it replaced. One day he lent the coat to Phillip to go home in the wet, and as Phil was going out line-fishing the next day and his own oilers were on the yacht, he thought he would take Dan’s. So he proceeded to fix on a temporary button and a most remarkable job he made of it. It seems that he hadn’t got either a button or a needle and thread, so he extemporized. He took the cork out of one of his little collecting bottles—it was a flat cork, waterproofed with paraffin wax, and it had a round label inscribed ‘marine worms.’ Well, as he hadn’t a needle or thread, he bored two holes through the cork with the little marlinspike in his pocket-knife, passed through them the remains of a fiddle-string that he had in his pocket, made two holes in the oilskin, threaded the cat-gut through them and tied a reef-knot on the inside.”
“And did it answer?” asked Margaret. “It sounds rather clumsy.”
“It answered perfectly. So well that it never got changed. It was on the coat when Dan went up the ladder at Penzance, and it is probably on it still. Dan seemed quite satisfied with it.”
There was a brief silence, during which Thorndyke looked down thoughtfully at his plate. Presently he asked.
“Was the label over the wax or under it?”
Varney looked at him in surprise, as also did Margaret. What on earth could it matter whether the label were over or under the wax?