'Then are you suggesting that I should be buried--regular, downright buried?--nailed up, put in a hole, and all?'
'You would not be put in a hole, but in the family vault.'
'And how long would I stay there?'
I smiled. He perceived my amusement.
'Mr. Smith, you're the kind of man I admire.'
'I hope to continue to merit your admiration.'
'That dying's off.'
'Why? What I said about the family vault was but a jest.'
'A sepulchral one.'
'It might be necessary, perhaps, to put you in a coffin, but, before the arrival of the undertaker's men, I would come; you would get out, and between us we'd fasten down the lid upon the empty box.'