"The landlord is very deaf, sir, and the waiter is out on an errand."
"Yes; and you were fast asleep in the stable. Do you often take a nap in the daytime?"
The worn face of the hostler faintly flushes. His eyes look away from my eyes for the first time. Mrs. Fairbank furtively pinches my arm. Are we on the eve of a discovery at last? I repeat my question. The man has no civil alternative but to give me an answer. The answer is given in these words:
"I was tired out, sir. You wouldn't have found me asleep in the daytime but for that."
"Tired out, eh? You had been hard at work, I suppose?"
"No, sir."
"What was it, then?"
He hesitates again, and answers unwillingly, "I was up all night."
"Up all night? Anything going on in the town?"
"Nothing going on, sir."