"'Where the deuce is my eyeglass?' And the drawl seemed to catch horribly in his throat.
"I put the rim of the eyeglass into his hand; the glass itself had gone.
"'Must wear the damned thing,' he murmured, and he tried to raise it to his face—but his hand suddenly stopped half-way and fell, and he died."
There was silence in the club room for a minute or so, and the ticking of the clock was oppressively loud. Then Jepson raised his glass.
"Gentlemen," he said. "Here's to the 'Knut,'" and gravely we drank to the toast.
IX
SHOPPING
As the Captain sat down to breakfast, he turned to speak to me: "I propose ..." he began, but Lawson interrupted him. "Oh, John dear," he said, "this is so sudden."