“I never ast for your opinion!”
“Never mind whether you ast for it or not. My view of the whole matter is that he’s the only clever man amongst you. He’s got you all on a bit o’ string. He goes away, as you mentioned, for a week or ten days together, and never thinks of communicatin’ with you; he gets his name in the papers; for all you know he may be playin’ a double game—”
The conductor came up for fares, and the argumentative man fortified his position by paying for both.
“A double game. No, no! let me finish! And all the time laughing in his sleeve at the lot of you. I’ve known that sort before. I’ve met ’em. I’ve come across ’em. I say no more,” he added mysteriously, and sat back, glaring at the sky.
“Well, but—” The member seemed ill-qualified for debate, and Erb was greatly tempted to prompt him. “What I mean is— What I was about to say was—”
“He’s a having you,” said the other, smiling thoughtfully at the sky, “he’s a having you on toast!”
“But what’s it to do with you?” demanded the other, not finding the argument for which he had searched.
“Nothing!” retorted the other.
The member, taken aback by this unexpected reply, could not speak for a few moments. He looked appealingly at the names on the shops by which they were passing for a suggestion, and appeared to find one in the word Goodenough.
“After all,” he began, “for our purpose—”