“’Ave they found me out?” demanded Mr. Pinner.
“Worse than that,” said his wife.
“Worse than that!” said her husband, whose imagination was not of a soaring description. “How can it be?”
“He’s dead,” said Mrs. Pinner, solemnly.
“Dead!” repeated her husband, starting violently.
Mrs. Pinner, with a little sniff, took up the paper and read slowly, interrupted only by the broken ejaculations of her husband.
“The unfortunate policeman who was assaulted the other day down at Wapping passed away peacefully yesterday evening. Lady Verax is prostrate with grief and refuses to leave the death-chamber. Several members of the Royal family have telegraphed their——”
“Wot?” interrupted the astounded listener.
“I was reading the wrong bit,” said Mrs. Pinner, who was too engrossed in her reading of the death of a well-known nobleman to remember to make all the corrections necessary to render them suitable for a policeman. Here it is:—
“The unfortunate policeman who was assaulted the other day down at Wapping passed away peacefully yesterday evening in the arms of his wife and family. The ruffian is believed to be at sea.”