“Penny for your thoughts,” said his wife.
“I'm going out,” said Mr. Scutts, in a voice that defied opposition. “I'm going to 'ave a walk, and when I'm far enough away I'm going to 'ave one or two drinks. I believe this fog is sent a-purpose to save my life.”
Mrs. Scutts remonstrated, but in vain, and at half-past six the invalid, with his cap over his eyes and a large scarf tied round the lower part of his face, listened for a moment at his front door and then disappeared in the fog.
Left to herself, Mrs. Scutts returned to the bedroom and, poking the tiny fire into a blaze, sat and pondered over the willfulness of men.
She was awakened from a doze by a knocking at the street-door. It was just eight o'clock, and, inwardly congratulating her husband on his return to common sense and home, she went down and opened it. Two tall men in silk hats entered the room.
“Mrs. Scutts?” said one of them.
Mrs. Scutts, in a dazed fashion, nodded.
“We have come to see your husband,” said the intruder. “I am a doctor.”
The panic-stricken Mrs. Scutts tried in vain to think.
“He-he's asleep,” she said, at last.