She wondered languidly as to their
errand in this unsavoury neighbourhood. Then she closed her eyes
altogether and wondered about many things.
Sir Timothy and his companion walked along the crowded, squalid
street without speech. Presently they turned to the right and
stopped in front of a public-house of some pretensions.
"This is the place?" Sir Timothy asked.
"Yes, sir!"
Both men entered. Sir Timothy made his way to the counter, his
companion to a table near, where he took a seat and ordered a
drink. Sir Timothy did the same. He was wedged in between a
heterogeneous crowd of shabby, depressed but apparently not
ill-natured men and women. A man in a flannel shirt and pair of
shabby plaid trousers, which owed their precarious position to a
pair of worn-out braces, turned a beery eye upon the newcomer.
"I'll 'ave one with you, guvnor," he said.
"You shall indeed," Sir Timothy assented.
"Strike me lucky but I've touched first time!" the man exclaimed.
"I'll 'ave a double tot of whisky," he added, addressing the
barman. "Will it run to it, guvnor?"
"Certainly," was the cordial reply, "and the same to your
friends, if you will answer a question."
"Troop up, lads," the man shouted. "We've a toff 'ere. He ain't
a 'tec--I know the cut of them.
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