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Page 21
"Nothing but the cold shoulder, my dear," he answered with a little
chuckle.
"Do you mean to say that they offered you nothing at all?" she
persisted. "You may have been out of the service too long for
them to start you with a modern ship, but surely they could have
given you an auxiliary cruiser, or a secondary command of some sort?"
"They didn't even offer me a washtub, dear," he confessed. "My
name's on a list, they said--"
"Oh, that list!" Philippa interrupted angrily. "Henry, I really
can't bear it. Couldn't they find you anything on land?"
"My dear girl," he replied a little testily, "what sort of a figure
should I cut in an office! No one can read my writing, and I
couldn't add up a column of figures to save my life. What is it?"
he added, as the door opened, and Mills made his appearance.
"Dumble is here to see you, sir."
"Show him in at once," his master directed with alacrity. "Come
in, Jimmy," he went on, raising his voice. "I've got something
to show you here."
Philippa's lips were drawn a little closer together. She swept past
her husband on her way to the door.
"I hope you will be so good," she said, looking back, "as to spare
me half an hour of your valuable time this evening. This is a
subject which I must discuss with you further at once."
"As urgent as all that, eh?" Sir Henry replied, stopping to light
a cigarette. "Righto! You can have the whole of my evening, dear,
with the greatest of pleasure.--Now then, Jimmy!"
CHAPTER VI
Jimmy Dumble possessed a very red face and an extraordinary capacity
for silence. He stood a yard or two inside the room, twirling his
hat in his hand. Sir Henry, after the closing of the door, did
not for a moment address his visitor. There was a subtle but
unmistakable change in his appearance as he stood with his hands in
his pockets, and a frown on his forehead, whistling softly to
himself, his eyes fixed upon the door through which his wife had
vanished. He swung round at last towards the telephone.
"Stand by for a moment, Jimmy, will you?" he directed.
"Aye, aye, sir!"
Sir Henry took up the receiver. He dropped his voice a little,
although it was none the less distinct.
"Number one--police-station, please.--Hullo there! The inspector
about?--That you, Inspector?--Sir Henry Cranston speaking. Could
you just step round?--Good! Tell them to show you straight into
the library. You might just drop a hint to Mills about the lights,
eh? Thank you."
He laid down the receiver and turned towards the fisherman.
"Well, Jimmy," he enquired, "all serene down in the village, eh?"
"So far as I've seen or heard, sir, there ain't been a word spoke
as shouldn't be."
"A lazy lot they are," Sir Henry observed.
"They don't look far beyond the end of their noses."
"Maybe it's as well for us, sir, as they don't," was the cautious
reply.
Sir Henry strolled to the further end of the room.
"Perhaps you are right, Jimmy," he admitted.
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