"See you at the club tonight.

Glad to help welcome you." But there was a shock in store, and as time passed the shocks increased in number and intensity.

Our guns had not been surrendered to us by the customs people.

We had paid duty on them second-hand at the rate for new ones, and had then been told to apply for them at the collector's office, where our names and the guns' numbers would be entered on the register--for a fee.
We now went to claim them, and on the way down inquired at a store about ammunition.

We were told that before we could buy cartridges we would need a permit from the collector specifying how many, and of what bore we might buy.