THE MANNERING MYSTERY Borrowdean was curter than usual, even abrupt.

The calm geniality of his manner had departed.

He spoke in short, terse sentences, and he had the air of a man struggling to subdue a fit of perfectly reasonable and justifiable anger.

It was a carefully cultivated pose.

He even refrained from his customary cigarette.
"Look here, Mannering," he said, "there are times when a few plain words are worth an hour's conversation.