"I was afraid you were going to spend your whole holiday running backwards and forwards between this and Ballymoy." "I can't take a regular cruise," said Meldon.

"I absolutely must be back here the day after to-morrow.

No matter how carefully you arrange things, there's always a risk of something going wrong.

Quite a trifling accident might upset the entire plan, and I ought to be on the spot to straighten things out directly they begin to get into a tangle." Major Kent made no answer.

He sat smoking until his pipe went out.
Then for a while he sat with the empty pipe in his mouth, sucking at it as if it were still alight.