THEY ARRIVE 57

father somewhere up in the Midlands, lived in lodgings
here in London, and was lucky if he had five pounds in
all the world, would be very hard hit and would not
easily find another job. It would have to be Miss Mat-
field. Yet Miss Matfield, who had a good education
behind her, xvas the more promising worker of the two,
and would take over some of Turgis's work and be glad
to do it. Well, well, this wanted a bit more thinking
about, and, in the meantime, there were a hundred and
one little things to be done.

The three in Mr. Dersingham's room remained there
for the next half-hour, giving no sign of their existence
beyond an occasional rumble of voices. At the end of
that time, the door opened, louder voices and a fresh
reek of cigars invaded the general office, and Mr, Der-
singham called out: "I say, Smeeth, we're all going out.
Shan't be back before lunch. I'll give you a ring if I'm
going to be any later." And then they were gone, leaving
Mr. Smeeth and Turgis staring at one another. The
various lunch-hours, beginning with Stanley's (he went
to the Pavement Dining Rooms and had sausage and
mash, after all), came and went, the afternoon wore on,
and still there was no message from Mr. Dersingham
or Goath. The crescendo of the last hour of the day,
when Stanley turned berserk with the copying press and
Turgis snarled at the telephone and then yelled into it,
had begun when the message actually did arrive.

"Hello, is that you, ol' man—I mean, Smeeth? Der-
singham speakin'." Even through the telephone, a
strangeness, a certain richness, could be remarked in
Mr. Dersingham's voice. He seemed quite excited.

1 'Smeeth speaking, Mr. Dersingham/'

"Good, very good. Well, look here, Smeeth, I shan't