THEY GO HOME 563

a neighbour of mine-told me some time ago he could
get me a good job out there any time. I shall have a
shot at it"

Mr. Smeeth nodded and looked gloomy. There was
no job out East for him, and these remarks of Mr.
Dersingharn's suddenly opened out a vast, dreary pros-
pect. At the moment, he preferred not to think about
the future.

"Look at him, the silly old thing/' said the barmaid,
who had the long cat in her arms now. "Aren't you a
silly old thing, Tom? He's got nice markings though,
hasn't he? Reg'lar, aren't they? Go on then, go down
then, if you want to, Tom. There! Boo! Boo! Just
watch him. He can open the door by himself. Artful
as anything, I can tell you."

Mr. Dersingham gulped down the rest of his whisky
and soda. "Rotten luck. The worst possible. Where I
made the mistake though, Smeeth, was not trusting to
what's-it—instinct, intuition, you know. About Golspie,
I mean. I was trying to be the smart City bounder, with
an eye for a tricky bit of business and nothing else—
y'know, like that awful fellow, Gorstein, and all the rest
of 'em. Not my style at all, really. I didn't like the chap
and I ought to have known he'd do me down. Never
mind, he'll come to a sticky finish before he's done. And
so will that daughter of his. You never met her, did you,
Smeeth? Very good-looking, in the film and chorus girl
style, but a terrible little minx. You ought to hear my
wife on Miss Golspie! She came to my place once-but
never again, never again. That was a queer business,
y'know, Smeeth, about Turgis and that girl, when
Golspie came and said Turgis would have to be sacked
because he'd been up to some mysterious games with the