"No. I arrived four hours earlier than my appointment."

"I beg to congratulate you on that proceeding! When did you take the
Diamond to the bank at the town here?"

"I took it an hour after I had brought it to this house--and three hours
before anybody was prepared for seeing me in these parts."

"I beg to congratulate you again! Did you bring it back here alone?"

"No. I happened to ride back with my cousins and the groom."

"I beg to congratulate you for the third time! If you ever feel inclined
to travel beyond the civilised limits, Mr. Blake, let me know, and I
will go with you. You are a lucky man."

Here I struck in. This sort of thing didn't at all square with my
English ideas.

"You don't really mean to say, sir," I asked, "that they would have
taken Mr. Franklin's life, to get their Diamond, if he had given them
the chance?"

"Do you smoke, Mr. Betteredge?" says the traveller.

"Yes, sir.

"Do you care much for the ashes left in your pipe when you empty it?"