"A caller, sir--on a night like this?"

"The man he came here to hide from," said Amber.

"I knew 'e was tryin' to dodge somethin', sir; but 'e never told me
aught about it. What kind of a person was 'e, sir, and what made Mr.
Rutton go aw'y with 'im?"

"He didn't; he went after him to...." Amber caught his tongue on the
verge of an indiscretion; no matter what his fears, they were not yet
become a suitable subject for discussion with Rutton's servant. "I
think," he amended lamely, "he had forgotten something."

"And 'e's out there now! My Gawd, what a night!" He hung in hesitation
for a little. "Did 'e wear 'is topcoat and 'at, sir?"

"No; he went suddenly. I don't think he intended to be gone long."

"I'd better go after 'im, then. 'E'll 'ave pneumonia ... I'll just jump
into me clothes and--" He slipped into the back room, to reappear with
surprisingly little delay, fully dressed and buttoning a long ulster
round his throat. "You didn't 'appen to notice which w'y 'e went, sir?"

"As well as I could judge, to the east."

Doggott took down a second ulster and a cap from pegs in the wall.
"I'll do my best to find 'im; 'e might lose 'imself, you know, with no
light nor nothin'."

"And you?"