not supposed to be perfect.”

‘“Well, I am not here to bandy words. The second part of your book must be written to suit the rules of our Society. Do you agree, or shall we throw you over that precipice?”

‘“Never. I mean, I don’t agree.”

‘“Then we must write it for you. Remember, sir, that you will be constantly watched, and if you attempt to write that second part yourself—”’ (he paused dramatically). ‘So the second part was written by the committee of the Society. So now you know.’

‘But,’ said I, ‘how do you account for the fight with Slogger Williams?’

‘The president relented slightly towards the end, and consented to Mr Hughes inserting a chapter of his own, on condition that the Society should finish it. And the Society did. See?’

‘But-‘

‘Ticket.’

‘Eh?’

‘Ticket, please, sir.’

I looked up. The guard was standing at the open door. My companion had vanished.

‘Guard,’ said I, as I handed him my ticket, ‘where’s the gentleman who travelled up with me?’

‘Gentleman, sir? I haven’t seen nobody.’

‘Not a man in tweeds with red hair? I mean, in tweeds and owning red hair.’

‘No, sir. You’ve been alone in the carriage all the way up. Must have dreamed it, sir.’

Possibly I did.

End of Project Gutenberg’s Tales of St. Austin’s, by P. G. Wodehouse

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