"What one?"
"A book of sermons," I said, "and a clergyman's outfit. The clergyman's outfit I was compelled to wear, and the book of sermons I was compelled to carry. Damn it, fate has designed this business so far; but if you can explain the presence of a book of sermons and a cler — "
It was at this point that I stopped the car, and Sandy Armitage hopped on the running-board.
"Thank God you're here," he said. "I'll wait till afterwards before I knock your block off, but everything's wrong. Your presence may smooth matters out. It'll go well enough now. We've been having trouble with the parson's nerves — "
"The parson? What's wrong with the parson?"
"You know," said Sandy. "The great pal of the general's, the one he brought over from Canada, and hasn't seen in twenty years, to tie the knot. Well, the parson's been having the hell of a time. It seems he was coming up from Plymouth on the boat-train last night, and two low-down master criminals — a man and a woman-set on him, and… Well, he spent the night in jail in Bristol, and General Cheyne's only just got him out. He's wild. He's mad. He says he doesn't know these crooks' names, but that he's going to devote his life to tracking them down; and if he ever sees them again — '
And from Westminster steeple we heard the half-chime, and Joris broke silence with, "Well, we got two witnesses, anyway. Ken, you better head off the wench quick, and we better duck for the nearest registry office, or you're goin' to spend your wedding-trip in clink after all."