And
when we paused upon the foot-bridge, the houses along the bank were
still in peace and darkness.
Knowing my Raffles as I did, I was not surprised when he dived
under one end of this bridge, and came up with his Inverness cape
and opera hat, which he had hidden there on his way to the house.
The thick socks were peeled from his patent-leathers, the ragged
trousers stripped from an evening pair, bloodstains and Newgate
fringe removed at the water's edge, and the whole sepulchre whited
in less time than the thing takes to tell. Nor was that enough for
Raffles, but he must alter me as well, by wearing my overcoat under
his cape, and putting his Zingari scarf about my neck.
"And now," said he, "you may be glad to hear there's a 3:12 from
Surbiton, which we could catch on all. fours. If you like we'll go
separately, but I don't think there's the slightest danger now,
and I begin to wonder what's happening to old blow-pipes."
So, indeed, did I, and with no small concern, until I read of his
adventures (and our own) in the newspapers. It seemed that he had
made a gallant spurt into the road, and there paid the penalty of
his rashness by a sudden incapacity to move another inch.
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