"Heaven knows," he went on, "what they are saying and doing in
Manchester! But what can they say? 'What business is it of
theirs? I was there when play stopped, and I shall be there when
it starts again. We shall be at Waterloo just after half-past
three, and that's going to give me an hour at the Albany on my
way to Euston, and another hour at Old Trafford before play begins.
What's the matter with that? I don't suppose I shall notch any
more, but all. the better if I don't; if we have a hot sun after
the storm, the sooner they get in the better; and may I have
a bowl at them while the ground bites!"
"I'll come up with you," I said, "and see you at it."
"My dear fellow," replied Raffles, "that was my whole feeling about
you. I wanted to 'see you at it' - that was absolutely all. I
wanted to be near enough to lend a hand if you got tied up, as the
best of us will at times. I knew the ground better than you, and
I simply couldn't keep away from it. But I didn't mean you to know
that I was there; if everything had gone as I hoped it might, I
should have sneaked back to town without ever letting you know I
had been up.
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