284 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



door open. As he occupied the seat opposite 

 to mine I was able to study him at my leisure, 

 and the more I looked at him the more certain 

 did I become that I had seen him somewhere 

 before. I ^\Tacked my brains to try and remem- 

 ber where we could have met, until it suddenly 

 occurred to me that I had noticed him — or, if 

 not him, his twin brother — in the refreshment- 

 room, half an hour earlier, eating one of those 

 buns which it is the baker's custom to varnish 

 with a light coating of glue, in order possibly to 

 postpone the process of decomposition to the 

 very last moment. I was led to this conclusion 

 by my fellow-passenger's eccentric behaviour. 

 He kept rubbing his hands together in a frenzied 

 fashion, as though desirous of ridding them of 

 some sticky substance; it was, indeed, this 

 peculiar action that guided my memory back 

 to the refreshment-room, and helped me to 

 identify my companion. I was surprised, too, 

 to observe that now and then he would so far 

 forget himself as to wdpe his fingers in his hair 

 in a manner that suggested total ignorance of 

 those niceties of conduct which are the outward 

 and visible signs of innate good breeding. The 

 fact that he was wearing neither hat nor gloves 

 escaped my notice, or perhaps I should not 

 have been so astonished at his lack of manners. 

 As the journey progressed, my companion 



