XII
THE MOUSE-TRAP
Late in the afternoon of the same day, Ember, appearing suddenly in front of the
bungalow, discovered Whitaker sitting up in state; a comfortable wicker chair supported his body and a canvas-seated camp stool one of his feet; which last was discreetly veiled in a dripping bath-towel. Otherwise he was fastidiously arrayed in white flannels and, by his seraphic smile and guileless expression, seemed abnormally at peace with his circumstances.
Halting, Ember surveyed the spectacle with mocking disfavour, as though he felt
himself slightly at a disadvantage. He was, indeed, in a state that furnished an admirable contrast to that of the elegant if disabled idler. His face was scarcely
whiter with the impalpable souvenirs of the road than was his slate-coloured mohair du
