He thought that Beaumaroy might levant with
the treasure; at any moment that unwelcome, though not unfamiliar, tap on
the shoulder, with the words (gratifying under quite other circumstances
and from quite different lips) "I want you," might incapacitate him from
prosecuting his enterprise (he expressed this idea in more homely
idiom--less Latinized was his language, metaphorical indeed, yet terse);
finally he had that healthy distrust of his accomplices which is
essential to success in a career of crime; he thought that Sergeant
Hooper might not deliver the goods!
Sergeant Hooper demurred; he deprecated inconsiderate haste? let the
opportunity be chosen. He had served under Mr. Beaumaroy in France, and
(whatever faults Major-General Punnit might find with that officer)
preferred that he should be off the premises at the moment when Mr.
Bennett and he himself made unauthorized entry thereon. "He's a hot 'un
in a scrap," said the Sergeant, sitting in a public house at Sprotsfield
on Boxing Day evening, Mr. Bennett and sundry other excursionists from
London being present.
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