Leonard picked up his cap and cane and turned to shake hands.

I noticed that the knob of the cane was neatly cased in wash-leather.

Idly I enquired the reason.

He smiled grimly as he slipped off the cover and exposed the polished deep vermilion butt of the life-preserver which Reggie Dacre had described.
"It's a sort of fetish I feel I must carry around with me," he explained.

"When I've got it in my hand, I don't seem to care a damn what I do.