If you mind doing such things, you give so much time to arranging not to do them." Mr.Lanley was silent.

He was deciding that he should rearrange some of the details of his life.

Not that he contemplated giving all his orders from the fifth story, but he saw he had always devoted too much attention to preventing unimportant catastrophes.
Under her direction he was presently driving north; then he turned sharply east down a little hill, and came out on a low, flat pier.

He put out the motor's lights.

They were only a few feet above the water, which was as black as liquid jet, with flat silver and gold patches on it from white and yellow lights.