I had done a little monograph on _Choked Feed in the Blow Torch_, which had attracted attention, and I suppose that altogether I was about as conceited a young puppy as one would find in the profession.

I should mention that at this time I was not married, but had set up a modest apartment of my own with a consulting-room and a single manservant.

Naturally I could not afford the services of a solderist or a gassist and did everything for myself, though Simmons, my man, could at a pinch be utilized to tear down plaster and break furniture." Thornton paused to take a sip of raspberry vinegar and went on: "Well, then.

I had come home to dinner particularly tired after a long day.

I had sat in an attic the greater part of the afternoon (a case of top story valvular trouble) and had had to sit in a cramped position which practically forbade sleep.