Even supposing he
was cracked, it was absolutely money for nothing.
"'Of course,' he said, 'you'll lose your job and you may be
arrested, but you'll say that you had been out with a few friends
and were a little excited, also that you never could stand white
hats. Stick to that story and the balance of a hundred pounds
will reach you on the following morning.'
"I asked him for further particulars, and I asked him why he had
picked me for the job. He replied that he had been looking for
some time for the right man; a man who was strong enough
physically to accomplish the thing, and someone"--Bampton's eyes
twinkled again--"with a dash of the devil in him, but at the same
time a man who could be relied upon to stick to his guns and not
to give the game away.
"You asked me to be brief, and I'll try to be. The man in the
white hat was described to me, and the exact time and place of
the meeting. I just had to grab his white hat, smash it, and
face the music. I agreed. I don't deny that I had a couple of
stiff drinks before I set out, but the memory of that fifty
pounds locked up here in my room and the further hundred
promised, bucked me up wonderfully. It was impossible to mistake
my man; I could see him coming toward me as I waited just outside
a sort of little restaurant called the Cafe Dame.
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