said Mr Smith. “What do you think about it all, Ananias?” The grey parrot sidled along his perch, bobbing a sleek head and repeating in a cooing whisper the words of a curse learned long ago in unregenerate foc’sle days. It was now forbidden, and Mr Smith reproved him, tempering his rebuke with a gentle ruffling of the feathers at the side of the bobbing head. “No—no, Ananias! I have no doubt that you are perfectly right, but you must restrain yourself. And I was not asking you whether you thought there had been—er—dirty work, because I am tolerably sure on that point myself.” The parrot lifted an arched claw and stepped off the perch on to his master’s wrist. “Now you know, Ananias, I am expecting Captain Loddon. He said two o’clock, and it will be two o’clock in exactly half a minute from now, so you had better get back to your perch.” The sound of the front door bell and the sound of the parrot’s loud “Awk!” of protest came together. Then the door opened and Miller was announcing Captain Loddon.
