He hastened to his rooms, scarcely
daring to look about him, turned over the clothes in his wardrobe with a
curious dissatisfaction, and dressed himself hastily in as offensive a
combination of garments as he could lay his hands upon. He bought some
common Virginian cigarettes and made his way to the offices of Messrs.
Waddington and Forbes.
Mr. Waddington was unfeignedly glad to see him. His office was
pervaded by a sort of studious calm which, from a business point of
view, seemed scarcely satisfactory. Mr. Waddington himself appeared to
be immersed in a calf-bound volume of Ruskin. He glanced curiously at
his late employee.
"Did you dress in a hurry, Burton?" he inquired. "That combination of
gray trousers and brown coat with a blue tie seems scarcely in your
usual form."
Burton dragged up a chair to the side of his late employer's desk.
"Mr. Waddington," he begged, "don't let me go out of your sight until I
have taken another bean. It came on early this morning. I went through
all my wardrobe to find the wrong sort of clothes, and the only thing
that seemed to satisfy me was to wear odd ones. Whatever you do, don't
lose sight of me. In a few hours' time I shouldn't want to take a bean
at all.
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