"Well, I congratulate Mr. O’Reilly," said the colonel, his eyes twinkling.  "I gather that but for Mr. Templeton’s road yacht he wouldn’t have got here till after twelve, and he seemed a little hurt when I told him that a few minutes are neither here nor there. One must give a time limit, of course; but I shouldn’t have turned down a good offer that happened to arrive a few minutes late. But what’s this?"