“I use it to dry up the ink of wet manuscript without smudging the writing. Probably a Chinese invention of the second century before Christ, but I’m not sure. The only other use for it that I can think of is to roll it into a ball for a kitten to play with.”

“But you haven’t got a kitten,” said Agatha, with a feminine desire for stating the entire truth on most occasions.

“A stray one might come in at any moment,” I replied.

Anyway, I didn’t get the blotting-paper.