句中but he took a long time to send

句中but he took a long time to send
The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts,but he took a long time to send them.Meanwhile,the editor was getting impatient,for the magazine would soon go to press.
原文：记者立即出发去核实这些重要的事实,但过了好长时间不见他把数字寄来,在此期间,编辑等得不耐烦了,因为杂志马上要付印.
句中but he took a long time to send them个人理解：他过了很长时间才把它们发送过去.