Lord Ventnor was no fool. Whilst Iris was transforming herself from a
semi-savage condition into a semblance of an ultra chic
Parisienne--the Orient's dramatic costumier went in for strong
stage effects in feminine attire--Sir Arthur Deane told the Earl
something of the state of affairs on the island.
His lordship--a handsome, saturnine man, cool, insolently polite, and
plentifully endowed with the judgmatical daring that is the necessary
equipment of a society libertine--counseled patience, toleration, even
silent recognition of Anstruther's undoubted claims for services
rendered.
"She is an enthusiastic, high-spirited girl," he urged upon his
surprised hearer, who expected a very different expression of opinion.
"This fellow Anstruther is a plausible sort of rascal, a good man in a
tight place too--just the sort of fire-eating blackguard who would fill
the heroic bill where a fight is concerned. Damn him, he licked me
twice."
Further amazement for the shipowner.
"Yes, it's quite true. I interfered with his little games, and he gave
me the usual reward of the devil's apothecary. Leave Iris alone. At
present she is strung up to an intense pitch of gratitude, having
barely escaped a terrible fate. Let her come back to the normal.
Anstruther's shady record must gradually leak out. That will disgust
her. In a week she will appeal to you to buy him off. He is hard
up--cut off by his people and that sort of thing. There you probably
have the measure of his scheming. He knows quite well that he can never
marry your daughter. It is all a matter of price."
Sir Arthur willingly allowed himself to be persuaded. At the back of
his head there was an uneasy consciousness that it was not "all a
matter of price." If it were he would never trust a man's face again.
But Ventnor's well-balanced arguments swayed him. The course indicated
was the only decent one. It was humanly impossible for a man to chide
his daughter and flout her rescuer within an hour of finding them.
Lord Ventnor played his cards with a deeper design. He bowed to the
inevitable. Iris said she loved his rival. Very well. To attempt to
dissuade her was to throw her more closely into that rival's arms. The
right course was to appear resigned, saddened, compelled against his
will to reveal the distressing truth. Further, he counted on
Anstruther's quick temper as an active agent. Such a man would be the
first to rebel against an assumption of pitying tolerance. He would
bring bitter charges of conspiracy, of unbelievable compact to secure
his ruin. All this must recoil on his own head when the facts were laid
bare. Not even the hero of the island could prevail against the
terrible indictment of the court-martial. Finally, at Singapore, three
days distant, Colonel Costobell and his wife were staying. Lord
Ventnor, alone of those on board, knew this. Indeed, he accompanied Sir
Arthur Deane largely in order to break off a somewhat trying
entanglement. He smiled complacently as he thought of the effect on
Iris of Mrs. Costobell's indignant remonstrances when the baronet asked
that injured lady to tell the girl all that had happened at Hong Kong.
In a word, Lord Ventnor was most profoundly annoyed, and he cursed
Anstruther from the depths of his heart. But he could see a way out.
The more desperate the emergency the more need to display finesse.
Above all, he must avoid an immediate rupture.
He came ashore with Iris and her father; the captain of the
Orient also joined the party. The three men watched Robert and
the girl walking towards them from the group of officers.
"Anstruther is a smart-looking fellow," commented Captain Fitzroy. "Who
is he?"
Truth to tell, the gallant commander of the Orient was secretly
amazed by the metamorphosis effected in Robert's appearance since he
scrutinized him through his glasses. Iris, too, unaccustomed to the
constraint of high-heeled shoes, clung to the nondescript's arm in a
manner that shook the sailor's faith in Lord Ventnor's pretensions as
her favored suitor.
Poor Sir Arthur said not a word, but his lordship was quite at ease--
"From his name, and from what Deane tells me, I believe he is an
ex-officer of the Indian Army."
"Ah. He has left the service?"
"Yes. I met him last in Hong Kong."
"Then you know him?"
"Quite well, if he is the man I imagine."
"That is really very nice of Ventnor," thought the shipowner. "The last
thing I should credit him with would be a forgiving disposition."
Meanwhile Anstruther was reading Iris a little lecture. "Sweet one," he
explained to her, "do not allude to me by my former rank. I am not
entitled to it. Some day, please God, it will be restored to me. At
present I am a plain civilian."
"I think you very handsome."
"Don't tease, there's a good girl. It is not fair with all these people
looking."
"But really, Robert, only since you scraped off the upper crust have I
been able to recognize you again. I remember now that I thought you
were a most distinguished looking steward."
"Well, I am helpless. I cannot even squeeze you. By the way, Iris,
during the next few days say nothing about our mine."
"Oh, why not?"
"Just a personal whim. It will please me."
"If it pleases you, Robert, I am satisfied."
He pressed her arm by way of answer. They were too near to the waiting
trio for other comment.
"Captain Fitzroy," cried Iris, "let me introduce Mr. Anstruther to you.
Lord Ventnor, you have met Mr. Anstruther before."
The sailor shook hands. Lord Ventnor smiled affably.
"Your enforced residence on the island seems to have agreed with you,"
he said.
"Admirably. Life here had its drawbacks, but we fought our enemies in
the open. Didn't we, Iris?"
"Yes, dear. The poor Dyaks were not sufficiently modernized to attack
us with false testimony."
His lordship's sallow face wrinkled somewhat. So Iris knew of the
court-martial, nor was she afraid to proclaim to all the world that
this man was her lover. As for Captain Fitzroy, his bushy eyebrows
disappeared into his peaked cap when he heard the manner of their
speech.
Nevertheless Ventnor smiled again.
"Even the Dyaks respected Miss Deane," he said.
But Anstruther, sorry for the manifest uneasiness of the shipowner,
repressed the retort on his lips, and forthwith suggested that they
should walk to the north beach in the first instance, that being the
scene of the wreck.
During the next hour he became auditor rather than narrator. It was
Iris who told of his wild fight against wind and waves, Iris who showed
them where he fought with the devil-fish, Iris who expatiated on the
long days of ceaseless toil, his dauntless courage in the face of every
difficulty, the way in which he rescued her from the clutch of the
savages, the skill of his preparations against the anticipated attack,
and the last great achievement of all, when, time after time, he foiled
the Dyaks' best-laid plans, and flung them off, crippled and
disheartened, during the many phases of the thirty hours' battle.
She had an attentive audience. Most of the Orient's officers
quietly came up and followed the girl's glowing recital with breathless
interest. Robert vainly endeavored more than once to laugh away her
thrilling eulogy. But she would have none of it. Her heart was in her
words. He deserved this tribute of praise, unstinted, unmeasured,
abundant in its simple truth, yet sounding like a legend spun by some
romantic poet, were not the grim evidences of its accuracy visible on
every hand.
She was so volubly clear, so precise in fact, so subtle in her clever
delineations of humorous or tragic events, that her father was
astounded, and even Anstruther silently admitted that a man might live
until he equaled the years of a Biblical patriarch without discovering
all the resources of a woman.
There were tears in her eyes when she ended; but they were tears of
thankful happiness, and Lord Ventnor, a silent listener who missed
neither word nor look, felt a deeper chill in his cold heart as he
realized that this woman's love could never be his. The knowledge
excited his passion the more. His hatred of Anstruther now became a
mania, an insensate resolve to mortally stab this meddler who always
stood in his path.
Robert hoped that his present ordeal was over. It had only begun. He
was called on to answer questions without number. Why had the tunnel
been made? What was the mystery of the Valley of Death? How did he
manage to guess the dimensions of the sun-dial? How came he to acquire
such an amazing stock of out-of-the-way knowledge of the edible
properties of roots and trees? How? Why? Where? When? They never would
be satisfied, for not even the British navypoking its nose into the
recesses of the world--often comes across such an amazing story as the
adventures of this couple on Rainbow Island.
He readily explained the creation of quarry and cave by telling them of
the vein of antimony embedded in the rock near the fault. Antimony is
one of the substances that covers a multitude of doubts. No one, not
excepting the doctors who use it, knows much about it, and in Chinese
medicine it might be a chief factor of exceeding nastiness.
Inside the cavern, the existence of the partially completed shaft to
the ledge accounted for recent disturbances on the face of the rock,
and new-comers could not, of course, distinguish the bones of poor
"J.S." as being the remains of a European.
Anstruther was satisfied that none of them hazarded the remotest guess
as to the value of the gaunt rock they were staring at, and chance
helped him to baffle further inquiry.
A trumpeter on board the Orient was blowing his lungs out to
summon them to luncheon, when Captain Fitzroy put a final query.
"I can quite understand," he said to Robert, "that you have an
affection for this weird place."
"I should think so indeed," muttered the stout midshipman, glancing at
Iris.
"But I am curious to know," continued the commander, "why you lay claim
to the island? You can hardly intend to return here."
He pointed to Robert's placard stuck on the rock.
Anstruther paused before he answered. He felt that Lord Ventnor's dark
eyes were fixed on him. Everybody was more or less desirous to have
this point cleared up. He looked the questioner squarely in the face.
"In some parts of the world," he said, "there are sunken reefs,
unknown, uncharted, on which many a vessel has been lost without any
contributory fault on the part of her officers?"
"Undoubtedly."
"Well, Captain Fitzroy, when I was stationed with my regiment in Hong
Kong I encountered such a reef, and wrecked my life on it. At least,
that is how it seemed to me then. Fortune threw me ashore here, after a
long and bitter submergence. You can hardly blame me if I cling to the
tiny speck of land that gave me salvation."
"No," admitted the sailor. He knew there was something more in the
allegory than the text revealed, but it was no business of his.
"Moreover," continued Robert smilingly, "you see I have a partner."
"There cannot be the slightest doubt about the partner," was the prompt
reply.
Then every one laughed, Iris more than any, though Sir Arthur Deane's
gaiety was forced, and Lord Ventnor could taste the acidity of his own
smile.
Later in the day the first lieutenant told his chief of Anstruther's
voluntary statement concerning the court-martial. Captain Fitzroy was
naturally pained by this unpleasant revelation, but he took exactly the
same view as that expressed by the first lieutenant in Robert's
presence.
Nevertheless he pondered the matter, and seized an early opportunity of
mentioning it to Lord Ventnor. That distinguished nobleman was vastly
surprised to learn how Anstruther had cut the ground from beneath his
feet.
"Yes," he said, in reply to the sailor's request for information, "I
know all about it. It could not well be otherwise, seeing that next to
Mrs. Costobell I was the principal witness against him."
"That must have been d----d awkward for you," was the unexpected
comment.
"Indeed! Why?"
"Because rumor linked your name with that of the lady in a somewhat
outspoken way."
"You astonish me. Anstruther certainly made some stupid allegations
during the trial; but I had no idea he was able to spread this
malicious report subsequently."
"I am not talking of Hong Kong, my lord, but of Singapore, months
later."
Captain Fitzroy's tone was exceedingly dry. Indeed, some people might
deem it offensive.
His lordship permitted himself the rare luxury of an angry scowl.
"Rumor is a lying jade at the best," he said curtly. "You must
remember, Captain Fitzroy, that I have uttered no word of scandal about
Mr. Anstruther, and any doubts concerning his conduct can be set at
rest by perusing the records of his case in the Adjutant-General's
office at Hong Kong."
"Hum!" said the sailor, turning on his heel to enter the chart-room.
This was no way to treat a real live lord, a personage of some
political importance, too, such as the Special Envoy to Wang Hai.
Evidently, Iris was no mean advocate. She had already won for the
"outcast" the suffrages of the entire ship's company.
The girl and her father went back to the island with Robert. After
taking thought, the latter decided to ask Mir Jan to remain in
possession until he returned. There was not much risk of another Dyak
invasion. The fate of Taung S'Ali's expedition would not encourage a
fresh set of marauders, and the Mahommedan would be well armed to meet
unforeseen contingencies, whilst on his, Anstruther's, representations
the Orient would land an abundance of stores. In any event, it
was better for the native to live in freedom on Rainbow Island than to
be handed over to the authorities as an escaped convict, which must be
his immediate fate no matter what magnanimous view the Government of
India might afterwards take of his services.
Mir Jan's answer was emphatic. He took off his turban and placed it on
Anstruther's feet.
"Sahib," he said, "I am your dog. If, some day, I am found worthy to be
your faithful servant, then shall I know that Allah has pardoned my
transgressions. I only killed a man because--"
"Peace, Mir Jan. Let him rest."
"Why is he worshiping you, Robert?" demanded Iris.
He told her.
"Really," she cried, "I must keep up my studies in Hindustani. It is
quite too sweet."
And then, for the benefit of her father, she rattled off into a
spirited account of her struggles with the algebraic x and the Urdu
compound verb.
Sir Arthur Deane managed to repress a sigh. In spite of himself he
could not help liking Anstruther. The man was magnetic, a hero, an
ideal gentleman. No wonder his daughter was infatuated with him. Yet
the future was dark and storm-tossed, full of sinister threats and
complications. Iris did not know the wretched circumstances which had
come to pass since they parted, and which had changed the whole aspect
of his life. How could he tell her? Why should it be his miserable lot
to snatch the cup of happiness from her lips? In that moment of silent
agony he wished he were dead, for death alone could remove the burthen
laid on him. Well, surely he might bask in the sunshine of her laughter
for another day. No need to embitter her joyous heart until he was
driven to it by dire necessity.
So he resolutely brushed aside the woe-begone phantom of care, and
entered into the abandon of the hour with a zest that delighted
her. The dear girl imagined that Robert, her Robert, had made another
speedy conquest, and Anstruther himself was much elated by the sudden
change in Sir Arthur Deane's demeanor.
They behaved like school children on a picnic. They roared over Iris's
troubles in the matter of divided skirts, too much divided to be at all
pleasant. The shipowner tasted some of her sago bread, and vowed it was
excellent. They unearthed two bottles of champagne, the last of the
case, and promised each other a hearty toast at dinner. Nothing would
content Iris but that they should draw a farewell bucketful of water
from the well and drench the pitcher-plant with a torrential shower.
Robert carefully secured the pocket-books, money and other effects
found on their dead companions. The baronet, of course, knew all the
principal officers of the Sirdar. He surveyed these mournful
relics with sorrowful interest.
"The Sirdar was the crack ship of my fleet, and Captain Ross my
most trusted commander," he said. "You may well imagine, Mr.
Anstruther, what a cruel blow it was to lose such a vessel, with all
these people on board, and my only daughter amongst them. I wonder now
that it did not kill me."
"She was a splendid sea-boat, sir. Although disabled, she fought
gallantly against the typhoon. Nothing short of a reef would break her
up."
"Ah, well," sighed the shipowner, "the few timbers you have shown me
here are the remaining assets out of £300,000."
"Was she not insured?" inquired Robert.
"No; that is, I have recently adopted a scheme of mutual
self-insurance, and the loss falls pro rata on my other
vessels."
The baronet glanced covertly at Iris. The words conveyed little meaning
to her. Indeed, she broke in with a laugh--
"I am afraid I have heard you say, father dear, that some ships in the
fleet paid you best when they ran ashore."
"Yes, Iris. That often happened in the old days. It is different now.
Moreover, I have not told you the extent of my calamities. The
Sirdar was lost on March 18, though I did not know it for
certain until this morning. But on March 25 the Bahadur was sunk
in the Mersey during a fog, and three days later the Jemadar
turned turtle on the James and Mary shoal in the Hooghly. Happily there
were no lives lost in either of these cases."
Even Iris was appalled by this list of casualties.
"My poor, dear dad!" she cried. "To think that all these troubles
should occur the very moment I left you!"
Yet she gave no thought to the serious financial effect of such a
string of catastrophes. Robert, of course, appreciated this side of the
business, especially in view of the shipowner's remark about the
insurance. But Sir Arthur Deane's stiff upper lip deceived him. He
failed to realize that the father was acting a part for his daughter's
sake.
Oddly enough, the baronet did not seek to discuss with them the
legal-looking document affixed near the cave. It claimed all rights in
the island in their joint names, and this was a topic he wished to
avoid. For the time, therefore, the younger man had no opportunity of
taking him into his confidence, and Iris held faithfully to her promise
of silence.
The girl's ragged raiment, sou'wester, and strong boots were already
packed away on board. She now rescued the Bible, the copy of Tennyson's
poems, the battered tin cup, her revolver, and the Lee-Metford which
"scared" the Dyaks when they nearly caught Anstruther and Mir Jan
napping. Robert also gathered for her an assortment of Dyak hats,
belts, and arms, including Taung S'Ali's parang and a sumpitan. These
were her trophies, the spolia opima of the campaign.
His concluding act was to pack two of the empty oil tins with all the
valuable lumps of auriferous quartz he could find where he shot the
rubbish from the cave beneath the trees. On top of these he placed some
antimony ore, and Mir Jan, wondering why the sahib wanted the stuff,
carried the consignment to the waiting boat. Lieutenant Playdon, in
command of the last party of sailors to quit the island, evidently
expected Mir Jan to accompany them, but Anstruther explained that the
man would await his return, some time in June or July.
Sir Arthur Deane found himself speculating on the cause of this
extraordinary resolve, but, steadfast to his policy of avoiding
controversial matters, said nothing. A few words to the captain
procured enough stores to keep the Mahommedan for six months at least,
and whilst these were being landed, the question was raised how best to
dispose of the Dyaks.
The commander wished to consult the convenience of his guests.
"If we go a little out of our way and land them in Borneo," he said,
"they will be hanged without troubling you further. If I take them to
Singapore they will be tried on your evidence and sent to penal
servitude. Which is it to be?"
It was Iris who decided.
"I cannot bear to think of more lives being sacrificed," she protested.
"Perhaps if these men are treated mercifully and sent to their homes
after some punishment their example may serve as a deterrent to
others."
So it was settled that way. The anchor rattled up to its berth and the
Orient turned her head towards Singapore. As she steadily passed
away into the deepening azure, the girl and her lover watched the
familiar outlines of Rainbow Island growing dim in the evening light.
For a long while they could see Mir Jan's tall, thin figure motionless
on a rock at the extremity of Europa Point. Their hut, the reef, the
ledge, came into view as the cruiser swung round to a more northerly
course.
Iris had thrown an arm across her father's shoulders. The three were
left alone just then, and they were silent for many minutes. At last,
the flying miles merged the solitary palm beyond the lagoon with the
foliage on the cliff. The wide cleft of Prospect Park grew less
distinct. Mir Jan's white-clothed figure was lost in the dark
background. The island was becoming vague, dream-like, a blurred
memory.
"Robert," said the girl devoutly, "God has been very good to us."
"Yes," he replied. "I was thinking, even this instant, of the verse
that is carved on the gate of the Memorial Well at Cawnpore: 'These are
they which came out of great tribulation.' We, too, have come out of
great tribulation, happily with our lives--and more. The decrees of
fate are indeed inscrutable."
Iris turned to him a face roseate with loving comprehension.
"Do you remember this hour yesterday?" she murmured--"how we suffered
from thirst--how the Dyaks began their second attack from the
ridge--how you climbed down the ladder and I followed you? Oh father,
darling," she went on impulsively, tightening her grasp, "you will
never know how brave he was, how enduring, how he risked all for me and
cheered me to the end, even though the end seemed to be the grave."
"I think I am beginning to understand now," answered the shipowner,
averting his eyes lest Iris should see the tears in them. Their Calvary
was ended, they thought--was it for him to lead them again through the
sorrowful way? It was a heartrending task that lay before him, a task
from which his soul revolted. He refused even to attempt it. He sought
forgetfulness in a species of mental intoxication, and countenanced his
daughter's love idyll with such apparent approval that Lord Ventnor
wondered whether Sir Arthur were not suffering from senile decay.
The explanation of the shipowner's position was painfully simple. Being
a daring yet shrewd financier, he perceived in the troubled condition
of the Far East a magnificent opportunity to consolidate the trading
influence of his company. He negotiated two big loans, one, of a
semi-private nature, to equip docks and railways in the chief maritime
province of China, the other of a more public character, with the
Government of Japan. All his own resources, together with those of his
principal directors and shareholders, were devoted to these objects.
Contemporaneously, he determined to stop paying heavy insurance
premiums on his fleet and make it self-supporting, on the well-known
mutual principle.
His vessels were well equipped, well manned, replete with every modern
improvement, and managed with great commercial skill. In three or four
years, given ordinary trading luck, he must have doubled his own
fortune and earned a world-wide reputation for far-seeing sagacity.
No sooner were all his arrangements completed than three of his best
ships went down, saddling his company with an absolute loss of nearly
£600,000, and seriously undermining his financial credit. A
fellow-director, wealthy and influential, resigned his seat on the
board, and headed a clique of disappointed stockholders. At once the
fair sky became overcast. A sound and magnificent speculation
threatened to dissolve in the Bankruptcy Court.
Sir Arthur Deane's energy and financial skill might have enabled him to
weather this unexpected gale were it not for the apparent loss of his
beloved daughter with the crack ship of his line. Half-frenzied with
grief, he bade his enemies do their worst, and allowed his affairs to
get into hopeless confusion whilst he devoted himself wholly to the
search for Iris and her companions. At this critical juncture Lord
Ventnor again reached his side. His lordship possessed a large private
fortune and extensive estates. He was prudent withal, and knew how
admirably the shipowner's plans would develop if given the necessary
time. He offered the use of his name and money. He more than filled the
gap created by the hostile ex-director. People argued that such a
clever man, just returning from the Far East after accomplishing a
public mission of some importance, must be a reliable guide. The mere
cabled intelligence of his intention to join the board restored
confidence and credit.
But--there was a bargain. If Iris lived, she must become the Countess
of Ventnor. His lordship was weary of peripatetic love-making. It was
high time he settled down in life, took an interest in the legislature,
and achieved a position in the world of affairs. He had a chance now.
The certain success of his friend's project, the fortunate completion
of his own diplomatic undertaking, marriage with a beautiful and
charming woman--these items would consolidate his career. If Iris were
not available, plenty of women, high-placed in society, would accept
such an eligible bachelor. But his heart was set on Iris. She was
honest, high-principled, pure in body and mind, and none prizes these
essentials in a wife more than a worn-out roué.
He seized the first opportunity that presented itself to make Sir
Arthur Deane acquainted with a decision already dreaded by the
unfortunate shipowner. Iris must either abandon her infatuation for
Anstruther or bring about the ruin of her father. There was no mean.
"If she declines to become Countess of Ventnor, she can marry whom she
likes, as you will be all paupers together," was the Earl's caustic
summing up.
This brutal argument rather overshot the mark. The shipowner's face
flushed with anger, and Lord Ventnor hastened to retrieve a false step.
"I didn't exactly mean to put it that way, Deane, but my temper is a
little short these days. My position on board this ship is intolerable.
As a matter of fair dealing to me, you should put a stop to your
daughter's attitude towards Anstruther, on the ground that her
engagement is neither approved of by you nor desirable under any
consideration."
It may be assumed from this remark that even the Earl's sardonic temper
was ruffled by the girl's outrageous behavior. Nor was it exactly
pleasant to him to note how steadily Anstruther advanced in the favor
of every officer on the ship. By tacit consent the court-martial was
tabooed, at any rate until the Orient reached Singapore. Every
one knew that the quarrel lay between Robert and Ventnor, and it is not
to be wondered at if Iris's influence alone were sufficient to turn the
scale in favor of her lover.
The shipowner refused point-blank to interfere in any way during the
voyage.
"You promised your co-operation in business even if we found that the
Sirdar had gone down with all hands," he retorted bitterly. "Do
you wish me to make my daughter believe she has come back into my life
only to bring me irretrievable ruin?"
"That appears to be the result, no matter how you may endeavor to
disguise it."
"I thought the days were gone when a man would wish to marry a woman
against her will."
"Nonsense! What does she know about it? The glamour of this island
romance will soon wear off. It would be different if Anstruther were
able to maintain her even decently. He is an absolute beggar, I tell
you. Didn't he ship on your own vessel as a steward? Take my tip,
Deane. Tell him how matters stand with you, and he will cool off."
He believed nothing of the sort, but he was desperately anxious that
Iris should learn the truth as to her father's dilemma from other lips
than his own. This would be the first point gained. Others would
follow.
The two men were conversing in the Earl's cabin. On the deck overhead a
very different chat was taking place.
The Orient was due in Singapore that afternoon. Iris was invited
into the chart-room on some pretext, and Lieutenant Playdon, delegated
by the commander and the first lieutenant, buttonholed Robert.
With sailor-like directness he came straight to the point--
"A few of us have been talking about you, Anstruther, and we cannot be
far wrong in assuming that you are hard up. The fact that you took a
steward's job on the Sirdar shows your disinclination to appeal
to your own people for funds. Now, once you are ashore, you will be
landed in difficulties. To cut any further explanations, I am
commissioned to offer you a loan of fifty pounds, which you can repay
when you like."
Robert's mouth tightened somewhat. For the moment he could not find
words. Playdon feared he was offended.
"I am sorry, old chap, if we are mistaken," he said hesitatingly; "but
we really thought--"
"Please do not endeavor to explain away your generous act," exclaimed
Anstruther. "I accept it thankfully, on one condition."
"Blow the condition. But what is it?"
"That you tell me the names of those to whom I am indebted besides
yourself."
"Oh, that is easy enough. Fitzroy and the first luff are the others. We
kept it to a small circle, don't you know. Thought you would prefer
that."
Anstruther smiled and wrung his hand. There were some good fellows left
in the world after all. The three officers acted in pure good nature.
They were assisting a man apparently down in his luck, who would soon
be called on to face other difficulties by reason of his engagement to
a girl apparently so far removed from him in station. And the last
thing they dreamed of was that their kindly loan was destined to yield
them a better return than all the years of their naval service, for
their fifty pounds had gone into the pocket of a potential millionaire,
who was endowed with the faculty, rare in millionaires, of not
forgetting the friends of his poverty-stricken days.