try," she said firmly.

"I am in your hands," he acquiesced.

"I couldn't come last night," she explained. "That beast of a Montague
watched me all the evening.--Now let me get your breakfast up, in case
we are interrupted."

There followed five minutes of the new sport, after which Jacob found
himself with a thermos flask filled with coffee, a packet of
hard-boiled eggs, and more sandwiches.

"I should think that ought to see you through," she said. "Things will
probably happen to-day."

"What sort of things?" he demanded eagerly.

She shook her head.

"I shan't tell you anything! Only I'm doing my best."

He leaned a little farther out of the aperture.

"You're an amazing person," he declared. "I can't tell you, Lady Mary,
how grateful I feel to you. You've enabled me to keep my end up. I
should have hated being robbed by those blackguards--Hartwell and
Montague, I mean," he concluded hastily.

She sighed.

"Really, I have been rather unselfish," she ruminated. "I suppose we
should all have been quite flush for a month or two if this little
adventure had come off."

"Adventure?" Jacob repeated dubiously.

"That's just how it seems to father," she continued. "I suppose you
wonder I'm not more embarrassed when I speak about him. I'm not a bit.
As he remarked himself, he's only trying to modernise the predatory
instincts of a governing clan."

"That's how he looks at it, is it?" Jacob murmured.

She nodded.

"It's in the atmosphere up here."

"How's the Glasgow Daisy?" he enquired, after a moment's awkward
pause.

"Broken ankle," she told him. "They're in a terrible state. He'll have
to cancel all his fights, and I heard Mr. Montague say last night that
it will cost them the best part of a thousand pounds to settle with
him.... Listen!"

A moment's silence, then Lady Mary settled down to her oars.

"Voices!" she exclaimed. "I'm off."

Jacob looked through the aperture on the landward side and saw
pleasant things. First of all, through the mist, loomed up the figure
of Montague, approaching at the double. Behind came Felixstowe,
rapidly gaining upon him.

"Hi, you," the latter cried, as Montague stooped to unfasten the boat,
"let that rope alone!"

Montague turned around and hesitated. His pursuer stood by his side.

"I'll relieve you, my pretty fellow," he said. "Hand over the key of
the tower. Come along, now. Three seconds."

Montague contemplated Felixstowe's somewhat weedy but not