r maternal
grandmother."

"I've got more than that. I've got an option."

"Great Rameses! Are you the mysterious holder of the option?" Dr.
Alderson laughed long and softly. "This is lovely! Does she know?"

"If she does, it hasn't shaken her confidence."

"Hire Enderby to unravel that," chuckled the other. "Here he comes back
already. His interview must have been brief."

The lawyer approached, halted, set his back against the rail, and gazed
grimly at the Tyro over his lowered spectacles. His client braced
himself for the impending examination.

"Young man," the judge inquired, "what do you legally call yourself?"

"Smith. Alexander Forsyth Smith."

"What do you call yourself when you don't call yourself Smith?"

"Er--you heard! I've sometimes been called Daddleskink by those who
don't know any better. That was only a little joke."

"It's a joke which Captain Herford seems to have taken to heart. He
thinks you're a dangerous criminal traveling under the subtle _alias_ of
Smith."

"Can he lock me up for that?"

"Doubtless he can. But I don't think he will. Who's been sending back
wireless messages about you?"

"Wireless? About me? Heaven knows; I don't."

"Could it have been Mrs. Charlton Denyse?"

"If they were uncomplimentary, it might. I'm afraid she doesn't approve
of me."

"They seem to have been distinctly unfavorable. That Denyse female,"
continued the veteran lawyer, "is a raddled old polecat. Mischief is her
specialty. How did she get on your trail?"

The Tyro explained.

"Hum! I'll bet a cigar with a gold belt around its stomach that the
captain wishes she were out yonder playing with the porpoises. He
doesn't look happy."

"What ails him?" inquired Dr. Alderson.

"Five different messages from Henry Clay Wayne, to begin with. Also, I
fear my interview with him didn't have a sedative effect."

"What did you say to him?" asked his client.

"I informed him that I'd been retained by our young friend here, and
that if he were restrained of his liberty without due cause we would
promptly bring suit against the line. Thereupon he tried to bluff me.
It's a melancholy thing, Alderson," sighed the tough old warrior of a
thousand legal battles, "to look as easy and browbeatable as I do. It
wastes a lot of my time--and other people's."

"Did it waste much of the captain's on this occasion?"

"No. He threatened to lock me up, too. I told him if he did, he and his
company would have another