ma Juliette_!" he assured her gallantly. "But don't forget the
moral of my parable! When you jump--jump high!"

She nodded thoughtfully. "No, I shan't forget. You're a good friend,
Charles Rex."

"I may be," said Saltash enigmatically.

CHAPTER V

THE THUNDERBOLT

Juliet lunched at the Court in Dick's absence. They thought her somewhat
graver and quieter than usual, but there was a gentle aloofness about her
that checked all intimate enquiry.

"You are not feeling anxious about the miners?" Vera asked her once.

To which Juliet replied, "Oh no! Not in the least. Dick has such a
wonderful influence over the men. They would never do any brawling with
him there."

"He has no business to drag you into it all the same," said the squire.

She looked at him, faintly smiling. "Do you imagine for one moment that I
would stay behind? Besides, there is really no danger. His only fear is
possible friction between the miners and the fishermen. They never have
loved each other, and in their present mood it wouldn't take much to set
the miners alight."

"I'd let 'em burn!" said the squire.

"They have some cause for grievance," she urged. "At least Dick
thinks so."

"Well, and who hasn't, I should like to know?" he returned with warmth.
"How many people are there in the world who don't feel that if they had
their rights they'd be a good deal better off in one respect or another
than they are? But there's no sense in trying to stop the world going
round on that account. That's always the way with these miner chaps.
What's the rest of the community matter so long as they get all they
want? They're not sportsmen. They hit below the belt every time."

"That's just it," Juliet said. "Dick is trying to teach them to be
sportsmen."

"Oh, Dick!" said the squire. "He'd reform the world if he could. But he's
wasting his time. They won't be satisfied till they've had their fling.
Lord Wilchester is a wise man to keep out of the way till it's over."

"I'm afraid I don't agree with you there," Juliet said, flushing a
little. "He might at least hear what they have to say. But they can't get
hold of him. He is abroad."

"But Yardley is left," said the squire. "I suppose he has power to act."

"Perhaps," she said, the moment's animation passing. "But it is
Wilchester's business--not his. He shirks his duty."

"I notice you never have a good word for any of the Farringmore family,"
said the squire quizzically.

She sho