ying with you!" said Mrs. Dutton.

"Reg'lar old sea-dog," said Mr. Burton again; "and, besides, he don't
want it known. It's a secret between us three, Mrs. Dutton."

"To be sure," said the widow. "You can tell the admiral that I shall not
mention it to a soul," she added, mincingly.

Mr. Burton thanked her and withdrew, lest Mr. Stiles should follow him up
before apprised of his sudden promotion. He found that gentleman,
however, still sitting at the front door, smoking serenely.

"I'll stay with you for a week or two," said Mr. Stiles, briskly, as soon
as the other had told his story. "It'll do you a world o' good to be
seen on friendly terms with an admiral, and I'll put in a good word for
you."

Mr. Burton shook his head. "No, she might find out," he said, slowly.
"I think that the best thing is for you to go home after dinner, Joe, and
just give 'er a look in on the way, p'r'aps. You could say a lot o'
things about me in 'arf an hour."

"No, George," said Mr. Stiles, beaming on him kindly; "when I put my hand
to the plough I don't draw back. It's a good speaking part, too, an
admiral's. I wonder whether I might use old Peters's language."

"Certainly not," said Mr. Burton, in alarm.

"You don't know how particular she is."

Mr. Stiles sighed, and said that he would do the best he could without
it. He spent most of the day on the beach smoking, and when evening came
shaved himself with extreme care and brushed his serge suit with great
perseverance in preparation for his visit.

Mr. Burton performed the ceremony of introduction with some awkwardness;
Mr. Stiles was affecting a stateliness of manner which was not without
distinction; and Mrs. Dutton, in a black silk dress and the cameo brooch
which had belonged to her mother, was no less important. Mr. Burton had
an odd feeling of inferiority.

[Illustration: "Mr. Stiles was affecting a stateliness of manner which
was not without distinction."]

"It's a very small place to ask you to, Admiral Peters," said the widow,
offering him a chair.

"It's comfortable, ma'am," said Mr. Stiles, looking round approvingly.
"Ah, you should see some of the palaces I've been in abroad; all show and
no comfort. Not a decent chair in the place. And, as for the
antimacassars----"

"Are you making a long stay, Admiral Peters?" inquired the delighted
widow.

"It depends," was the reply. "My intention was just to pay a flying
visit to my honest old friend B