labors can be
considered at an end. I had rushed the professor. It must now be my
aim to keep him from regretting that he had been rushed. I must,
therefore, stick to my post with the tenacity of a boy on a burning
deck. There would be trouble. Of that I was certain. As soon as the
news got about that Ukridge had gone, the deluge would begin. His
creditors would abandon their passive tactics and take active steps.
The siege of Port Arthur would be nothing to it. There was a chance
that aggressive measures would be confined to the enemy at our gates,
the tradesmen of Lyme Regis. But the probability was that the news
would spread and the injured merchants of Dorchester and Axminster
rush to the scene of hostilities. I foresaw unpleasantness.

I summoned Beale after dinner and held a council of war. It was no
time for airy persiflage.

I said, "Beale, we're in the cart."

"Sir?"

"Mr. Ukridge going away like this has left me in a most unpleasant
position. I would like to talk it over with you. I dare say you know
that we--that Mr. Ukridge owes a considerable amount of money
roundabout here to tradesmen?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, when they find out that he has--er--"

"Shot the moon, sir," suggested the hired retainer helpfully.

"Gone up to town," I said. "When they find that he has gone up to
town, they are likely to come bothering us a good deal."

"Yes, sir."

"I fancy that we shall have them all round here by the day after
to-morrow at the latest. Probably earlier. News of this sort always
spreads quickly. The point is, then, what are we to do?"

He propounded no scheme, but stood in an easy attitude of attention,
waiting for me to continue.

I continued.

"Let's see exactly how we stand," I said. "My point is that I
particularly wish to go on living down here for at least another
fortnight. Of course, my position is simple. I am Mr. Ukridge's guest.
I shall go on living as I have been doing up to the present. He asked
me down here to help him look after the fowls, so I shall go on
looking after them. I shall want a chicken a day, I suppose, or
perhaps two, for my meals, and there the thing ends, as far I am
concerned. Complications set in when we come to consider you and Mrs.
Beale. I suppose you won't care to stop on after this?"

The hired retainer scratched his chin and glanced out of the window.
The moon was up and the garden looked cool and mysterious in the dim
light.

"It's a pretty place, Mr.