at the Herr Englishman has the
whisky?"

"The water bottles are filled with nothing else, Herr Doctor," the man
replied.

"There is no water or soda water in the pack?"

"Not one drop, Herr Doctor."

"How much food?"

"One day's rations."

"The beef is salt?"

"It is very salt, Herr Doctor."

"And the compass?"

"It is ten degrees wrong."

"The boys have their orders?"

"They understand perfectly, Herr Doctor. If the Englishman does not
drink, they will take him at midnight to where His Excellency will be
encamped at the bend of the Blue River."

The doctor sighed. He was not at heart an unkindly man.

"I think," he murmured, "it will be better for the Englishman that he
drinks."

CHAPTER III

Mr. John Lambert Mangan of Lincoln's Inn gazed at the card which a
junior clerk had just presented in blank astonishment, an astonishment
which became speedily blended with dismay.

"Good God, do you see this, Harrison?" he exclaimed, passing it over
to his manager, with whom he had been in consultation. "Dominey--Sir
Everard Dominey--back here in England!"

The head clerk glanced at the narrow piece of pasteboard and sighed.

"I'm afraid you will find him rather a troublesome client, sir," he
remarked.

His employer frowned. "Of course I shall," he answered testily. "There
isn't an extra penny to be had out of the estates--you know that,
Harrison. The last two quarters' allowance which we sent to Africa came
out of the timber. Why the mischief didn't he stay where he was!"

"What shall I tell the gentleman, sir?" the boy enquired.

"Oh, show him in!" Mr. Mangan directed ill-temperedly. "I suppose I
shall have to see him sooner or later. I'll finish these affidavits
after lunch, Harrison."

The solicitor composed his features to welcome a client who, however
troublesome his affairs had become, still represented a family who had
been valued patrons of the firm for several generations. He was prepared
to greet a seedy-looking and degenerate individual, looking older than
his years. Instead, he found himself extending his hand to one of the
best turned out and handsomest men who had ever crossed the threshold
of his not very inviting office. For a moment he stared at his visitor,
speechless. Then certain points of familiarity--the well-shaped nose,
the rather deep-set grey eyes--presented themselves. This surprise
enabled him to infuse a little real heartiness into his welcome.

"My dear Sir Evera