d Jack an
opportunity to put the craft to the test of actual work.

These important points having been arranged, it was further agreed that,
since the two Montijos were evidently under Spanish surveillance, they
should advertise their connection with the yacht as little as possible,
leaving the matters of the final trials of the vessel, the payment of
the last instalment of her cost, and her transfer to Jack's ownership
entirely in the hands of the agent who had thus far managed the business
for them; taking a holiday on the Continent, meanwhile, and joining the
vessel only at the last moment prior to her departure for Cuba. And it
was further arranged that the ordering and shipment of the arms,
ammunition, and supplies destined for the use of the insurgents should
also be left absolutely in the hands of the agent and Jack conjointly;
by which means the Montijos would effectually avoid embroilment with the
Spanish authorities, while it was hoped that, by occupying the attention
of those authorities themselves, that attention would be completely
diverted from Jack and the yacht. The settlement of these details and
of others incidental to them kept the three conspirators busy until
nearly midnight, when Jack rose to go, having already arranged to leave
the hotel by the side entrance in order to baffle the eminently
respectable "Mr Mackintosh", should that individual happen to be still
on the watch. As it happened, he was; for upon leaving the hotel Jack
sauntered along the Embankment as far as Waterloo Bridge, then made his
way up into Lancaster Place, and there took a cab, in which he drove up
the Strand, where he saw his man, evidently on guard, strolling slowly
to and fro in front of the main entrance to the Cecil.

Now Jack, although a yacht owner, was not a member of any yacht club,
his cutter _Lalage_ being such an out-of-date craft, and so seldom in
use, that he had not thus far thought it worth while to very intimately
identify himself with what is the Englishman's pastime _par excellence_.
But as he thought over the events of the evening while smoking a final
pipe before turning in that night, it occurred to him that if he was to
successfully pose as the owner of a fine new steam-yacht, it was
imperative that he should become a member of some smart club; and as he
happened to have two or three intimate friends who belonged to the Royal
Thames, he decided upon attempting to procure election into that
somewhat