on the Club verandah, "looking like a
sick chimpanzee" as Oakes assured him, "ready to bite--if he dared--at a
moment's notice."

Mrs. Ralston was seated near. She had a motherly eye upon Tommy.

"Now what exactly do you mean by a 'bust-up,' Mr. Oakes?" she asked with
her gentle smile.

Oakes blew a cloud of smoke upwards. He liked airing his opinions,
especially when there were several ladies within earshot.

"What do I mean?" he said, with a pomposity carefully moulded upon the
Colonel's mode of delivery on a guest-night. "I mean, my dear Mrs.
Ralston, that which would have to be suppressed--a rising among the
native element of the State."

"Ape!" growled Tommy under his breath.

Oakes caught the growl, and made a downward motion with his thumb which
only Tommy understood.

Mrs. Burton's soft, false laugh filled the pause that followed his
pronouncement. "Surely no one could openly object to the conviction of a
native murderer!" she said. "I hear that the evidence is quite
conclusive. Captain Monck has spared no pains in that direction."

"Captain Monck," observed Lady Harriet, elevating her long nose, "seems
to be exceptionally well qualified for that kind of service."

"Set a thief to catch a thief, what?" suggested Oakes lightly. "Yes, he
seems to be quite good at it. Just as well in a way, perhaps. Someone
has got to do the dirty work, though it would be preferable for all of
us if he were a policeman by profession."

It was too carelessly spoken to sound actively malevolent. But Tommy,
with his arms gripped round his knees, raised eyes of bloodshot fury to
the speaker's face.

"If any one could take a first class certificate for dirty work, it
would be you," he said, speaking very distinctly between clenched teeth.

A sudden silence fell upon the assembly. Oakes looked down at Tommy, and
Tommy glared up at Oakes.

Then abruptly Major Ralston, who had been standing in the background
with a tall drink in his hand, slouched forward and let himself down
ponderously on the edge of the verandah by Tommy's side.

"Go away, Bertie!" he said. "We've listened to your wind instrument long
enough. Tommy, you shut up, or I'll give you the beastliest physic I
know! What were we talking about? Mary, give us a lead!"

He appealed to his wife, who glanced towards Lady Harriet with a hint of
embarrassment.

Major Ralston at once addressed himself to her. He was never embarrassed
by any one, and never went out o