"And a very enjoyable scrap," said Bernard, with kindling eyes. "Thanks!
I wouldn't have missed it for the world,--the damn' dirty blackguards!"

"Was Mrs. Monck much upset?" asked Sir Reginald. "I have never yet had
the pleasure of meeting her."

"She was more upset on my brother's account than her own," Bernard said,
giving his visitor a shrewd look. "She thought he had come to harm."

"Ah!" said Sir Reginald, and held his glass up to the light. "And that
was not so?"

"No," said Bernard, and closed his lips.

There was a distinct pause before Sir Reginald's eyes left his glass and
came down to him. They held a faint whimsical smile.

"We owe your brother a good deal," he said.

"Do we?" said Bernard.

Sir Reginald's smile became more pronounced. "I have been told that it
is entirely owing to him--his forethought, secrecy, and intimate
knowledge obtained at considerable personal risk--that this business was
not of a far more serious nature. I was of course in constant
communication with Colonel Mansfield. We knew exactly where the danger
lay, and we were prepared for all emergencies."

"Except the one which actually rose," suggested Bernard.

"That?" said Sir Reginald. "That was a mere flash in the pan. But we
were prepared even for that. My men were all in Markestan by daybreak,
thanks to the promptitude of young Denvers."

"If all our throats had been slit the previous night, that wouldn't have
helped us much," Bernard pointed out.

Sir Reginald broke into a laugh. "Well, dash it, man! We did our best.
And anyway they weren't, so you haven't much cause for complaint."

"You see, I was one of the casualties," explained Bernard. "That
accounts for my being a bit critical. So you expected something worse
than this?"

"I did." Sir Reginald spoke soberly again. "If we hadn't been prepared,
the whole of Markestan would have been ablaze by now from end to end."

"Instead of which, you have only permitted us a fizz, a few bangs, and a
splutter-out, as Tommy describes it," remarked Bernard. "And you haven't
even caught the Rajah."

"I wasn't out to catch him," said Sir Reginald. "But I will tell you who
I am out to catch, though I am afraid I am applying in the wrong
quarter."

Bernard's eyes gleamed with a hint of malicious amusement. "I thought
my health was not primarily responsible for the honour of your visit,
sir," he said.

"No," said Sir Reginald, with simplicity. "I really came because I wan