is campaign
on Claude's behalf had every prospect of success. Crayford was now at
Divonne-les-Bains, but had invited Lake to join him in a motor tour as
soon as his "cure"--by no means a severe one--was over.

"That tour, Mrs. Charmian, as I'm a living man with good prospects, will
end on the quay at Marseilles, and start again on the quay at Algiers.
Crayford has tried to bring off a fresh deal with Sennier, but been
beaten off by the pierrot in petticoats, as he calls the great
Henriette. She asked for the earth, and all the planets and
constellations besides. Now they are at daggers drawn. That's bully for
us. Take out your bottom dollar, and bet it that I bring him over before
September is ten days old."

September--yes. But Lake was impulsive. He might hurry things, might
arrive with the impresario sooner. Jernington must not be at
Djenan-el-Maqui when he arrived. If Claude were found studying with a
sort of professor Crayford would certainly get a wrong impression. It
might just make the difference between the success of the great plan and
its failure. Claude must present himself, or be presented by Lake as a
master, not as a pupil.

She must get rid of old Jernington as soon as possible.

But it now became alarmingly manifest that old Jernington was in no
hurry to go. He was one of those persons who arrive with great
difficulty, but who find an even greater difficulty in bringing
themselves to the point of departure. Never having been out of Europe
before, it seemed that he was not unwilling to end his days in a
tropical exile. He "felt" the heat terribly, but professed to like it,
was charmed with the villa and the comfort of the life, and "really had
no need to hurry away" now that he had definitely relinquished his
annual holiday at Bury St. Edmunds.

As Claude wished him to stay on, and had no suspicion that any plan was
in the wind, Charmian found herself in a difficult position as the days
went by and the end of August drew near. Her imagination revolved about
all sorts of preposterous means for getting rid of the poor fellow, whom
she honestly liked, and to whom she was grateful for his enthusiastic
labors. She thought of making a hole in his mosquito net, to permit the
entry of those marauders whom he dreaded; of casually mentioning that
there had been cases suspiciously resembling Asiatic cholera in the
Casbah of Algiers; of pretending to fall ill and saying that Claude must
take her away for a cha