ean waters in his steam yacht, the _Finola_." It did not
seem to matter whether he had or not. "Among his guests are--" Then
would follow a list of names; but always those of people more eminent
than fashionable. The Prime Minister went for a short cruise with
him. The Chancellor of the Exchequer went twice. Several admirals, a
judge or two, and three or four well-known generals were on board at
different times. Once he had two bishops, an Anglican who was known as
a profound theologian, and a Roman Catholic prelate from the west of
Ireland. The names of women rarely appeared on the list, but the
Countess of Moyne was advertised as having accepted Conroy's
hospitality twice. She was well placed among the notable men. She was
a young woman of singular beauty and great personal charm. She might
have been if she had chosen a leader of the society which lives to
amuse itself. Her husband's great wealth and high social position
would have secured her any place in that world which she chose to
take. Being a woman of brains as well as beauty she chose to work
instead of play, and had become a force, real though not formally
recognized, in political life.

It is a curious instance of the careful way in which Conroy worked out
the details of his plans, that he should have used the _Finola_ in
this way. The cruises which he took with his eminent guests were
always well advertised and always short. But the _Finola_ was kept
continually in commission. Her voyages when there were no great people
on board were longer, were never advertised, and were much more
exciting. But no one suspected, or could have suspected, that a
millionaire's yacht, and it the temporary home of the leading members
of the governing classes, could have been engaged in a secret trade,
highly dangerous to the peace and security of the nation. It is
difficult even now to imagine that after landing the Prime Minister
and couple of bishops at Cowes the yacht should have started off to
keep a midnight appointment with a disreputable tramp steamer in an
unfrequented part of the North Sea; that Bob Power, after making
himself agreeable for a fortnight to Lady Moyne, should have sweated
like a stevedore at the difficult job of transhipping a cargo in
mid-ocean.

CHAPTER III

I now reach the time when I myself came for the first time in touch
with Conroy's plans and had my first meeting with Gideon McNeice.

I am an insignificant Irish peer, far from wealt