ss with Mrs. Wragge, General Wragge,
Major Hardwicke, Captain Anstruther, and the now full-fledged Benedict,
Eric Murray, gave some pithy parting counsels to Jack Blunt, "Gentleman
Jack," of the London Swell Mob. "Only a mere fluke, and, our desire to
save a family needless pain, protects you," said Hardwicke. "These five
hundred pounds will enable you to reach America. I venture to advise you
to avoid landing on English soil hereafter! You certainly owe something
to your plucky, dead comrade, who generously lied, even in death, to
save you from transportation!" With a sullen brow, Jack Blunt departed
the next morning on the Granville steamer, and, only when in the safe
hiding of Etienne Garcin's Cor d'Abondance did he dare to breathe
freely. There were two sorely wounded lodgers already lying there, who
cursed the unerring aim of the vivacious and eccentric Alaric Hobbs
of Waukesha. They had told the landlord their tales over cognac
and absinthe, and Jack Blunt vainly tried to comfort the sloe-eyed
Angelique, who mourned for the unreturning visitor who had sprung over
the easily-stormed battlements of her mobile heart. "Il etait bien beau,
cet homme la! Il m'aimait beaucoup! Je le regretterai toujours! C'etait
un vrai gaillard!"

Which heartfelt tribute from a nameless wanton served for epitaph to the
man lying in an unmarked grave in the soldiers plot at Fort Regent. With
gnashing of teeth did Garcin and Jack Blunt discover that H. R. M.'s
Consul had officially aided Justine Delande to remove the valuable
deposits of the dead adventurer.

"The whole thing was a dead plant on us. Luck turned against him at
last!" growled Blunt, as they counted up the cost of the bootless cruise
of the Hirondelle. And only Justine Delande's bitter tears flowed in
silence to lament the bold adventurer who had lost the game of life!

It was at Rosebank that the three brides were assembled for a sweet
review after the quiet double marriage at Edgemere, which caused General
Wragge's rugged face to wreathe in honest smiles of delight.

And there was no rice left in the General's military supplies, "when the
bridal parties drove away in great state to the Stella."

A curious congratulatory visit from Professor Alaric Hobbs led to the
extending of an invitation by Captain Anstruther for the lanky American
scientist to visit him in India.

"We owe you a debt of gratitude," laughed Anstruther, "for you helped
Hardwicke to his wife. She hel