e not good enough to be axed.
It was a bit of all right w'en we 'elped 'im out of quod, but now 'e's
a bloomin' toff we're low-down sailormen--that's wot we are."

"Man, ye're fair daft," growled the Scot. "It's as plain as the neb on
yer face that he canna dae wi' a', so he just picked the twa skippers
and the lassie; he kent weel she wadna stir an inch withoot Hozier."

Norrie was right, as it happened, but Watts added another grudge to his
score against De Sylva.

Now, though dynasties totter and empires crash, the first thing a woman
thinks of when bidden to a public gathering is her attire. Iris
declared most emphatically that to expect her to go ashore and meet
certain military and civic dignitaries while she was wearing a costume
originally purchased for mountaineering, which had endured the rough
usage of the past two days, was "for to laugh." She was speaking
French, and that was the literal phrase she used. The courteous San
Benavides smiled away her protest. His Excellency had foreseen the
difficulty. Those who knew Dom Corria best would not credit that he
should forget anything. The Senhora Pondillo awaited Iris at the hotel
with a supply of new clothing. Captain Schmidt, of course, could
depend on his own wardrobe, but Captain Coke and the Senhor Hozier
would find a tradesman in their rooms who had guaranteed to equip them
suitably. Moreover, the same outfitter would visit the ship during the
morning and make good the lost raiment and boots of the other officers
and men of the _Andromeda_. San Benavides spoke like the ambassador of
a prince, and, in the sequel, there was no stint of deeds to give
effect to his promises.

On the way to the hotel Iris saw a large building labeled "Casa do
Correio e Telegraphia." It was not surprising that she had not thought
earlier of the necessity of cabling to Liverpool. She blushed, and
looked involuntarily at Hozier.

"I must send a message to my uncle," she said.

Were Philip a professed spiritualist, the spectral shapes of David
Verity and Dickey Bulmer could not have been more effectually
"projected" into his astral plane at Maceio than they were at that
instant. He had not set eyes on either of the men, but the girl's
words conjured them into being, and the vision was vastly disagreeable.

San Benavides, of course, was anxious to oblige Iris in this as in
every other respect. He procured the requisite form, told her the
cost, which led to a cond