"I say," pursued Harry, "I met Ruston to-day. He was very kind about my cutting the Omofaga. I wonder if I've been unjust to him!"
Then Tom smiled.
"I shouldn't bother about that, if I were you," said he.
"Well, he's not a thin-skinned chap, is he?" asked Harry, with relief.
"I should fancy not," said Tom.
"You see, he's off in a fortnight, and I thought we ought to part friends. So I told him—well, I said, you know, that when he came back, we should be glad to see him."
Tom began to laugh.
"You're getting quite a diplomatist, Harry," he said.
When Harry bustled away, his high spirits raised higher still by Tom's ready assent, Tom put on the garb of society, and took a cab to Adela Ferrars'.
"She'll be very pleased about this," thought Tom, as he went along. "It's good news to take her."