“I met him several times when I was out about the Baroda affair,” said the “special.”
“And as you are his daughter, I suppose it will interest you to know that he has been selected as the first governor of the Castaways.”
Daireen looked puzzled. “The Castaways?” she said.
“Yes, Miss Gerald; the lovely Castaway Islands which, you know, have just been annexed by England. Colonel Gerald has been chosen by the Colonial Secretary as the first governor.”
“But I heard nothing of this,” said Daireen, a little astonished to receive such information in the Bay of Biscay.
“How could you hear anything of it? No one outside the Cabinet has the least idea of it.”
“And you——” said the girl doubtfully.
“Ah, my dear Miss Gerald, the resources of information possessed by the Dominant Trumpeter are as unlimited as they are trustworthy. You may depend upon what I tell you. It is not generally known that I am now bound for the Castaway group, to make the British public aware of the extent of the treasure they have acquired in these sunny isles. But I understood that Colonel Gerald was on his way from Madras?”
Daireen explained how her father came to be at the Cape, and Mr. Harwood gave her a few cheering words regarding his sickness. She was greatly disappointed when their conversation was interrupted by Mrs. Crawford.
“The poor fellow!” she said—“Mr. Glaston, I mean. I have induced him to go down and eat some grapes and a pear.”