"Now, just what did you do to kill time in the desert, Huntingdon?" asked Mr. Johns-Eaton, the British Ambassador. "Why didn't you go where there was some real sport?"
"Oh, I found sport of a sort!" returned Enoch solemnly.
Johns-Eaton gave Enoch a keen look. "I'll wager you did!" he exclaimed. "Any hunting?"
"Some small game and a great deal of boating!"
"Boating! Now you are spoofing me! Listen, Mr. Fowler, here's a man who says he was boating in the desert!"
Fowler and Enoch bowed and, after a moment's more general conversation, they drew aside.
"About this Mexican trouble, Huntingdon," said Fowler slowly. "I said nothing as to your speaking trip, until your return, for various reasons. But I want to tell you now, that I considered it an intrusion upon my prerogatives."
"Have you told the President so?" asked Enoch.
"The President did not make the tour," replied Fowler.
"Just why," Enoch sipped his cup of tea calmly, "did you choose this occasion to tell me of your resentment?"