"Now you can carry on with your little joke, Player," said Thompson.
"I will. But, I say, Drake will see his promotion in the evening paper. Can't we prevent him, and spring it as a surprise?"
"You'll have to look pretty sharp. Let the others know, and give them the tip. Here's Fielding."
Lieutenant Fielding, who had practically recovered from his wound, came up at this moment, followed by his shipmate, Sub-Lieutenant Cardyke. Both were cordially greeted, for this was the first opportunity the majority of the officers present had to welcome their comrades on their return to England.
"I am glad to hear the news about Drake—I thought he was being treated a bit shabbily. If it hadn't been for him we shouldn't have had a leg-up," said Fielding, when Thompson informed him of his chief's promotion.
"Stand by, here's Drake," exclaimed someone.
Drake was low-spirited. The iron of disappointment had eaten into his soul. But with praiseworthy self-restraint he concealed his feelings. It seemed hard that with the opportunities offered him he should have failed to make his mark, and doubly hard that his subordinates should be signalled out for promotion, while he, as far as he knew, was slightingly passed over. Nevertheless he offered his sincere congratulations to Fielding and Cardyke. He was not a man to repine when others deserved and received advancement.
At length the company sat down. Amongst the guests were General Oki, and Hokosuka, and Mukyima, who had purposely journeyed down from London for the festive occasion; and the Japanese, who had played such a prominent part in the unlawful commission of the Impregnable, came in for no small share of attention.
After the customary toasts had been duly honoured, the head waiter appeared bearing a covered silver dish. A tense silence fell upon the jovial company. Those who knew what was about to happen seemed to exercise a magnetic influence over those who did not.
Then the string band burst forth into the strains of an old popular refrain, "Where did you get that hat?"