“What harm will they do aboard, sir? If we don’t need them, we won’t use them. If we do need them, then you’ll be sorry they’re in the Bay of Biscay.”
“So you’re going to choose the Bay of Biscay, are you? I thought perhaps you might toss them over farther along than that. I hope you understand, Mackeller, I am on a mission of peace, and if, for any reason, the yacht should be searched, your rifles and ammunition would be rather a giveaway, wouldn’t they?”
“I don’t see that. You’ve got more than a score of men aboard here, and the repeaters can be used for sporting purposes.”
“All right, Mackeller, don’t be alarmed. The boxes are stowed safely away in the forrard hold, and we’ll not drop them overboard anywhere. After all, you know the locality for which we are bound better than I do, and so your rifles and ammunition may prove friends in need. I see the boy hovering about in the offing, and I am sure he wishes to conduct you to your cabin. By the time you’ve washed the railway dust from your sylphlike form, the dinner gong will be filling the air with a welcome melody. I’ve got my own favorite chef with me, and I understand we shall not need to live on porridge and tinned milk. And, by the way, Mackeller, did you happen to pack such wearing apparel as dinner togs in your dunnage, as you call it?”
“Dinner togs?” echoed Mackeller, aghast. “Why, hang it all, I’m a mining engineer. I haven’t even a starched shirt with me, let alone a dress suit. I didn’t know I was coming to an evening party?”
“No, you paid attention to the trivialities of life, such as rifles and ammunition, and quite neglected the more important affair of costume.”
“I’ll eat forward with the men,” said Mackeller gruffly.
“Oh, there’s no need for that. As you tried to bolt through the door from my breakfast room the other day, when Ponderby was on guard, I saw him measure your proportions critically with his eye, in case it should be necessary for him to use that force which I deplore, so I told Ponderby to make a guess at what would fit you, and to go to the extent of three evening suits of varying sizes made to order. You will find them all laid out in your room, and the able Ponderby will give you critical advice regarding which fits you best.”
“Well, sir, if you expect me to look pretty every night——”
“Oh, no,” interrupted his lordship, “I never expect the impossible, but, you see, Captain Wilkie is rather a stickler on etiquette. He will occupy one end of the table, brave in a uniform of gold lace made by the premier naval tailor of London, so we must play up to him, my boy, and do the best we can. Then there will be our chief engineer, also in uniform, and the wireless telegraphy operator, who is rather a la-de-da young man, and lastly there’s the doctor, an Oxford graduate, and so we must do honor to the university. You and I are in the minority, and we’ll just need to make the best of it.”