The Cruise of the ''Thetis''

be the man--"

"Oh, nonsense, my dear fellow," interrupted Jack, "that won't do at all, you know!"

"Why not?" asked Montijo. "Is it because you don't care to interfere in Cuban affairs? I thought that perhaps, as you are obliged to take a longish holiday, with change of scene and interests, an outdoor life, and so on, you would rather enjoy the excitement--"

"Enjoy it?" echoed Singleton. "My dear fellow, `enjoy' is not the word, I should simply revel in it; all the more because my sympathies are wholly with the Cubans, while I--or rather my firm, have an old grudge against the Spaniards, who once played us a very dirty trick, of which, however, I need say nothing just now. No, it is not that; it is--"

"Well, what is it?" demanded Montijo, seeing that Jack paused hesitatingly.

"So near as I can put it," answered Jack, "it is this. Your father doesn't know me from Adam; and you only know as much as you learned of me during the time that we were together at Dulwich. How then ca