The Cruise of the ''Thetis''

"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