"Good gracious?" said Carne. "I never heard of such a thing. Surely it’s the most impudent robbery that has taken place for many years past. To represent the Emperor of Westphalia and his aide-de-camp so closely that they could deceive even the officers of his own yacht, and to take a sentry off one post and place him in such a position as to protect them while at their own nefarious work, seems to me the very height of audacity. But how did they get their booty away again? Gold plate, under the most favorable circumstances, is by no means an easy thing to carry." As he asked this question, Carne lit another cigar with a hand as steady as a rock. "They must have escaped in a boat that, it is supposed, was lying under the shelter of the stern gallery," replied Lord Amberley. "And is the chief steward able to furnish the police with no clue as to their identity?" "None whatever," replied Orpington. "He opines to the belief, however, that they are Frenchmen. One of them, the man who impersonated the Emperor, seems to have uttered an exclamation in that tongue." "And when was the robbery discovered?" "Only when the real Emperor returned to the vessel shortly after midnight. There was no launch to meet him, and he had to get Tremorden to take him off. You can easily imagine the surprise his arrival occasioned. It was intensified when they went below to find his Majesty’s cabin turned upside down, the chief steward lying bound and gagged upon the sofa, and all that was most valuable of the gold plate missing." "What an extraordinary story!" "And now, having told you the news with which the place is ringing, we must be off about our business," said Orpington. "Is it quite certain that you are going to leave us to-morrow?" "Quite, I am sorry to say," answered Carne. "I am going to ask as many of my friends as possible to do me the honor of lunching with me at one o’clock, and at five I shall weigh anchor and bid England good-bye. I shall have the pleasure of your company, I hope." "I shall have much pleasure," said Orpington. "And I also," replied Amberley. "Then good-bye for the present. It’s just possible I may see you again during the afternoon." The luncheon next day was as brilliant a social gathering as the most fastidious in such matters could have desired. Every one then in Cowes who had any claim to distinction was present, and several had undertaken the journey from town in order to say farewell to one who had made himself so popular during his brief stay in England. When Carne rose to reply to the toast of his health, proposed by the Prime Minister, it was observable that he was genuinely moved, as, indeed, were most of his hearers. For the remainder of the afternoon his yacht’s deck was crowded with his friends, all of whom expressed the hope that it might not be very long before he was amongst them once more. To these kind speeches Carne invariably offered a smiling reply.