"I am afraid we are a trifle disorganized," I confessed. "The fact is we have had a lot of trouble in the family in the last twenty-four hours." I paused. "By the way," I added, "what have you done with your crew? I suppose you didn't come down here single handed?" "I brought one chap with me," was the reply. "I left him on board down at the landing-stage. He's all right. He'll sit there on his little behind until further orders." I took the saucepan away from him and motioned him towards a chair. "That's your programme also, old dear," I said. "I'll finish getting the breakfast ready, and I'll talk to you at the same time. You freeze yourself into that pew and listen to me as you never listened to anyone in your life." There must have been something in my manner which showed that I was in dead earnest, for without another word Bobby seated himself at the table. I put the saucepan on the fire and stood up facing him. "It pains me to confess it, Robert," I said, "but the last time you were here I'm afraid I wasn't quite straight with you." "I had an idea you were keeping something up your sleeve," he replied. "It takes a lot of practice to make a really convincing liar." I nodded a little sadly. "Yes," I said, "honesty was always a handicap of mine--especially in the Service." A sudden hiss from the kettle attracted my attention, and, stepping forward, I picked up the teapot. "You're going to hear the real truth now, Bobby," I added, "and don't you dare to open your mouth again until I've got it off my chest." Long and complicated as my story was, the whole thing had burned itself into my mind so vividly that I was in no danger of forgetting the smallest detail. I enjoyed, too, the additional advantage of having rehearsed it the previous night, and when once I started I found myself going ahead with amazing fluency. Without attempting to skip anything, I told him exactly what had occurred from the fateful moment when Christine and her uncle had arrived on board the _Neptune_ in Manaos Harbour. He already knew, of course, about my interview with Mr. Drayton and my adventure in the dock, but all the rest of it was, so to speak, fresh ground, and I did not think there was much chance of his finding my narrative either tedious or redundant. To say that this confidence was justified would be putting it at its mildest. Munching his food and sipping his tea, he followed every word with an expression of absorbed interest that never varied from start to finish. Once or twice he interrupted me to ask a question, but otherwise he sat there in profound silence, his blue eyes fixed steadily on mine. Bit by bit I proceeded to unravel the whole tangled skein of my adventures, until I at last reached the point when the clang of the garden gate had announced his own arrival upon the scene.