"Hush," said I, looking round. "Not an 'h' mute! This summons of yours is a godsend. With a little ingenuity, you can bring enough contraband in to last us till May." * * * * * If our efforts to induce my brother-in-law to see reason were eventually successful, this was no more than we deserved. We made light of the risk of detection, we explained how the stuff could be concealed, we told him the demeanour to assume, we said we wished we were going, we declared it was done every day, we indemnified him against fines, we entreated, we flattered, we cajoled, we appealed to him "as a sportsman," we said it was "only right," we looked unutterable things, and at last, half an hour before it was time for him to start for the station, he promised, with many misgivings and expressions of self-reproach, to see what he could do. Instantly, from being his suppliants, we became his governors; and the next twenty minutes were employed in pouring into his ears the most explicit directions regarding his purchase and disposal of our particular fancies. Finally we made out a list.... He had absolutely refused to allow my sister to accompany him, but we all went down to the station to see him off. As we were pacing the platform-- "Have you got the list?" said Jonah. The same question had been asked before--several times. "Yes," said Berry, "I have. And if anybody asks me again, I shall produce it and tear it into shreds before their eyes." "Well, for Heaven's sake, don't lose it," said I, "because----" "To hear you," said Berry, "anybody would think that I was mentally deficient. Anybody would think that I was going to enclose it in a note to the Customs, telling them to expect me on Saturday, disguised in a flat 'at and a bag of gooseberries, and advising them to pull up their socks, as I should resist like a madman. I don't know what's the matter with you." We endeavoured to smooth him down. "And if," purred Daphne, "if there should be any--that is--what I mean is, should any question arise----" Berry laughed hysterically. "Yes," he said, "go on. 'Any question.' Such as whether they can give me more than five years' hard labour. I understand." "--get on the telephone to Berwick. He knows the President personally and can do anything." "Sweetheart," replied her husband, "you may bet your most precious life.... If Berwick wasn't in Paris, I wouldn't touch the business with the end of a forty-foot pole." "I wish I was going with you," said Daphne wistfully. Berry took off his hat. "You are," he said gently, "you are." He laid his hand upon his heart. "I wish I could put the tobacco in the same poor place. But that's impossible. For one thing, lady, you've all the room there is." Which was pretty good for a king who hadn't been a courtier for nearly nine years. * * * * * It was upon the following afternoon that Adèle, who was brushing Nobby, sat back on her heels.