"The basement's swimmin' with it, m' lord." The fellow touched his hat. "Two casks stove by the edge o' the table. I felt around the staves, an' counted six others, hale an' tight. Thinks I, 'tis what their Worships will have been keepin' for private use, between whiles. Or elst--" "Or else?" "Or else maybe we've tapped a private cellar." Lord Rattley slapped his thigh. "A _cache_, by Jove! Old Squire Nicholas--I remember, as a boy, hearing it whispered he was hand-in-glove with the Free Trade." The prisoner touched his hat humbly. "This bein' a magistrates' matter, m' lord, an' me not wishin' to interfere--" "Quite so." Lord Rattley felt in his pockets. "You have done us a considerable service, my man, and--er--that bein' so--" "Forty shillin' it was. _He's_ cheap at it"--with a nod towards the Admiral. "A real true-blue old English gentleman! You can always tell by their conversations." "The fine shall be paid." "I counted six casks, m'lord, so well as I could by the feel--" "Yes, yes! And here's a couple of sovereigns for yourself--all I happen to have in my pocket--" Lord Rattley bustled off to the house for brandy. "England's old England, hows'ever you strike it!" chirruped the prisoner gleefully, and touched his forehead again. "See you at the Show, m' lord, maybe? 'Will drink your lordship's health there, anyway." He skipped away up the road towards Tregarrick. In the opposite direction young Mr. and Mrs. Trudgian could be seen just passing out of sight, he supporting her with his arm, pausing every now and then, bending over her uxoriously. THE HONOUR OF THE SHIP. I. "'Erbert 'Enery Bates!" "Wot cheer!" It was the morning of Speech-day on board the Industrial Training Ship _Egeria_--July the 31st, to be precise. At 3 p.m. Sir Felix Felix-Williams, Baronet, would arrive to distribute the prizes. He would be attended by a crowd of ladies and gentlemen; and the speeches, delivered beneath an awning on the upper deck, would be fully reported next day in the local newspapers. The weather was propitious. Just now (11 a.m.) some half a dozen of the elder boys, attired in dirty white dungaree and barefooted, were engaged in swabbing out what, in her sea-going days, had been the _Egeria's_ ward-room, making ready to set out tables for an afternoon tea to follow the ceremony. They were nominally under supervision of the ship's Schoolmaster, who, however, had gone off to unpack a hamper of flowers--the gift of an enthusiastic subscriber. "Step this way, 'Erbert 'Enery Bates." "You go to hell, Link Andrew!" But the boy stopped his work and faced about, nevertheless. "See this flag?" Link Andrew dived his long arms into a pile of bunting that lay ready for decorating the tea-room. "Wot is it?" "Union Jack o' course, you silly rotter!"