“Don’t intimidate the witness,” said Pop. “Go ahead, Cathcart. What did you discover?” “I discovered,” continued Cathcart after an apologetic glance at Hugh, “that the owner of Lockely Manor in Glyndestoke, Hampshire――or Hants, as Hugh calls it――England, is the Marquis of Lockely, who is some sort of a secretary in the Ministry; I’ve forgotten what.” “Political Secretary, Colonial Office, sir, begging your pardon,” said Bowles proudly. “Also,” continued Cathcart, with a twinkle in his eye, “I discovered that the aforementioned Marquis of Lockely has one son, Hugh Oswald Brodwick, Earl of Ordway!” Number 29 was so still for an instant that you could have heard a pin drop! Then someone said, “_Gee!_” very fervently, and a dozen fellows all began to talk at once. But it was Bert’s voice which dominated the others. “Is that so, Hugh?” he demanded. “Oh, dry up,” answered Hugh. “I――I’d like to punch your head, Cathcart!” “I was afraid you would,” replied Cathcart sadly. “The Earl of Ordway!” gasped Nick. “_What――do――you――know――about――that?_” “I’m not an earl,” declared Hugh uncomfortably. “It――it’s only a courtesy-title. And, anyhow, I don’t see what difference it makes!” “It doesn’t, Hobo! Not a bit!” said Pop soothingly. “We’ll all try to forget it and let you live it down. After all, it isn’t your fault, is it, fellows?” “Of course not!” laughed Hanrihan. “_He_ couldn’t help it! Buck up, Hobo! No one’s going to hold it against you!” Bowles gasped. “Against his Lordship, sir! _Against_ him?” “Bowles, shut up! I’m not your Lordship. I’m――――” Hugh’s puckered brow smoothed and he laughed――“I’m just Hobo Ordway. Now forget it, fellows, won’t you? It’s all piffling poppycock, anyway! That’s just what it is, by Jove, piffling poppycock, if you know what I mean!” * * * * * Transcriber’s Notes: ――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). ――Except for the frontispiece, illustrations have been moved to follow the text that they illustrate. ――Printer’s, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected. ――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. ――Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.