"Bring the gentleman in here," ordered Jack; and a minute later the waiter re-appeared, conducting a dapper-looking, clean-shaven man of medium height, attired in a suit of blue serge, the double-breasted jacket of which he wore buttoned tight to his body. This individual spotted Jack instantly, and, pushing the waiter on one side, bustled up with outstretched hand to the table at which the young man was sitting, exclaiming in a brisk, cheery voice: "Hillo, Jack, my hearty, what cheer? Gad! what a big lump of a chap you have become since I saw you last--how long ago?--ay, it must be more than two years. But, nevertheless, I should have known you anywhere, from your striking likeness to your poor father. Well, and how are you, my lad, eh? Not very much the matter with you, I should say--and yet I don't know; you look a trifle chalky about the gills, and your clothes seem to hang rather more loosely than they should. What have you been doing with yourself, eh?" "Oh, nothing very dreadful!" laughed Jack, "only overworking myself a trifle, so I am told. But sit down, there's a good fellow, and--have you breakfasted, by the way?" "Breakfasted very nearly three hours ago, my boy," was the answer. "But if you want me to join you--I see you are still busy at it--don't be bashful, but say so straight out, and I'll not refuse, for the journey up has given me a fresh appetite." "That's right," said Jack. "Now, which will you have, coffee or tea? And you can take your choice of ham and eggs, steak, chop, and fish." "Thanks!" said Milsom, "I'll take coffee--and a steak, rather underdone. And while the steak is getting ready I'll amuse myself with one of those rolls and a pat of butter, if you don't mind. I got your telegram, by the way, or of course I shouldn't be here. What is the job, my boy, eh? I suppose it is something that a gentleman may undertake, or you wouldn't have thought of me, eh?" "Of course," said Jack; "that is to say, I think so. But you must judge for yourself whether the post is such as you would care to accept. The fact is that, as I told you just now, I have been overworking myself; and a specialist whom I have come down here to consult tells me that I must take a long holiday in the open air. I have therefore decided to go on a yachting cruise--to the West Indies, probably--and I want you to take command of the ship for me. She is a brand-new, three-hundred-and- forty-ton steam-yacht, of eight hundred indicated horse-power, and her guaranteed sea speed is twenty-two knots." Milsom pursed up his lips and gave vent to a prolonged whistle as Jack enunciated these particulars; then his features relaxed into a broad smile as he extended his right hand across the table to Jack, exclaiming: