“Bless you, no. I’ll merely follow you, just as a shark follows a doomed vessel. The moment you approach a port that contains a British consul, I’ll dash on ahead, show my papers, and set the law in motion, which, as I have informed you, I am reluctant to do. The moment that happens I can’t save you, captain. I don’t know what the penalty is, or whether there is a penalty. Perhaps your obedience to orders may allow you to slip through the meshes of the net, and then again perhaps it won’t. If it doesn’t, then that little cottage on Southampton water, which was yours a moment ago, will never be occupied by your family. Oh, hang it all, I’m either coercing or bribing you now, whichever it is. You must make a free choice. Whatever happens, I’ll buy that piece of land, and present it to your wife, if you will tell me where it is, and give me her address. Now, captain, make your choice: the whale or the shark.” The captain heaved a deep, almost a heartrending sigh, that seemed to come from the very bottom of his hoots. He rose slowly and ponderously, and stretched forth his hand. “Lord Stranleigh,” he said solemnly, as one about to cross the Rubicon, “Lord Stranleigh, I am ready to walk the plank.” When Lord Stranleigh emerged from the captain’s cabin of the _Rajah_, and drew a long, satisfying breath of the sweet evening air outside, he saw that the moon had risen, while the glow from the sunset still tinted the western sky. The slight breeze from Africa had completely died away, and the sea lay around the two ships smooth as a polished mirror. At a word from Stranleigh the captain of the yacht drew her alongside the Rajah, and the engines of both steamers stopped. Captain Wilkie, forewarned, had all his belongings packed, and they were speedily swung aboard the black steamer. The captain of the Rajah, and his mate, flung their possessions into boxes, and thus the transfer was made without loss of time. “Mackeller,” said Stranleigh, “I fear that luxury is thrown away on you, and besides, experience on the yacht has shown you that there is little chance of anything exciting happening. It must discourage you to remember that none of your repeating rifles have even been unpacked, so I will cause the cases to be swung aboard the _Rajah_, with sufficient ammunition to massacre our entire naval force, and I’ll give you six of my gamekeepers. You can either use the gamekeepers to shoot the crew, or arm the crew and eliminate the gamekeepers. I had intended to take the crew of the _Rajah_ upon the yacht, and put the crew of the yacht on the _Rajah_, but I am so selfish that I cannot bring myself to trust those clumsy seafarers from a tramp steamer with the somewhat delicate organization of my yacht. Will you accept the commission, and sail for home on the comfortless _Rajah?_”