“Very well. Take those notes to the bank, and get golden sovereigns for them, leaving your mother on guard till you return. They’ll probably ask you where you got them, and you will answer thus: ‘They are the proceeds of a draft for three hundred pounds which Lord Stranleigh of Wychwood cashed at the London and County to-day, at half-past eleven.’ If they still wish to know how you came by them, say that Lord Stranleigh is the owner of several steamships, and that your father is captain of the largest of them. Say nothing of the _Rajah_, because he is now chief of a steamer twice her size. I took notes because they were lighter to carry, but when you get the gold I hope you will do what I ask of you, and leave this house promptly, so that I can steal its furniture without molestation.” “Are you Lord Stranleigh?” gasped the mother. “Yes, madam, and there’s one other favor I beg of you, and of these three charming girls. Mention to nobody that your father has returned. Neither he nor I wish this known for a while yet, and I am quite sure four women can keep the secret, even if one man can’t.” “There’s nothing wrong, is there?” asked the anxious woman. “Nothing wrong at all. It’s merely a matter concerning his new ship, which lies at Plymouth, where he must go on the morning of day after tomorrow.” Energetic as the captain’s family was, they never put in such a day and a half of nervous, capable speed in their lives before, and this included the intervening night, during which none of them slept. By five o’clock in the afternoon everything was ship-shape, although not quite to the satisfaction of the eldest daughter, and at six Lord Stranleigh had the felicity of introducing the captain to his possessions, human and material, old and new. Then he rushed back in his motor boat, and took the train to London. CHAPTER VIII--THE “RAJAH” GETS INTO LEGAL DIFFICULTIES