"Is he?" said Dick grimly. "Well, they may do that in a fashion he won't
care for before he's much older."

"Are you organizing a strike?" suggested Saltash, a wicked gleam of
humour in his eyes.

Dick's eyes flashed in answer. "I am not!" he said. "But--I'm damned if
they haven't some reason for striking--if he cares as little as that!"

"How often do you tell 'em so?" said Saltash.

Juliet's hand slipped quietly from Columbus's head to Dick's arm. "May I
have a cigarette, please?" she said.

He turned to her immediately and his fire died down. He offered her his
cigarette-case in silence.

Juliet took one, faintly smiling. "Do you know," she said to Saltash, "it
was Dick's cigarettes that first attracted me to him? When I landed on
this desert island, I had only three left. He came to the rescue--most
nobly, and has kept me supplied ever since. I don't know where he gets
them from, but they are the best I ever tasted."

"He probably smuggles 'em," said Saltash, offering her a match.

"No, I don't," said Dick, rather shortly. "I get them from a man in town.
A fellow I once met--Ivor Yardley, the K. C.--first introduced me to
them. I get them through his secretary who has some sort of interest in
the trade."