I


A boat had just put off from the bank, a tall lad steering. The great
red horseman, strangely active for so huge a man, flung himself clear
of his horse, snatched a pistol from a holster, and came floundering
down the cobbled river-bank, his coat-tails floating.

"Put back, sir!" he bellowed in husky fury. "Put back, my God! or I'll
fire."

He was standing, the water to his tops, with heaving shoulders.

"Don't shout; don't shoot; and don't swear," replied a voice, pure
as a lady's. "And perhaps I'll oblige."

The boy edged the boat into the bank. The huge fellow, in too great
a hurry to wait, floundered out, clutched her by the stern, and scrambled
in.

"My God, sir!" he panted, thrusting a dripping face into the boy's.
"D'you know who you're a-talking to?--I'm a ridin-officer on Government
business."

"And d'you know who _you're_ a-talkin to?" replied the boy, cold as
the other was hot. "I'm a King's officer on King's business. Remove your
face, please. Sit down. And don't shake so, or you'll spill us.--I'm a
midshipman going aboard my ship."