"One spy has already been detected and warned off by our man who is established in the village, but we have just learnt that another agent has obtained admission to the house itself, by taking service as a footman. On a previous occasion we alarmed Lord Lothersdale, without any real grounds, as it eventually turned out, and we should not care to repeat the incident. It is therefore essential that I, who know this man, should have the opportunity of seeing if he really is there, without anyone--not even his lordship--knowing who I am. With your a.s.sistance this will be possible; and I have come from Scotland Yard to ask you to allow me to go with you to Moors to-day, ostensibly as connected with your firm. If you will a.s.sist us in this matter you will not find us ungrateful. Scotland Yard does not forget, and some day it may be in our power to be of use to you. In the meantime, you will have done your country a great service."
Mr. Bower was considerably impressed by this speech. He had come back from Moors full of importance. He was most certainly a.s.sisting in preserving the integrity of the empire, and it was quite in keeping with this feeling that he should take part in the international complication outlined by his visitor. He appeared to weigh the matter judicially for a few minutes. Then he said solemnly, "We will give you our co-operation in this affair, Mr. Sinnott."
"Thank you, Mr. Bower," said the "detective."
So at one o"clock that afternoon Mr. Bower, accompanied by his new a.s.sistant, took train for Moors. In another compartment travelled a sample corporal of the British Army, who was to show off the uniform which Mr. Bower had designed under Lord Lothersdale"s instructions.
It was a two-hours" journey, but Mr. Sinnott found it all too short in Mr. Bower"s improving society, for that gentleman expounded views on life from a new standpoint.
"No, sir," he said, "things are not what they used to be.
Gentlemen--n.o.blemen, especially, I regret to state--do not display that intelligent attention to dress which they used to, even within my own recollection Lord Lothersdale is a notable exception, but enumerate any other statesmen you like, and if left to their own unaided judgment--I say it with all due deference--they would go to pieces. I a.s.sure you, upon my honour, at the end of six months you would be liable to mistake any one of them for a foreigner. You would scarcely think it, Mr.
Sinnott, but no less than five members of the present Government are too busy to give a thought to their dress at all."
"You don"t say so!" exclaimed Mr. Sinnott.
"I do. "Bower," they say, "keep your eye on us, and whenever you think that we are gettin" shabby make us some new clothes, and we will wear them. We leave it all to you." It is flatterin", sir, I suppose, to have such reliance placed in your judgment, but it demonstrates the absence of--shall I term it proper self-respect?--which is deplorable, absolutely deplorable. It has made me a firm believer in the degeneration of the race.
"Of course, to keep the Cabinet well-dressed is the princ.i.p.al object of my existence, and I flatter myself that under my superintendence the present Cabinet will compare favourably in taste and style with any previous one. But it is anxious, even hara.s.sin" work to decide what particular cut, colour, and texture will most suitably harmonise with each individual temperament. They cannot afford the time for interviews, so I have to antic.i.p.ate the movements of ministers, and go out of my way to meet them. I track them down, as it were, and make my observations in the street, as best I can. Would you believe it, Mr. Sinnott, I was one day actually arrested for suspiciously followin" the Secretary of State for India? His trousers were positively baggin" at the knees. I couldn"t take my eyes off them, and one of your smart young constables took me to Bow Street. Most humiliatin", I call it; and all because of my devotion to duty and the honour of the nation."
"Shocking," said Mr. Sinnott. "I sympathise with you, Mr. Bower. I should like to know the name of that constable."
"His name was Simpson--Archibald Simpson," replied the tailor.
Mr. Sinnott made a note of the name, and Mr. Bower continued:
"But, as I previously observed, Lord Lothersdale is a horse of another colour, if I may make use of such an expression. It is an inspiration to meet him. He is the busiest gentleman in England--bar none--but he is never too busy for a try-on or for a consultation. He is gifted, sir. He has ideas that would amaze you. The single-breasted frock-coat was his creation. What do you think of that?"
"You do astonish me, Mr. Bower. I had no idea of it."
"I knew you had not--that is where the greatness of the man comes in. It is his conception, and he is fully aware that the credit of it is attributed to me--but he does not mind. There is no petty jealousy of the profession about him. Then, silk breeches for evenin" wear. That is another of his grand ideas. You must have silk breeches if you visit at Moors, or you do not receive a second invitation. He is drastic in his methods, is my lord--a regular Roman. Mark my words, Mr. Sinnott, if the fashion takes it will be owin" to the influence of Lord Lothersdale, and once get the nation into silk breeches, and you do not know to what heights it may attain. It will be the beginnin" of a new era, the like of which no man livin" has known. I only hope I shall be here to witness its dawn."
Mr. Bower"s eyes glistened, and his cheeks flushed in antic.i.p.ation. Even Mr. Sinnott caught a little of his enthusiasm.
It was half-past three when they reached Moors. Lord Lothersdale could not see them until after dinner. At that moment a j.a.panese Surgeon-General was with him, explaining how they managed their field hospitals in the Far East. He had come by special permission of the Mikado, and had to return to the seat of war by the six o"clock train.
At nine o"clock the corporal was arrayed in the proposed new uniform for the Line--a taking arrangement in heliotrope, the outcome of Lord Lothersdale"s creative genius and Mr. Bower"s executive ability.
At nine-thirty they were admitted into Lord Lothersdale"s study. The great man was in a genial mood, the result, no doubt, of an instructive afternoon and a good dinner.
He walked round the corporal, and inspected him critically.
"By Jove! Bower," he said at last, "you"ve done the trick. Capital! And your idea of primrose facings was quite right, after all."
"I am glad that you approve of it, my lord," said the beaming tailor.
"I do. And the country will, too. There"ll be some recruiting when this gets out." Then he knitted his brows. "I think the cuffs are a shade too deep, though. I"m sure they are. But half-an-inch--no, a quarter--will put it right."
"A quarter-of-an-inch off the cuff facin"s. Make a note of that," said Mr. Bower to his a.s.sistant, who had his pocket-book ready.
"You"ll have it done by breakfast time, please," said Lord Lothersdale, "so that I can see how it looks by daylight. A photographer will be here, as I want some coloured prints for the Appendix."
Then the little deputation withdrew. The whole interview had not occupied more than five minutes, and most of that time the tailor"s a.s.sistant had been taking his bearings, and trying to locate the report.
That was surely it--a business-like foolscap volume on the desk. The secretary was writing in it when they entered, and later on he had carefully put it in the top left-hand drawer. The a.s.sistant manoeuvred round to the desk during the interview, and after taking particulars of the alterations required, he laid down his notebook, and deliberately left it there.
At two o"clock in the morning, when the whole household was presumably fast asleep, Mr. Bower"s a.s.sistant suddenly remembered that he had left his notebook downstairs, and decided to recover it at once rather than wait till morning. He therefore made his way cautiously to Lord Lothersdale"s study. He accomplished the return journey without any untoward event happening; but he brought back with him, in addition to the notebook, a ma.n.u.script volume, which he deposited in his handbag.
The alterations in the cuff facings were duly made by breakfast time. At nine o"clock Lord Lothersdale approved of the result. By nine-fifteen the corporal had been photographed in several att.i.tudes--one of which now adorns the recruiting posters--and by nine-thirty the party was driving to the railway station, incidentally meeting a troop of Hussars on the march to Moors for purposes of the Appendix.
"That is what I call business," said Mr. Bower, as they took their seats in the train at the last moment. "No time is lost in dealin" with Lord Lothersdale. I hope that you got to know all you wanted."
"All," replied Mr. Sinnott. "We have evidently been misinformed, for the man I wanted is not there. If we"d made a fuss about it to Lord Lothersdale we should have been sorry. As it is, we are very much obliged to you, Mr. Bower, and we shan"t forget it."
"The next business," said the Hon. Sec. at the Burglars" Club meeting that same evening, "is the payment by Mr. Drummond Eyre of his subscription for the next two years by the production of Lord Lothersdale"s Report on the Army."
"Here it is," said Eyre, producing a ma.n.u.script volume.
A subdued murmur of applause ran round.
The President took up the book and glanced at it. "This seems to be in order," he said, turning to the end. "Lothersdale signs----"
He broke off suddenly. The door had opened without any warning, and a little sharp-featured individual entered, followed by half a dozen other men.
"In the name of the King," said the first comer, "I arrest George Drummond Eyre for feloniously stealing, taking, and carrying away certain papers, namely a Report, the property of the Right Honourable Gilbert Brown, Baron Lothersdale, and I arrest all others present as accessories."
Members rose to their feet, and simultaneously made a move towards the door, with the evident intention of resisting the intrusion.
Mr. Marvell--for it was he--held up his hand warningly. "There are more men outside," he said. "Resistance is useless."
"Where"s your authority for all this?" demanded the Secretary.
"Here, sir," said Marvell, pulling out a bundle of papers from a capacious pocket. "Here are the warrants. "Mr. George Drummond Eyre,""
he called out, reading from the pile. "Here you are, sir. "The Duke of Dorchester." Here, your Grace. "The Earl of Ribston." Here, my lord.
"Mr. Hilton," "Major Anstruther,"" and so on through the list of members. "You will find these quite in order, I think. Now, gentlemen, if you please. I have concluded that you would prefer to ride. Thompson, fetch the hansoms round."
"Stop!" called out Ribston. "What are you going to do with us?"
"Take you to Vine Street Station."
"Nonsense. We"re not criminals."
"You can argue that out with the magistrate to-morrow, my lord," said the detective. "Here are the warrants, and I"m going to execute them. If the proceedings are not in order, you can claim reparation in the usual way. Now, gentlemen, please. If you will give your word to come quietly you will save time and trouble."
"Does the Home Secretary know of this?" asked the Duke.
"We don"t report police court details to the Home Secretary," said Marvell, acidly. "No, sir, he doesn"t."
"Then I demand to see him before these warrants are executed," said Dorchester.