"What did the ladies say to it?" Randal inquired. "Who spoke
first?"

"Mrs. Presty, of course! She objected to risk her life on the
water, in a fog. Mrs. Linley showed a resolution for which I was
not prepared. She thought of Kitty, saw the value of my
suggestion, and went away at once to consult with the landlady.
In the meantime I sent for the gardener, and told him what I was
thinking of. He was one of those stolid Englishmen, who possess
resources which don't express themselves outwardly. Judging by
his face, you would have said he was subsiding into a slumber
under the infliction of a sermon, instead of listening to a
lawyer proposing a stratagem. When I had done, the man showed the
metal he was made of. In plain English, he put three questions
which gave me the highest opinion of his intelligence. 'How much
luggage, sir?' 'As little as they can conveniently take with
them,' I said. 'How many persons?' 'The two ladies, the child,
and myself.' 'Can you row, sir?' 'In any water you like, Mr.
Gardener, fresh or salt'. Think of asking Me, an athletic
Englishman, if I could row! In an hour more we were ready to
embark, and the blessed fog was thicker than ever. Mrs. Presty
yielded under protest; Kitty was wild with delight; her mother
was quiet and resigned. But one circumstance occurred that I
didn't quite understand--the presence of a stranger on the pier
with a gun in his hand."

"You don't mean one of the spies?"

"Nothing of the sort; I mean an idea of the gardener's. He had