What could he do, what could he say, to make the position less intolerable?

Anstruther, quicker than Iris to appreciate Sir Arthur Deane’s dilemma, gallantly helped him.  He placed a loving hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Be advised by me, Sir Arthur, and you too, Iris,” he said.  “This is no hour for such explanations.  Leave me to deal with Lord Ventnor.  I am content to trust the ultimate verdict to you, Sir Arthur.  You will learn in due course all that has happened.  Go on board, Iris.  Meet Lord Ventnor as you would meet any other friend.  You will not marry him, I know.  I can trust you.”  He said this with a smile that robbed the words of serious purport.  “Believe me, you two can find plenty to occupy your minds today without troubling yourselves about Lord Ventnor.”

“I am very much obliged to you,” murmured the baronet, who, notwithstanding his worry, was far too experienced a man of the world not to acknowledge the good sense of this advice, no matter how ruffianly might be the guise of the strange person who gave it.

“That is settled, then,” said Robert, laughing good-naturedly, for he well knew what a weird spectacle he must present to the bewildered old gentleman.

Even Sir Arthur Deane was fascinated by the ragged and hairy giant who carried himself so masterfully and helped everybody over the stile at the right moment He tried to develop the change in the conversation.

“By the way,” he said, “how came you to be on the Sirdar?  I have a list of all the passengers and crew, and your name does not appear therein.”

“Oh, that is easily accounted for.  I shipped as a steward, in the name of Robert Jenks.”

“Robert Jenks!  A steward!”

This was worse than ever.  The unhappy shipowner thought the sky must have fallen.

“Yes.  That forms some part of the promised explanation.”

Iris rapidly gathered the drift of her lover’s wishes.  “Come, father,” she cried merrily.  “I am aching to see what the ship’s stores, which you and Robert pin your faith to, can do for me in the shape of garments.  I have the utmost belief in the British navy, and even a skeptic should be convinced of its infallibility if H.M.S. Orient is able to provide a lady’s outfit.”

Sir Arthur Deane gladly availed himself of the proffered compromise.  He assisted Iris into the boat, though that active young person was far better able to support him, and a word to the officer in command sent the gig flying back to the ship.  Anstruther, during a momentary delay, made a small request on his own account.  Lieutenant Playdon, nearly as big a man as Robert, despatched a note to his servant, and the gig speedily returned with a complete assortment of clothing and linen.  The man also brought a dressing case, with the result that a dip in the bath, and ten minutes in the hands of an expert valet, made Anstruther a new man.