CHAPTER XX

Some Months Later § I “Point is,” said the captain, “that although I am honoured to place my cabin at your disposal, I can’t hold the _Ruritania_ in her dock three seconds after one o’clock. It is just twelve-thirty.” Sir Harry Bristol was a charming host. He was also a very truculent specimen of a mercantile skipper. The Big Politician smiled soothingly. For a big politician he was a small man: but his lined and humorous face conveyed a definite impression of power. A faint vibrat…