VI
A TOWN IN PAWN
Just as Lord Stranleigh was putting up his cue after a most satisfactory game—he was very fond of billiards—an attendant of the Corinthian Club brought him a card on a silver salver. Lord Stranleigh took it rather languidly, but when he saw the name "Peter Mackeller," he brightened, and went down the stairs rather more eagerly than was his wont, to greet the mining engineer in the lobby of the club. He had not seen Peter since July, and it was now November. Even in July Peter had come to him because sent for, and not of his own accord. It is true that Mackeller most cheerfully and effectively aided him in the affair of the Honduras Central Rubber Company, but for over a year now the mining engineer had not consulted Lord Stranleigh regarding any of his own affairs. He had heard, or seen it in the papers, that Mackeller had purchased an old Manor House on the coast south of London, with a considerable
