"Oh!" exclaimed Nyla, "it must be the Demonstration. Daddy thought he'd escaped it by coming early, but they've followed him here. His supporters, and the interviewers from the Labour papers. He was hoping they wouldn't come until he'd got a little bit settled. If those people from the New Freedom and the Folkvoice find him surrounded by uniformed flunkeys I'm sure it'll be bad for politics."
"Quick!" cried Cointreau, his eyes bright with excitement. "This is important. Hurry upstairs, tell your father to put on his old clothes. Get that housekeeper person, what's her name, Innsbruck, to call the maids together and have them wear their native duds. I'll tell Romsteck to roll out a barrel of beer on the lawn. I'll keep the crowd amused at the front steps until your father's ready. Tell him to bring his pipe. Hurry!"
With a flutter of skirts Nyla fled across the terrace.
Herr Romsteck, already sufficiently agitated by the events of the day, was in the hall won-
