Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/198

 "Merely a suggestion, Lord Stranleigh. You choose an inconvenient spot upon the coast. It would have been better to select the coastguard station on Portland Bill, if there is one at that point."

"Why?"

"Because it is so much more handy for Portland Prison, where aristocratic contraveners of the law are placed in retirement." Stranleigh laughed.

"Oh, you see breakers ahead, do you?"

"Yes; law breakers."

Again Stranleigh laughed.

"Coming from you, Blake, that isn't so bad. Still, there is nothing illegal in the task assigned to you. If it comes to the worst you can always prove stupidity on your part, and claim that you didn't fathom the nefariousness of my designs. Should any contravention of the statutes ensue, I'll take full command and full responsibility."

Within a few weeks Stranleigh found himself the owner of nearly a hundred coastguard stations. Leaving Blake in charge of Lannacombe, the young nobleman departed aboard his yacht. Some ten days previously the tents had been erected, partly to learn whether they would stand the heavy winds frequenting that section of the coast, even in summer,