Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/200

 make their way home by Southampton and Harwich, each to report in his own handwriting when he arrived. Once they were safely out of the way, the following letter to the British Government was dictated by Stranleigh, who said to Blake, with a smile, before he began:—

"You have never appreciated my craftiness in selecting Germans, Dutchmen, Belgians and Frenchmen for this enterprise. If the Government intends to make a fuss it may find itself involved in an international complication. Now, take this down carefully:—

"Earl Stranleigh of Wychwood begs to inform His Majesty's Government that early in the summer he purchased from it such abandoned coastguard stations as the Government wished to dispose of. For two months these stations have been occupied by Germans, Dutchmen, Belgians, and Frenchmen, whose reports, in their various languages. Earl Stranleigh encloses for the information of the authorities. The men sailed from various Continental ports in Earl Stranleigh's yacht, and were landed without hindrance upon the coast of England. They were all naval and military men, and two hundred of them lived for a week under military discipline in a camp of tents, on British soil. They