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CHAPTER I<br >"They are here， Papa，" Emily Willoughby announced<br >nervously. "Robert and James. They await your pleasure."<br > Rear Admiral Sir Francis Willoughby looked up from<br >the book he was reading to eye his daughter with stern<br >disapproval. "Have I not bidden you to knock before you<br >enter my study?" he demanded with asperity.<br > In awe of him， as she always was， and fearing his<br >temper， Emily apologized. It was of no use， she knew， to<br >tell him that she had-knocked; he would not admit that it<br > as his increasing deafness that had prevented him from<br > aring her. His disapproval， she also knew， was of her<br >brothers， not herself， and although she could only guess at<br >the reason for it， she supposed it was Robert s conduct that<br >had， once again， aroused their father s ire.<br > Since his court-martial two years ago and his dismissal<br >from the King s Service， Robert had been in such constant<br >trouble that， for some time past， he had been forbidden the<br >house， his name never mentioned in the admiral s presence.<br >For this reason， Emily had been surprised to learn----only<br >the previous day--that he had been sent for， and poor<br >young Jamie with him. Though what Jamie could have<br >done to warrant the peremptory demand for his attendance<br >passed her comprehension.<br > She sighed. Her younger brother was thirteen， a cadet at<br >the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth and nearing the<br >end of his first year of study there. The excellence of his<br >reports had hitherto afforded their father great satisfaction，<br >Q<br ><br >