ST I ■ • OVER ON THE ISLAND Chapter I THE EARL OF EGMONT AND THE ISLAND I remember Lord Egmont , cross on the new car ferry, and arrive in Borden. GUNPOWDER, said the Earl of Egmont to his nine children, "is just another new-fangled idea. Harr-r-rumph!" Nine heads nodded assent. "Therefore," continued the Earl, "in building our new residence at Enmore , in Somersetshire, I shall have it constructed in the guise of a castle. It will have a moat around it and will be built to defend itself with cross-bows and arrows." "Such foresight!" murmured a son. "Gunpowder is only a fad and it will soon die out!" asserted the Earl firmly as if to convince himself, as well as his son, of the truth of his remark. " It will die out after it blows us all to pieces!" "Now in the days of Henry II . . .," the Earl went on unheedingly, and the sons settled back to listen to the oft-repeated tale. "The days of feudal customs were the best days of England . It is a shame and a mistake to change the old-established practices." His voice grew more and more indignant. " Cross-bows and arrows were good enough for our fathers and they are good enough for us. Gunpowder indeed! It's only a fad. Harr-r-rumph!" 1