and exquisite, and he did not look at its face. Instead he touched a delicate spring with his finger-nail and listened to the tinkle of its low

tion of accuracy and beauty. Because it was a prince's plaything and because the young Titan of finance who employed Carl Bristoll as his confidential secretary had brought it back by way of an affectionate gift from his last trip to the Contin

nd its color echo in the blue of broad waters and beyond them the Palisades were already beginning to show tenderly green and alluring in spring's res

he library where his chief dispatched those matters of more urgent business that pursued him even to his home. It was a room that might have served a potentate as a counc

shold of his career!" That often repeated formula was a sort of daily tonic with which his ambition reminded itself that life holds no prize locked behind impossible

ow with a tray of early mail, into which the secretary plunged, separating the purely p

ered the servant. "He was with his sister until midnight, and after that Mr.

ed. "He spoke of a busy day ahead, and suggested an early start. There are

says, sir, it's sleep that 'knits up the ravelled sleeve of care,' sir. S

ed the secretary, "that you w

garded, sir, and, I take it, advantageous associations reflect themselves in one's tastes, sir. But-" he dropped his voice, and came a step nearer-"

ng the young woman, the fame of whose loveliness had preceded her

nions, but-" The butler paused in evident embarra

erted shortly. "I can't see that you

r, I was only

don't

sness, the admirable Harro

I sha'n't. I was onl

an impatient frown on a for

Ask me and h

te any sweeping changes of régime in our milieu? Things have gone on very well, sir, as they were." The interrogat

with a bow said only, "Yes, sir, thank you. I w

pon which he reduced their purport to succinct notes. He always enjoyed these responsible mornings with his chief because they were tim

he smiled knowingly with the memory of a sentence spoken at the breakfast-table or an edict uttered in this libr

of a popular air. It might have been a college sophomore arriving light-heartedly from his cold plunge, rather

as he clapped the younger man on the shoulder and inquired with a voice remarka

York, even while he retained the grace of a seeming carelessness. His eyes, though he had slept a scant four hours, looked out clear-pupiled and tireless, but it was the shape and carriage of the head that proclaimed mastery. The pattern of brow and jaw and clean-cut lip

of badinage that had grown up between them h

ur Majesty's appearance

ave expected, but neither financier nor secretary was an ord

lost its smile and became instantly attentive while his

rence or confusion. Through the channels of vision, hearing and quick independent thought, varied propositions were

ir problems, "the rest can wait till we get down-town. There's Harrow calling us to breakfast-and breakfast is an institution

de of uneasiness in his voice, "sent word by h

nt it took on something of that aggressive set which men in the St

out the room, pausing idly before a favorite landscape here and prized bronze there. Patience was one quality which Hamilton Burton had not spent great effort in acquiring. It was

as bearer of a message which mar

ive you in her boudoir in a half-hour. She does

y eyes flashed forebodingly, though the line of his lips wa

. Say to her that I trust she will make the delay short." Then as the butler turned, th

laid a note-card by his p

eakfast-table. The rest of the day is yours. This is final. Mr. Bristoll and I are wa

nd with that systematic quality which made his brain so

us valley in Bolivia. Men who have drunk it there are not satisfied with any

ined it," smiled t

ted it," he announced

inence of suggestion, but the trout are jumping in the mountain brooks just now. Can't you drop things for a few days and climb into a flannel shirt-and rest? You cou

estively as the fires of the volcano at whose base it grew from berry to lush plant and came

ed around the corners of his lips. "Very thoughtful indeed, but the suggestion is, after all, unavailable

know I should feel honored at any time you did," he

ow, but for ten years I was lady's maid to two singularly repulsive cows-and in time they cloyed upon me. Whenever those Juno-eyed kine lowed for a drink of water, it was up to me to hustle out and serve them-and I never got a tip for my service. To this good day, Carl, the sight of a cow gives me cramps in the fingers and melancholy in the soul. Henceforth I'll take my mil

s fall, I'll go and stand under Cheops' pyramid or the Coliseum at Rome or some other edifice reared with human hands as the monument to human achievement that helped to b

glanced up to meet the frankly alarmed gaze of H

uavity shaken beyond control, "that there is no answe

beginning to melt. Hamilton Burton rose abruptly from his chair. "Please excuse me for a

eeks prior to her arrival and when in answer to his rap a silvery voice said, "Come in," he stood on the

s so like a colorful and lustrous pearl that one forgot her surroundings. Hamilton's eyes, the eyes that

nk there must be some misunderst

not then give you my message?" she inquired softly

g in his domineering spirit bristled, as it al

fully dressed,

ured

ome when I ask it? Is it simply that you wish to

ner was that of a young empress who regards any criticism of herself as an audacious jest, so unprecedented as to be diverting. "Ar

hat you sti

would not seem ungracious.... I

ason enough why

my house I wish you to appear at the breakfast-table. This morning is a good time to begin. Will you accompany me on your own feet, or will you make your initial appear

flecked with annoyance. "Five seconds are four se

a child from its cradle, he bent down and gathered her slender figure in h

atched eyes burst into indignant fire. These demonstrations her brother ignored as he carried her in effortless fashion out into the broad hall and half-way down the stairs. She had ceased to str

your first appearance before my secretary and butler, or

gnity, and for once she found that her fluency had forsaken her. She had been taught-Hamilton had seen

e spoke in a cautious voice so that no echo migh

he question; instea

tress of the house or

held, both pairs unwavering; then the