ghing.
"If he thinks I am going to stay here alone he is very greatly mistaken.
And yet, why not?" he asked. He stopped soliloquizing and looked around
him, thinking rapidly. As he stood there, Stedman came in from the other
room, fresh and smiling from his morning's bath.

"Good morning," he said, "where's the consul?"

"The consul," said Albert, gravely, "is before you. In me you see the
American consul to Opeki.

"Captain Travis," Albert explained, "has returned to the United States.
I suppose he feels that he can best serve his country by remaining on
the spot. In case of another war, now, for instance, he would be there
to save it again."

"And what are you going to do?" asked Stedman, anxiously. "You will not
run away too, will you?"

Albert said that he intended to remain where he was and perform his
consular duties, to appoint him his secretary, and to elevate the United
States in the opinion of the Opekians above all other nations.

"They may not think much of the United States in England," he said; "but
we are going to teach the people of Opeki that America is first on the
map, and that there is no second."

"I'm sure it's very good of you to make me your secretary," said
Stedman, with some pride. "I hope I won't make any mistakes. What are
the duties of a consul's secretary?"

"That," said Albert, "I do not know. But you are rather good at
inventing, so you can invent a few. That should be your first duty and
you should attend to it at once. I will have trouble enough finding work
for myself. Your salary is five hundred dollars a year; and now," he
continued, briskly, "we want to prepare for this reception. We can tell
the King that Travis was just a guard of honor for the trip, and that I
have sent him back to tell the President of my safe arrival. That will
keep the President from getting anxious. There is nothing," continued
Albert, "like a uniform to impress people who live in the tropics, and
Travis, it so happens, has two in his trunk. He intended to wear them
on State occasions, and as I inherit the trunk and all that is in it, I
intend to wear one of the uniforms, and you can have the other. But I
have first choice, because I am consul."

Captain Travis's consular outfit consisted of one full dress and one
undress United States uniform. Albert put on the dress-coat over a pair
of white flannel trousers, and looked remarkably brave and handsome.
Stedman, who was only eighteen and quite thin,