thousand times,--senorita!" I stammered, the while my
dazzled eyes drank in her radiant beauty.

She bowed composedly and withdrew into the gloom of the coach. That was
all. But it left me half dazed. Not until the driver trudged back and
reached for the reins did it come upon me that I was staring blankly in
through the empty window at the outline of the don's shoulder. The best
I can say is that I did not find my mouth agape.

A touch of my heel and a hint at the bit sent my nag jogging on toward
the Capitol, leaving the rescued coach to flounder along its opposite
way as best it could, through the avenue already famous for its two
miles of length, its hundred yards of width, and its two feet of depth.

Wearied as I was by the last of many days' hard riding from the Ohio, I
was the lighter for carrying with me a scarlet-lipped vision with eyes
like sloes.

CHAPTER II

PLAIN THOMAS JEFFERSON

It was the third day after my arrival in Washington. The clear sky,
which in the forenoon had lured me down from the Capitol Hill along the
forest-clad banks of the little Tiber, had brought at the noon hour a
warmth of sunshine that made by no means ungrateful the shade of a giant
tulip poplar.

I was lolling at my ease on the bank of the beautiful stream when a
rider broke cover from a thicket of azaleas and cantered toward me down
along the bank. The first glance at his horse brought me to my feet,
eager-eyed. It was one of the most mettlesome and shapely mounts I had
ever had the pleasure to view.

The rider, attracted perhaps by my ill-concealed admiration, drew up
before me with the easy control of a perfect horseman, and touched his
cocked hat.

"A pleasant day, sir, for a lover of wild Nature," he said.

His tone, though easy almost to familiarity, was underlaid with a quiet
dignity and reserve that brought my hand in turn to my high, stiff
beaver and my eyes to his face.

"A day, sir, to tempt even a botanist to forget his classifying," I
ventured at sight of the rooted plant of goldenrod in his hand.

He shook his long gray locks with a whimsical manner. "On the contrary,
I am of the opinion that the enjoyment of Nature should add zest to the
pursuits of Science."

"Since you put it so aptly, sir, I cannot but agree," I made answer,
smiling at his shrewdness. "In truth," I added, "this unusual
opportunity of enjoying _solidago odora_ so late in the season loses
nothing by the knowledge that the i