ing
glances of astonishment at his taste. "I keep a drawing-room of the
usual kind for receiving strangers with whom it is necessary to be
conventional, but I never enter it except on such occasions. What do you
think of this for a study?"

"On my soul, Trefusis, I think you are mad," said Sir Charles. "The
place looks as if it had stood a siege. How did you manage to break the
statues and chip the walls so outrageously?"

Trefusis took a newspaper from the table and said, "Listen to this:
'In spite of the unfavorable nature of the weather, the sport of the
Emperor and his guests in Styria has been successful. In three days 52
chamois and 79 stags and deer fell to 19 single-barrelled rifles, the
Emperor allowing no more on this occasion.'

"I share the Emperor's delight in shooting, but I am no butcher, and do
not need the royal relish of blood to my sport. And I do not share my
ancestors' taste in statuary. Hence--" Here Trefusis opened a drawer,
took out a pistol, and fired at the Hebe in the farthest niche.

"Well done!" said Erskine coolly, as the last fragment of Hebe's head
crumbled at the touch of the bullet.

"Very fruitlessly done," said Trefusis. "I am a good shot, but of what
use is it to me? None. I once met a gamekeeper who was a Methodist. He
was a most eloquent speaker, but a bad shot. If he could have swapped
talents with me I would have given him ten thousand pounds to boot
willingly, although he would have profited as much as I by the exchange
alone. I have no more desire or need to be a good shot than to be
king of England, or owner of a Derby winner, or anything else equally
ridiculous, and yet I never missed my aim in my life--thank blind
fortune for nothing!"

"King of England!" said Erskine, with a scornful laugh, to show Trefusis
that other people were as liberty-loving as he. "Is it not absurd to
hear a nation boasting of its freedom and tolerating a king?"

"Oh, hang your republicanism, Chester!" said Sir Charles, who privately
held a low opinion of the political side of the Patriot Martyrs.

"I won't be put down on that point," said Erskine. "I admire a man that
kills a king. You will agree with me there, Trefusis, won't you?"

"Certainly not," said Trefusis. "A king nowadays is only a dummy put up
to draw your fire off the real oppressors of society, and the fraction
of his salary that he can spend as he likes is usually far too small for
his risk, his trouble, and the condition of