at Hamilton had given to him that morning, the name of the man who had
written to him, and who had signed himself 'a soldier of fortune.' He
smiled back at the white gentleman.

'Yes,' he said truthfully, 'I have heard your brother's name. It is a
striking name.'

The white gentleman was delighted. He rubbed his large white hands
together, and almost seemed as if he might purr in the excess of his
gratification. He glanced enthusiastically at Miss Ericson.

'Ah!' he went on. 'My brother is a remarkable man. I may even say so in
your illustrious presence; he is a remarkable man. There are degrees, of
course,' and he bowed apologetically to the Dictator; 'but he is
remarkable.'

'I have not the least doubt of that,' said the Dictator politely.

The white gentleman seemed much pleased. At a sign from Miss Ericson he
sat down upon a garden-chair, still slowly and contentedly rubbing his
white hands together. Miss Ericson and her nephew resumed their seats.

'Captain Sarrasin is a great traveller,' Miss Ericson said explanatorily
to the Dictator. The Dictator bowed his head. He did not quite know what
to say, and so, for the moment, said nothing. The white gentleman took
advantage of the pause.

'Yes,' he said, 'yes, my brother is a great traveller. A wonderful man,
sir; all parts of the wide world are as familiar as home to him. The
deserts of the nomad Arabs, the Prairies of the great West, the Steppes
of the frozen North, the Pampas of South America; why, he knows them all
better than most people know Piccadilly.'

'South America?' questioned the Dictator; 'your brother is acquainted
with South America?'

'Intimately acquainted,' replied Mr. Sarrasin. 'I hope you will meet
him. You and he might have much to talk about. He knew Gloria in the old
days.'

The Dictator expressed courteously his desire to have the pleasure of
meeting Captain Sarrasin. 'And you, are you a traveller as well?' he
asked.

Mr. Sarrasin shook his head, and when he spoke there was a certain
accent of plaintiveness in his reply.

'No,' he said, 'not at all, not at all. My brother and I resemble each
other very slightly. He has the wanderer's spirit; I am a confirmed
stay-at-home. While he thinks nothing of starting off at any moment for
the other ends of the earth, I have never been outside our island, have
never been much away from London.'

'Isn't that curious?' asked Miss Ericson, who evidently took much
pleasure in the conversatio