would suffer if he made a mistake--and he felt sure he was not making a
mistake. Though not given to day-dreams (Finsbury Pavement discouraged
him), he had an ounce of imagination distributed about his brain (few,
even among money-making men, succeed with less), and it had once or
twice occurred to him that a king's must be, in spite of drawbacks, a
highly enviable lot--at any rate in countries west of Russia. Well,
here was his chance.

He took it boldly; and to-day, had you asked him, he would have
acknowledged with a smile that he did not repent. All kings, to be
sure, have their worries. The army had not shown itself too well
affected towards the new reign. But when an army consists of three
soldiers....

The Lord Proprietor, gazing down from his terrace upon the twinkling
waters of the roadstead, caught sight of a row-boat coming across from
St. Lide's, and as it drew near, recognised its sole occupant for
Sergeant Archelaus.

He felt for his cigar case, chose and lit a cigar, and rested his
elbows on the balustrade of the terrace, watching, while the old man
brought his boat to the landing-quay, landed leisurely, and crossed the
meadow to the foot of the gardens, where, at the pace he was keeping,
one might allow him a couple of minutes at least before he re-emerged
into view at the foot of the steps leading up to the terrace. But, as
it happened, a bare fifty seconds elapsed before he came darting out of
the boscage and scrambled up the stairway in a sweating hurry, two
steps at a time.

"You shouldn't, Sergeant; you really shouldn't--at your time of life,"
expostulated the Lord Proprietor, kindly, withdrawing the cigar from
his mouth.

"Then you shouldn't keep ostriches," retorted Sergeant Archelaus, as he
gained the topmost step and, after a fearful glance behind him, sank
against a pilaster and mopped his brow.

"Take care of that urn!" cried the Lord Proprietor, in a warning voice.
"It contains a _Phormium tenax_ that I wouldn't lose on any account."

"A what?"

"A New Zealand Flax.... The ostriches chased you, did they?"

"They did--the pair of 'em. It goes against a man's stomach, too, being
chased by a bird."

"To me," said the Lord Proprietor, "it is gratifying evidence that they
are recovering their spirits, which were hipped after the long voyage
from Cape Town. But here, in the Gulf Stream, my theory is that we can
acclimatise almost anything, animal or vegetable. Already they begin to
fe