_ for President
Carnot, kings and emperors bestowed upon him decorations. I recall
that when he created the _Parfait Rambon_--ah!--the governor of his
Province set aside a day of celebration. Rambon unappreciated--it is
to say that genius is unappreciated!" He turned apologetically to Mrs.
Wellington. "America--what would you?"

Mrs. Wellington sniffed ever so slightly. She had become a bit weary
of the Russian's assumption of European superiority. She recognized
that in Prince Koltsoff she had a guest, her possession of whom had
excited among the cottage colony the envy of all those whose envy she
desired. So far as she was concerned, that was all she wanted. Now
that Anne and the Prince appeared to be hitting it off, she was content
to let that matter take its course as might be, with, however, a pretty
well defined conviction that her daughter was thoroughly alive to the
desirability, not to say convenience, of such an alliance. In her
secret heart, however, she rather marvelled at Anne's open interest in
the Koltsoff. To be frank, the Prince was boring her and she had come
to admit that she, personally, had far rather contemplate the noble
guest as a far-distant son-in-law, than as a husband, assuming that her
age and position were eligible.

So--she sniffed.

"My dear Prince," she said, "I will take you to a hundred tables in
Newport and--I was going to say ten thousand--a thousand in New York,
where the food is better cooked than in any private house in Europe."

Touched upon a spot peculiarly tender, Koltsoff all but exploded.

"_Pouf_!" he cried. Then he laughed heartily. "You jest, surely, my
dear madame."

"No, I fancy not," replied Mrs. Wellington placidly.

"Oh, but how can you know! Where is it that the writings of Careme are
studied and known? Where is it that the memory of Beauvilliers and the
reputations of Ranhofer and Casimir and Mollard are preserved? In
Europe--"

"In Paris," corrected Mrs. Wellington.

"Well. And from Paris disseminated glowingly throughout Europe--'"

"And the United States."

Koltsoff struggled with himself for a moment.

"Pardon," he said, "but, bah! It cannot be."

"Naturally, you are at the disadvantage of not having had the
experience at American tables that I have had abroad," observed Mrs.
Wellington rising. "But we shall hope to correct that while you are
here. . . . As for the sauce you praised, it was not by Rambon--who is
out to-day--b