stood at once, but Echochee, never taking her eyes from the
sizzling skillets, asked:

"What you mean--'shocked'?"

"I mean horrified, terrified--sorry," I answered, rather put to it how
else to explain.

"Ugh! She already sorry; cry some, say ve'y bad. Me say ve'y good. She
all right now. You through?"

And, since I was through, she gave another grunt, leaving me with the
suspicion that she thought I was a very small boy.

When finally the others came in sight Doloria walked at the side of
Tommy, while Monsieur followed in some discomfiture of mind. His hair
was tousled, and his eyes were thoughtful. From this, and the grin on
Tommy's face, I judged that all was not going well for him and, in a
more happy frame of mind, I went out to meet them.

"Mr. Davis has been telling me a strange story," she smiled at me.

"He's full of strange stories," I warned her. "Don't take him
seriously--ever!"

"But I know he was serious this time--weren't you?" The corners of her
mouth were tell-tales of merriment as she turned to him.

"Shall we let Jack in on it?" he asked, the grin on his face widening.

"Do you think we'd better?" She was laughing outright now, with an
alluring spirit of confidence; so I knew that she approved my estimate
of Tommy and had taken him into her heart as for many years he had lived
in mine.

But women always loved Tommy--perhaps because he loved them. If some
far-reaching providence had not endowed him with a well-developed sense
of honor to go hand in hand with his attractiveness, more girls would
have looked after him through tears than toward him with gladness.
Whatever his loves and secret affairs, he always played above the board
and never cheated; so they could trust him if he won, and pet him if he
lost. Taken altogether, he was rather a lucky beggar, who learned early
in life that the golden key which unlocks a woman's heart is
Secrecy--and this they seemed to know by some divine, or devilish,
insight.

Before he now had a chance to answer her question, Monsieur caught up
with us.

"Ah, my boy Jack," he grasped my hands, forgetting his ill humor to
beam on me. "For lack of opportunity I have not expressed my gratitude!
Azuria is your debtor! I, who have the authority, say it!"

"Thank you," I replied, "but that debt was cancelled early this morning
when its Princess saved me from assassination."

"Good Lord," Tommy cried, in despair, "he's spilled the beans! Jack, you
bone-head