ery device that the heart of a clean
man could desire. He discovered that by dropping a quarter into various
apertures he could secure almost anything he required from tooth paste
to razor blades. There was a telephone beside his bed which rang at
inconvenient moments and a Bible upon the side table proclaimed the
religious fervor of this extraordinary people. A newspaper was sent in
to him every morning whether he rang for it or not, and every time he
did ring, a lesser Uhlan brought a thermos bottle containing iced water.
This perplexed him for a time but he was too much ashamed of his
ignorance to question. You see, he was already acquiring the first
ingredient of the American character--omniscience, for he found that in
New York no one ever admits that he doesn't know everything.

But it was all very wonderful, pulsing with life, eloquent of
achievement. He was in no haste. By living with some care, he found that
the money from his ruby would last for several months. Meanwhile he was
studying his situation and its possibilities. Summing up his own
attainments he felt that he was qualified as a teacher of the piano or
of the voice, as an instructor in languages, or if the worst came, as a
waiter in a fashionable restaurant--perhaps even a head-waiter--which
from the authority he observed in the demeanor of the lord of the hotel
dining room seemed almost all the honor that a person in America might
hope to gain. But, in order that no proper opportunity should slip by,
he scanned the newspapers in the hope of finding something that he could
do.

As the weeks passed he made the discovery that he was being immensely
entertained. He was all English now. It was not in the least difficult
to make acquaintances. Almost everybody spoke to everybody without the
slightest feeling of restraint. He learned the meaning of the latest
American slang but found difficulty in applying it, rejoiced in the
syncopation of the jazz, America's original contribution to the musical
art, and by the end of a month thought himself thoroughly acclimated.

But he still surprised inquiring glances male and female cast in his
direction. There was something about his personality which, disguise it
as he might under American-made garments and American-made manners,
refused to be hidden. It was his charm added to his general good nature
and adaptability which quickly made Peter Nichols some friends of the
better sort. If he had been willing to drift