t the time."

Claudius was thinking of the dark woman and her parasol, and how he had
climbed down there a few weeks before. To show to himself that he did
not care, he told his companion the incident as graphically as he could.
His description of the lady was so graphic that Mr. Barker screwed up
his eyes and put out his jaw, so that two great lines circled on his
sallow face from just above the nostril, under his heavy moustache to
his chin.

"I could almost fancy I had seen her somewhere," said he.

"Where?" asked Claudius eagerly.

"I thought he would give himself away," was the American's terse inward
reflection; but he answered coolly--

"I don't know, I am sure. Very likely I am mistaken. It was pretty
romantic though. Ask me to the wedding, Professor."

"What wedding?"

"Why, when you marry the fascinating creature with the parasol."

Claudius looked at Mr. Barker with some astonishment.

"Do you generally manage things so quickly in your country?"

"Oh, I was only joking," returned the American. "But, of course, you can
marry anybody you like, and why not the dark lady? On the whole, though,
if I were you, I would like to astonish the natives before I left. Now,
you might buy the castle here and turn it into a hotel."

"Horrible!" ejaculated Claudius.

"No worse than making a hotel of Switzerland, which is an older and more
interesting monument than the castle of Heidelberg."

"Epigrammatic, but fallacious, Mr. Barker."

"Epigrams and proverbs are generally that."

"I think," said Claudius, "that proverbs are only fallacious when they
are carelessly applied."

"Very likely. Life is too short to waste time over weapons that will
only go off in some singular and old-fashioned way. When I start out to
do any shooting, I want to hit."

So they went to dinner. Claudius found himself becoming gayer in the
society of his new acquaintance than he had been for some time past. He
could not have said whether he liked him or thought him interesting, but
he had a strong impression that there was something somewhere, he could
not tell what, which Mr. Barker understood thoroughly, and in which he
might show to great advantage. He felt that however superficial and
unartistic the American might be, he was nevertheless no fool. There was
something keen and sharp-edged about him that proclaimed a character
capable of influencing men, and accustomed to deal boldly and daringly
with life.

They dined as well