to,
and upon that is based all that you may read there,--'_Europe for the
Europeans, Asia for us_.'"

Maggie was conscious of a sudden sense of escape from her almost
mesmeric state. The change in his tone, his calm references to things
belonging to another and altogether different world, had dissolved a
situation against the charm of which she had found herself powerless,
even unwilling to struggle. Once more she was back in the world where
for the last two years had lain her chief interests. She took the papers
in her hand and began reading them quickly through. Every now and then a
little exclamation broke from her lips.

"You will observe," her companion pointed out, looking over her
shoulder, "that on paper, at any rate, Japan is the great gainer. She
takes Australia, New Zealand and India. China absorbs Thibet and
reestablishes her empire of forty years ago. The arrangement is based
very largely on racial conditions. China is a self-centered country. We
have not the power of fusion of the Japanese. You will observe further,
as an interesting circumstance, that the American foothold in Asia
disappears as completely as the British."

"But tell me," she demanded, "how are these things to be brought about,
and where does Immelan come in?"

Prince Shan smiled.

"Immelan's position," he explained, "is largely a sentimental one, yet
on the other hand he saves his country from what might be a grave
calamity. The commercial advantages he gains under this treaty might
seem to be inadequate, although in effect they are very considerable.
The point is this. He soothes his country of the pain which groans day
by day in her limbs. He gratifies her lust for vengeance against Great
Britain without plunging her into any desperate enterprise."

"And France escapes," she murmured.

"France escapes," he assented. "Rightly or wrongly, the whole of
Germany's post-war animosity was directed against England. She
considered herself deceived by certain British statesmen. She may have
been right or wrong. I myself find the evidence conflicting. At this
moment the matter does not concern us."

"And is Great Britain, then," Maggie asked, "believed to be so helpless
that she can be stripped of the greater part of her possessions at the
will of China and Japan?"

Prince Shan smiled.

"Great Britain," he reminded her, "has taken the League of Nations to
her heart. It was a very dangerous thing to do."

"Still," Maggie persisted, "