ven if she
were not--la, la! He was having a good time! He was gay! He was seeing
pretty women in the cafes and the gardens! Well, well, he would see her
to-morrow--after that he would give proper heed to the Baron's warning!
An anarchist's daughter!

He slept well, too, with never a thought of the Saturday express which
he had lain awake on other nights to lament and anathematise. Bright and
early in the morning he was astir. Somehow he felt he had been sleeping
too much of late.

There was a sparkle in his eyes as he struck out across town after
breakfast. He burst in upon Mr. Hobbs at Cook's.

"Say, Hobbs, how about the Castle to-day--in an hour, say? Can you take
a party of one rubbernecking this A.M.? I like you, Hobbs. You are the
best interpreter of English I've ever seen. I can't help understanding
you, no matter how hard I try not to. I want you to get me into the
Castle grounds to-day and show me where the duchesses dawdle and the
countesses cavort. I'm ashamed to say it, Hobbs, but since yesterday
I've quite lost interest in the middle classes and the component parts
thereof. I have suddenly acquired a thirst for champagne--in other
words, I have a hankering for the nobility. Catch the idea? Good! Then
you'll guide me into the land of the fairies? At ten?"

"I'll take you to the Castle grounds, Mr. King, all right enough, sir,
and I'll tell you all the things of interest, but I'll be 'anged, sir,
if I've got the blooming nerve to introduce you to the first ladies of
the land. That's more than I can ever 'ope to do, sir, and--"

"Lord bless you, Hobbs, don't look so depressed. I don't ask you to
present me at court. I just want to look at the lilacs and the
gargoyles. That's as far as I expect to carry my invasion of the dream
world."

"Of course, sir, you understand there are certain parts of the Park not
open to the public. The grotto and the playgrounds and the Basin of
Venus--"

"I'll not trespass, so don't fidget, Hobbs. I'll be here for you at
ten."

Mr. Hobbs looked after the vigorous, happy figure as it swung down the
street, and shook his head mournfully. Turning to the solitary clerk who
dawdled behind the cashier's desk he remarked with more feeling than was
his wont:

"He's just the kind of chap to get me into no end of trouble if I give
'im rope enough. Take it from me, Stokes, I'll have my hands full of 'im
up there this morning. He's charged like a soda bottle; and you never
know wo