, and he closed by pointing out all the mistakes
of the English at Agincourt, where there is no doubt they drubbed the
French handsomely.

It was then time for supper, which was announced by Peter, and we
proceeded to the dining saloon. It was an agreeable supper. The
bishop's harangue had put us all in a mirthful humor, and the wine of
Ximenes was of the sort described in the Scriptures, as making glad
the heart of man. Although the bishop knew nothing about war, he was
an excellent judge of wine, and had due respect for the Ximenes. There
was skirmishing all during supper between his Grace and Madame Riano,
but it was understood that no pitched battle would take place until we
went to cards, the field of the cloth of green having been their
chosen battle-ground for thirty years. Madame Riano was the very
devil at cards, and the bishop was not far behind her.

It being cold in the great red saloon, we sat, for cards, in the
little yellow room, where a huge fire blazed. We were at primero, the
whole party of us. The stakes were small, but the fire and fury with
which the bishop and Madame Riano played against each other was
something remarkable. Charges and counter charges, sarcasm, ridicule
and innuendo were freely bandied between them. Victory perched first
on one banner and then on the other, but I must say the lady got
rather the best of it. I should say that the bishop was the better
strategist; but for determined, head-long valor, Madame Riano
surpassed him.

We had been playing over an hour, when a sudden wild, loud roaring was
heard in the chimney, the door was burst open, and a swarm of
frightened servants rushed in, crying the house was afire. At once,
each of us, except Madame Riano, laid down his cards, in some
consternation; but the Scotch lady, without so much as taking her eyes
off her hand, remarked coolly:

"'Tis nothing but the chimney catching afire, a common enough thing in
Scotland. But these foolish Brabant people know nothing about
fireplaces, and are frightened at every blaze they see."

It turned out to be truly nothing but the blazing soot in the chimney,
accompanied by a great roaring, with flames coming out of the
chimney's mouth and sparks flying. The roofs being tiled, there was no
real danger, but as Madame Riano said truly, the people in the Low
Countries, knowing nothing of open fireplaces with blazing fires,
were in a state of wild alarm. Nevertheless, we could not sit still
unde