close
pursuit on the other side. Carlton approached her with a certain
feeling of diffidence, which was most unusual to him, and asked if she
were dancing.

"Mr. Carlton shall decide for me," Miss Morris said, dropping the
equerry's arm and standing beside the American. "I have promised all
of these gentlemen," she explained, "to dance with them, and now they
won't agree as to which is to dance first. They've wasted half this
waltz already in discussing it, and they make it much more difficult by
saying that no matter how I decide, they will fight duels with the one
I choose, which is most unpleasant for me."

"Most unpleasant for the gentleman you choose, too," suggested Carlton.

"So," continued Miss Morris, "I have decided to leave it to you."

"Well, if I am to arbitrate between the powers," said Carlton, with a
glance at the three uniforms, "my decision is that as they insist on
fighting duels in any event, you had better dance with me until they
have settled it between them, and then the survivor can have the next
dance."

"That's a very good idea," said Miss Morris; and taking Carlton's arm,
she bowed to the three men and drew away.

"Mr. Carlton," said the equerry, with a bow, "has added another
argument in favor of maintaining standing armies, and of not submitting
questions to arbitration."

"Let's get out of this," said Carlton. "You don't want to dance, do
you? Let us go where it's cool."

He led her down the stairs, and out on to the terrace. They did not
speak again until they had left it, and were walking under the trees in
the Queen's garden. He had noticed as they made their way through the
crowd how the men and women turned to look at her and made way for her,
and how utterly unconscious she was of their doing so, with that
unconsciousness which comes from familiarity with such discrimination,
and Carlton himself held his head a little higher with the pride and
pleasure the thought gave him that he was in such friendly sympathy
with so beautiful a creature. He stopped before a low stone bench that
stood on the edge of the path, surrounded by a screen of tropical
trees, and guarded by a marble statue. They were in deep shadow
themselves, but the moonlight fell on the path at their feet, and
through the trees on the other side of the path they could see the open
terrace of the palace, with the dancers moving in and out of the
lighted windows. The splash of a fountain came from some sh