on to suit me.

Albert held the letter before him and read it over again before he
moved. Then he jumped to the window. The boat was gone, and there was
not a sign of it on the horizon.

"The miserable old hypocrite!" he cried, half angry and half laughing.
"If he thinks I am going to stay here alone he is very greatly
mistaken. And yet, why not?" he asked. He stopped soliloquizing and
looked around him, thinking rapidly. As he stood there, Stedman came
in from the other room, fresh and smiling from his morning's bath.

"Good-morning," he said, "where's the consul?"

"The consul," said Albert, gravely, "is before you. In me you see the
American consul to Opeki."

"Captain Travis," Albert explained, "has returned to the United
States. I suppose he feels that he can best serve his country by
remaining on the spot. In case of another war, now, for instance, he
would be there to save it again."

"And what are you going to do?" asked Stedman, anxiously. "You will
not run away, too, will you?"

Albert said that he intended to remain where he was and perform his
consular duties, to appoint him his secretary, and to elevate the
United States in the opinion of the Opekians above all other nations.

"They may not think much of the United States in England," he said;
"but we are going to teach the people of Opeki that America is first
on the map and that there is no second."

"I'm sure it's very good of you to make me your secretary," said
Stedman, with some pride. "I hope I won't make any mistakes. What are
the duties of a consul's secretary?" "That," said Albert, "I do not
know. But you are rather good at inventing, so you can invent a few.
That should be your first duty and you should attend to it at once. I
will have trouble enough finding work for myself. Your salary is five
hundred dollars a year; and now," he continued briskly, "we want to
prepare for this reception. We can tell the King that Travis was just
a guard of honor for the trip, and that I have sent him back to tell
the President of my safe arrival. That will keep the President from
getting anxious. There; is nothing," continued Albert, "like a uniform
to impress people who live in the tropics, and Travis, it so happens,
has two in his trunk. He intended to wear them on State occasions, and
as I inherit the trunk and all that is in it, I intend to wear one of
the uniforms, and you can have the other. But I have first choice,
because I am consul."

Cap