ntimental or childish; and to him I say: "wait until you are in
similar circumstances."

Presently I got my senses and, I trust, thanked His Majesty in proper
words. But he, would have none of it.

"They are yours by right of birth, you have simply come to your own,"
he said.

"But only by your gracious favor," I protested.

"Then, do me a small return: wear the Huzzar uniform this evening."

I must have looked my surprise.

"We are pretty much of a size and I think mine will fit you," he
observed.

"It is very little you ask, Sire." I answered.

"Then my valet will squire you," and he rang for the servant.

And it was well he did; for I was not used to fancy uniforms, with
their peculiar fastenings and adornments, and I might have spent the
entire evening in solving them. But Adolph attired me with astonishing
celerity, and then, swinging a cheval glass before me, he inquired:

"Are you satisfied, sir?"

"You are a wonderful valet, Adolph," I said, ignoring the mirror.

I did not need it to know that I was clad in scarlet and gold, with a
black, fur-bound dohlman over one shoulder and a tall black busby on my
head. I hung the Eagle of the Cincinnati about my neck and went back
to the King.

He looked me over critically and nodded. "You'll do, my boy," he said.
Then he raised the Eagle and examined it. "It is a great Order," he
said; "one of the greatest in the world, but a Prince of Valeria must
wear his country's also," and he pinned the Star of the Lion on my
tunic. "And now, come, I want to show you to your cousin."

At the door of the Princess's apartments he waved aside the footman
and, himself, announced:

"His Royal Highness, the Grand Duke Armand!"

It was so unexpected and sounded so queer, withal, that, for a moment,
I hesitated; then I took a fresh grip on my busby and followed the
King. The next instant, I was bending over the Princess's hand and
listening to her words of welcome and congratulation. When I turned to
Lady Helen she curtsied deeply, even as she would have done for one of
her own Princes.

"God save Your Royal Highness," she said.

And, as I raised her hand and kissed it, I tried, in vain, to read in
her eyes whether she meant it or was only mocking me.

Then, we went in to dinner--and, here, was a surprise for me, also.

It was the same room we had breakfasted in the previous day, but now,
upon the wall, fronting us as we entered, hung a full-length portrait