him,
'Light of the universe,' I cried, 'it is morning! May I rise?'

"'I perceive,' said the Shah, 'you are a genius,'"

"What did you think of his state of mind after that?" I asked.

Sam laughed and answered: "I thought he was getting better, more
rational, and thanked him for his good opinion. 'Mighty potentate,'
said I, 'monarch of the universe, I apologize for my mistake, but I
was at _St. Luke's_ yesterday,'

"'My faithful Luke!' said he, and clapped his hands. I knew once more
where he was.

"'The last time,' said I (thinking I would rather have him the amiable
Paul than the savage Shah), 'your Majesty informed me that you were
the holy Apostle St. Paul!'

"'So I am,' answered the Shah.

"'I am at a loss, your Majesty, I humbly confess, to understand how
your immortal Highness can be at one and the same time the blessed
Apostle St. Paul and the Shah of Persia,'

"'Because you are such a damned fool!' replied His Highness.

"Here was the fierceness of the Shah, but immediately the gentleness
of the Apostle restored him to a more amiable mood, and coming towards
me with a smile, he said,--

"'The explanation, my dear sir, is simple;' and then, in a quiet,
confidential tone, he added: '_It was the same mother, but two
fathers_!'"

"I had another experience not long after in the same asylum,"
continued Warren. "One of my patients told me he had married the
devil's daughter when I was asking him about his relations. 'She was
a nice girl enough,' he said, 'and although my people thought I had
married beneath me, I was satisfied with her rank, seeing she was a
Prince's daughter. We went off on our honeymoon in a chariot of fire
which her father lent us for the occasion, and had a comfortable time
of it at Monte Carlo, where all the hotels are under her father's
special patronage.'

"'I hope,' said I, 'your marriage was a happy one.'

"'Yes,' said he with a sigh, '_but we don't get on well with the old
folks_!'"

* * * * *

No writer was ever more solicitous of fame than Sam Warren. It was
a proud moment whenever there was the remotest allusion to his
authorship, and I always loved to compliment him on his books.

In the famous case of Lord St. Leonards's will, which had been lost, I
supported the lost will, and proved its contents from the evidence of
Miss Sugden and others.

Sam Warren had been in the habit of visiting Lord St. Leonards at
Boyle Farm, Ditton. He g