g in which looking on at real
dramas was the most frequent duty, and he had enjoyed the strange
mixture of ancient terms of address and titles with the modern manners
of the men themselves. It had interested him to watch Baron Barrat
bring out the ancient crown and jewelled sceptre which had been the
regalia of all the Kings of Messina since the Crusades and spread them
out upon a wicker tea-table, from which Niccolas had just removed some
empty coffee-cups, half filled with the ends of cigarettes, some
yellow-backed novels, and a copy of the Paris Figaro. It was also
interesting to him to note how the sight of the little heir-apparent
affected both the peasants from the mountains and the young nobles from
the Club Royale. The former fell upon their knees with the tears
rolling down the furrows in their tanned cheeks, while the little
wise-eyed boy stood clinging to his nurse's skirts with one hand and to
his father's finger with the other, and nodded his head at them gravely
like a toy mandarin.

Then the King had addressed them in a dignified, earnest, and almost
eloquent speech, and had promised much and prophesied the best of
fortunes, and then, at the last, had turned suddenly toward Miss
Carson, where she stood in the background between her mother and Father
Paul.

"Every cause has its Joan of Arc, or its Maria Theresa," he cried,
looking steadfastly at Miss Carson. "No cause has succeeded without
some good woman to aid it. To help us, my friends, we have a daughter
of the people, as was Joan of Arc, and a queen, as was Maria Theresa,
for she comes from that country where every woman is a queen in her own
right, and where the love of liberty is inherent." The King took a
quick step backward, and taking Miss Carson's hand drew her forward
beside him and placed her facing his audience, while the girl made vain
efforts to withdraw her hand. "This is she," he said earnestly, "the
true daughter of the Church who has made it possible for us to return
to our own again. It is due to her that the King of Messina shall sit
once more on his throne; it is through her generosity alone that the
churches will rise from their ruins and that you will once again hear
the Angelus ring across the fields at sunset. Remember her, my friends
and cousins, pray for her as a saint upon earth, and fight gloriously
to help her to success!"

Gordon had restrained himself with difficulty while this scene was
being enacted; he coul