erest you, never fear. There's been a row between Von Blitz
and the lawyer, and the lawyer has unmercifully threshed Von Blitz. Good
Lord, I'd like to have seen it, wouldn't you, Browne? Say, he's all
right, isn't he?"

"What was it all about?" demanded Browne. They, were now listening, all
attention.

"It seems that Von Blitz is in the habit of licking his wives," said
Britt. "Bowles was so excited he could hardly talk. It must have been
awful if it could get Bowles really awake."

"Miraculous!" said Deppingham conclusively.

"Well, as I get it, the lawyer has concluded to advance the American
idiosyncrasy known as reform. It's a habit with us, my lady. We'll try
to reform heaven if enough of us get there to form a club. Von Blitz
beats his Persian wives instead of his Persian rugs, therefore he needed
reforming. Our friend, the Enemy, met him this evening, and told him
that no white man could beat his wife, singular or plural, while he was
around. Von Blitz is a big, ugly chap, and he naturally resented the
interference with his divine might. He told the lawyer to go hang or
something equivalent. The lawyer knocked him down. By George, I'd like
to have seen it! From the way Bowles tells it, he must have knocked him
down so incessantly in the next five minutes that Von Blitz's attempts
to stand up were nothing short of a stutter. Moreover, he wouldn't let
Von Blitz stab him worth a cent. Bowles says he's got Von Blitz cowed,
and the whole town is walking in circles, it's so dizzy. Von Blitz's
wives threaten to kill the lawyer, but I guess they won't. Bowles says
that all the Persian and Turkish women on the island are crazy about the
fellow."

"Mr. Britt!" protested Mrs. Browne.

"Beg pardon. Perhaps Bowles is wrong. Well, to make it short, the lawyer
has got Von Blitz to hating him secretly, and the German has a lot of
influence over the people. It may be uncomfortable for our good-looking
friend. If he didn't seem so well able to look out for himself, I'd feel
mighty uneasy about him. After all, he's a white man and a good fellow,
I imagine."

"If he should be in great danger down there," said her ladyship
firmly--perhaps consciously--"we must offer him a safe retreat in the
chateau." The others looked at her in surprise. "We can't stand off and
see him murdered, you know," she qualified hastily.

The next morning a messenger came up from the town with a letter
directed to Messrs. Britt and Saunders. It was