anguor; the spell
of her beauty was upon him and he felt the leap of his blood.

"If I were you," he said at last, reluctant to despoil the picture, "I
wouldn't sit up there. It would be a very simple matter for one of our
friends to pick you off with a shot from below. Please let me pull up a
chair for you."

She smiled languidly, without a trace of uneasiness in her manner.

"Dear officer of the day, do you think they are so foolish as to pick us
off in particles? Not at all. They will dispose of us wholesale, not by
the piece. By the way, has Neenah been made quite comfortable?"

"I believe so. She and Selim have the room beyond mine, thanks to Lady
Deppingham."

"Agnes tells me that she is very interesting--quite like a princess out
of a fairy book. You recall the princesses who were always being
captured by ogres and evil princes and afterward satisfactorily rescued
by those dear knights admirable? Did Selim steal her in the beginning?"

"You forget the pot of sapphires and the big ruby."

"They say that princesses can be bought very cheaply."

"Depends entirely upon the quality of princess you desire. It's very
much like buying rare gems or old paintings, I'd say."

"Very much, I'm sure. I suppose you'd call Neenah a rare gem?"

"She is certainly not an old painting."

"How old is she, pray?"

"Seventeen--by no means an antique. Speaking of princesses and ogres,
has it occurred to you that you would bring a fortune in the market?"

"Mr. Chase!"

"You know, it's barely possible that you may be put in a matrimonial
shop window if Von Blitz and his friends should capture you alive. Ever
think of that?"

"Good heavens! You--why, what a horrible thing to say!"

"You won't bring as much in the South Sea market as you would in
Rapp-Thorberg or Paris, but I daresay you could be sold for--"

"Please, Mr. Chase, don't suggest anything so atrocious," she cried,
something like terror in her voice.

"Neenah's father sold her for a handful of gems," said he, with distinct
meaning in his voice. She was silent, and he went on after a moment. "Is
there so much difference, after all, where one is sold, just so long as
the price is satisfactory to all concerned?"

"You are very unkind, Mr. Chase," she said with quiet dignity. "I do not
deserve your sarcasm."

"I humbly plead for forgiveness," he said, suddenly contrite. "It was
beastly."

"American wit, I imagine you call it," she said scornfully. "I don't