e--gems that
might have bought a dozen wives in the capitals of Persia; perhaps a
score in the mountains where the Kurds are cheaper. The Brownes
naturally were eager to get back to Boston. They now had nothing in
common with Taswell Skaggs; Skaggs is not a pretty name.

Mr. Britt afterward spent three weeks of incessant travel on the
continent and an additional seven days at sea. In Baden-Baden he
happened upon Lord and Lady Deppingham. It will be recalled that in
Japat they had always professed an unholy aversion for Mr. Britt. Is it
cause for wonder then that they declined his invitation to dine in
Baden-Baden? He even proposed to invite their entire party, which
included a few dukes and duchesses who were leisurely on their way to
attend the long-talked-of nuptials in Thorberg at the end of June.

The Syndicate, after buying off the hereditary forces, assumed a half
interest in the Japat Company's business; the islanders controlled the
remaining half. The mines were to be operated under the management of
the Jews and eight hours were to constitute a day's work. The personal
estate passed into the hands of the islanders, from whom Skaggs had
appropriated it in conjunction with John Wyckholme. All in all, it
seemed a fair settlement of the difficulty. The Jews paid something like
L2,000,000 sterling to the islanders in consideration of a twenty years'
grant. Their experts had examined the property before the death of Mr.
Skaggs; they were not investing blindly in the great undertaking.

Mr. Levistein, the president of the combine, after a long talk with Lord
Deppingham, expressed the belief that the chateau could be turned into a
money-making hotel if properly advertised--outside of the island.
Deppingham admitted, that if he kept the prices up, there was no reason
in the world why the better class of Jews should not flock there for the
winter.

Before the end of June, representatives of the combine, attended by
officers of the court, a small army of clerks, a half dozen lawyers and
two capable men from the office of Sir John Brodney, set sail for Japat,
provided with the power and the means to effect the transfer agreed upon
in the compromise.

In Vienna the Deppinghams were joined by the Duchess of N------, the
Marchioness of B------ and other fashionables. In a week all of them
would be in the Castle at Thorberg, for the ceremony that now occupied
the attention of social and royal Europe.

"And to think," sa