nkable, the latter to be held subject to the
demand-notes of our guests.

As may be imagined, I did little real work that day, and when I returned
home at night I was on tenter-hooks lest something should go wrong; but
fortunately Boswell himself came early and relieved me of my worry--in
fact, he was at the machine when I entered the house.

"Well," he said, "have you the ten cars?"

"What do you take me for," said I, "a trolley-car trust? Of course I
haven't. There are only five cars in town, one of which is kept in the
repair-shop for effect. I've hired one."

"Humph!" he cried. "What will the kings do?"

"Kings!" I cried. "What kings?"

"I have nine kings and one car-load of common souls besides for this
affair," he explained. "Each king wants a special car."

"Kings be jiggered!" said I. "A trolley-party, my much beloved James,
is an essentially democratic institution, and private cars are not de
rigueur. If your kings choose to come, let 'em hang on by the straps."

"But I've charged 'em extra!" cried Boswell.

"That's all right," said I, "they receive extra. They have the ride
plus the straps, with the privilege of standing out on the platform
and ringing the gong if they want to. The great thing about the
trolley-party is that there's no private car business about it."

"Well, I don't know," Boswell murmured, reflectively. "If Charles the
First and Louis Fourteenth don't kick about being crowded in with all
the rest, I can stand anything that Frederick the Great or Nero
might say; but those two fellows are great sticklers for the royal
prerogative."

"There isn't any such thing as royal prerogative on a trolley-car," I
retorted, "and if they don't like what they get they can sit down in the
waiting-room and wait until we get back."

But Boswell's fears were not realized. Charles and Louis were perfectly
delighted with the trolley-party, and long before we reached home the
former had rung up the fare-register to its full capacity, while the
latter, a half-a-dozen times, delightedly occupied himself in mastering
the intricacies of the overhead wire. The trolley-party was an undoubted
success. The same remains to be said of the vaudeville expedition of
the following week. The same guests and potentates attended this, to
the number of twenty, and the Boswell tours were accounted a great
enterprise, and bade fair to redeem the losses of the eminent journalist
incurred during Xanthippe's administration o