ine with him that
evening. Cleary was anxious to go too, and it so happened that he had
letters of introduction to the gentleman in question. He made his call
at once and was duly invited.

There were a dozen or more guests at dinner, all of them men. Indeed,
there were few white women left at Gin-Sin. With the exception of Sam
and Cleary all the guests were Anglians. There was the consul-general,
a little man with a gray beard, a tall, bald-headed, gray-mustached
major-general in command of the Anglian forces at Gin-Sin, two
distinguished missionaries of many years' experience, several junior
officers of the army, and a merchant or two. When dinner was announced
they all went in, each taking precedence according to his station. Sam
knew nothing of such matters, and was loath to advance until his host
forced him to. He found a card with his name on it at the second cover
on the right from his host. On his right was the card of a young
captain. The place on his left and immediately on the right of the host
bore no card, and the consul-general and the major-general both made
for it. The former got there first, but the military man, who was twice
his size, came into violent collision with him, pushed him away and
captured the seat, while the consul-general was obliged to retreat and
take the seat on the left of his host. The whole party pretended very
hard to have noticed nothing unusual.

"Rather odd performance, eh?" whispered the captain to Sam. "You see
how it is. Old Folsom says he takes precedence because he represents
the Crown, but the general says that's all rot, for the consul's only a
commercial agent and a K.C.Q.X. Now the general is a G.C.Q.X., and he
says that gives him precedence. Nobody can settle it, and so they have
to fight it out every time they meet."

"I see," said Sam. "I don't know anything about such things, but I
should think that the general was clearly in the right. He could hardly
afford to let the army be overridden."

"Quite so," said the captain. "I don't suppose you know these people,"
he added.

"Not one of them, except my friend, Mr. Cleary. We only arrived
to-day."

"The general is a good deal of a fellow," said the captain. "I was with
him in Egypt and afterward in South Africa."

"Were you, indeed?" cried Sam. "Do tell me all about those wars. They
were such great affairs."

"Yes, they were. Not much like this business here. Nothing coul