ter of business. Something in regard to your daughter.

"Great Heavens, another one!" said the Governor-General. "There are one
thousand young men ready and willing to marry Jeneka and not one in all
the world wants Kalora. Send him away!"

"I am afraid he won't go," suggested the attendant. "He is a very
positive character."

"Then send him in to me. I can dispose of his case in short order."

A few moments later Count Selim Malagaski found himself sitting face to
face with a ruddy young man in a blue suit--a square-shouldered, smiling
young gentleman, with hair of subdued auburn.

"I take it that you're a busy man and I'll come to the point," said the
young man, pulling up his chair. "I try to be business from the word go,
even in matters of this kind. You have a daughter."

"I have two daughters," replied the Governor-General sadly.

"You have only one that interests me. I have been around a good deal,
but she is about the finest looking girl I--"

"Before you say any more, let me explain to you," said the
Governor-General very courteously. "Perhaps you are not entitled to this
information, but you seem to be a gentleman and a person of some
importance, and you have done me the honor to admire my daughter, and,
therefore, it is well that you should know all the facts in the case. I
have two daughters. One is exceedingly beautiful and her hand has been
sought in marriage by young men of the very first families of Morovenia,
notably Count Luis Muldova, who owns a vast estate near the Roumanian
frontier. I have another daughter who is decidedly unattractive, so
much so that she has never had an offer of marriage. I am telling you
all this because it is known to all Morovenia, and even you, a stranger,
would have learned it very soon. Under the law here, a younger sister
may not marry until the elder sister has married. My unattractive
daughter is the elder of the two. Do you see the point? Do you
understand, when you come talking of a marriage with my one desirable
daughter, that not only are you competing with all the wealthy and
titled young men of this country, but also you are condemned to sit down
and patiently wait until the elder sister has married,--which means, my
dear sir, that probably you will wait for ever? Therefore I think I may
safely wish you good day."

"Hold on, here," said the visitor, who had been listening intently,
with his eyes half-closed, and nodding his head quickly as he caught the