amoring for spoils. It was, in truth, a system of
spoils that had been inaugurated in this former stronghold of
constitutional liberty. The present government gave every facility to
those who advocated popular principles with the aim of feathering their
own nests. Under the influence of the social craze all that tended to
promote external beauty of architecture or equipment was
discountenanced, and a sodden rule of ignorant craft and vulgarity was
settled upon the nation. Those at the helm were clever demagogues who
were prepared to humor the people, provided they had the control of the
public funds wherewith to indulge their licentious tastes. President
Bagshaw had converted Buckingham Palace into a barracks, where he sat
day in, day out, with boon companions. Entrance was forbidden to none.
The dirtiest scavenger might there at any moment shake the hand of the
people's chief representative.

Mrs. Carey alighted, and found herself exposed to the gaze of a group of
rough, groggy-looking individuals who were hanging about the entrance to
the once famous palace. All the way down Regent Street she had peeped
out from the cab windows, hoping to catch sight of familiar faces or
fascinating wares in the shopping paradise of the late nobility; but,
though the stores still stood, few passers were to be seen, and the
filthy, smoky aspect of the sidewalks told that anarchy was rampant even
here. Revolution is silent in England. The people uprising in their
might do not overturn monuments and lop the limbs from statues. They let
the dust and the smoke and the fog do the work for them. Only one face
was recognized by Mrs. Carey as the vehicle rumbled down to its
destination. She caught sight of her husband leaning out of one of the
windows of Fenton's Hotel smoking a pipe. The once famous hostelry had
become a haunt for pothouse politicians. A sudden impulse of generosity
seized her. "I will invite Oswald to dinner with me to-night," thought
she.

As she walked into the palace the men made way for her in silence. They
removed the pipes from their mouths and stared in mingled bewilderment
and admiration. Despite her veil she was too striking looking not to
fetter the attention of even the most listless, for the disgust with
which these surroundings inspired her and the tenacity of her cruel
design gave her a bearing such as Clytemnestra might have envied. She
stalked through the corridor and up the stairs, disregarding the gilded