cadence of
refinement in his voice, an arresting lilt on certain words, that
remained on the air after the words had ended.

'Did the Germans get to Paris?'

'No,' said Selwyn; 'though they were very near it.'

'Good! How did our chaps do?'

'I believe they fought very bravely, but were pretty well wiped out.'

'I suppose so,' said the other quietly--'wiped out, eh? Tell me--did
the Colonies throw in their lot with us?'

'All of them,' said Selwyn, 'even including South Africa.'

'What about Canada?'

'She has over thirty thousand men in England now, ready to cross.'

'Splendid!' muttered the fellow. 'So they're British after all, in
spite of the Yankees beside them. . . . The cubs didn't leave the old
mother to fight alone, eh? Jove! but it's something to be an
Englishman today, isn't it?'

Selwyn made no response, but his brow contracted with the thought that
even the flotsam, the dregs thrown up on the river's bank, were imbued
with the overwhelming instinct of jingoism. He glanced up from the
steps, and saw on either side of the obelisk a sphinx, woman-headed,
with the body of a lioness, monuments to the memory of Cleopatra. How
little had been accomplished by humanity since the first sphinx had
gazed upon the sands of Egypt! It had seen the treachery and the lust
of Antony, the slaughter of men by men led blindly to the
carnage. . . . Was not the smile, perhaps, its hoarded knowledge of
the futility of the ages?

'Can you give me a match?' asked the man from the steps. 'Everything
on me is soaked. I'll come up if you have one, but I don't want to
shift otherwise.'

'Don't bother,' said Selwyn, getting up and stamping his feet to
restore their warmth. 'I'll bring you one, and then I'll have to move
along.'

He produced a silver match-box, and feeling his way carefully down the
slippery steps, handed it to the stranger. Acknowledging the action
with a murmur of thanks, the fellow took it, and making a protection
with his cape, struck a match to light his pipe. It flickered for a
moment and flared up, illuminating his features grotesquely.

Selwyn uttered a sharp ejaculation of surprise and stepped back a pace.
'Durwent!' he cried.

'Eh?' snapped the other, dropping the match on the wet stone, where it
went out with a faint splutter. 'What's your game?'

'I could not see you before,' said the American quickly; 'but though I
heard your voice only once, there was something about it I