f the
executant?"

"You call it a small gift, do you?" replied Salmoros in his deep,
sonorous tones. "I call it the greatest gift of all." He paused,
reflected a second, and then became again the man of affairs.

"Now, Signor Corsini, to your immediate business. How can I help you
for my good old Jean's sake and your own? What are your own views as
to the present situation? Are you satisfied, or not?"

Corsini was quite frank. "In a way, yes; in a way, no. Degraux and
dear Papa Peron both gave me very good advice----"

"The sum of which was----?" interjected the white-haired Salmoros.

"That unless you make a very great success, the artistic career is of
all the most uncertain."

Salmoros nodded his massive head. "I quite agree. Poor dear old Jean
was shrewder than I thought. And yet, how simple in some things. Why
did he not apply to me instead of drawing his last breath in that
miserable house? I would have given him an annuity for life."

"I am sure you would, sir, but the dear old Papa was too proud to
accept charity. Surely it was to his credit that he did not sponge on
his old friends?"

"Just like him, just like him, a dear, kindly, impracticable creature.
Well, now to your affairs. Do you want to stick to the artistic line,
or not?"

"Not if there is anything better in prospect, Baron," answered the
shrewd Nello.

The Baron swept him with his keen glance.

"I am rather a judge of men. You seem just the sort of man who would
make good. Let me think a little. There is something running in my
mind. You might serve my immediate purposes, and at the same time, I
might help you in your artistic career. You might have two strings to
your bow. What do you think?"

"I am quite in your hands, Baron," was Nello's answer.

The mind of the great financier worked swiftly. He took up two
letters, one in French, the other in Italian.

"Take these over to the table by the window, and translate the French
into Italian and the Italian into French. Take your time, but do them
well."

Nello complied with his patron's request. Salmoros was evidently a man
who thought swiftly.

While Nello was engaged on his task, the Baron's private secretary
entered.

"The Prince Zouroff wishes to see you, sir."

The Baron frowned. There were certain persons in the great world who
were in his good books. The Russian Ambassador was certainly not. He
knew a little too much about him.

He held up a warning finger to his secre