l bit and snaffle
to keep that young beauty in order. But I'll bet she's not short of
admirers, and lots of fellers'd jump at the chance of marrying her, and
risk her kicking over the traces?"

"You are perfectly right, sir," answered the Englishman, with an amused
laugh. "Miss Rostrevor has a host of admirers, which is hardly
surprising, considering her remarkable beauty. Several young men have
lost their heads about her, and she is credited--or should it be
debited?--with having broken several hearts. Incidentally, the man to
whom she is talking might be interested in your remark about the
necessity for a special bit and snaffle. He and Miss Rostrevor are
engaged to be married."

"Is that so?" drawled the American, gazing at the engaged couple with
undisguised curiosity. "What is he? A Lord, or Duke, or something of
the sort?"

"No, he hasn't any title, but he is well-connected, and is one of the
wealthiest and most eligible young men in England. His name is Antony
Standish, and his income is reputed to be something like a hundred
thousand pounds a year. His father was Sir Mark Standish, a great
iron-master and coal magnate."

"You don't say! Lemme see. One hundred thousand pounds. That's round
about five hundred thousand dollars. Some income! What does Mr.
Antony Standish do?"

"Nothing, if you are referring to work. He does the usual Society
rounds, takes an interest in racing, and roams the world occasionally
in a palatial steam yacht. One does not have to worry about work if
one has an income of one hundred thousand pounds a year."

"No, I guess I'd somehow manage to struggle along on half a million
dollars a year myself and kiss work good-bye," said the American, with
a broad grin. "The little lady sure seems to have made a catch, sir,
judging from what you've told me, and yet Mr. Antony Standish somehow
don't look to me to be her style. By the look of Miss Rostrevor, and
the way she handled that horse, I should have guessed her fancy would
have run to something more of the big, he-man type, instead of to a
Society dandy. But one can never tell where women are concerned. And
five hundred thousand dollars a year will make any kind of guy almost
any kind of girl's ideal."

Antony Standish was not a "guy," in the colloquial English sense of the
word, but he was hardly the type of man one would have imagined as
likely to capture the heart of the high-spirited Irish beauty. He was
good-l