ordered his
Chinese steward to mix them a queer drink and offered them the choice
of a six months' accumulation of paper novels, and free admittance to
his bridge at all hours. And then they passed on to the door of the
smoking-room and beckoned MacWilliams to come out and join them. His
manner as he did so bristled with importance, and he drew them eagerly
to the rail.

"I've just been having a chat with Captain Burke," he said, in an
undertone. "He's been telling Langham and me about a new game that's
better than running railroads. He says there's a country called
Macedonia that's got a native prince who wants to be free from Turkey,
and the Turks won't let him, and Burke says if we'll each put up a
thousand dollars, he'll guarantee to get the prince free in six months.
He's made an estimate of the cost and submitted it to the Russian
Embassy at Washington, and he says they will help him secretly, and he
knows a man who has just patented a new rifle, and who will supply him
with a thousand of them for the sake of the advertisement. He says
it's a mountainous country, and all you have to do is to stand on the
passes and roll rocks down on the Turks as they come in. It sounds
easy, doesn't it?"

"Then you're thinking of turning professional filibuster yourself?"
said Clay.

"Well, I don't know. It sounds more interesting than engineering.
Burke says I beat him on his last fight, and he'd like to have me with
him in the next one--sort of young-blood-in-the-firm idea--and he
calculates that we can go about setting people free and upsetting
governments for some time to come. He says there is always something
to fight about if you look for it. And I must say the condition of
those poor Macedonians does appeal to me. Think of them all alone down
there bullied by that Sultan of Turkey, and wanting to be free and
independent. That's not right. You, as an American citizen, ought to
be the last person in the world to throw cold water on an undertaking
like that. In the name of Liberty now?"

"I don't object; set them free, of course," laughed Clay. "But how long
have you entertained this feeling for the enslaved Macedonians, Mac?"

"Well, I never heard of them until a quarter of an hour ago, but they
oughtn't to suffer through my ignorance."

"Certainly not. Let me know when you're going to do it, and Hope and I
will run over and look on. I should like to see you and Burke and the
Prince of Macedonia rolling