ith the Kaiser. Of course, who could resist
the magnetic forces of these two _dii ex machina_.

Ambassador and Mrs. Hill gave a large and all-comprising reception at
the Embassy in honor of their distinguished guest, which is much too
small to contain the entire society of Berlin and _embrace_ (I like
that word) all the American colony.

To gain a little more space they very practically turned the
_porte-cochere_ into a _vestiaire_, where we took off our mantles
before crossing the carpet-covered carriage-drive.

Mr. Roosevelt was most amiable. He greeted people with a cordiality
which bordered on _epanchement_--giving their hands a shaking the like
of which they had never had before. Mr. Roosevelt remained by Mrs.
Hill's side and smiled kindly at the guests as they poured in and out
of the _salon_. That was about all the guests did--pour in and pour
out. One could not expect even the most favored to exchange more than
a few words with the great man.

Our conversations were in the style of the reception, short and
quickly done with.

MRS. HILL: "This is Madame de Hegermann. She is American, from
Cambridge, Massachusetts."

MR. ROOSEVELT: "Ah!... I am a Harvard man."

ME: "So am I! I mean I am a Harvard woman! I was born and brought up
in Radcliffe College."

MR. R.: "Ah!" (_Puzzled, trying to match the possible date of my birth
with the birth of Radcliffe College._)

ME: "Radcliffe College was my grandparents' home."

MR. R.: "Oh, I see! Well, madame, I am delighted to shake hands with
any one from Cambridge."

Johan's was like this:

MRS. HILL: "Monsieur de Hegermann was Danish Minister in Washington
some years ago."

MR. R.: "I am sorry I was not President then. Ha! ha! Pleased to have
met you, sir!"

We were told that there would be speeches under the flag, but we
poured out without anything of the kind occurring.

BERLIN, _1912_.

Dear L.,--It is not only the unexpected that arrives: the expected
arrives also.

The news we have been expecting these last years arrived yesterday.

Diplomacy has decided to divorce us.

We are to leave Berlin.

Johan ought to have left the service four years ago. According to the
_protocole_ in Denmark, a Minister must retire when he reaches the
_d'age limite_--the Ambassador retiring at the age of seventy.

The Prime Minister asked him to remain, and he did. But now it seems
that the powers that be have decided.

It is very sad, but true.

Countess Br