e sort of invitation from people who, as a rule, prided
themselves upon their exclusiveness. Their favour may possibly have been
due to the fact that he was of a different type to that to which they
were accustomed. At any rate, his handsome face, charming manners, tall
graceful figure, and _insouciant_ cavalry swagger, possessed a
fascination for them which they seemed incapable of resisting. It was
not long before he had made himself extremely popular, not only with the
English portion of the population, but also with the Spanish.

"Be careful, Mortimer, my boy," Brockford would say to him, when he
greeted him on his return from a ball or similar social function. "When
you have seen as much of this little corner of the world as I have, you
will know how dangerous women can be, and how they have it in their
power to mar a man's career at its commencement. Many an excellent young
fellow have I seen out here, only too anxious and ready to make his way
in the world; then he has fallen in love, been egged into matrimony,
only to find himself shelved and done for by all save his wife's
relations, as soon as the knot was tied. I don't want that to happen to
you."

"You needn't have any fear on my account," answered Max with a laugh.
"I'm not very likely to fall in love. I have been inoculated, and I
fancy I am proof against the infection."

"No man is proof against it," replied Brockford solemnly. He was well
acquainted with the traps and pitfalls of Rio society, and he did not
want the man, to whom he had taken such a liking, to make a _fiasco_ of
his life, just when there seemed a good chance of his succeeding in it.
He need not have bothered himself about it just then, however, for
another factor had been imported into the problem, and, before the week
was over, Max was down with fever. For some time he lay at death's door,
but, thanks to his wonderful constitution, he managed in the end to pull
through. It was a near enough chance, however, to cause his friends a
considerable amount of anxiety.

Indeed, from what I have since learned, there was one period in the
course of the fever when the gravest apprehensions were entertained for
his safety. All things considered, it was perhaps as well for him that
Brockford was with him during his delirium. Although even then, he did
not altogether reveal his secret, he said enough to show his friend
that, in his old life, he had been something more than the mere cavalry
officer