man smiled secretly to himself. He was a young man not
without experience in ladies' moods and he had a very shrewd idea
that somebody had been making remarks, but he did not permit a hint
of any perception of the coolness of her manner to impair the
impeccable suavity of his.

"Will you accord me two moments of your time that I may give you
two messages?" he inquired, and Arlee felt suddenly ill-bred before
his gentle courtesy and she sat down abruptly upon the edge of the
nearest chair.

The Captain placed one near her and seated himself, with a clank of
his dangling scabbard. He was really a very handsome young man,
though his features were too finely finished to please a robust
taste, and there was a hint of insolence and cruelty about the nose
and mouth--though this an inexperienced and light-hearted young
tourist of one and twenty did not more than vaguely perceive.

"They are, the both, of the ball of the Khedive," he continued in
his English, which was, though amazingly fluent and ready, a literal
sounding translation of the French, which was in reality his mother
tongue. "My sister thinks she can arrange that invitation. You are
sure that you will be returned at Cairo, then?"

"Oh, dear, yes! I would come back by train," Arlee declared eagerly,
"rather than miss that wonderful ball!"

She thought how astonished a certain red-headed young Englishman
would be to see her at that ball, and how fortunate she was compared
to his haughty and disappointed friend, the Lady Claire, and the
chill of her resentment against the Captain's intrusion vanished
like snow in the warmth of her gratitude.

"Good!" He smiled at her with a flash of white teeth. "Then my
sister herself will see one of the household of the Khedive and
request the invitation for you and for your chaperon, the
Madame----"

"Eversham."

"Eversham. She will be included for you, but not the daughter--no?"

"Is that asking too much?" said Arlee hesitantly. "Miss Eversham
would feel badly to be left out.... But, anyway, I'm not sure that I
shall be with them then," she reflected.

"Not with them?" The young man leaned forward, his eyes curiously
intent upon her.

"No, I may be with some other friends. You see, it's this way--I
didn't come abroad with the Evershams in the first place. I came in
the fall with a school friend and her mother to see Italy. The
Evershams were friends of theirs and were stopping at the same
hotel, and since my frien