h would come out of that!
The two together waited upon monseigneur in whose coach they had once
crossed the Seine. He had blood ties with Stewart kings of yesterday,
and in addition to that evidenced a queer, romantic fondness for lost
causes, and a willingness to ferry across rivers those who had been
engaged in them. Now he displayed toward the Englishman and the Scot a
kind of eery, distant graciousness. Ah yes! he would speak here and
there of Monsieur Ian Rullock--he would speak to the King. If there
were things going _ces messieurs_ might as well have some good of
them! Out of old acquaintances in Paris Ian gathered not a few who
were in position to further new fortunes. Some of these were men and
some were women. He took a lodging, neither so good nor so bad.
Warburton found him a servant. He obtained fine clothes, necessary
working-garb where one pushed one's fortune among fine folk. The more
uncertain and hazardous looked his fortunes the more he walked and
spoke as though he were a golden favorite of the woman with the wheel.

All this moved rapidly. He had not been in Paris a week ere again, as
many times before, he had the stage all set for Success to walk forth
upon it! But it had come December--December--December, and he looked
forward to that month's passing.

He had not seen Alexander. Then, in the middle of the month he found
himself one evening in a peacock cluster of fine folk, at the
theater--a famous actress to be viewed in a comedy grown the rage. The
play was nearly over when he saw Alexander in the pit, turned from the
stage, gazing steadily upon him. Ian placed himself where he might
still see him, and returned the gaze.

Going out when the play was over, the two met face to face in the
lighted space between the doors. Each was in company of others--Ian
with a courtier, decked and somewhat loudly laughing group, Glenfernie
with a painter of landscape, Deschamps, and an Oriental, member of
some mission to the West. Meeting so, they stopped short. Their
nostrils dilated, there seemed to come a stirring over their bodies.
Inwardly they felt a painful constriction, a contraction to something
hard, intent, and fanged. This was the more strongly felt by
Alexander, but Ian felt it, too. Did Glenfernie mean to dog him
through life--think that he would be let to do so? Alone in a forest,
very far back, they might, at this point, have flown at each other's
throat. But they had felled many forests since