a low place. I could
jump--"

"Mr. King, if you do that I am ruined forever. I am trusted by the
steward. He would cut off all my privileges--" Hobbs could go no
further. He was prematurely aghast. Something told him that Mr. King
would hop over the wall.

"Just this once, Hobbs," pleaded his charge. "No one will know."

"For the love of Moses, sir, I--" Hobbs began to wail. Then he groaned
in dismal horror. King had lightly vaulted the wall and was grinning
back at him from the sacred precincts--from the playground of
princesses.

"Go and report me, Hobbs, there's a good fellow. Tell the guards I
wouldn't obey. That will let you out, my boy, and I'll do the rest. For
Heaven's sake, Hobbs, don't burst! You'll explode sure if you hold in
like that much longer. I'll be back in a minute."

He strode off across the bright green turf toward the source of all this
enchantment, leaving poor Mr. Hobbs braced against the wall, weak-kneed
and helpless. If he heard the frantic, though subdued, whistles and the
agonized "hi!" of the man from Cook's a minute or two later, he gave no
heed to the warning. A glimpse behind might have shown him the error of
his ways, reflected in the disappearance of Hobbs's head below the top
of the wall. But he was looking ahead, drinking in the forbidden
beauties of this fascinating little nook of nature.

Never in all his wanderings had he looked upon a more inviting spot than
this. He came to the edge of the deep blue pool, above which could be
seen the entrance to the Grotto. Little rivulets danced down through the
crannies in the rocks and leaped joyously into the tree-shaded pool.
Below and to the right were the famed Basins of Venus, shimmering in the
sunlight, flanked by trees and banks of the softest green. On their
surface swam the great black swans he had heard so much about. Through a
wide rift in the trees he could see the great, grey Castle, half a mile
away, towering against the dense greens of the nearby mountain. The
picture took his breath away. He forgot Hobbs. He forgot that he was;
trespassing. Here, at last, was the Graustark he had seen in his dreams,
had come to feel in his imagination.

Regardless of surroundings or consequences, he sat down upon the nearest
stone bench, and removed his hat. He was hot and tired and the air was
cool. He would drink it in as if it were an ambrosial nectar in--and,
moreover, he would also enjoy a cigarette. Carefully he refrained from
t