his breath. He was shaking hands
with the Baron, all the while staring blankly into his twinkling,
snapping eyes.

"Won't you join me at this table? A julep will not be bad, eh?" King sat
down opposite to him at one of the piazza tables, in the shade of the
great trailing vines.

"Fine," was his only comment.

A waiter took the order and departed. The Baron produced his cigarette
case. King carefully selected one and tapped its tip on the back of his
hand.

"Is--has anything happened to my father?" he asked quietly. "Bad news?"

"On the contrary, sir, he is quite well. I had a cablegram from him
to-day."

"A cablegram?"

"Yes. I cabled day before yesterday to ask if he could tell me the
whereabouts of his son."

"The deuce you say!"

"He replies that you are in Teheran."

"What is the meaning of this, Baron?"

"It is a habit I have. I make it a practice to keep in touch with the
movements of our guests."

"I see. You want to know all about me; why I'm here, where I came from,
and all that. Well, I'm ready for the 'sweat box.'"

"Pray do not take offence. It is my rule. It would not be altered if the
King of England came. Ah, here are the juleps. Quick service, eh?"

"Remarkably so, due to your powers of persuasion, I fancy."

"I really ordered them a few minutes before you arrived. You see, I was
quite certain you'd have one. You take one about this hour every day."

"By Jove, you have been watching me!" cried Truxton delightedly.

"What are you doing in Edelweiss, Mr. King?" asked the Baron abruptly
but not peremptorily.

"Sight-seeing and in search of adventure," was the prompt response.

"I fancied as much. You've seen quite a bit of the world since you left
home two years ago, on the twenty-seventh of September."

"By Jove!"

"Been to South Africa, Asia and--South America--to say nothing of
Europe. That must have been an exciting little episode in South
America."

"You don't mean to say--"

"Oh, I know all about your participation in the revolution down there.
You were a captain, I understand, during the three weeks of disturbance.
Splendid! For the fun of the thing, I suppose. Well, I like it in you. I
should have done it myself. And you got out of the country just in time,
if I remember rightly. There was a price placed on your head by the
distressed government. I imagine they would have shot you if they could
have caught you--as they did the others." The old man chuckled. "You
don'