hness had pinned his last fluttering rag of
faith upon the chance that our car would fail to fulfil its contract.
With this chance, and this alone still to depend upon, he had probably
kept his melancholy chauffeur up all night, sponging and polishing. If
the Panhard refused to absorb the ladies' luggage, there would be his
radiant chariot waiting to console them in the bitter hour of their
disappointment.

As Terry stood measuring each piece of luggage with his eye, silently
apportioning it a place in the car, I felt as I had felt at "Monte"
when, at roulette, as many as three of my hard-won five franc pieces
might easily go "bang," like the sixpence of another canny Scot. Will it
be _rouge_; will it be _noir_?... I could never look; and I could not
look now.

Turning to Beechy, who stood at my shoulder eagerly watching, I flung
myself into conversation. "What are you laughing at?" I asked.

"At all of you," said the Infant. "But especially the Prince."

"Why especially the Prince?" I was growing interested.

"I should think you'd know."

"How could I know?"

"Because I guess you're pretty bright. Sometimes I look at you, and you
seem to be thinking the same things I am. I don't know whether that
makes me like you or hate you, but anyway it makes me give you credit
for good wit. I'm not exactly _stupid_."

"I've noticed that. But about the Prince?"

"Can't you guess how he got his automobile just in the nick of time?"

"Yes, I can guess; but maybe it wouldn't be right."

"And maybe it would. Let's see."

"Well, the Countess heard favourably from her lawyer in Denver on
Tuesday, and paid down something in advance for the Dalmatian estate."

"_And_ the title. Right first time. The 'something' was eight thousand
dollars."

"Phew!"

"That's just the word for it. When she's seen the place, she'll pay the
rest--eight thousand more. Quite a lot for those gold crowns on the
luggage; but we all have our dolls with eyes to open or shut, and poor
Mamma hasn't had any chance to play dolls till just lately. She's busy
now having heaps of fun, and I'm having a little, too, in my simple
childish way. Well, so long as we don't interfere with each other!...
The Prince sees that Mamma can afford to buy dolls, so he would like to
play with her, and me, and--"

"And he doesn't want Barrymore and me in the playroom."

"I _thought_ you were bright! It made him just sick to think of you two
walking off with us from unde