ched
me if I tried any such fool's trick as that. Dollops isn't the only
creature in the world that gets hungry, my friend, and beef extract is
very sustaining, very, I assure you, sir."

II

"A Beautiful city, count, an exceedingly beautiful city," said Cleek, as
the carriage which had been sent to meet them at the station rolled into
the broad Avenue des Arcs, which is at once the widest and most ornate
thoroughfare the capital city of Mauravania boasts. "Ah, what a
heritage! No wonder King Ulric is so anxious to retain his sovereignty;
no wonder this--er--Madame Tcharnovetski, I think you said the name
is----"

"Yes, monsieur. It is oddly spelled, but it is pronounced a little
broader than you give it, quite as though it were written
Shar-no-_vet_-skee, in fact, with the accent on the third syllable."

"Ah, yes. Thanks very much. No wonder she is anxious to become a power
here. Mauravania is a fairyland in very truth; and this beautiful avenue
with its arches, its splendid trees, its sculpture, its---- Ah!
_cocher_, pull up at once. Stop, if you please, stop!"

"_Oui_, monsieur," replied the driver, reining in his horses and
glancing round. "_Dix mille pardons_, m'sieur, there is something
amiss?"

"Yes; very much amiss, from the dog's point of view," replied Cleek,
indicating by a wave of the hand a mongrel puppy which crouched, forlorn
and hungry, in the shadow of an imposing building. "He should be a
Socialist among dogs, that little fellow, count. The mere accident of
birth has made him what he is, and that poodled monstrosity the lady
yonder is leading the pet and pride of a thoughtless mistress. I want
that little canine outcast, count, and with your permission I will
appropriate him and give him his first carriage ride." With that, he
stepped down from the vehicle, whistled the cur to him, and taking it up
in his arms, returned with it to his seat.

"Monsieur, you are to me the most astonishing of men," said the count,
noticing how he patted the puppy and settled it in his lap as the
carriage resumed its even rolling down the broad, beautiful avenue. "One
moment upholding the rights of birth, the next rebelling against the
injustice of it. Are your sympathies with the unfortunate so keen,
monsieur, that even this stray cur may claim them?"

"Perhaps," replied Cleek enigmatically. "You must wait and see, count.
Just now I pity him for his forlornity; to-morrow, next day, a week
hence, I may hold it