rmly corseted, matronly form, with its silver-set pouch,
suggesting, typical of the travelling American lady as it was, a
marsupial species. She did not know where she had seen this lady; but
she was a travelling American; she accosted one in determined tones,
and, at some time in the past, she had waylaid and inconvenienced her.
Madame von Marwitz, as the three trooped down upon her, did not rise.
She pointed to the lower terrace. "This is private property," she said,
and her aspect might well have turned the unwary visitors, Acteon-like,
into stags, "I must ask you to leave it at once. You see the small door
in the garden wall below; it is unlocked and it leads to the village.
Good-day to you."

But, with a singularly bright and puckered look, the look of a
surf-bather, who measures with swift eye the height of the rolling
breaker and plunges therein, the elderly lady addressed her with
extraordinary volubility.

"Baroness, you don't remember us--but we've met before, we have a mutual
friend:--Mrs. General Tollman of St. Paul's, Minnesota.--Allow me to
introduce myself again:--Mrs. Slifer--Mrs. Hamilton K. Slifer:--my
girls, Maude and Beatrice. We had the privilege of making your
acquaintance over a year ago, Baroness, at the station in London, just
before you sailed, and we had some talks on the steamer to that
perfectly charming woman, Miss Scrotton. I hope she's well. We're over
again this year, you see; we pine for dear old England and come just as
often as we can. We feel we belong here more than over there sometimes,
I'm afraid,"--Mrs. Slifer laughed swiftly and deprecatingly.--"My girls
are so often taken for English girls, the Burne-Jones type you know.
We've got friends staying at Mullion, so we thought we'd just drop down
on Cornwall for a little tour after we landed at Southampton, and we
drove over this afternoon and came down by the cliff--we are just crazy
about your scenery, Baroness--it's just the right setting for you--we've
been saying so all day--to have a peek at the house we've heard so much
about; and we don't want to disturb you, but it's the greatest possible
pleasure, Baroness, to have this beautiful glimpse of you--with your
splendid dog--how d' ye do, Victor--why I do believe he remembers me; we
petted him so much at the station when your niece was holding him. We
saw Mrs. Jardine the other day, Baroness--such a pleasant surprise that
was, too--only we're sorry to see she's so delicate. The