ds
of the Mother Superior.

"That was my dream, O Prophet," concluded Everett; "you who can read
this land of lotus-eaters, interpret! What does it mean?"

"It only means what I've been telling you," said the consul. "It means
that if you're going after that treaty, you've only got to fight the
Catholic Church. That's all it means!"

Later in the evening Garland said: "I saw you this morning crossing the
plaza with Monica. When I told you everybody in this town loved her,
was I right?"

"Absolutely!" assented Everett. "But why didn't you tell me she was a
flapper?"

"I don't know what a flapper is," promptly retorted Garland. "And if I
did, I wouldn't call Monica one."

"A flapper is a very charming person," protested Everett. "I used the
term in its most complimentary sense. It means a girl between fourteen
and eighteen. It's English slang, and in England at the present the
flapper is very popular. She is driving her sophisticated elder
sister, who has been out two or three seasons, and the predatory
married woman to the wall. To men of my years the flapper is really at
the dangerous age."

In his bamboo chair Garland tossed violently and snorted.

"I sized you up," he cried, "as a man of the finest perceptions. I was
wrong. You don't appreciate Monica! Dangerous! You might as well say
God's sunshine is dangerous, or a beautiful flower is dangerous."

Everett shook his head at the other man reproachfully:

"Did you ever hear of a sunstroke?" he demanded. "Don't you know if
you smell certain beautiful flowers you die? Can't you grasp any other
kind of danger than being run down by a trolley-car? Is the danger of
losing one's peace of mind nothing, of being unfaithful to duty,
nothing! Is--"

Garland raised his arms.

"Don't shoot!" he begged. "I apologize. You do appreciate Monica. You
have your consul's permission to walk with her again."

The next day young Professor Peabody called and presented his letters.
He was a forceful young man to whom the delays of diplomacy did not
appeal, and one apparently accustomed to riding off whatever came in
his way. He seemed to consider any one who opposed him, or who even
disagreed with his conclusions, as offering a personal affront. With
indignation he launched into his grievance.

"These people," he declared, "are dogs in the manger, and Ward is the
worst of the lot. He knows no more of archaeology than a congressman.
The man's a faker! He s