Notwithstanding his civilian's clothes, there was no
possibility of mistaking him anywhere, or under any circumstances, for
anything but a soldier.

"It is a delightful custom," he admitted. "It keeps one always on the
_qui vive_; one never knows whom one may see. Incidentally, I find it
interferes very much with my digestion."

"Digestion!" the Duchess murmured. "But then, you soldiers lead such
irregular lives."

"Not always from choice," the General reminded her. "The Russo-Japanese
war finished me off. They kept us far enough away from the fighting,
when they could, but, by Jove, they did make us move!"

"We are waiting now for Prince Maiyo," the Duchess remarked. "You know
him?"

"Know him!" the General answered. "Duchess, if ever I have to write
my memoirs, and particularly my reminiscences of this war, I fancy you
would find the name of your friend appear there pretty frequently. There
wasn't a more brilliant feat of arms in the whole campaign than his
flanking movement at Mukden. I met most of the Japanese leaders, and I
have always said that I consider him the most wonderful of them all."

The Duchess turned to Penelope.

"Do you hear that?" she asked.

Penelope smiled.

"The Fates are against me," she declared. "If I may not like, I shall at
least be driven to admire."

"To talk of bravery when one speaks of that war," the General remarked,
"seems invidious, for it is my belief that throughout the whole of the
Japanese army such a thing as fear did not exist. They simply did not
know what the word meant. But I shall never forget that the only piece
of hand-to-hand fighting I saw during the whole time was a cavalry
charge led by Prince Maiyo against an immensely superior force of
Russians. Duchess," the General declared, "those Japanese on their queer
little horses went through the enemy like wind through a cornfield. That
young man must have borne a charmed life. I saw him riding and cheering
his men on when he must have had at least half a dozen wounds in his
body. You will pardon me, Duchess? I see that my party are waiting."

The General hurried away. The Duchess shut up her lorgnettes with a
snap, and held out her hand to a newcomer who had come from behind the
palms.

"My dear Prince," she exclaimed, "this is charming of you! Some one told
me that you were not well,--our wretched climate, of course--and I was
so afraid, every moment, that we should receive your excuses."

The newcomer, w