t see the eyes and----"

Danbury roused himself and sat on the edge of the bunk leaning far
forward, elbows on knees, gazing steadily at Wilson.

"Say, those eyes do keep a fellow up, don't they? I had only to see
them once to know that I'd fight for them as long as I lived. Queer
what a girl's eyes--_the_ girl's eyes--will do. I'll never forget that
first time. She was sitting in one of those palm-filled cafes where
the sun sprinkles in across the floor. She was dressed in black, not a
funeral black, but one of those fluffy things that make crepe look
like royal purple. She had a rose, a long-stemmed rose, in her
bodice, and one of those Spanish lace things over her hair. I can see
her now,--almost reach out and touch her. I went in and took a table
not far away and ordered a drink. Then I watched her out of the corner
of my eye. She was with an older woman, and, say--she didn't see a man
in that whole room. As far as they were concerned they might have been
so many flies buzzing round among the palms. Then a couple of
government officers lounged in and caught sight of her. They all know
her down there 'cause she is of the blood royal. Her grandmother's
sister was the last queen and was murdered in cold blood. Yes, sir,
and there weren't men enough there to get up and shoot the bunch who
did it. Pretty soon these fellows began to get fresh. She didn't mind
them, but after standing it as long as she decently could, she rose
and prepared to go out.

"Go out, with an American in the place? Not much! There was a row, and
at the end of it they carried the two officers off on a stretcher.
Then they pinched me and it cost me $500 to get out.

"But it gave me the chance to meet her later on and learn all about
how she had been cheated out of her throne. You see the trouble was
that republics had been started all around Carlina,--they grow down
there like mushrooms,--so that soon some of these chumps thought they
must go and do the same thing, although everything was going finely
and they were twice as prosperous under their queen as the other
fellows were under their grafting presidents. Then one of the
wild-eyed ones stabbed Queen Marguerite, her grandaunt, you know, and
the game was on. Isn't it enough to make your blood boil? As a matter
of fact, the whole blamed shooting-match wouldn't make a state the
size of Rhode Island, so it isn't worth much trouble except for the
honor of the thing. There is a bunch of men down t