tsider--a
bounder, my friend Gorman--a sweeper of chimneys--a swine----"

"I'm sure he's all that. I don't care for the man myself, but tell me
what he said to you."

"Steinwitz came into my hotel. He said, 'The American will not sell
Salissa. It is necessary that you marry the girl.' I said 'Good. Where
is she? To-morrow I will do it.' But he said, 'The girl is not here.
It is for you to go to Salissa at once. She is there.' Conceive it, my
friend. I did not want to leave Paris. We were happy there, Corinne
and I. But at once, in a jiffy, I am off to this place and without
Corinne. It is a hard line, for me the hardest line."

"But why the deuce did you do it? Oh, I needn't ask that. The Emperor,
of course. Well, I don't know whether you'll be pleased to hear it or
not, but you can't marry the girl."

"But--you do not quite understand. For me there is no choice. It is:
Damn it, I must. The Emperor----"

"Even the Emperor can't make the same girl marry two men. I happen to
know that Miss Donovan is engaged to a young fellow called Phillips,
and fifty Emperors yelling at her at once wouldn't make her give him
up."

The King seized Gorman's hand and shook it heartily. His face
expressed great delight.

"Where," he said, "is the young fellow called Phillips? I wish to see
him at once, to embrace him. I shall bestow on him the Order of the
Pink Vulture of Megalia, First Class. I shall make him a Count. Do you
think, my friend, that he would wish to be a Count? His action is most
noble. He is a good sporter. I will now go back to Paris. The Emperor
can say no more to me. The young fellow Phillips has married the
girl."

"Not quite married her," said Gorman, "but it's nearly the same
thing."

The King waved his hand airily.

"It is quite the same thing. No man of honour--the young fellow
Phillips is above all a man of honour--would go backwards from his
word. Besides there is your English court of broken promises of
marriage. He would not face that. I write at once to the Emperor. I
tell him that I regret, that I am desolate, but I can do no more. The
young fellow Phillips has cut me up--no, has cut out--that is, he has
cut me in. Then I return to Paris. To-day I shall start. The navy of
Megalia will get up steam and----"

The King stopped abruptly. The smile died on his face. He had all the
appearance of extreme dejection.

"My friend," he said, "it will not work. I forgot one thing. I am up
in a tree. What