rope, indeed in the world, she was pleased. The negotiations were
rushed through at a pace which struck even Gorman as indecent. But
everybody concerned was in a hurry. Konrad Karl was afraid that the
Emperor might hear of the sale through the Megalian ambassador in
London. But that gentleman--he was a Count, I think--was under the
influence, probably in the pay of the Emperor, and had been instructed
to ignore King Konrad Karl as much as possible. He heard nothing about
the matter. Madame Ypsilante was in a hurry for obvious reasons. Miss
Daisy Donovan had looked at the pearl necklace two or three times, and
there was a horrible possibility that she might regard it as a
suitable ornament for a queen. Miss Daisy was eager to see her island
kingdom as soon as possible. Donovan himself was finding London less
restful than ever. He wanted to get the Salissa business settled out
of hand.

It was settled early in April. I never heard the exact date of the
signing of the papers, but April the 1st would have been appropriate.
An immense document was drawn up by a solicitor, a cousin of Gorman's
who lived in a small west of Ireland town. Gorman said he gave the job
to this particular man because no London lawyer would have kept the
matter secret. My own impression is that no London solicitor would
have undertaken the job at all. There cannot be any recognized legal
form for the sale of kingdoms. However, Gorman's cousin did his work
excellently. The document looked well. He attached eight enormous
seals to it, and he had several of the most important clauses
translated into Latin. It must have been as good as it looked.
Later on nearly every ambassador in Europe had a look at the
"instrument"--Gorman called it an instrument sometimes, sometimes a
protocol--and they were all baffled. The American ambassador in
Megalia offered Gorman's cousin a post in the U. S. A. diplomatic
service, a high testimonial to his abilities. Miss Daisy and her heirs
became the independent sovereigns of the Island of Salissa. Donovan
promised to pay down the purchase money as soon as he was satisfied
that the island really existed. The most Gorman could screw out of him
in the way of an advance was L5,000.

The evening after the "instrument" was signed, Gorman had a visit from
Goldsturmer, the well-known jeweller. The man, a rather unctuous, but
very suave and polite German Jew, was shown into Gorman's
sitting-room.

"I think," he said, "that you