-princess' eldest daughter, who was
practising. Princess Wanda sat on the ground, romping a trifle
boisterously with her youngest two nephews, Erik and Karl. On a long
wicker chair lay Prince Herman, with both legs up; next to him was a
little table heaped with newspapers and periodicals, some of which had
fallen to the ground; a great tumbler of sherry-cobbler stood on the
wicker ledge of his chair; the blue smoke rose from a cigarette between
his fingers.

Sofie and Valerie compared their sketches and laughed. They looked at
the sky, which was bisected by the awning: the clouds, woolly white,
surged one above the other; the sea was dazzling with its golden scales,
like a giant cuirass.

"What are you two painting there?" asked Herman, who was turning the
pages of an illustrated paper.

"Clouds," replied Valerie, "nothing but clouds. I have persuaded Sofie
to make studies of clouds with me. Presently, if you're not too lazy,
you must come and look at my album." She gave a little laugh. "It
contains nothing but clouds!"

"By Jove!" drawled Herman. "How very odd!..."

"Yes," said Sofie, dreamily, "clouds are very nice, but you never know
how to catch them: they change every instant."

"Erik," said Herman, "just ask Aunt Valerie to lend me her album."

"No, no," cried Wanda, "go and fetch it yourself, lazybones!..."

But Erik wanted to go; and there came a great struggle. Wanda hugged the
little fellow tight in her arms; Karl joined in: there was a general
romp and Wanda, laughing, fell sideways to the ground.

"But, Wanda!" said Sofie, reprovingly.

Valerie stood up and went to Herman:

"With all this, you're not seeing my clouds, you lazy boy. I suppose I
must take pity on you. Look...."

Herman now suddenly drew himself up and took the album:

"How funny!" he said. "Yellow and white and violet and pink. All
sunsets!"

"And sunrises. I dare say I see more of them than you do!"

"The things you see in clouds, Valerie! It's astonishing. How one person
differs from another! I should never take it into my head to go and
sketch clouds. You ought to come for a cruise with me one day; then you
could make whole collections of clouds."

"Why didn't you propose that earlier?" said Valerie, jestingly. "Then I
might have joined you and Xara."

"But where is Othomar?" said Herman.

Valerie said that she did not know....

Herman sipped his sherry-cobbler. Wanda wanted a taste, but Herman
refused and told her