rous servants disposed
effectually of any such speculations.

On the second floor the Governor lingered in the drawing-room to call
his guest's attention to some pictures, contemporary American work,
which Archie recognized instantly. Indeed he knew several of the
painters very well.

"We must encourage our own artists," remarked the Governor. "It's the
only way we shall ever develop an American art."

Continuing up another flight (there was an elevator, the Governor
explained, but he preferred the stairs) Archie surveyed approvingly a
lounging room, half library and half office.

"If you have a taste for old leather there's stuff here that will please
you. No rubbish, you see; a man's room, a little quaint as to furniture,
and the telephone and electric fan are the only anachronisms, a
concession to the spirit of modern life. Here I have worked out some
most abstruse problems in astrology. A capital place to ponder the
mysteries. If anything on that tray interests you, help yourself."

Archie tottered toward the stand on which decanters, syphons, and a
silver bowl of ice had been placed. He helped himself generously to
Scotch; the Governor contented himself with a glass of mineral water--he
never took anything else, he explained.

"Odd, but I've never used the stuff at all. Bless you, no fanatical
notions on the subject! If you don't see what you like there just press
a button and it will probably be found for you. And now, my dear
Archie"--he closed the door and turned on the fan--"you are my guest, in
every sense my guest. You wouldn't be human if you didn't wonder about
me rather more than at any time since we first met; you had not the
slightest idea that I should bring you to so decent a shack as this. It
may have occurred to you that I may be an interloper here, but such is
not the case. I own this house and the ground it stands on and
everything in it. You are, of course, not a prisoner; not in any sense,
and there's a telephone in your room--you shall see in a moment--by
which you can talk to all the world quite freely,--no restrictions
whatsoever.

"My name is not Saulsbury, of course, but something quite different. The
servants in this house do not know my true name. They might, of course,
work it out, for I pay taxes here, and my family history is spread in
the public records, but the people you see about here are trained to
curb their curiosity; I trust them just as I trust you. They are all
from u