anean, it has
better protection against the winds of the North than Nice, or
Cannes, or Mentone. It is an appanage--in point of fact the only
estate--remaining to the once powerful Grimaldi family.

In the early days of land-piracy Old Man Grimaldi held his own with Old
Man Hohenzollern and Old Man Hapsburg. The Savoys and the Bourbons were
kith and kin. But in the long run of Freebooting the Grimaldis did not
keep up with the procession. How they retained even this remnant of
inherited brigandage and self-appointed royalty, I do not know. They are
here under leave of the Powers and the especial protection, strange to
say, of the French Republic.

Something over fifty years ago, being hard-up for cash, the Grimaldi
of the period fell under the wiles of an ingenious Alsatian gambler,
Guerlac by name, who foresaw that Baden-Baden and Hombourg were
approaching their finish and that the sports must look elsewhere for
their living, the idle rich for their sport. This tiny "enclave" in
French territory presented many advantages over the German Dukedoms. It
was an independent sovereignty issuing its own coins and postage stamps.
It was in proud possession of a half-dozen policemen which it called its
"army." It was paradisaic in beauty and climate. Its "ruler" was as poor
as Job's turkey, but by no means as proud as Lucifer.

The bargain was struck. The gambler smote the rock of Monte Carlo as
with a wand of enchantment and a stream of plenty burst forth. The
mountain-side responded to the touch. It chortled in its glee and
blossomed as the rose.

II

The region known as the Riviera comprises, as I have said, the whole
land-circle of the Mediterranean Sea. But, as generally written and
understood, it stands for the shoreline between Marseilles and Genoa.
The two cities are connected by the Corniche Road, built by the First
Napoleon, who learned the need of it when he made his Italian campaign,
and the modern railway, the distance 260 miles, two-thirds of the way
through France, the residue through Italy, and all of it surpassing
fine.

The climate is very like that of Southern Florida. But as in Florida
they have the "Nor'westers" and the "Nor'easters," on the Riviera they
have the "mistral." In Europe there is no perfect winter weather north
of Spain, as in the United States none north of Cuba.

I have often thought that Havana might be made a dangerous rival of
Monte Carlo under the one-man power, exercising i