at a very little expenditure of money
would make the palace look as bright and clean as if it had been
recently furnished.

"'Of course you have an army,' remarked the Prince.

"'Oh, yes,' said the Dowager; 'an excellent army--that is, considering
the size of my principality. The infantry is very good indeed. In fact,
I heard my late husband say, on an occasion when the infantry corps had
just been furnished with new uniforms, that he never saw a finer-looking
set of men. The cavalry is also in excellent condition. Of course in
time of peace it is not necessary to keep these men supplied with
horses, but in an agricultural country it is not difficult to obtain
horses whenever they are really needed.'

"'And the artillery?' inquired the Prince.

"'I am sorry to say,' replied the Dowager, 'that the artillery is not
yet supplied with cannon. It was the intention of my late husband to
furnish them with the necessary cannon, ammunition, horses, and all
that, but he never did so. And of course, being a woman, I could not be
expected to attend to such things. But I have no doubt whatever that you
can easily and inexpensively put this branch of the army on a proper
footing; that is, if you care for artillery.'

"The Prince asked no further questions about the army, but inquired if
the principality was furnished with a navy.

"'Oh, no,' said the Dowager; 'we have no waterfront, and my late husband
used often to say that this impossibility of having a navy saved him a
great deal of expense, to say nothing of the trouble warships might get
him into when they are out of sight in distant parts of the world.'

"At this point the Dowager was called out by a servant, who in a whisper
asked her if the visitors were going to stay to dinner. The Adherent
seized this opportunity to say in a low voice:

"'If your Royal Highness will excuse me, I will suggest that you ask if
there is a legislative body, and a judiciary.'

"The Dowager, having shaken her head at the servant, returned to the
Prince.

"'Have you a legislature?' asked the Prince.

"'Certainly,' she said. 'I cannot say that I think it is a very good
one, for I have more trouble with it than with anything else in the
principality; but it has now less than a year to run, and my advice
would be that you should not convene it again. My experience has taught
me that one can get along a great deal better without a legislative body
than with one. For my part, I do not appro