children rapidly, there was every reason to suppose she would have half
a dozen boys. Do you mean to say that I have never been an Englishman?"

"Oh, you are all right as far as the British law goes. And you were a
good and bona fide British subject for thirty years. Don't feel any
discouragement on that score."

"Then am I an American citizen? Is there to be no long period of waiting
and of comparative inaction?"

"I am not so sure. There is no provision of the Constitution so open to
various construction. And none has been so variously construed. I could
cite a hundred instances--that is, I could read them to you to-morrow.
But I recall two, and they are fair samples. One child, born in the
United States, of French parents, returned to France, and after serving
his term in the French army wished to become an American citizen, and
obtained his passport without difficulty. A full-grown American citizen
went to Mexico and fought for Maximilian, and lost not only his own
citizenship, but that of his children, who had been born in the United
States. There you are, and there you are again, as dear old Dickens
would say. But I must think a minute." He transferred his gaze to the
coals, and was silent for a few moments.

"There is a pretty strong case on both sides," he resumed, in a musing
tone. "You left this country when an infant, you practically forgot it,
you entered the service of Great Britain heart and soul, and achieved
high distinction. You inherited a title and wore it as a matter of
course. For thirty years you never set foot on American soil, nor at any
time demanded the protection of the United States, as you might easily
have done in your foreign wanderings. There is hardly a doubt that if
England had gone to war with us at any time during the last ten years
and needed your services you would have given them. However, that
contingency did not arise, so let it pass. But with an unsympathetic
State Department and an active enemy or two, all the other points cited
would make up as clear a case of voluntary expatriation as any on
record. But there is a pretty good balance on the other side. You _were_
born in the United States, you _did not_ renounce at any time your
allegiance, you have the blood of two Presidents in your veins,
and--here is the important point: you have been one of the heaviest
tax-payers in California for thirty-two years. Now, as I have intimated,
these expatriation cases have all been deci