LOUIS 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/americanemperorsOOtrac 
 
mnum booke skoppe 
 
 904 Burlington Ave. No. 
 ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA 
 
' The Amerieau at last threw him off, mainied and cursing, but it was too late." 
 
 f See page 222.) 
 
An American Emperor 
 
 THE STORY OF THE FOURTH 
 EMPIRE OF FRANCE 
 
 BY 
 
 LOUIS TRACY 
 
 Author of "The Wings of the Morning," " The Wheel o' Fortune" 
 "The Pillar of Light," etc. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS NEW YORK 
 
Copyright, 1897 
 
 BY 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
lilrb\-'i/\ 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED 
 
 TO ONE WHO TOOK THE KEENEST INTEREST 
 
 IN ITS PROGRESS 
 
 AND READ EACH PAGE 
 
 AS IT WAS WRITTEN— 
 
 MY WIFB 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGB 
 
 I.— A Box AT the; Opera i 
 
 II. — Monsieur et Mademoisei,i,e ii 
 
 III. — The REFUSAIy AND THE RES0I,VE . . . .21 
 
 IV. — Munitions oe War 32 
 
 v.— An Invasion of Paris 43 
 
 VI.— Jerome is Puzzi,ed 52 
 
 VII. — A Chai.i,enge 61 
 
 VIII.— A Starting Scheme 71 
 
 IX,— How Vansittart Became a Frenchman . . 82 
 
 X.— Vansittart's Proposai, 93 
 
 XI.— On the Verge oe the desert . . . .104 
 
 XII.— The Batti^e oe Ei, Hegef 117 
 
 XIII.— The Tomb in the Wii,derness . . . .127 
 XIV.— Vansittart Rides for a Fai,i. . . . .138 
 
 XV.— A Storm Brewing 148 
 
 XVI.— A RivAi. Prince i57 
 
 XVII.— The Storm Bursts 168 
 
 XVIII. — How Jerome Enjoyed His Hoi.iday . . . 180 
 
 XIX.— DE ToURNON'S DOWNFAI.I, 188 
 
 XX.— Some R0YA1.T1ES — AND Others . . . .198 
 
 XXI.— The Rivai^ 208 
 
 XXII.— A Captured Lion 219 
 
 XXIII. — Murder as a Fine Art— with Ii,i.ustrations . 231 
 
 XXIV.— The Meeting of Directors 240 
 
 XXV.— How THE Sahara was Fi^ooded . . . .251 
 
 XXVI. — A Combat of Monarchs 263 
 
 XXVII. — Introspective 271 
 
 XXVIII.— Adumbrations 278 
 
 V 
 
vi Contents, 
 
 CHAPTER PA6B 
 
 XXIX.— Intrigue 287 
 
 XXX.— Two Women 297 
 
 XXXI.— The Soiree 307 
 
 XXXII.— A MiNISTERIAI, PANIC 316 
 
 XXXIII.— The President Takes Action . . . .326 
 XXXIV. — Vansittart Meets the Cabinet . . . 337 
 
 XXXV. — A Bl.OODl,ESS REVOIyUTlON 347 
 
 XXXVI.— The Princess Marchesi 356 
 
 XXXVII.— The Conspirators 366 
 
 XXXVIII.— The Siege of St. Ci.oud ., ... 374 
 XXXIX.— The Conspiracy Ends ...... 386 
 
 XL. — Arizona Jim Speaks His Mind .... 398 
 
 XLI.— The Coronation 408 
 
 XLII.—" Sahara, Limited," Wound Up . . . .418 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 " The American at last threw him off, maimed and cursing, 
 BUT it was too late " Frontispiece 
 
 " It WAS OTHERWISE WITH Arizona Jim " 144 
 
 "It WAS monstrous. It was the betrayal of France" , . 316 
 
 " Utterly disheartened, cowed, brow-beaten, disgusted, and 
 disappointed, the ex-ministers of the Republic passed 
 out into the night " 346 
 
AN AMERICAN EMPEROR 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A BOX AT THE OPERA 
 
 JEROME K. VANSITTART was the richest man in the 
 world. 
 
 He owned vast territories ; he controlled railways and 
 fleets ; cities paid him tribute, and myriads of workers toiled, 
 that his wealth might magnify unceasingly. 
 
 In a word, he was a State rather than an individual. 
 
 Computations of the amount of his fortune differed by 
 hundreds of millions, and the public estimate of his riches 
 was based more upon cubical measurements than the com- 
 mon standard of dollars and cents. 
 
 Thus, when the Sundaj'- edition of the New York Clarion 
 sought to enlighten its readers as to the financial calibre of 
 their most remarkable fellow-citizen, it summed him up as 
 follows : — ■ 
 
 * ' If Vansittart wished to build his Fifth Avenue residence 
 of solid gold, he could do so, and then pave with silver the 
 avenue and West 57th Street in front of his house." 
 
 The Universe, which was nominally opposed to him, stuck 
 to the illustration. 
 
 " Vansittart is going to lay out 58th Street in copper," 
 it said. " He has just added a cent per ton to freight rates 
 on the New York Central." 
 
2 All American Emperor 
 
 Of course the democratic Record must develop the phrase. 
 
 " There is trouble ou Wall Street," wrote the city editor. 
 " Vansittart shook up Lake Shores yesterdaj-, and knocked 
 diamond sparkn out of every bear on 'Change." 
 
 Strange circumstances had conspired to produce this man, 
 the economic phenomenon of the United States. 
 
 He was the heir of the princes of American industry. A 
 weird medley of marriage and death had added here a fair 
 domain, there a huge section of some populous commune. 
 Two transcontinental railroads had scarce fallen to his lot 
 before the chief river- waj^ of the Eastern States was added to 
 the inheritance, to be quickly succeeded by three magnifi- 
 cent lines of Atlantic steamers. 
 
 He was conscious only of the power of his monej'. Its 
 extent could merely be approximately gauged by annual 
 valuation. 
 
 It was possible, therefore, for him to suddenlj' carry out 
 strange resolves which shook the financial world by their 
 magnitude and thoroughness. On one occasion, whilst 
 travelling to St. Louis from Chicago, his train narrowly 
 escaped being wrecked in a collision caused by two jealously 
 competing companies' tracks crossing each other. By tele- 
 graph he promptly instructed his agents to buy up both 
 S5'stems. The mar\^ellous sequel to the stor>' came when 
 within twelve months the receipts were quadrupled b}' judi- 
 cious management and economical administration. For the 
 first time in their history the lines paid a dividend. 
 
 Again, he was but ill ser\'ed in a hotel b}^ a careless 
 waiter. Vansittart stepped out to the ofiice, exchanged a 
 few words with the proprietor, wrote a check, and returned. 
 " I now own this place," he said to the waiter, " and if you 
 don't look after the comfort of the guests, including myself, 
 you will be discharged." 
 
 Of course, the tale was told, with its inevitable result, — the 
 hotel soon required to be enlarged to accommodate the 
 crowds that flocked to it. 
 
A Box at the Opera 3 
 
 Demagogues who thundered fierce philippics against the 
 unprecedented aggregation of riches in the lap of this one 
 individual, invariably added, as though grudgingly, and 
 deprecating the fact, ' ' Personally, Vansittart is an uncom- 
 monly nice fellow." 
 
 And this was but the bare truth. He might best be 
 described as a splendid example of the cultured American 
 gentleman, which means that he was clever, polished, strong 
 in principle, and weak onl}' in his affections, generous to the 
 utmost limit of common sense, courteous and considerate to 
 all who came within reach of his magnetic personality. 
 
 He was young, but twenty-six years of age, when this 
 strange and eventful history opened ; athletic, as his school 
 record at Winchester and his college triumphs at Yale clearly 
 showed ; somewhat inclined to be studious, but in unex- 
 pected directions, of which his ordinary scholastic course 
 gave slight signs. I^anguages and engineering were his 
 professed hobbies, and in these he excelled. 
 
 Only his few intimate friends realized that some day he 
 might perhaps write an introspective book that would aston- 
 ish the world; and its title would be Injlueyiccs that Mould 
 Character, for no other man of his years had read so much 
 or thought so deeply concerning this his favorite subject for 
 speculation and comparative anal5^sis. 
 
 Had Vansittart's own wishes been consulted in the order- 
 ing of his destiny, he would have gone through life in the 
 leisured ease of a man whose pleasatit patrimony is doled 
 out to him by quarterly payments from Government stocks. 
 
 But in his case this was impossible. Inheriting more 
 ample revenues and more real power than any crowned 
 king, and finding, when he came to man's estate, that any- 
 thing like personal supervision of the manifold interests he 
 controlled was out of the question, he nevertheless firmly 
 established an all-per\'ading sense of fairness and justice in 
 the conduct of his aifairs. 
 
 Himself a miracle of individualism, he was an ardent 
 
4 An American Emperor 
 
 advocate of the collective principle. One remarkable out- 
 come of the spirit and practice of comradeship which he had 
 engendered among his subordinates was, that at the end of 
 five years after he had attained his majority his wealth had 
 consolidated to a degree that astounded men of narrow intel- 
 lectual calibre, whilst it gratified his own utilitarian theories. 
 
 Although in manner and conversation a versatile and 
 well-informed man of the world, his tastes were simple. A 
 high-tempered horse, a readable book, a perfect gun, a well- 
 balanced salmon-rod, — these were his chief desires. For the 
 rest, the potentiality of money had ceased, or it had not yet 
 begun. 
 
 And he had nev^er been in love. 
 
 A vulgar attachment had no charms for him, and he drew 
 back nervously from the social environments which must 
 inevitably surround him when he at last contracted a union 
 suitable to his rank and condition. 
 
 As this, at any rate, was the explanation he ofifered to his 
 friends when they rallied him on the question of matrimony, 
 the experienced reader will quickly perceive that the one 
 woman in the world for whom he would risk far more than 
 the thraldom of married life had not yet flitted forth from 
 the chaos of humanity into his existence. 
 
 Yet on the night when this story opens he was preoccu- 
 pied to an unusual degree, and the inspiring cause was a 
 woman. 
 
 The magnificent Opera House on Broadway was crowded 
 with fashionable New York. A good opera by a French 
 company was produced that evening for the first time, and 
 expectation rose high concerning the work. 
 
 Seats were at a premium, and had steadily advanced in 
 price during weeks past. When New York society returns 
 to the city from Newport or .Saratoga, it travels in a groove, 
 and woe betide the fashionable dame who is unable to see 
 and be seen at this premitre, — the culminating point of a 
 brilliant season. 
 
A Box at the Opera 5 
 
 Even Vaiisittart, lounging easily in his comfortable box on 
 the first tier, felt glad that he was spared the crush and 
 bustle of the stalls and circle; and he seldom congratulated 
 himself upon the immunity from worrj' conferred by wealth, 
 for he knew too well what nonsense it was to think that 
 money could buy freedom from care. 
 
 But he had dined well, with his greatest friend, Dick Har- 
 land, an Englishman with a sound heart, a healthy appetite, 
 and a poorly lined pocket, who had left him for the moment 
 to drive to his hotel for a forgotten overcoat. 
 
 The two were classmates at Winchester, and had remained 
 faithful to their boyish liking for each other. 
 
 Harland was now visiting New York; but he refused to 
 stay at Vansittart's mansion, nor would he allow his all- 
 powerful comrade to put him in the way of developing his 
 scanty resources. 
 
 His explanation was characteristic. * ' I regard you always 
 as Jerry Vansittart, ' ' he wrote, ' ' the chap who used to go 
 shares with me in sixpenny worth of gingerbread and oranges, 
 when either of us was broke at the end of the term ; and I 
 feel that if I met you now as a social equal, or took your 
 help in forwarding vciy career " (Dick's career threatened to 
 develop into that useful but unremunerative calling, a gen- 
 tleman jockey), " we would not be quite the same to each 
 other. Give me a quiet hour during my visit to New York, 
 when we can have a quiet jaw about old times, and I shall 
 be more than pleased." 
 
 Vansittart humored his \\'ish; but the hour had spread into 
 a whole afternoon, and Harland could not decline the subse- 
 quent dinner and a vacant chair in the millionnaire'sboxat 
 the opera. 
 
 Whilst awaiting the arrival of his friend, Vansittart, who 
 was effectively screened from observation by a curtain, leis- 
 urely surveyed the occupants of the other boxes. 
 
 Most of the people were known to him; and those who 
 were not were uninteresting, until his eye lit upon the 
 
6 A7t American Emperor 
 
 form of a lady who sat in lonely state directly opposite to 
 him. 
 
 True, she was not unaccompanied, as an older woman sat 
 near her, but in a manner suggesting an attendant rather 
 than a chaperon. 
 
 In repose, the face of the fair unknown had the clearlj- cut 
 outline and delicate grace of a beautiful statue; but wlien 
 she turned to speak to her companion it manifestl}^ bright- 
 ened with rare animation, and when she smiled, Vansittart 
 thought he had never before seen so lovelj- a woman. 
 
 She was simply, almost poorly dressed, yet in her dark 
 hair sparkled a tiara that a queen might have worn; and 
 Vansittart felt that under ordinary circumstances none but 
 persons of considerable means could afford to rent a box at 
 the Metropolitan Opera House on these occasions. 
 
 "Who was she ? Not a New-Yorker, as no such woman 
 could be in the front rank of society and )'et remain outside 
 his circle of acquaintances. She must be a foreigner, a 
 Frenchwoman, or an Italian; for her alternating moods of 
 stateliness and vivacity, the elegance of her manner, and the 
 dark color of her eyes and hair, gave reasonable suggestion 
 of either nationality. 
 
 Vansittart was first puzzled, then interested, then absurdly 
 annoj-ed. 
 
 What did it possibly matter to him who the lady was ? 
 So he settled himself back in his box to listen to the first 
 strains of the overture, and in the next moment found him- 
 self hesitating whether or not to ring for an attendant, and 
 try to solve the myster3^ 
 
 Now, he was a man who never allowed himself to waver 
 in a resolution. The very fact that he detected a momentary 
 disinclination to pursue the inquiry further was sufficient to 
 impel him forthunth to press the button of the electric bell ; 
 and in that simple act he committed himself to the greatest 
 task ever yet undertaken by one man. 
 
 The message spasmodically jarred into life on the indicator 
 
A Box at the Opera 7 
 
 was destined to fill the civilized world with its clamor, but 
 the obsequious attendant who came in answer to the bell 
 little knew that he was the first of a countless host of men 
 and women who would bow before that imperious summons. 
 
 " Ask the acting manager to be good enough to see me at 
 his convenience," said Vansittart; and in a little while the 
 gentleman thus designated entered, for in such a matter the 
 millionnaire's wish was law. 
 
 " Mr. Gutman," explained Vansittart, " I wish to know 
 something of the lady in the opposite box. Can you tell me 
 her name and any facts connected with her ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' She is something of an enigma, sir, ' ' was the answer. 
 ' ' The name in which she engages her box is ' Mademoiselle 
 Honorine de Montpensier. ' She occupies a suite of apart- 
 ments in the Netherlands Hotel, and her companion is the 
 Comtesse de Fontainebleau. Notwithstanding her unas- 
 suming name, the younger lady is obviously a woman of 
 considerable distinction." 
 
 Both men were now looking straight at the persons they 
 were discussing, and Mademoiselle de Montpensier noticed 
 them. She slightly withdrew from observation; and the 
 Comtesse at the same moment moved her chair, not from 
 necessity, but seemingly by force of habit. 
 
 Vansittart regretted his involuntary rudeness when too 
 late. 
 
 ' ' The Comtesse de Fontainebleau treats her as though she 
 were a reigning monarch," he said with a smile. 
 
 ' ' There are kingdoms of all sizes, sir, ' ' replied Mr. Gut- 
 man. " Some are no larger than an ordinary room." 
 
 ' ' Why do you say that ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Because this young lady puzzles me. I am certain that 
 she is not rich, yet she invariably orders our most expensive 
 box, and will accept no other. She is very gracious and 
 pleasant in manner, but extremely reserved. She wears finer 
 diamonds than any woman in America, — diamonds that can- 
 not be bought nowadays, — but her dress is plain and not 
 
8 An American Emperor 
 
 costly. There are many contradictions in her speech and 
 habits, and I am only certain of one thing in regard to her, — • 
 she is undoubtedly a well-born and most charming woman." 
 
 ' ' How is it I have not seen her before ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' She has onl}' lived in New York for about a month, sir, 
 and I am afraid that we are now honored by your presence 
 for the first time this season. ' ' 
 
 Vansittart smiled. " You are right, Mr. Gutman," he 
 said. " I must really mend my ways." 
 
 At this moment Harland entered. 
 
 " Sorry for being late, old chap! " he exclaimed. " I mis- 
 laid my check, and the scoundrel in charge of the cloak- 
 room treated me like a thief until I found it. By Jove, what 
 a stunning woman ! ' ' 
 
 His eyes were riveted on Mademoiselle de Montpensier, 
 who had leaned forward in her absorption with the beautiful 
 strains of the adagio movement. 
 
 The others laughed at his words, and the oflScial left the 
 two friends together. 
 
 ' ' What has amused you ? ' ' said Harland. 
 
 Vansittart told him of the preceding conversation, and the 
 subject dropped. 
 
 As the night progressed, the American repeatedly found 
 himself covertly looking at the fair unknown, and speculat- 
 ing upon her identity. He was so ill at ease that even the 
 unobservant Harland could not help commenting on it. 
 
 * ' What is the matter, Jerry ? " he said at last ; ' ' you 
 don't seem up to the mark. Had you dined at my hotel, I 
 should have blamed the cook ; but I suppose that such an 
 explanation can hardly apply to that palace of yours in Fifth 
 Avenue." 
 
 Not often was Vansittart cornered for a phrase. But this 
 time he could offer no valid excuse for his preoccupation ; 
 and without troubling to analyze his motives, he replied, — 
 
 " The fact is, Dick, that I feel something of the terrible 
 isolation which, we are told, surrounds a powerful king. I 
 
A Box at the Opera. g 
 
 suffer the infliction of being regarded as a great potentate in 
 the world of finance and commerce ; and I often shudder at 
 the thought that I have no real friend, no hearty chum, as 
 you used to be, old fellow. ' ' 
 
 The unwonted bitterness in his tone surprised both speaker 
 and listener, and neither uttered a word for some moments. 
 
 ' ' So you even suspect me, ' ' said Harland at length, col- 
 oring deeply. 
 
 ' ' Suspect ! No. But why do you pretend that our lives 
 must practically remain apart ? Why do you insist upon 
 the difference between our stations ? Why do you regard 
 the payment of a hotel bill as marking your independence ? ' ' 
 
 Vansittart was personally amazed at this outburst. He 
 had harbored no such thoughts. He was the last man in 
 the world to give voice to them even if felt. Whence did 
 they spring, and what semi-hysterical state caused them to 
 blurt forth unbidden and uncontrolled ? 
 
 Harland was astounded. 
 
 " Well, this is a rum go," he said after another pause. 
 " Here am I, a poor devil buying race-horses on commission, 
 accused of spurning the friendship of my greatest pal, who 
 unfortunately happens to be the boss millionnaire on earth. 
 I '11 tell you what, Jerry. I can't write a letter worth a 
 cent, and I am a frightful duffer at saj-ing ' no ' when I want 
 the other chap to think I would like to say ' yes ' ; but if you 
 will call me your secretary^, and give me an attic and five 
 himdred a year, I '11 stick to you till you tell me to quit." 
 
 " Call it five thousand, and it 's a bargain! " cried Vansit- 
 tart eagerly. 
 
 Harland hesitated. " Honestly, Jerr}', I am not worth 
 it," he said, adding with hesitation, " unless 3-ou let me look 
 after j-our stable, too. I might save the money there." 
 
 Vansittart laughed heartily. " You have hit the nail on 
 the head first time, Dick," he said. " You shall not be my 
 secretar^^ but my Master of the Horse ! " 
 
 The two men shook hands on the contract, whilst Made- 
 
lO An American Emperor 
 
 moiselle Honoriue de Montpensier, attracted by their unusual 
 behavior, gazed at them steadily for a little while through 
 her lorgnette. 
 
 And she had the faculty which is invaluable to a monarch, 
 — she never forgot a face. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 MONSIEUR ET MADEMOISELLE 
 
 " T DID n't think j^ou were so fond of music, Jerry. As 
 
 1 for me, I am just getting the hang of it. Hitherto I 
 beHeved that the Post-Horn Galop knocked everj-thiiig ; 
 but Signor What's-his-name knows a bit, does n't he ? " 
 
 Vansittart chuckled as he Hsteued to Harland's remarks. 
 Five successive nights had they followed the dulcet strains 
 of French and Italian romantic opera, until Dick, in despair, 
 seriously endeavored to grasp the meaning of that which 
 enthusiasts raved about. 
 
 It was not the voice of a Plangon, nor the baton of a 
 Mancinelli, that brought Vansittart to the theatre. But 
 with reference to the lady he had been mute, and he heard 
 with apparent nonchalance Harland's frequent and highly 
 laudatory comments upon her appearance and st3-ie. 
 
 ' ' What a figure for the box seat in a spin down to Hurling- 
 ham! " he had said. " How she would paralyze 'em on the 
 Row ! She 's not unlike Evelj-n. You remember my sister, 
 don't you? — little thing with flaxen hair and blue eyes. 
 You sold a new bat at half price so as to raise the price of 
 some chocolates when mother brought her to school one day. 
 Evelyn looks smart now, I can assure you, but this one is on 
 the dark and tragic side. Would n't 5-ou like to see her in 
 war-paint ? ' ' 
 
 " What on earth are you talking about ? " laughed Van- 
 sittart. 
 
 ' * I mean that she must be killing when dressed for dinner 
 
 II 
 
12 An American Emperor 
 
 or a dance, and not in everlasting black. She ought to wear 
 a coronet and a fur cloak. ' ' 
 
 Harland had an ermine robe in his mind, but he was hap- 
 pily oblivious of conventionality in phrase or thought. 
 
 Nevertheless, Vansittart was still separated from the lady 
 by the width of the theatre, and he had ascertained by j udi- 
 cious inquiry that she had not evinced the slightest curiosity 
 concerning him. 
 
 Pie felt intuitively that to seek an introduction in the 
 ordinary way was hopeless. Such a woman was be3'ond the 
 reach of society, and to gain her friendship or regard he 
 must adopt some unusual method. Why he was so anxious 
 to meet her, or what the result might be, he resolutely 
 declined to ask himself. 
 
 Whilst Dick was puzzling his brains to find out why the 
 writer of the ' ' argument ' ' should call upon him to admire 
 the consecutive fifths in the intermezzo, Vansittart was 
 working out a plan of action. 
 
 " Dick," he said suddenly, " my trainer in Virginia writes 
 to say that he wants me to inspect some brood mares before 
 they join my stud. I am somewhat pressed for time just 
 now. Will you go for me, starting to-morrow, and returning 
 towards the close of the week ? ' ' 
 
 " Like a bird ! " cried the unconscious Dick. " I know 
 more about that game than I do about ' themes for the 
 French horn ' and ' symphonic diapasons.' " 
 
 Next day, as the result of a conference with Mr. Gutman, 
 Vansittart rented every available box in the theatre for a 
 month. He found that Mademoiselle de Montpensier paid 
 daily for her accommodation. 
 
 The clerk in the box-office also had his instructions ; and 
 when the Comtesse de Foutainebleau presented herself, he 
 explained that Mr. Jerome K. Vansittart had acquired all 
 the boxes for the use of his friends, but had instructed 
 him to say that the Comtesse and Mademoiselle would 
 gratify him were they to use their box exactly when they 
 chose. 
 
Monsietir et Mademoiselle 1 3 
 
 " Am I to understand that we can pay Mr. Vansittart 
 instead of the management of the theatre ? ' ' demanded the 
 lady coldly. 
 
 " No, madam : the boxes are reserved for his guests." 
 
 " We are not Mr. Vansittart' s guests," said the Comtesse 
 with increasing asperity, and she swept out of the theatre. 
 
 As the result, neither lady was seen again ; and Vansittart 
 had not only the trouble of issuing invitations to fill his ill- 
 advised purchase, but also the mortification of knowing that 
 he figured as an ill-mannered plutocrat in the eyes of her 
 whom he wished to conciliate. 
 
 One day he met her at the door of a fashionable shop in 
 West 23d Street. He was so surprised that he looked at 
 her too earnestly, and she quickened her pace to regain 
 her carriage. A crevice in the pavement caught the point 
 of her parasol and jerked it from her hand. A newspaper 
 boy darted forward, returned the article, and was rewarded 
 with a quarter and a sweet smile. 
 
 Vansittart quietly swore at himself, ordered six dozen 
 parasols from an astounded store-clerk, and discovered when 
 they arrived that he had meant silk ties. 
 
 The incident put him in good humor again. • 
 
 ' ' I cannot for the life of me tell why I am making such 
 an ass of myself, ' ' he reflected ; ' * but I will speak to that 
 woman somehow, even if she lives ever afterwards in the 
 belief that I am a frightful cad. In such a case one longs 
 for the easy pertness of the youth of Broadway. ' ' 
 
 He tried a visit to the Netherlands Hotel, and charmed 
 the manager by his interest in the affairs of that flourishing 
 institution. 
 
 ' ' Yes, sir, we have a good many people who stay here for 
 long periods," he said in reply to a question. " We have 
 one pair of ladies here who are ver>- distinguished. They 
 give no trouble ; but the younger one, who carries herself 
 like an empress, actually wanted Louis Ouatorze furniture 
 in her sitting-room. Why, sir, it costs a small fortune to 
 import it." 
 
14 An American Emperor 
 
 The cue was sufficient. Withiu two hours Vansittart 
 owned the hotel, and a Louis Quatorze suite was forwarded 
 the same afternoon. 
 
 What would happen next he did n't trouble to inquire, 
 but events marched as rapidly as the fifth act of a transpon- 
 tine melodrama. 
 
 That evening he received a delicately perfumed note, with 
 a silver " H " and a fleur-de-lys stamped thereon, and it 
 read as follows: — 
 
 " Mademoiselle Honorine de Montpensier desires to see Mr. Jerome 
 K. Vansittart. Mademoiselle de Montpensier will await him at the 
 Netherlands Hotel, to-morrow at four p.m." 
 
 This message utterly nonplussed him. It was, in the first 
 instance, quite inexplicable that there should be a communi- 
 cation of any sort from the lady, and this unusual cir- 
 cumstance was only made more complex by the emphatic 
 phraseology emploj'ed. 
 
 Once, when in London, he had been ' ' commanded ' ' to 
 visit the Queen at Windsor ; but with the exception of the, 
 to an American, unaccustomed word, the rest of the invita- 
 tion was couched in language of dignified courtesy. 
 
 Here, on the other hand, he detected a hostile, almost 
 menacing tone, coupled with an imperative " fail not herein, 
 
 or ! " Why, the thing sounded like a lettre de cachet. 
 
 And how came it that the name of the older lady was wholly 
 omitted ? 
 
 Abandoning speculation as futile, he surprised Dick after 
 dinner by taking an unexpected interest in the development 
 and prospects of the Virginian stud farm, and, strange to 
 relate, only slept the more soundly because of the confused 
 state into which his ideas had become entangled whilst 
 pursuing his strange quest. 
 
 Precisely at the appointed time he presented himself at 
 the Netherlands Hotel. At the entrance to the ladies' suite 
 
Monsieur et Mademoiselle 1 5 
 
 he was received by a solemn porter, who inspected his card 
 and ushered him at once into a spacious chamber, announ- 
 cing his name with the painful precision of a Frenchman 
 speaking English. 
 
 His first impression was that he had chosen the lyouis 
 Quatorze furniture with a singularly happy eye for effect ; 
 and then, in a somewhat dim light, he became aware that 
 Mademoiselle Honorine de Montpensier rose when he en- 
 tered the room, whilst the Comtesse de Fontainebleau, who 
 was present, remained seated, and completely ignored him. 
 
 He would have spoken, but the younger lady anticipated 
 him. 
 
 In a singularly sweet voice, which rendered her foreign 
 accent 'deUghtfully piquant, and but ill accorded with her 
 frigid politeness, she said, — 
 
 " We have sent for you, Mr. Vansittart, to request an 
 explanation of your attitude towards us. Whilst we cannot 
 complain of any direct rudeness or incivility on your part, 
 we cannot fail to notice that you are, for some reason best 
 known to yourself, striving to thrust your personality upon 
 us. That which was merely an inconvenience with regard 
 to the opera has now become somewhat distressing, as it 
 perhaps compels us to leave a quiet and suitable abode. 
 May we ask in what way we have earned these disagreeable 
 attentions ? ' ' 
 
 During this address the lady looked" at him steadily. She 
 made no attempt to relieve the situation by asking him to 
 be seated, and although she used the plural form of speech, 
 the other woman gave no sign of acquiescence or even of 
 interest. Her attitude was one of complete indifference. 
 
 Vansittart would have been confused had not a strong 
 sense of resentment come to his aid. All the ridiculousness 
 of his present position, and the folly of his previous actions, 
 vanished before the fact that a woman, younger than him- 
 self and delicately beautiful, was treating him as though he 
 were an ill-bred clown. 
 
1 6 An American Emperor 
 
 He looked her straight in the eyes as he replied, without a 
 trace of nervousness or difl&dence in his voice, — 
 
 " There is little need in asking for an explanation, made- 
 moiselle, when you have already condemned me as an 
 officious and even offensive cad. ' ' 
 
 " We have not said so," she said, her eyebrows slightly 
 elevated, and the ghost of a pohtely deprecating smile flit- 
 ting across her features. 
 
 ' ' No, but your manner is even more eloquent than your 
 words. I have only to apologize for an apparent rudeness 
 on my part, to promise that no further cause for misappre- 
 hension shall arise, and to withdraw. ' ' 
 
 For an instant the lady paused before she spoke, and 
 Vansittart knew that he was now fighting in the enemy's 
 territory. 
 
 " My words were carefully considered," she said, "and 
 do not bear the extreme interpretation you place upon 
 them." 
 
 ' ' I am glad to think that you are now speaking for j^our- 
 self, mademoiselle." This with a quiet glance towards the 
 Comtesse. 
 
 The remark momentarily puzzled Mademoiselle de Mont- 
 pensier. Then, with a bright smile of comprehension, she 
 explained, — 
 
 ' ' I have throughout uttered only my own sentiments, and 
 an}' fault of expression or an ill choice of words arises solely 
 from the fact that I am translating my thoughts into that 
 which is to me a foreign language. ' ' 
 
 ' ' You leave me nothing but apologies, ' ' he said with a 
 touch of sadness. 
 
 " I would prefer an explanation." There was an easy 
 return to her attitude of frigid politeness in the remark. 
 
 The American now became amused, and, had the lady but 
 known it, her case was already lost. 
 
 He looked around the room, and inquired, simply but 
 unexpectedly, — 
 
Monsieur et Mademoiselle 1 7 
 
 "May I sit down?" 
 
 The request annoyed her by its directness, but she could 
 not refuse. Motioning him to a chair, she seated herself at 
 some distance, and for the first time the Comtesse de Fon- 
 tainebleau showed that she was other than an automaton by 
 glancing covertly at Vansittart. 
 
 He found himself gazing fixedly at a finely modelled bust 
 of Louis Philippe, which occupied the centre of the mantel- 
 piece ; but, as neither of the ladies helped him by word or 
 sign, he had no option but to renew the attack. 
 
 ' ' Do you know anything of me ? " he said. 
 
 " I know that you are reputed to be the most wealthy 
 man in the world, ' ' replied Honorine. 
 
 ' ' That is my chief characteristic, I fear. ' ' 
 
 * ' I also have not failed to notice that you are very fond 
 of the opera, but I really am unable to see how your many 
 doubtless excellent qualities can afiect this interview, Mr. 
 Vansittart." 
 
 " They are most important, mademoiselle," he said 
 gravely, " as evidence of motive. I at once plead guiltj^ to 
 the charge of seeking your acquaintance. I suppose my 
 chief object in so doing was to gratify an idle curiosity. We 
 were vis-h-vis at the opera, and you were strangers to New 
 York society. At the same time, if I may say it without 
 offence, you were obviously people of consequence, and it 
 seemed odd to me that I had never met you. Personally, I 
 rather avoid than court new acquaintances ; but for some 
 indefinable reason, which I have utterly failed to analyze, I 
 w^as impelled to seek an introduction to you. When every 
 other method failed, I tried what could be done with money. 
 Being a novice in the art, I suppose I went awkwardly to 
 work, with the result that I am forced to make this uncon- 
 vincing but quite true explanation of my presence here 
 to-day." 
 
 Mademoiselle de Montpensier settled herself more com- 
 fortably in her chair before she answered, — 
 
1 8 An American Emperor 
 
 " You interest me, Mr. Vansittart." 
 
 " I am delighted to find out that you can travel so far 
 along my line of thought," was the quick reply. " Will you 
 permit me to ask my aunt, the Princess Marchesi, to call 
 upon you ? ' ' 
 
 " The Princess Marchesi ! " she cried in astonishment, 
 turning to her companion as though to seek an explanation. 
 
 " Yes," said the Comtesse, speaking for the first time, and 
 in French, " a second marriage. The lady was known as 
 ' la belle Americaine ' of the American colony in Rome." 
 
 " Oh ! I understand. I shall be most pleased to receive 
 — to be honored by the company of the Princess, ' ' she went 
 on, addressing Vansittart. " And I suppose that as you are 
 my landlord, I had better be civil to you." This with a 
 very pleasant laugh. " Will you take tea with us? Let 
 me introduce you to the Comtesse de Fontainebleau. ' ' 
 
 Vansittart was now more bewildered than ever. Nothing 
 in the manner of either lady betrayed the slightest embar- 
 rassment at the queer turn taken by events. And who was 
 the 5'ounger woman, a girl seemingly of twenty, who could 
 thus juggle with a difficult situation, and dispense so easily 
 with the convenances that necessarily govern social inter- 
 course ? 
 
 The Comtesse was evidently a grande dame, yet she 
 treated the other with marked deference, notwithstanding 
 the disparity in their ages and apparent rank. 
 
 Of one thing he w^as certain, — he was dealing with no mere 
 adventuress, who maintained an absurd masquerade to cloak 
 her designs. The affair was more mixed than ever : so he 
 ceased any attempts to unravel it, trusting to the future to 
 elucidate what was now puzzling in the extreme. 
 
 During the tea, the mere suggestion of which was an 
 innovation upon American customs, he chatted pleasantly 
 with the two ladies on commonplace topics, earning the 
 kindly regard of the Comtesse by gliding off into French as 
 fluently as though it were his mother tongue. 
 
Monsieur et Mademoiselle 19 
 
 The sound of her native language tended considerably to 
 raise the spirits of Mademoiselle de Montpensier. She was 
 naturally a volatile and lively girl, and she now astonished 
 and delighted Vansittart by her brightness and vivacity. 
 
 " Will you tell us," she said with a meaning smile, " how 
 much this cup of tea has cost you ? ' ' 
 
 "Nearly three million dollars," he repHed promptly, 
 responding to her humor, whilst he joined in the laughter 
 at the extravagant conceit. 
 
 ' ' And a lot of bad temper on my part at being kept from 
 my favorite operas," she added. 
 
 " Ah! " he said, " that cost cannot be measured in money. 
 You make me bankrupt by the mere suggestion of it." 
 
 ' ' I am pleased to note that you have acquired the French 
 language to the best advantage," she cried. " But tell me, 
 why did you not avoid all the trouble by requesting your 
 aunt, the Princess, to call upon me ? ' ' 
 
 " Because I am a mere man. In what I shall venture to 
 term aflfairs of the heart rather than the head, men never 
 take the obvious course." 
 
 Honorine was now too much amused to repel this dramatic 
 advance, but she changed the conversation. 
 
 " I am much obliged for the new suite of furniture, though 
 I suppose you will raise the rent on account of it ? Oh, 
 you need not deny. Capitalist landlords are the worst with 
 their poor tenants. But I really must have my box again." 
 
 " The theatre returns to its normal state to-night, made- 
 moiselle, so far as you are concerned, and as the opera is La 
 Traviata^ I hope you will learn to be merciful to those who 
 have erred." 
 
 Vansittart shortly afterwards took his leave, but not with-, 
 out a cordial invitation to come again. 
 
 When he had quitted the room, Honorine said, " I find 
 him droll, the American." 
 
 " And he is of good address, although so rich, made- 
 moiselle, ' ' replied the Comtesse. 
 
20 All American Emperor 
 
 " Yes," said the other thoughtfully, " his wealth is a 
 power greater than that of kings. Even I felt afraid to be 
 so severe with him." 
 
 Vansittart walked slowl}^ across the avenue to his own 
 residence, trying to piece together scattered impressions 
 from the midst of a medley of incongruities. At the door he 
 met Harland, arraj'ed in breeches and gaiters, and about to 
 try a new hack in Central Park. 
 
 " Where have j'ou been, Jerry ? " said his friend. 
 
 " I don't know. Having tea with an empress, I think." 
 
 " Hullo, a flirtation ! What has come over you, old 
 man ? This sudden love of Italian opera, joined to worship 
 of the teapot, suggests possibilities. It 's not the fat w^oman 
 who sang last night, I hope ? ' ' 
 
 " No, not the fat woman. Empresses are never fat." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE RKFUSAI. AND THE RESOI^VE 
 
 VANSITTART was not a man to do things by halves. 
 Once he had made up his mind to a course, he followed 
 it with resistless energy, and before a fortnight had passed 
 he was, in his own opinion, irretrievably committed to the 
 task of wooing and winning Mademoiselle Honorine de 
 Montpensier as his wife. 
 
 The novelty of the pursuit was in itself a recommendation 
 to his ardent temperament. He did not ask himself whether 
 or not that which men called love had come to him. 
 
 As already indicated, he was not one to whom affairs of 
 the heart were matters of every-day occurrence. Marriage, 
 of course, he had frequently contemplated as a distant possi- 
 bility, and in the main it had presented itself to him as a 
 disagreeable adjunct to his position. The fact that almost 
 any woman in the world might be considered an eligible 
 partner for this multi-millionnaire had directly contributed to 
 his general attitude upon the question. Now that he was 
 faced by an element of mystery and reserve, sympathies which 
 had long lain dormant were awakened into fresh activity. 
 
 Repeated visits to the apartments occupied by the two 
 ladies, often with his aunt the Princess Marchesi, and occa- 
 sionally alone, when he had infrequent opportunities of a 
 tetc-ct-tete with Honorine, had revealed to him more clearly 
 her many excellent qualities of head and heart. 
 
 But her history and surroundings were still impenetrably 
 veiled. 
 
 21 
 
22 An American Emperor 
 
 True, his aunt had recognized in her a descendant of one 
 of the many branches into which the Bourbon dynasty of 
 France had spHt up since its dissolution. To her knowledge, 
 the lady had no special claim to consideration in this respect ; 
 and it was, to say the least, incomprehensible to a free- 
 minded American that a really sensible woman like Made- 
 moiselle de Montpensier, and a born leader of society such 
 as the distinguished and pleasant-mannered Comtesse de 
 Fontainebleau, should lend themselves to what seemed to 
 him to be, if not trivial, at least unconvincing and inade- 
 quate devices, in the conduct of their relations to each other 
 and to the ordinary affairs of life. 
 
 Vansittart, however, believed himself to be in love. 
 
 He also cherished the delusion that when a man is in love 
 he fails to apply to his affairs the calm and equable mind 
 which he would devote to mere matters of business. 
 
 In a word, he abandoned himself unquestioningly and 
 utterly to his ideal, and definitely decided to contract an 
 alliance with the beautiful and fascinating Frenchwoman. 
 
 Knowing something of her straightforwardness in action 
 and disregard for conventionality, he determined to declare 
 his views to her without delay or circumlocution. He put 
 to her the question in so many words to be favored with a 
 private interview, and the request was granted with prompt 
 brevity. As he neared her apartments at the appointed 
 hour, he tried hard to imagine himself to be an earnest and 
 impassioned lover. 
 
 He almost found himself smiling at the nonchalance with 
 which he approached his task. But as he had already 
 crushed into nothingness so many doubtful circumstances, he 
 resolved almost fiercely not to allow any self-questioning 
 now, but to go straight through with the business on the 
 lines he had determined upon. 
 
 The two young people were by this time upon such terms 
 of frietulh' intimacy, that, under other conditions, their meet- 
 ing would have admitted of an agreeable chat on mutually 
 
The Refusal and the Resolve 23 
 
 interesting topics. The manner of this rencontre, however, 
 did not permit of ease. 
 
 Mademoiselle de Moutpensier would not have been a 
 woman had she failed to recognize that Vansittart had some 
 powerful motive in so formally demanding an interview. 
 There was therefore a silent constraint in her unaffected 
 reception of him, and both found it difficult to maintain a 
 conversation on commonplace lines. 
 
 Curiously enough, neither the man nor the woman seemed 
 to be in sympathetic mood. Both knew that there was some- 
 thing hidden between them ; and Vansittart, less tactful than 
 the beautiful Frenchwoman, soon felt the situation to be 
 intolerable. 
 
 He at once rose from the chair in which he had been 
 seated at some distance from Honorine, walked over towards 
 her, and, looking her straight in the face, said, — 
 
 " I fear. Mademoiselle, that I may shock, and perhaps 
 even pain you, by the bluntness of what I am about to say ; 
 but it is impossible for me, where you are concerned, to 
 adopt subterfuge or pretence. I feel, therefore, that the only 
 course open to me is, to put in the fewest and plainest words 
 the object of my visit here to-day. I have come to ask you 
 to be my wife. ' ' 
 
 He paused, being himself utterly unable to add a word in 
 furtherance or extenuation of his strange avowal. 
 
 He had of course, early that day, planned many speeches 
 and methods of declaring himself. They were all excellent 
 to his thinking at the time, but they had all vanished into 
 nothingness ; and at least it might be urged that the lady 
 could make no mistake as to what he meant, whilst he was 
 inwardly amazed to find that his first lucid thought after the 
 words had left his lips was that he was now irretrievably 
 committed to the supreme step of his career. 
 
 For once Mademoiselle de Montpensier was at a loss to 
 frame an adequate reply. She blushed deeply, cast down 
 her eyes, and Vansittart, in strange altruistic mood, found 
 
24 An American Emperor 
 
 himself calmly reviewing the possibilities of her decision, 
 and deciding quite judicially that the chances were appar- 
 ently in his favor. 
 
 Nothing but an every-day proverb came uppermost. ' ' The 
 woman who hesitates is lost," he thought ; and Mademoiselle 
 de Montpensier undoubtedly hesitated. 
 
 At last she sj^oke, and her words came slowly but distinctly. 
 
 " I cannot den}', Mr, Vansittart," she said, " that your 
 unlooked-for proposal is flattering to me. I will even go so 
 far as to saj'^ that under other conditions, and with perhaps 
 more mature reflection on the part of both of us, it might 
 even have been agreeable to me ; but I must tell you, with 
 the same openness and candor that 3'ou have displayed 
 towards me, that our marriage is quite impossible." 
 
 Again Vansittart experienced the almost maddening emo- 
 tion that it was his logical facultj'- rather than his heart 
 which was disturbed by her answer. 
 
 What reason could such a woman find so completely con- 
 vincing in her decision ? He was fully conscious of the fact 
 that no living man, whatever his title or position, could offer 
 a woman higher prospects than himself. 
 
 From her manner it was unreasonable to suppose that a 
 prior affection controlled her resolve. During their brief 
 acquaintance the}^ had discovered man}- mutual sympathies, 
 and, for his part, he thought he had never encountered in 
 either sex a nature so closel}- allied to his own. Yet she had 
 refused him, and he knew, without further questioning, that 
 his case was hopeless. 
 
 The situation was too dramatic for other than simplicity, 
 
 " If it is painful to you," he said, " to pursue the subject, 
 I will forthwith drop it forever, expressing the hope in the 
 same breath that m}^ momentary presumption will in no wise 
 disturb our friendly relations. But I cannot help adding 
 that I am surprised and grieved at your decision, and it will 
 perhaps tend to mitigate my sorrow if j'ou deem fit to give 
 me some brief explanation of your evidently fixed purpose." 
 
The Refusal a7id the Resolve 25 
 
 Honorine had now somewhat recovered her compo- 
 sure. She rose quite frankly, taking his hand in hers, and 
 said, — 
 
 " Even had you not asked me, I had already resolved to 
 explain fully all that I feel must now be mysterious to you. 
 And let me say, in the first instance, that I deeply regret that 
 any inadvertence on my part should have led you to believe 
 that any other outcome of the friendship between us was 
 possible or probable. I cannot marry you because my life is 
 already pledged to a pursuit which I have no option but to 
 regard as dominating every personal wish and sentiment. 
 You perhaps do not know that I am a lineal descendant of 
 two lines of the kings of France. To me alone this sad 
 heritage is committed by fate, and fate alone can govern my 
 destiny. I am a mere puppet in the hands of an all-wise 
 Providence. 
 
 ' ' By the Salic Law a woman may not ascend the throne 
 of France, but by the same law she who inherits that do- 
 main cannot marry other than its ruler. Were you the 
 Emperor of France, Mr. Vansittart, though your kingdom 
 did not extend bej^ond this door, and though you were 
 poorer than the meanest domestic of this hotel, I should be 
 compelled to become your wife, and I hope that in such a 
 consummation fate would have been kind to me. Need I 
 say more to show how impossible is our union, and at the 
 same time how grateful I am for your regard ? ' ' 
 
 She sighed deeply as she spoke, and the two stood for 
 some little while unable to find further expression for their 
 tumultuous thoughts. 
 
 Jerome regarded the beautiful creature before him with a 
 new feeling of reverential awe. His acute mind was quick 
 to grasp all the hopelessness and vastness of the task to 
 which she was pre-ordained. Had he sought through the 
 wide world for a companion suited to the boundless wealth 
 he possessed, he could have found no other woman so richly 
 endowed. 
 
26 An American Emperor 
 
 Yet his inheritance was a reality, hers but a shadow — a 
 pity, and the more pitiful because true. 
 
 In a sort of numb self-consciousness he thought that the 
 dream of his life was ended. 
 
 Yet it was at that moment only commencing, which shows 
 that men can no more interpret the apparently well-ordered 
 events of ordinary existence than the jumbled incoherence 
 of disturbed slumber. 
 
 At last Honorine again addressed him, this time with a 
 weak smile, that came through ill-repressed tears as a rain- 
 bow in a storm-swept summer sky. 
 
 " Do not think me vain or mad," she murmured. " I 
 am sadly happy in my life's work. If I said otherwise, it 
 would not be the Queen of France who spoke, but a wretched 
 actress who strove to convince herself in sublime folly. It 
 is the will of Heaven. I am the Queen, and I shall never 
 yield the throne of my fathers. ' ' 
 
 Her grasp tightened with the concluding phrase, and 
 there came into her eyes an imperious light that went to 
 Jerome's soul. 
 
 He bowed and kissed her hand in respectful homage and 
 assent. The act was graceful. It lent gravity to the first 
 words he had uttered since his avowal. 
 
 ' ' In order to win you, mademoiselle, ' ' he said, ' ' I must 
 first found the Fourth Empire of France." 
 
 It was a species of decorous joke, he thought; and Hono- 
 rine smiled in sympathy with him as she answered, — 
 
 " Yes, there is no other solution of the difficulty." 
 
 He added, " If I were the Emperor of France, you would 
 marry me ? ' ' 
 
 With even greater emphasis she replied," Yes," and this 
 time without any qualification. 
 
 Each felt that further conversation on the point was im- 
 practicable, and even painful ; so after a kindly farewell they 
 separated. 
 
 Never before had Vansittart been thwarted in any import- 
 ant design. 
 
y 'he Kefiisal and the Resolve 2 7 
 
 As lie strolled forth into the bright sunshine of a lovely 
 day in autumn, he tried to laugh at his own absurdity, and 
 planned out a snow-shoe expedition after Canadian elk, with 
 Harland as a companion, to fill in the winter months. 
 
 But the far distant wastes of pine and prairie were very 
 shadowy and indistinct, whilst there ever recurred to him 
 the vision of the chivalrous woman who preferred the airy 
 nothingness of a fantastic dream to the fair prospect of love 
 and riches that he had offered her. 
 
 Rather than seek the majestic seclusion of his home, he 
 turned off into Central Park. 
 
 His steps wandered aimlessly like his thoughts, and before 
 long he found himself gazing idly at the animals in the 
 Zoological Gardens. 
 
 ' ' Here, ' ' he said to himself, * ' the philosopher may find 
 the crude semblance of all the complex passions that shake 
 hiunan nature. One may well wonder which is the happier 
 state. How strange that there should be such development 
 merely because a tailor supplies our garments instead of 
 nature! " 
 
 He laughed unmirthfuUy at the notion, and narrowly 
 escaped being struck by a large foreign bird, fl3'ing blindly, 
 with hideous cry and clatter, from the pursuit of another of 
 its species, hot in chase with murderous intent. 
 
 The incident alarmed a herd of deer calmly browsing in 
 a neighboring enclosure. They blamed Vansittart for the 
 noise; and at once the does and hinds gathered, implicitly 
 trustful, behind the patriarch of the family, — a many-antlered 
 stag, who boldly faced the intruder, and was forthwith pre- 
 pared to offer battle should he cross the fence. 
 
 The eyes of the two met in steady challenge, but the deer 
 was the more simple-minded. He saw there was not to be 
 a struggle, and resumed his interrupted dinner. 
 
 " You are right, my fine warrior," said Vansittart aloud. 
 " It is the man's place to fight, not the woman's." 
 
 ' ' Where is the fight, stranger ? ' ' came a strong, hearty 
 voice close to him. " Because if there 's trouble. I 'm on. 
 
28 A 71 American Emperor 
 
 I live on it. I love it. I go foolin' round lookin' for it, 
 an' I find it every time." 
 
 Vansittart wheeled about suddenly, and confronted a 
 splendidly built man, taller even and more powerful than 
 himself, with a bold and handsome face, and honest blue 
 eyes, — a stalwart vagrant, whose ragged state argued that in 
 his encounters with trouble his fortunes if not his person had 
 been scarred. 
 
 The millionnaire, in his pre-occupied mood, had not heard 
 his approach ; and the two men stood silent for a moment, 
 whilst each measured the points of the other. Approval was 
 seemingly mutual. 
 
 " Do you tell me that you like a row for the mere sake of 
 it ? " said Vansittart with an amused look. 
 
 " That 's what it has come to," was the answer. " I was 
 raised among Arizona blizzards, and they 've chased me 
 right round the globe. I had a nice little ranch in Texas, 
 an* a whirlwind lifted house an' cattle into the next location. 
 I built a sawmill on the Red River, an' a cyclone not only 
 took the fixtures out by the roots, but shifted the bed of the 
 river. I struck a mine in South Africa, an' nearly got 
 hanged by the Boers after they had gobbled up the claim. 
 Since then I 've changed my occupation. I 'm now hunting 
 blizzards. ' ' 
 
 " You 're a curiosity," exclaimed Vansittart. 
 
 ** Not a bit. But I 've got my back up. I 'm naturally 
 a peaceable man, but just now I 'm agin' things generall3^" 
 
 " Indeed, I sympathize with you fully," said the mil- 
 lionnaire. 
 
 " And I 've sort of cottoned on to you, stranger," replied 
 the other. ' ' Now, who do you want licked ? You seem a 
 handy sort of fellow j'ourself, but I suppose you don't want 
 to spoil your clothes. It don't matter about mine. I 'm 
 hard up, so we '11 call it five dollars for a square lay-out." 
 
 Vansittart laughed. " I have no personal animosities," 
 he said, " but let me help you, all the same." 
 
The Refusal mid the Resolve 29 
 
 He felt for his pocket-book ; but the new-comer's face 
 flushed deeply, and an angry gleam came into his eyes. ' ' I 
 did n't figure to have trouble with you," he growled, " but 
 I 'm not aware that I begged from you." 
 
 " Nor am I aware that to offer help is to give offence," 
 said Vansittart hotly. ' ' However, you can take your change 
 either in dollars or blows. I can hand on either with ease." 
 He was clearly in no humor to be misunderstood. 
 
 " Draw poker ! " shouted the other with delight, as he 
 jammed his hat down upon his head as a preliminar3\ 
 " But I like you, allee same. Tell me who you are while 
 you can speak. ' ' 
 
 Jerome quietly approached him, saying : ' ' While you can 
 listen, I will tell you. My name is Vansittart ; and when you 
 are presentable again, you can come and see me at my house 
 there. I will then try and give you a fresh start. Mean- 
 while you had better get your hands up, as I am going to 
 knock you down. ' ' 
 
 But the stranger backed away from him, not cowed, but 
 amazed. 
 
 ' ' Say, ' ' he gasped, ' * air you Vansittart the millionnaire ? ' ' 
 
 " Yes. What of that ? I can nevertheless use my fists." 
 
 " So you kin, but not on me, ^you please. I can't knock 
 up agin' so much bullion. It 's a million to a haj-seed, and 
 I 'm the seed. No, sir. Let me quit and ruminate on the 
 queer side of things." 
 
 " Come," said Jerome, whose variable mood was now 
 attracted by the man's oddit3^ " Take something as a loan. 
 Fix yourself up a bit, and call upon me to-morrow at three 
 o'clock. I am sure you will be able to repay me. No, I 
 will not be refused. Give me your name, so that my servants 
 may readily admit you. ' ' 
 
 "Jim Bates — ' A-ri-zo-na Jim' they generally call me," 
 was the other's slow response, whilst he hesitatingly took 
 the ' ' wad ' ' of notes which Vansittart thrust into his hands. 
 
 The gentleman from Arizona watched Jerome's retreating 
 
30 Ail Arnericaii Emperor 
 
 figure until it was lost among the trees. He then, with 
 characteristic caution, counted the money. " Ninety dol- 
 lars," he said at last. " Ninety gol-fired dollars. Three 
 months' solid keep from a man I 'd just offered to lick. 
 All right, Mr. Vansittart, sir. You will get 'em back if 
 each dollar draws blood ! ' ' 
 
 When Jerome reached his home it was time to dress for 
 dinner ; but he strode rapidly to Harland's room, and sug- 
 gested that a simple meal and a bottle of wine might meet 
 their necessities, as he was anxious for a long and undis- 
 turbed talk afterwards, 
 
 ' ' That will suit me down to the ground, old fellow, ' ' said 
 Dick, ' ' particularly as you seem to have something on your 
 chest. I am cuter than you think, and I don't like to see 
 you moping after some ballet-dancer at the opera." 
 
 Vansittart laughed at Dick's penetration, and the latter 
 knew the cause of his mirth when he heard Jerome's story 
 later. 
 
 The American told his friend the whole of the circum- 
 stances, and Dick's eyes became saucer- like in their wideness 
 at the dSnouemerit of that afternoon. 
 
 ' ' I always said she was a stunner, but I never thought 
 she was an empress, ' ' he said reflectively at the close of the 
 recital. 
 
 " And yet she is a true woman," mused Vansittart, 
 " tender-hearted and kindly, — one who would cling to the 
 man she loved, whether he was prince or peasant, had it not 
 been for some dying injunction from a crack-brained father, 
 I suppose." 
 
 " Yes," said Dick, " that 's it. And it 's not fair. It 
 is n't a woman's game to fight for an empire." 
 
 Jerome started from his chair, and paced the room with 
 hasty strides. 
 
 The curious manner in which Harland had echoed his own 
 reflections in the Park had set a mad notion jostling with 
 every reasoning faculty he possessed. For a while his brain 
 
The Refusal and the Resolve 3 1 
 
 was on fire ; and when he had calmed down somewhat, his 
 face was pale, and set in firm resolve. 
 
 Stopping in front of Harland, he said quietly as he lit a 
 cigar,— 
 
 "I '11 do it !" 
 
 "Do what?" 
 
 * ' Conquer France ! ' ' 
 
 ' ' Conquer fiddlesticks ! ' ' cried the other. ' ' You must be 
 going cracked. Rich as you are, you can't buy an army 
 and a fleet big enough for the job." 
 
 The millionnaire smiled. " I don't want either — yet," he 
 said. ' ' The day has gone by since men were able to carve 
 out kingdoms by those means. ' ' 
 
 " Then what will you do ? " 
 
 " I will form a company which will be called ' France, 
 Limited, ' and I will hold the founders' shares myself ! ' ' 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 MUNITIONS OF WAR 
 
 WHEN Vausittart expressed his intention to turn 
 France into a limited liabilitj' company, he was 
 of course speaking figuratively. 
 
 In plain language, he had resolved to pit his brains and 
 his money against a prospective French monarch}' ; and his 
 sudden declaration to Harland only meant that he had dis- 
 covered the means rather than the idea, for this had been 
 slowly evolving itself for some hours. 
 
 Late into the night they talked. Although the English- 
 man thought it was his duty to try and dissuade his friend 
 from a quixotic enterprise, he soon abandoned the attempt, 
 and threw himself heart and soul into the undertaking. 
 
 Jerome had the rare faculty of sleeping soundly, no matter 
 how exciting the events of the day might be, so he awoke 
 next morning refreshed and unagitated. 
 
 His project was now stronger and clearer in his mind, and 
 he lost no time in taking the first steps towards realizing it. 
 
 He could not start operations without the sinews of war, 
 so after breakfast he drove to his central estate ofiice to con- 
 sult with his chief financial agent, Mr. Peter Studevant. 
 
 As a rule this old and trusted servant of the family inclined 
 towards conservatism, and some of the operations entered 
 into by his 3'oung master had made him gasp by their 
 Napoleonic boldness, but he had long since ceased to advise 
 him on such points. 
 
 Kvery speculation which Vausittart had entered into on a 
 
 32 
 
Mtmitions of War 33 
 
 tremendous scale had yielded equally extravagant profits, 
 and the old gentleman felt that Jerome's grasp of principle 
 was vastly more important and potential than the Studevant 
 knowledge of detail. 
 
 Still, had the white-haired General Manager of the Van- 
 sittart Estate known the nature of the scheme to which 
 Jerome was now committed, he would not have breakfasted 
 so peacefully, nor read the Wall Street records so calmly, as 
 he approached his ofiice by the Elevated Railroad. 
 
 "When the millionnaire entered Mr. Studevant' s room, he 
 closed the door and bolted it, to avoid interruption. 
 
 " Surely not the Grand Trunk again, Mr. Jerome! " cried 
 the old gentleman. " You can see further into things than 
 I can, but there surely is no monej^ in that ? " 
 
 "No," said Vansittart, " not the Grand Trunk. But I 
 want a lot of money, all the same. Now, Mr. Studevant, I 
 want 5'ou to give me as careful an approximate estimate as is 
 possible. By using every possible source, and without dis- 
 turbing the markets too greatly, how much money can I 
 have at immediate call within three weeks ? " 
 
 Mr. Studevant wrinkled his brows, and made some calcu- 
 lations on a blotting-pad. " One hundred and twenty-five 
 millions," he answered. 
 
 " From 5-our repl}', I take it that the money would be 
 lodged mostly in the Banks of England and France ? ' ' said 
 Jerome. 
 
 ' ' Yes. Any such movement in dollars would depreciate 
 silver. ' ' 
 
 " And in six months how much ? " 
 
 More and longer calculation, some thought, and there 
 came the words, " About five hundred millions, with care- 
 ful realizations." 
 
 * ' Twelve months later how much ? ' ' 
 
 " If plans were laid now with anj- such gigantic object in 
 view, perhaps another five hundred millions. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Eleven hundred and twenty-five millions, ' ' mused Van- 
 3 
 
34 ^^^ American Emperor 
 
 sittart. " It staggered France before, but I question if it is 
 enough. Is that all I am worth, Mr. Studevant ? " 
 
 The older man began to perspire. Some new and terrible 
 scheme had fascinated his master. This time he was surely- 
 mad. " By selling j'our New York and Chicago estates and 
 mortgaging your property in London, ' ' he stammered feebly, 
 " no doubt a further vast sum could be raised ; but surely, 
 sir, you are amusing yourself at my expense ? " 
 
 " No, indeed! " laughed the other: " the joke will cost me 
 a bit perhaps, but I am quite serious with j'ou." 
 
 " May I ask, sir," said the General Manager, with a great 
 effort at regaining his wonted air of dignified composure, 
 " if you really have some definite idea of committing your- 
 self and your splendid fortune to some tremendous operation 
 which requires all this monej' ? ' ' 
 
 * * Yes, ' ' replied Jerome shortly, too occupied with his own 
 all-absorbing thoughts to notice the saddened emphasis of 
 the question. 
 
 " Then, sir," said Mr. Studevant, rising from his chair, 
 and speaking with difficulty, for his voice trembled with 
 emotion, " I will be party to no such lunacy. I have served 
 your grandfather, yo\xx father, and 3'ourself for fifty long 
 years, but you must seek some other agent for j^our great in- 
 terests. I resign forthwith." 
 
 Vansittart now perceived that his faithful adherent was 
 much perturbed. He approached Mr. Studevant, laid his 
 hand upon his shoulder, and said, — 
 
 " What, old Peter, as I used to call you when I was a 
 little chap, are 3'ou the first to desert the ship when she 
 plunges into a gale ? ' ' 
 
 " But there is no gale, Jerry," whimpered the old gentle- 
 man. ' ' Things were never better. It is onlj^ the captain 
 who is becoming crazy. Why, ever>'thing is going wonder- 
 fully well. There is a clear gain of one hundred and fifty- 
 millions in that last amalgamation with the Baltimore and 
 Ohio. And your Telegraph Consolidation Scheme brought 
 
Munitions of War 35 
 
 in seventy millions. You could set back lyondon, Paris, 
 and Berlin, if you chose." 
 
 Mr. Studevant paused for want of breath, and a smile on 
 Jerome's face warned him that he was hardly using the best 
 line of argument. 
 
 ' ' Come, come, Peter ! ' ' cried the millionnaire. ' ' You shall 
 not condemn me unheard. Sit down. I,et us get in some 
 whiskey and soda and cigars, and fairly talk the matter out. ' ' 
 
 Mr. Studevant afterwards said that it was the spirits, but 
 Jerome held that it was his warm old heart, that grew en- 
 thusiastic. Anyhow, before an hour had passed, he was 
 plunged into Vansittart's campaign up to the neck. 
 
 He could do no more business that day. 
 
 He hurried off to his house, and alarmed his daughter, 
 when she told him that dinner would be served in ten min- 
 utes, by saying cheerfully, ' ' Ten minutes ! One hundred 
 and twenty-five millions in ten minutes ! It absolutely can- 
 not be done in a second less than ten clear days, and Sun- 
 day is a dies no?i ! ' ' 
 
 At last he woke up to actualities, and hastened away to 
 dress, murmuring as he went, " One thing I can do, I can 
 save five or ten out of the wreck for him, and he will never 
 know ! " 
 
 That afternoon, as Vansittart was passing from the dining- 
 room to the library in his house, he heard a fierce alterca- 
 tion in the hall between the footman at the door and some 
 person who appeared to be forcibly demanding admission. 
 
 He instantly recognized the voice of his friend from Cen- 
 tral Park, Arizona Jim ; but he was too late in hurrying to 
 the rescue to prevent the latter from holding up the terrified 
 servant in the most approved Western manner. 
 
 The footman was backing across the hall and up the 
 stairs, with his hands held high above his head, and the cold 
 muzzle of a six-shooter pressed against his forehead, whUst 
 Mr. James Bates was apostrophizing him as follows : — 
 
 * ' You call me a tramp, you white-headed idiot ! You tell 
 
36 An American Emperor 
 
 me to get out, when your boss asks me to come and see him ! 
 If it was n't that I 'm afraid to si)oil those rich duds of yours 
 that your boss paid for, I would n't trouble to rush you with 
 a good honest gun, but I 'd simply plug you until you were 
 sick. You just skip up them stairs and tell him I 'm here, 
 or I '11 make you strip first, and whip you afterwards ! " 
 
 Vausittart speedily rescued the aiuazed footman, and puz- 
 zled the poor man still more by telling him sharply that he 
 ought to have brought in Mr. Bates's message, without ven- 
 turing to decide for himself whether or not he should be 
 admitted. 
 
 Arizona Jim soon calmed down in the presence of the 
 millionnaire. 
 
 He had, it is true, effectively changed for the better in his 
 costume, but he still smacked far too much of the prairies for 
 the quiet respectability of Fifth Avenue. 
 
 "I told you yesterday," said Vansittart, "that I might 
 be able to do something for you, and, since we met, an open- 
 ing for your services has presented itself to my mind. Have 
 you any family ties or other distractions that prevent you 
 from devoting yourself absolutely to my orders ? ' ' 
 
 " Not one, boss," was the reply. " Until you gave me 
 that wad yesterdaj', it did n't seem as though there was 
 a darned soul in creation that cared whether I was alive or 
 dead." 
 
 "Then," said Vansittart, "are you prepared to accom- 
 pany me anywhere, to do anything in an honorable sense 
 that I may ask you, and to risk your life, if necessary, in 
 any undertaking in which I risk my own ? " 
 
 " Governor," said Arizona Jim heartily, " I 'm on. What 
 you sez, goes. But," he added deprecatingly, " I ain't 
 much of a valet, Jf that 's what you mean." 
 
 " Thank you," said Vansittart with a laugh, " I don't 
 expect services of that sort. Strict obedience to orders, and 
 a straight punch with the right, will be your chief quali- 
 fications. ' ' 
 
Munitions of War 37 
 
 " Bully for me ! " roared Mr. Bates with an air of vast 
 relief. "There ain't a man in New York better qualified 
 for the job than myself. ' ' 
 
 ' ' I think, ' ' said Vansittart, entering into his humor, ' ' I 
 shall call you ' The Captain of the Guard.' " 
 
 ' ' Holy poker ! ' ' shouted Arizona Jim, slapping his thigh 
 with increased animation. " That 's my hand to a spot." 
 
 In his first conversation with Mr. Studevant, Jerome had 
 barely outlined the magnificent scheme to which he had 
 intended to devote the whole of his resources, and, if neces- 
 sary, his life. Many an hour of long and anxious consulta- 
 tion was needed before the financial situation alone became 
 sufficiently clear to permit of other aspects of the project 
 being attended to. 
 
 At last it was definitely settled that if no European war or 
 severe financial crisis paralyzed the money-markets of the 
 world during the next eighteen months, there could not be 
 the slightest doubt that Mr. Vansittart was in possession of 
 liquid assets worth at least twelve hundred and fifty millions. 
 
 When the long and tedious calculations necessary to 
 achieve this purpose were ended, Jerome turned himself 
 with renewed ardor to the more exacting actualities of his 
 campaign. 
 
 The leading firm of lithographers in New York executed 
 for him a huge chart of northern Africa, which bore upon 
 its surface not only the latest approved records from Euro- 
 pean and American geographical institutions, but also col- 
 lated the information given by all recent travellers through 
 the arid wastes that are traversed alone by the great caravan 
 routes running from Algiers and Morocco to the centre of 
 the Dark Continent. 
 
 Armed with this portentous document, the millionnaire 
 sought the assistance and advice of his own engineers, who 
 deputed the junior member of their firm, Mr. Walter C. 
 
38 An Anurica7i Emperor 
 
 Maclaren, to devote himself wholly to the researches required 
 to be made by Vansittart. 
 
 Mr. Maclaren was also commissioned to associate with 
 himself, in the enterprise committed to his charge, two of the 
 best-known younger members of the engineering profession 
 in London and Paris ; and the trio, with several competent 
 assistants and an ample supply of scientific instruments, 
 were to proceed with the utmost possible despatch to the 
 French colony on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. 
 
 What they did there during the winter and early spring 
 months of the following year will be shown in due course. 
 
 Another curious preparation made by Vansittart was to 
 give instructions in New York, a city renowned for the 
 excellence of its woodwork, for the practical construction of 
 a huge palace in iron, wood, glass, and papier mache, made 
 in sections which would render it easy of shipment, and j-et 
 so designed as to bear, when put together, a semblance of 
 great strength, durability, and beauty. 
 
 Special pains were taken that this structure should be 
 completed rapidly. The business house intrusted with its 
 ultimate construction was enjoined to give out the work in 
 many sections to different contractors. 
 
 There was no limit of money or expense — only of time ; 
 and it was a condition precedent to the final signing of the 
 specifications, that the entire building should be ready to be 
 loaded on shipboard, for transport to and immediate erection 
 in any part of the world, by the following May. 
 
 Weeks and even months elapsed whilst Vansittart was 
 planning and perfecting the preliminaries of his gigantic 
 scheme. Not only did he devote attention to what might 
 be termed the purely mechanical side of his venture, but he 
 gave many hours of careful thought to the principles which 
 should regulate his own conduct. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that for this inquiry he was 
 already well equipped by reading and reflection. He sub- 
 jected every phase of the undertaking that presented itself 
 
Munitions of War 39 
 
 to him to searching and merciless scrutiny by the philo- 
 sophical light of his earlier studies. 
 
 Thus it was that in the exact mapping-out of his future 
 actions he accepted propositions which were apparently 
 wildly impracticable, whilst he rejected others which had 
 fair seeming at first glance, but which in their ultimate out- 
 come threatened to depart from the rigid principles he had 
 laid down for his own guidance. 
 
 Told in a sentence, he depended upon the sympathies of 
 what may be termed the genuine artisan class, controlled 
 and directed by means of his vast wealth, to achieve the 
 purpose to which he was devoted. 
 
 He knew that a power even greater than that of money 
 was the people's will, and he also knew that no man could 
 hope to lead any popular movement unless he succeeded in 
 causing the multitude to believe that his scheme was theirs, 
 and that they governed rather than were subject to the 
 course of events. This, briefly put, was his philosophy : its 
 application in detail will be made manifest hereafter. 
 
 During these busy days he did not often see Mademoiselle 
 Honorine de Montpensier. 
 
 When they met, it was rather with the courtesy of a prince 
 and princess in treaty diplomatically for an alliance, than 
 with the unrestrained freedom of young people who thought 
 themselves to be in love with each other. 
 
 Of course, before he had taken any definite steps towards 
 the realization of his project, Vansittart had confided it in 
 general terms to the lady in whose monarchical pretensions 
 it had found its birth. She was at first astounded, then 
 alarmed, and finally convinced. 
 
 " You are already a king, Mr. Vansittart," she said, " for 
 a crown alone does not make a man worthy to rule. The 
 boldness of your imagination is so closely allied with atten- 
 tion to practical details, that you remind me of no one in 
 history more than Napoleon the Great." 
 
 " It is flattering," he said with a smile, " to have you say 
 
40 A 71 American Emperor 
 
 so, particularly as there may be some little foundation in 
 fact for the hereditary instincts you claim to have discovered 
 in me." 
 
 " What! " cried Honoriue, " have I during all this time 
 been harboring a rival pretender ? ' ' 
 
 " Hardly that," he said, " for I fear that my claims would 
 not stand the scrutiny of the Almanack de Gotha. But as a 
 matter of fact there can be no doubt that among my ances- 
 tors was Prince Jerome Bonaparte, a cousin of the Emper- 
 or, who emigrated to the United States when the Napoleonic 
 dynasty crumbled into ruins after Waterloo. It is surely by 
 some lingering trait of heredity that a free-born American 
 like mj^self can devote himself so thoroughly to the fortunes 
 of even so fascinating a queen." 
 
 Honorine looked at him for a moment in deep thought, 
 and then blushed someW'hat as she said, " I hoped there 
 was a cause more recent and more tangible for your devo- 
 tion, as you term it, than such a far-fetched one as that." 
 
 Vansittart started a little at the words. Had he, then, 
 become so merged in the struggle for empire, that love was 
 wholly out of court ? But he was not at a loss for an answer. 
 
 " You forget," he said, " that you 3'our.self have placed 
 a limit on my words in other directions. ' ' 
 
 It w^as now Honorine 's turn to be confused. She had un- 
 wittingly opened the door for a flirtation, and it was not yet 
 time for tender passages between them. 
 
 " I can only say," she replied, " that I commit myself 
 implicitly to your care. I will do what you ask me without 
 question or comment, for I feel deep down in my heart a 
 conviction that 3'ou will succeed ; and it is not for a weak 
 woman to imagine that she can control or direct a brain like 
 yours." 
 
 This gave Vansittart an opportunity to prefer a request he 
 had long contemplated. It was necessary for the develop- 
 ment of his undertaking that Mademoiselle Honorine de 
 Montpensier should accompany him to France ; and he now 
 
Alunitions of War 41 
 
 explained his desire to her in a few direct words, without the 
 slightest attempt to hint at possible developments in case 
 his plan succeeded, for it was tacitly admitted between 
 them that if Vansittart's mad project were successful, and 
 he really could seize the throne of France, their marriage 
 was a foregone conclusion. 
 
 The lady raised no scruples about yielding to his wishes. 
 
 ' ' We shall be ready to accompany you, ' ' she said, ' ' when- 
 ever 3'ou are prepared, but I hope you have not forgotten 
 that my presence in Paris might be a serious hindrance to 
 3'our designs. I am known to the authorities, and would 
 certainly be regarded as a dangerous personage in the ro5'al- 
 ist interest. Any member of the Government might recog- 
 nize me imniediatel}^ and order my prompt expulsion from 
 France. Have 3'ou considered these features of the case ? ' ' 
 
 " Fully," replied Vausittart, " and in my judgment they 
 constitute a most favorable condition." 
 
 "In that case," jshe said, "my consent is unqualified, 
 only please give me a few hours to pack. ' ' 
 
 These words were uttered with a pleasant smile ; for she 
 already had some experience of Vansittart's methods, and 
 would not have been surprised if he had proposed to hurry 
 her off without her hat. 
 
 At last he decided to cross the Atlantic quietly in his own 
 magnificent 3^acht, the Seafarer. His arrangements w'ere 
 made ostensibly for an extended tour in Europe, and no one 
 outside the chief personages already known to the reader was 
 acquainted in the slightest degree with the fantastic project 
 to which the Seafarer was about to bear her owner and his 
 companions. 
 
 On the evening before the date of their departure — which 
 took place, by the waj-, early in March — Vansittart found 
 Harland awaiting him in their common sanctum, and appar- 
 ently- immersed in a brown-stud}'. 
 
 ' ' What is the matter, Dick ? ' ' said the millionnaire 
 cheerily. 
 
42 An American Emperor 
 
 " Well, I have been thinking," said Harland. 
 
 " The unusual operation seems to have distressed you." 
 
 " Don't laugh at me, old chap. Don't you see, to-morrow 
 you will be almost irrevocably committed to this business, 
 and it is such a terrible affair that I cannot help asking 
 myself what is to be the outcome of it all ? " 
 
 " To my thinking, it will result in my becoming an em- 
 peror, and you a duke of some place or another. * ' 
 
 "That is all very well," said Dick. " I care as little 
 about being a duke as you do about the other thing. But 
 suppose it all goes wrong, and you lose your life, or get into 
 jail, or some such miserable business as that ? Have you 
 really allowed for such a possibility ? ' ' 
 
 " No," replied Vansittart with a laugh. " I may lose my 
 life. That eventuality is always with a man ; but I shall 
 not get into jail, and I shall not be disgraced." 
 
 ' ' Then, ' ' said Harland, springing to his feet, ' ' I am with 
 you in the deal right through. There is only one thing 
 more, old fellow. During this empire business, am I to call 
 you ' Jerry ' or ' your Majesty ' ? " 
 
 " ' Jerry ' always," said Vansittart, " and ' your Majesty ' 
 when I am crowned and there are other people about." 
 
 ' ' I think I understand, ' ' said Harland. ' ' By the way, is 
 it at all a part of the scheme that I should flirt with the 
 Comtesse de Fontainebleau ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' No, ' ' laughed Vansittart, ' ' I would not test even your 
 constancy so far." 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 AN INVASION OF PARIS 
 
 PARIS was in a turmoil. 
 Rumors tiad reached her amiable citizens of an 
 American visitor whose wealth exceeded that of Solomon, 
 and whose generosity was at once magnificent and indis- 
 criminate. A correspondent of the Figaro had announced 
 that the new-comer, in addition to the enormous current 
 account he had opened at the Credit Lyonnais, had brought 
 with him, secured in several stout Gladstone bags, the sum 
 of $2,500,000. 
 
 ' ' When asked what his purpose was with so big a sum, ' ' 
 went on the vivacious scribe, ' ' he replied that he knew it 
 was the habit to tip waiters in Europe ! ' ' 
 
 That he not only understood the art of tipping, but had 
 also carried it to a supreme point of excellence, soon became 
 clear. Jerome Vansittart did not display indecent speed on 
 his journey to the French capital. For two days he rested 
 at Havre, whence came the most extraordinary stories of 
 his munificence. His route through Normandy was marked 
 by a golden stream which vied in brilliance with its silver 
 rival the Seine, along whose banks the leisurely express of 
 the Chemin de Fer de 1' Quest carried him. 
 
 At Rouen he was awaited by a crowd of curious spectators, 
 who cheered him as he stepped upon the platform to take 
 the five-minutes' stroll which fortunately varies the journey. 
 The American smiled and took off his hat ; then (so ran the 
 report which paralyzed Paris) he mounted upon a chair in 
 
44 -^^^ A'merican Ejnperor 
 
 the refreshment buffet, which offers its diminutive grapes 
 and stale rolls to famished travellers, and in a tone of voice 
 whose ironj' onlj'^ his companions recognized, exclaimed in 
 excellent French, — 
 
 " Gentlemen, I regard this kind welcome as a greeting 
 between two nations. We each offer of our best and dear- 
 est. France gives to me her noble enthusiasm, America 
 gives to you — a more vulgar, but alas ! her only valuable 
 offering — her wealth. I have observed the spire of your 
 superb cathedral. It is not well that so noble an inspiration 
 of art should exhaust itself, as if by inanition, in a pinnacle 
 of wood. Gentlemen, if your excellent municipal authority 
 should grant me the permission, I will build for your cathe- 
 dral the finest spire of stone in Europe." 
 
 Curiosity gave way to excitement, and excitement to an 
 outburst of acclamation. So carried away was the meagre 
 porter who helped the American down from his perch, that 
 he scarcely noticed the hundred-franc note that the million- 
 uaire pressed into his hand in return for his service. And 
 thus, through dense volumes of smoke and cheering (for 
 Rouen station is prettily situated between two noisome tun- 
 nels), the train rolled off on its thoughtful passage to 
 Paris. 
 
 In the capital nothing had occurred for some time, and 
 therein Vansittart was fortunate. The report that the Brit- 
 ish Ambassador had tried to poison the President was quite 
 a month old, and, besides, had been fully proved to be a 
 canard ; and the second visit of the Czar was already a thing 
 of the past. Paris was hungry for excitement ; and when 
 Paris is really hungry, it is amazing what excellent fare she 
 can make out of the most meagre materials. The visit of 
 the American came just in time, and everj^-one was awaiting 
 his arrival with impatience. 
 
 One man alone, M. Loubet, the manager of the Grand 
 Hotel, was suffering agonies of apprehension. All the 
 morning he had paced the entresol with restless footsteps, 
 
An htvasion of Paris 45 
 
 now pausing to send wild and contradictory messages to his 
 chef, now despatching waiters to the floor above with des- 
 perate instructions to the corps of servants who had been 
 placed there at an absurdly early hour with strict injunctions 
 not to budge. 
 
 " Mon Dieu ! " exclaimed the poor man to his assistant. 
 ' * What am I to make of this madman ? I tremble for my 
 life. To talk to him — dest impossible ! He has ordered the 
 whole first floor. The whole first floor, mark you ! " 
 
 ' ' But why does he take the whole floor ? ' ' asked the 
 under manager. " Parbleu ! Does he, then, sleep in forty 
 beds ? Does he recline himself in thirty sitting-rooms ? " 
 
 " That is not all," continued the perplexed M. Loubet. 
 " He has demanded everything perfect, and yet how am I 
 to satisfy his extraordinary taste ? American millionnaire ! 
 What to give him ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes ! " murmured the other sympathetically. 
 
 " But I was not to be beaten. I ! But no, certainly not. 
 I studied our great writers. They have travelled in Amer- 
 ica. They are great observers. There is the excellent Paul 
 Bourget, for instance ; and M. Blouet, he named Max 
 O'Rell. I bought their works and read them through. And 
 I had arranged a menu for our guest which would have 
 astounded him." 
 
 ' ' You had arranged it ? " questioned his assistant. 
 
 " Yes, that is where I am unlucky. I discovered from 
 those admirable authors that American princes eat molasses, 
 clam chowder, cream soda, and many vicious things. Ah, 
 the infinite labor of getting these remarkable dishes ! I had 
 drawn up a menu which would have brought tears into the 
 eyes of the wanderer. And will you believe ! My chef 
 sends up a point-blank refusal to cook it ! And this terrible 
 guest, who threatens to buy up the hotel and turn me out if 
 I do not manage things well, will find no clam chow^der and 
 not a single molass ! It is terrible ! Yet what am I to do ? 
 I have to obey my cook, and there is only the diner h la 
 
4-6 An American Emperor 
 
 Parisieii, so pleasing to us, so trivial to the strong, ferocious 
 taste of the American." 
 
 How much longer the aflBicted manager would have con- 
 tinued his lamentations it is impossible to say ; but at that 
 moment there was a noise in the Boulevard des Capucines as 
 of shouting, and both men started to their feet, realizing 
 that at last the dreaded visitor had arrived, and that their 
 period of purgatory had commenced. 
 
 An extraordinary cavalcade was making its way at a fast 
 gallop through the Place de 1' Opera. At the Gare St. 
 Lazare, Jerome K. Vansittart had found waiting for him the 
 exquisite open carriage and the four beautiful bays that he 
 had especially ordered from London ; and in attendance two 
 broughams, each with a pair of jet-black horses, in which 
 his secretary and his personal attendant were to follow him. 
 
 As he handed Mile, de Montpensier into the landau, one 
 of the crowd sagely observed, — 
 
 ' ' That is not a private citizen arriving from Havre. It is 
 more like an emperor with his suite ! ' ' 
 
 Vansittart overheard the remark and smiled, then, turn- 
 ing round to the man, remarked, — 
 
 " If I look like an emperor, let me have the satisfaction 
 also of acting like one." 
 
 And with this he pushed into his hand a brilliant diamond 
 ring. 
 
 The astonished Frenchman fell back for a moment, then, 
 as if struck by a swift, apprehensive thought, darted forward 
 to the carriage. 
 
 "If you should want me, monsieur" — and he paused; 
 but his look was singularly significant. 
 
 The American gazed hard into the man's eyes. Then 
 slowly he said, — 
 
 " To-morrow at twelve." 
 
 The horses were whipped up, and with a fine dash the 
 cavalcade swept down the Rue du Havre and along the Rue 
 Auber, till the noble Place de 1' Opera and the Grand Hotel 
 were reached. 
 
An Invasion of Paris 47 
 
 At the entrance a vast crowd had assembled, and porters 
 and poHcemen ahke were powerless to keep a free passage. 
 The mob struggled into the courtyard, surrounded the car- 
 riage, occupied every square inch of space, and to the 
 troubled manager it looked as if the Parisians themselves 
 had come to his rescue, and had decided for him the vexed 
 questions of cook and clam chowder alike. 
 
 Vansittart was not in the lea.st perturbed. A close ob- 
 server might have noticed that there was a faint smile of 
 gratification upon his face ; and when he turned to his com- 
 panion, she looked upon him with a troubled expression, 
 which seemed to combine fear and wonder. 
 
 Bending low, he whispered in her ear, — 
 
 * ' Behold the beginning of an empire ! ' ' 
 
 A faint smile brightened her face. But to her this abject 
 flattery of the Paris crowd, such as w^ould become a king, 
 paid to an alien who brought unbounded wealth, was a 
 strange, almost terrible thing. This man ! what enormous 
 power was his that brought whole peoples to his feet ! Loy- 
 alty, the slow growth of years ; self-interest, that sprang with 
 difficulty from social necessity, — these could doubtless invest 
 with power and dignit}^ a chosen prince ; but what was this 
 new and cunning witchcraft that could in a moment, like a 
 miracle, stupefy the brains of men, and exalt the indi\'idual 
 in the twinkling of an ej^e ? 
 
 She had never clearly grasped Jerome's quixotic scheme, 
 could scarcely believe in it, or understand by what method 
 it was to succeed. It was now onh- that she began to com- 
 prehend, and she shuddered as she did so. 
 
 Meanwhile Jerome had stepped from the carriage. He 
 saw beyond the excited throng the form of the landlord, 
 waving his hands with despair, as he stood in the covered 
 courtyard. He noticed, too, that a gendarme near him had 
 cuffed an over-zealous enthusiast on the ear, and was strug- 
 gling hopelessly to beat back the crowd. 
 
 " Stay, my friend ! " he called to the officer. " There are 
 only two forces that can disband a mob quickl}- and quietly. 
 
48 A 71 American Emperor * 
 
 One is to ask them for money, the other is to give it to 
 them." 
 
 As he spoke, he opened a large wallet that he carried 
 with him, and, taking out handful after handful of gold, he 
 flung it to the right and left with a pleasant invitation to 
 his admirers to partake of his largesse. 
 
 In a moment the crowd had parted, and was swaying and 
 surging over the spots where the bright Napoleons lay. 
 Between, in the fallow and barren ground that bore no 
 treasure, lay a broad avenue, along which the American and 
 Mademoiselle de Moutpensier quickly passed. They were 
 greeted with demonstrations of delight by M. Loubet. 
 
 " Welcome, monsieur ! " he cried. " You have managed 
 well ; but there are few men who could have afforded so 
 costly a passage." 
 
 " M. Loubet," returned Jerome gravely, "it has cost 
 me 5000 francs to cross yowx courtyard. I hope that we 
 may now mount to our apartments free of charge. ' ' 
 
 M. Loubet bowed, perplexed. Without more ado, how- 
 ever, he ushered his visitors to the first floor. 
 
 " Mademoiselle's suite, mciisieur, is to the left, as you 
 directed. It is entirely re-furnished and re-decorated. I 
 was also fortunate enough to secure the recently discovered 
 paintings of Jean Francois Millet for her boudoir. It was a 
 matter of a little difficulty. Would you believe it, I had to 
 bid against the Government of France ! — I, the manager 
 of the Grand Hotel, and an honest patriot ! Still the Gov- 
 ernment is not rich, like 3'ou, monsieur ; and I secured the 
 six at a cost of 200,000 francs apiece. They are very beau- 
 tiful, and the Minister of Fine Art had already prepared a 
 place for them in the lyouvre." 
 
 " You have done well, M. Loubet, " was Vansittart's 
 response. " You will see that mademoiselle's maids are 
 properly housed. The French attendants I ordered for her 
 are here ? ' ' 
 
 * • Yes, monsieur. ' ' 
 
An Invasion of Paris 49 
 
 ' ' Then you can go, sir ; and when dinner is ready, you 
 will be good enough to ask mademoiselle whether she will 
 do me the honor of joining me. Ah ! and, by the way, the 
 wines, — you have them, of course ? I will examine them 
 myself, — the 1834 port, the 1880 Cliquot, and, above all, the 
 1862 Chateau Lafitte." 
 
 M. lyoubet trembled slightly, and a perspiration broke out 
 upon his brow. 
 
 ' ' There are the twenty dozen of the port, monsieur, ' ' he 
 stammered, " and the two hundred dozen of the Veuve 
 Cliquot, just as you ordered." 
 
 Vansittart's brow gathered. 
 
 " Go on, sir. What of the claret ? " 
 
 ' ' It was a miracle that we got it, monsieur, ' ' replied Lou- 
 bet, his pallor increasing. " There were only forty dozen 
 bottles in Europe, and they were distributed in the most 
 perplexing way. I sent out my agents. They bribed and 
 cajoled — yes, monsieur, and, I regret to sa}-, lied also. In 
 the end they obtained thirty-eight dozen at an enormous 
 cost. I have spent twelve thousand francs. But monsieur 
 knows that to bribe the butlers of our chief clubs, and to 
 ransack the cellars of princes — it is a terrible task." 
 
 " Well, well ! " interrupted Jerome angrily. " That mat- 
 ters not. You have thirt3^-eight dozen ?" 
 
 M. Loubet wiped his brow. 
 
 ' ' To tell 3'ou the truth, monsieur, the number is short by 
 a half a dozen." 
 
 "How?" exclaimed the American sternly. "Yon 
 scoundrel, what have 3-ou been doing ? " 
 
 ' ' I owe you a million apologies, monsieur, ' ' returned the 
 unhappy Loubet. " But what could I do ? You know that 
 the Czar of Russia visited Paris last week. Ever3'thing was 
 well prepared, — crowds, decorations, banquets, receptions, — 
 all was there but Chateau Lafitte of 1862. Not a bottle, 
 monsieur, could M. le President obtain ! France was dis- 
 graced. Paris was threatened with eternal shame. They 
 
50 An American Emperor 
 
 searclied the clubs, they came here. They discovered all ! 
 Ah, pardon me, monsieur, but I am a patriot. The honor 
 of the countr}' is dear to me. Besides, thej^ threatened me. 
 I might have been sent to the galleys. In the end I sold 
 the Republic six bottles at two hundred francs the bottle. 
 France was saved. The President smiled. Paris was once 
 more gay. The Czar drank Chateau I^afitte of 1862, and 
 next day he signed the treaty ! ' ' 
 
 And a faint glow of pious exaltation gleamed in Loubet's 
 eye. 
 
 Inwardly Vansittart shook with laughter. But assuming 
 a look of frightful menace, he exclaimed, — 
 
 " You have done this, sir. Remember a second time that 
 I yield precedence to no emperor and to no president. I do 
 not give my wine to cement unholy alliances. Go, sir ! and 
 take care the dinner is beyond reproach." 
 
 And he turned swiftly into his apartments. 
 
 " These poor children ! " he exclaimed to himself as he 
 flung himself upon his couch. " I must imitate the methods 
 of a wise parent. Now we must frighten them, and now we 
 must stuff them with sweetmeats. Oh, Paris, Paris! you are 
 in truth the cradle of the French people, only unfortu- 
 nately they seem never to get out of long-clothes ! ' ' 
 
 Next day a new officer was added to his staff. Punctual 
 to the hour he had named, the Frenchman of the St. Lazare 
 arrived, and had a remarkable interview with the American. 
 
 ' ' I think we understand each other without undue expla- 
 nation," Jerome had said. " I gather you are a royalist, 
 M. Folliet?" 
 
 " I am devoted to the cause, monsieur ; and it was by 
 reason of that that I lost my distinguished post." 
 
 " And that was?" 
 
 " Monsieur, I was Prefect of the Police ! " 
 
 Jerome started. This was good fortune indeed. 
 
 * ' And you know Paris ? ' ' 
 
 " Every nook and corner, monsieur, and every notable 
 
An Invasion of Paris 51 
 
 creature, — man, woman, and child, — togetlier with their 
 private histories. The police here do not leave much for 
 others to glean. " 
 
 " Enough ! " cried Jerome gaily. " We jested yesterday 
 of emperors. Well, I have an appointment to offer you. I 
 will make you my Chief of Police. You shall have double 
 your salary as prefect, and we shall be faithful to each other, 
 M. Folliet. Remember that we both serve the same 
 cause." 
 
 And thus it came about that Jerome had three ofHcers of 
 state, a Master of the Horse, a Captain of the Guard, and 
 an up-to-date I^ecocq. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 JKROME IS PUZZI^KD 
 
 DURING the next day or two Vansittart fully lived up to 
 his reputation. Never had there been such a golden 
 harvest for the gleaners of the Paris streets. 
 
 If a workman raised his cap to him, he threw him a 
 Napoleon. 
 
 ' ' Frenchmen have been polite for centuries, ' ' he explained, 
 " and got nothing by it. Now it is time to reward them." 
 
 He did several extraordinary things. Once he saw in the 
 Avenue de la Bourdonnais an ouvrier and his wife gazing 
 longingly at the windows of one of those cheap eating-houses 
 with which the street abounds. He stopped to inquire, and 
 found that the poor man could not afford dinner and could 
 get no work. Vansittart immediately^ bought him the 
 restaurant, and left the new and stupefied landlord engaged 
 on a tremendous meal which threatened to clear the memi. 
 
 These things made him popular. He was dogged by 
 reporters, and a fabulous history grew around him. It was 
 said he had offered to rebuild the Tuileries ; and a furious 
 sensation was caused to north and east by the astounding 
 rumor that he had bought up the whole of Montmartre and 
 Belleville, and was going to let the workmen of Paris oc- 
 cupy their houses free of rent. These stories were absurd 
 inventions. 
 
 But many others were quite true, and in particular one of 
 them which ran like wildfire through the city. One morn- 
 ing Jerome was observed to descend from his carriage at the 
 
 52 
 
Jerome is Puzzled 53 
 
 statue of Strasbourg, remove his hat reverently, and stand in 
 deep reverie before the sorrowful image for full ten miuutes. 
 
 The American felt for France then. He knew her heart- 
 aches, and could enter into sympathy with them. 
 
 That night, when he appeared at the Opera House, where 
 he had taken six boxes for his friends, he was loudly 
 cheered ; and the orchestra, not knowing what national air 
 to play on the occasion, by a sort of vague association of 
 ideas, struck up The Man that Broke the Dank at Monte Carlo. 
 
 The effort was well meant. No one present, save the 
 British and Americans, knew what the words were, and the 
 tune was taken for the American anthem. It was enthusias- 
 tically received. 
 
 These extravagances half amused, half saddened Vansit- 
 tart. He felt he was angling for big fish, and that such bait 
 as he used should not attract as easily as it did. But Paris 
 is a child, ever longing for a new toy, hugging it with rap- 
 ture when she has got it, and then tossing it impatiently 
 away. Jerome was not deceived. He knew that such pop- 
 ularity as this was essentially ephemeral, and night after 
 night he revolved the scheme that should bring to his feet 
 this wonderful nation. He knew, that, whatever his plan 
 was, it would be one that would sound ridiculous and impos- 
 sible to the cold ear of man. But such things had been 
 before. It was his lot to make real the wild romances of the 
 past, to combine D'Artagnan and Aramis in the flesh. He 
 had to become, as it were, a Jules Verne of politics. 
 
 On the fourth morning he was in his private room, — the 
 Salle du Zodiac of the hotel, which had been converted into a 
 noble library, — when a servant announced a visit from Ma- 
 demoiselle de Montpensier, who requested the favor of an 
 interview. 
 
 Vansittart met her with every manifestation of respect. 
 No salute other than a warm pressure of the hand pas.sed 
 between them. The unexpressed compact between them 
 was faithfully kept. Honorine was the bride of France, and 
 
54 An A^nerican Emperor 
 
 it was only when Jerome should be able to offer her the 
 homage of an Emperor of France that he would speak to her 
 with the warmth of an accepted suitor. 
 
 ' ' We have scarcely met since we arrived here ! ' * said 
 Honorine, looking upon the American with mock disap- 
 proval. ' ' I could not endure longer not to know what you 
 have been doing for France — and for us both ! ' ' 
 
 She added these last words with a delicious hesitation. 
 Jerome came nearer her. 
 
 " Alas ! mademoiselle," he said, " we must remember 
 what a country we are in, where everyone is free to do as he 
 likes and everyone is suspected, where we are all emperors 
 and slaves alike. This separation tries me cruelly, but it 
 is some consolation to know each day that I am something, 
 if only an inch, nearer our goal." 
 
 * ' And by what queer doings ! ' ' exclaimed Honorine with 
 a merry laugh. " I have been reading the papers, and I can 
 scarcely credit them. What ! have you really promised to 
 flte all the children of Paris ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' And why not ? ' ' demanded Jerome with a smile. ' ' I 
 shall also invite the mothers, and surfeit them with soup, 
 salad, and sirup. After all, what does it mean ? — a mere 
 trifle, and so many poor folk made happy, and soman}- — " 
 
 " Poor folk thanking the American ! " put in the other 
 mischievously. 
 
 Jerome bowed. 
 
 " Exactly. You are becoming a politician, mademoiselle. 
 If I bought a restaurant for a couple of starving beggars, 
 what of that ? It cost me no more than a thousand dollars 
 for good-will, furniture, and food. The old proprietors are 
 quite happy, for I saw them next day dining outside their 
 quondam house, calling insolently for dSJeHfier, and cursing 
 their successors bitterly because they had put black bread in 
 the croute au pot ! It will gladden them for a month merely 
 to come back to the old place and sneer at the new ways. ' ' 
 
 " And can it be that you have promised at your own 
 
Jerome is Puzzled 55 
 
 expense to get the fountains played at Versailles next 
 Sunday?" 
 
 ' ' A mere bagatelle. Do you know what it means ? Ten 
 thousand francs. Why, I give as much for a scarf-pin." 
 
 " Yes," retorted Honorine. " And do you know what 
 La Lanterite calls it ? " 
 
 " I have n't the honor of reading La Lanterned 
 
 " Well, the fountains are only played on saint days, so La 
 Lanterne speaks of next Sunday as the Fete de St. Jo7iathany 
 
 The American laughed. 
 
 ' ' I am already canonised ! That is well ! " he declared. 
 " When the people begin to find a nickname for you, it 
 shows that they either love you or — ' ' 
 
 " That they hate you ! " exclaimed Honorine sadly. 
 
 " Ah, no ! They do not hate me. At least, they shall 
 not have cause for that. They may wonder at me, or laugh 
 at me ; but I am a determined wooer, am I not ? " 
 (Honorine turned her head away) " and I shall win this 
 pretty Paris, believe me, yet. But tell me, mademoiselle, I 
 am eager to know. Do you disapprove my methods ? Do 
 you wish me to find some other way ? ' ' 
 
 Jerome paused anxiously. He was not certain how far his 
 bride to be, this proud French girl, would relish her coun- 
 trymen being thus trifled with and made sport of. Would 
 she rebel against the implied contempt in all this generous 
 patronage ? But he had not calculated how strong was the 
 tie that bound the spirited girl to the order that had passed 
 awa}^, and how far she was in real sympathy from this rebel- 
 lious city and this perjured country. 
 
 Republican France was to her not sacred. Her people 
 became dear once more when they returned to the oath they 
 had forsworn. 
 
 So Honorine contented herself with thanking Jerome for 
 his brave struggles for her ambitious scheme. 
 
 ' ' The reward is so poor, should you succeed ! ' ' she 
 declared, looking at him with a little melancholy smile. 
 
56 An American Emperor 
 
 ' ' It would be so ! " exclaimed Vansittart, ' ' if the mere 
 bubble of a crown were all I should obtain. But you know 
 well how insignificant to me is kingship itself. I wish to 
 succeed ; but success, once got, I despise. I am not fighting 
 for the emperor, but for the empress. And then," he con- 
 cluded a little sadly, ' ' I may or ma}^ not get the reward I 
 long for." 
 
 ' ' What ! ' ' cried the other reproachfully, ' ' do 3'ou already 
 accuse me of ingratitude ? ' ' 
 
 " Ah, mademoiselle ! The future alone can disclose our 
 fortunes ; but, believe me, if it is ever in my power to 
 bestow upon you a gift worthy of j^ourself, it shall not be 
 stained or diminished by conditions. It shall be the free 
 ofiering of a man who loves you, and is content that he has 
 given you your heart's desire." 
 
 Tears sprang to Honorine's eyes. 
 
 " Jerome," she said, repeating his name for the first time, 
 " I am ashamed and humiliated when I look into the 
 unfathomable depths of your devotion. Such nobleness of 
 heart and such courage of .soul I do not deser\'e. No, the 
 cause alone is worthy of it. Yet I shall know how to ap- 
 preciate it. I do so now, and besides," she smiled, " what 
 monster are you conjuring up to torment you ? " 
 
 ' ' Yes, ' ' he exclaimed with a sigh of relief, ' ' there is at 
 least no other claimant of ro3'al blood to complicate mat- 
 ters." 
 
 As he uttered these words, he was astounded to see that 
 Honorine's color changed into a deadly pallor, and that she 
 sank back with a shudder into a chair. 
 
 He sprang towards her. 
 
 " Are you ill ? Oh, what is it, Honorine ? " he cried. 
 
 Then, striding towards the bell, he would have rung it, 
 but, recovering with an effort, she begged him to reassure 
 himself. 
 
 " Do not be alarmed," she said. " It was a sudden chill. 
 I will retire to my apartments. Let us meet at dinner, ' ' she 
 
Jerome is Ptizzled 57 
 
 added, as if remorsefully : " I shall not go to the ambassa- 
 dor's reception this afternoon." 
 
 Jerome was about to usher the Princess from the room, 
 when the footman, throwing open the door, evidently in 
 ignorance that his master was engaged, announced M. de 
 Tournon, Minister for the Interior. 
 
 On hearing the name, Honorine started violently, and, 
 giving her hand to Jerome, hastened as though in eagerness 
 across the floor to the other end of the room, whence a small 
 entrance led to a private corridor. As she reached the 
 threshold, she turned for a moment to the American, and in 
 a low voice, not without a tremor of emotion, murmured, — 
 
 " M. de Tournon ! Do not trust him ! He is our 
 enemy ! ' ' 
 
 Jerome handed her gravely out. Then, concealing the 
 surprise that her words had caused, he turned with a smile 
 to greet the minister, who, with hat in hand and a beam of 
 ineffable sweetness on his face, was awaiting his host. 
 
 M. de Tournon' s composure was also not without art ; for, 
 as he entered, his eyes had fallen upon the pale face and lithe 
 figure of Mile, de Montpensier at the very moment when 
 she had turned to give her lover the word of warning. A 
 strange look had for a moment entered his eyes. It might 
 have been gratification, it might have been malice, or per- 
 haps a little of both. 
 
 But M. de Tournon' s large and sallow face, with its dark- 
 rimmed eyes, its full lips, its ample chin which served to 
 vary a swelling fulness of cheek that spread on both sides 
 to two aggressive ears, had been well disciplined during a 
 quarter of a century of political intrigue amongst the kalei- 
 doscopic factions of the city of Paris ; and as he peremptorily 
 dismissed the impertinent glance which had intruded into 
 his eye without bidding, and ordered his features into a sweet 
 semblance of affability, he presented a cheerful appearance to 
 the American as he advanced to meet him. 
 
 "I am indeed honored by this unexpected visit, M. de 
 
58 An American Emperor 
 
 Tournon," Vansittart declared, as he begged his visitor to 
 be seated. 
 
 " Pardon me," replied the minister, " I fear I have 
 offended. I am but a poor exchange for my predecessor." 
 
 Jerome waved his hand deprecatingly. 
 
 " To so distinguished a statesman," he said, " and to one 
 held so justly high in the esteem of his countrymen, time 
 and place should always yield. ' ' 
 
 " I am not curious, Mr. Vansittart, but I rejoice that there 
 is one link already between us, as it strikes me. Surely I 
 am not mistaken when I say that I believe I have met the 
 charming lady who has just left you. It was — let me see — 
 surely at Fontainebleau. Yes, it must have been Fontaine- 
 bleau. What spot more natural for those who are young ? 
 You know the place, doubtless , — delightful, well-wooded, 
 romantic, — a spot designed by Heaven for lovers. Ah ! the 
 leaves of Fontainebleau have fluttered sadly over many a 
 vow that was destined to be broken. 
 
 " Dear me! I used to go there myself, not to love, — for, 
 alas ! I am not one who has been favored by the cruel sex, — 
 but merely to catch the inspiration of romance which these 
 dear young people appear to shed around them. For the 
 very atmosphere of Fontainebleau has a magical quality. 
 It makes old hearts young, and stern hearts tender. The 
 very trees there enter into wedlock, and the rocks weep. I 
 must really beg ^-ou to go to Fontainebleau; for 3'ou, at 
 least, are of an age to love." 
 
 " I would not make the leaves of its forest sad for all the 
 world, ' ' replied Jerome with a smile ; ' ' and as for romance, 
 does not my window look out upon the Boulevard des 
 Capucines ? ' ' 
 
 " Ah, well! " sighed the tender-hearted minister, " if 5'ou 
 are a cynic, it is hopeless; but at least it makes it all the 
 easier for me to broach the very dull, dry business which 
 has brought me here. Perhaps you are aware, Mr. Vansit- 
 tart, that the French Republic has a very eager solicitude 
 
Jerome is Puzzled 59 
 
 for her guests from other shores. I may say, indeed, that 
 she has a maternal interest in them, and watches over them 
 with a care and exactitude which does honor to the tender- 
 ness of her heart. The RepubHc of France does not wi.sh 
 her visitor to be received without ceremony, and to remain 
 unannounced and unobserved. Therefore it is her habit to 
 make a few respectful inquiries about her guests, so that she 
 may know who they are and where they come from, where 
 they honor her by staying, and when they go, — a mere 
 formality which enables them in a foreign country not to be 
 without identity should harm befall them." 
 
 " And also," interrupted Jerome with mock gravity, 
 ' ' enables the tender-hearted mother to lay her hand upon 
 them speedily, should they meditate harm against her. ' ' 
 
 " Ah ! " and M. de Tournon indulged in a fat laugh 
 which lumbered in many creases along his cheeks, " you 
 take a gloomy view. I was anxious that you should not 
 be intruded upon by a mere oflScer of police, and so I did 
 myself the honor of calling in person to save you from 
 annoyance." 
 
 "It is indeed a fortunate visit," replied Vansittart, " for 
 I also had important business to discuss with you. But may 
 I be so rude as to inquire whether you attend the levee at 
 the American Embassy this afternoon ? ' * 
 
 " It is my intention." 
 
 ' ' Then I may have the honor, perhaps, of offering you a 
 seat in my carriage, and we may discuss my little matter on 
 the way. In the meantime, rest assured, M. de Tournon, 
 that I shall furnish you with the full particulars that you 
 desire. They will not be interesting. The American tour- 
 ist is undoubtedly the most unromantic and the least dra- 
 matic figure in the world. He would never dream of putting 
 a republic to serious inconvenience." 
 
 " You will not, of course, misunderstand. Our interest 
 extends to every member of your household ; and I need 
 not say how pleased I shall be if I discover in the charming 
 
6o An American Emperor 
 
 lady of whom I have just had the good fortune of catching a 
 glimpse, an old acquaintance," 
 
 Vansittart bowed, then rose and rang for his carriage. 
 
 He was not a little puzzled by this visit. What could 
 Honorine mean by her strange warning ? What was the 
 meaning of this acquaintance that the French Minister 
 claimed ? And why this pointed reference to her when he 
 asked for information about the household ? Beyond all, 
 why the continual allusion to Fontainebleau and love ? 
 Did de Tournon wish to convey that it was some romance 
 of Honorine' s that he had surprised there ? That was the 
 only explanation. Jerome fancied that he detected a faint 
 undertone of veiled irony in M. de Tournon' s references to 
 her. He felt a sharp pang at his heart which he could 
 scarcely tell to have sprung from jealous}' or from fear. 
 
 But he turned to the minister, without displaying his 
 emotion, saying, — 
 
 " And now, monsieur, I have to ask from you the 
 strangest and most difficult favor that has ever been asked 
 of any French Minister of the Interior. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Do not fear, ' ' replied de Tournon gaily, as he pro- 
 ceeded with his host downstairs, * * I will grant you anything 
 you ask for, excepting only my portfolio. ' ' 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 A CHA1,I,ENGE 
 
 IT is a long way from the Grand Hotel to the Rue Galilee, 
 where the American Embassy is situated. Jerome there- 
 fore opened his business with deliberation. 
 
 " You are aware, M. de Tournon," he said, " that every 
 civilized man has a longing for a permanent home. He 
 cannot forever wander about purchasing a right to occupy a 
 place in another man's house." 
 
 " I, too, am domestic," purred the minister. 
 
 * ' And therefore it is that I require to find some suitable 
 abode. It should be large, certainly historical, — for we 
 Americans, you know, are compelled to dwell upon the 
 historical associations of others, — and it should be both 
 secluded and near Paris. To get such a home is no easy 
 task. And really your houses are so small." 
 
 M. de Tournon slightly elevated his eyebrows. 
 
 ' ' My dear Mr. Vansittart, ' ' he replied, ' ' I should repair 
 without delay to a house-agent, who will be delighted to 
 assist you without any introduction from the Minister of the 
 Interior." 
 
 ' ' Ah ! ' ' sighed Jerome, ' ' there is my difl&culty. The 
 house I am thinking of, I fear, cannot appear in any agent's 
 catalogue ; and what is more, monsieur, its disposal, I am 
 inclined to think, lies entirely in your department." 
 
 ' ' In my department ! ' ' exclaimed the minister with sur- 
 prise. " I wholly fail to follow you." 
 
 6i 
 
62 An Avterican Emperor 
 
 " I must ask a thousand pardons, M. de Touruon. You 
 may think me most audacious, I may even be guilty 
 of apparent disrespect towards the Republic ; but in my 
 numerous visits to Paris I have observed a large number of 
 noble houses which belong to the state, and have remained 
 unoccupied for ages. Some are turned into picture galleries, 
 others are quite deserted and useless. Now, this spectacle 
 has pained me. As a practical man, I grieve to see such 
 absolutely commodious premises left to their natural decay, 
 or used as lumber-rooms for the scattered rubbish of a 
 nation's art. Monsieur, it is one of these I would purchase 
 and reclaim, and I beg your kind assistance." 
 
 ' ' And its name ? ' ' demanded the bewildered minister, 
 who had been gaping at the American as if dazed, and not 
 knowing what sacrilegious word would next fall from his 
 lips. 
 
 " Monsieur," continued the American with equanimity, 
 " I desire to purchase the Palace of St. Cloud." 
 
 If the Minister of the Interior had been shot, he could not 
 have bounced up in his seat w4th more alacrity. He looked 
 at Vansittart in a dumb and helpless way for a few seconds, 
 and then gasped, — 
 
 " St. Cloud ! But, monsieur, that has been the residence 
 of kings ! St. Cloud, the country-seat of lyouis the Great 
 and of our great Napoleon ! St. Cloud, the — ' ' 
 
 ' ' The home also of Bliicher and Von Bismarck, ' ' inter- 
 rupted Jerome. ' ' Yes, I admit its history is striking and 
 varied. It has sensed as a delightful hunting-box for your 
 kings, and, I understand, is the recognized headquarters 
 for your enemies whenever they besiege your capital." 
 
 " You speak lightly, monsieur," responded the minister 
 with a certain dignity ; ' ' but you must remember that if 
 France no longer cherishes her kings, yet these memorials 
 of them are cherished as one may treasure up family heir- 
 looms, quaint, old-fashioned jewels which adorned a period 
 with which we are no longer sympathetic. It is in such 
 
A Challenge 63 
 
 memorials that the Past writes itself visibly, so that the 
 Future may pause and read." 
 
 " Such sentiments are highly honorable," said Jerome. 
 " But it is for you also to remember, M. de Tournon, that 
 of such writing St. Cloud does not form a sentence, not a 
 coherent phrase, not an articulate word, nay, scarcely a syl- 
 lable. It consists of three dungeons and a couple of walls ; 
 and if its ruins be valuable at all as a memorial, it can only be 
 to remind j^ou of the perfect workmanship of the German offi- 
 cers, and of the excellent precision of German cannon-balls. ' ' 
 
 " If, then, only a ruin — " 
 
 " I will rebuild it." 
 
 " You are a private citizen, and not even a Frenchman." 
 
 " With regard to that, we will speak again. Meanwhile — 
 I offer my price, and will not claim the palace forever. I^et 
 us say that the Republic will sell the ruins and the gardens 
 for two million francs. Then — as, of course, if you are good 
 enough to help me, you will need in many little ways to 
 educate opinion on the point — let us add privately, between 
 ourselves, two more millions. Really, if you consider it, the 
 scheme seems feasible." 
 
 M. de Tournon was clearly agitated. 
 
 ' ' Here we are at the Embassy, ' ' he said hurriedly. ' ' I 
 will think over it. Perhaps it may be managed. To-morrow 
 I will call upon you, and we will discuss the matter." 
 
 Distinctly pale, he stepped from the carriage, and, together 
 with his companion, mounted the spacious staircase of the 
 Embassy to the grand salon. 
 
 The scene was a notable one. Such an assemblage of men 
 as only Paris could produce were gathered together. The 
 splendid diplomatic corps reckoned in its numbers the witti- 
 est and the most skilful representatives of foreign powers. 
 Here, too, were the intellectual and spiritual leaders of a 
 people rich at all times in a poetry, in an art, and in a litera- 
 ture, which, beyond those of other countries, are ever exquis- 
 itely tender, nobly original, and animated with living force 
 
64 An American Emperor 
 
 The dramatist whose works filled the theatres of Europe ; 
 the sculptor whose statues are fought for by connoisseurs, 
 and only with difficulty carried off by a jealous government, 
 to be established in that princely palace of art, the I^uxem- 
 bourg ; the novelist, too, whether analytic or symbolic, 
 unfailing offspring of every stray mood that swept over soci- 
 ety ; critics, who have given to the name a meaning that in 
 England would sound incongruous, and who have turned 
 criticism into creation ; men of genius, those true sons of 
 France who, with no distinct mission and no clear predilec- 
 tion for any sphere of labor, yet seem to hold wisdom in 
 solution, and have elevated conversation into a graceful and 
 brilliant form of art ; all the richest and rarest of a country 
 of ideals, of willing self-sacrifice, of joyous temperament; and 
 not a few of the select spirits of other lauds, who find in the 
 clearer, keener air of intellectual Paris a finer stimulant to 
 their talent, — these, in bright perplexing confusion, formed 
 the circle which was now doing homage to the vivacious 
 wife of the American Ambassador. 
 
 But as Vansittart's ej'es fell delighted on the scene, they 
 instinctively sought out that other order of men, — an order 
 with which he was so soon to be concerned, — the statesman 
 and the politician, 
 
 A fine display they made, it must be confessed; for they 
 possessed more of that mastership, that quickness of eye, 
 that rounded evenness of manner, which spring from long 
 association with affairs. Your poet and 5^our sculptor bear 
 about with them some mark of their profession in a certain 
 dreaminess or a wistfulness of face, or, it may be, not an 
 awkwardness, but an unfamiliarity with the world as there 
 represented. True art develops from a supreme reserve, and 
 this reserve hedges them round even when they fancy they 
 have cast it off. 
 
 But the keen-eyed, alert, apprehensive politicians — as 
 Jerome picked them out one by one, he smiled to himself 
 as he thought that he, single-handed, isolated, alone, was to 
 
A Challenge 65 
 
 do battle with them all, and challenge to so monstrously un- 
 equal a contest the cream and flower of French statesman- 
 ship. 
 
 " Can my scheme be really chimerical, after all, as it 
 seems ? " he mused. ' ' Am I pitting myself against all this 
 splendor of genius ? Napoleon once did ; but Napoleons 
 are not produced in Fifth Avenue. Well, well! " he said to 
 himself, " Napoleon started with a musket, and I with a 
 check-book. Perhaps the modern Napoleon is better thus. ' * 
 
 But, as if to answer his queries, one of the company, who 
 had been making his way towards him, bowed to him and 
 said, — 
 
 " You will excuse me, Mr. Vansittart ! I have had the 
 honor of being requested by our gracious hostess to introduce 
 myself to you, and render you such assistance as you may 
 require." 
 
 Jerome bowed in turn. 
 
 " I am delighted, monsieur; and, as a first mark of confi- 
 dence, may I be bold enough to inquire your name ? ' ' 
 
 " I am M. Liancourt." 
 
 ' ' The statesman ! ' ' exclaimed Jerome in surprise. 
 
 " That title is too high for me," was the modest reply, 
 ' ' but I devote perhaps too much time to political matters. ' ' 
 
 Jerome looked at his companion with undisguised admira- 
 tion and interest. Liancourt had never held office. He 
 was a mysterious party of himself. 
 
 Yet his voice was so powerful, and his influence so com- 
 manding, that he had wrecked two ministries within a twelve- 
 month, and practically created their successors. What his 
 own ambition was, or what precisely his convictions were, 
 no one clearly knew. He was always Vhovime inconmi, 
 sharp in satire, merciless in debate, unerring in retort, yet 
 with a grave, serious eloquence of his own whenever he 
 chose to exercise it. Unfathomable to friend and foe, he 
 .seemed to dwell in perpetual ambush. Jerome found him 
 tall and handsome, somewhat advancing to middle age, with 
 
66 An American Emperor 
 
 dark hair and swift keen eyes, which gave Mm a striking 
 personality. 
 
 " You slight yourself," observed the American after his 
 rapid summary of the man. " You wield a power in the 
 affairs of France such as I venture to think has no equal 
 amongst her ministers. ' ' 
 
 " Monsieur," replied Liancourt, " yoM mistake. Else- 
 where politicians have power; in France never ! Do you 
 want to know where the power in French politics lies ? It is 
 there, and there only ! ' ' 
 
 And he pointed out of the window at the open street, with 
 its ceaseless press of hurrying pedestrians. 
 
 Jerome started. It seemed to be a reply to his own mis- 
 giving. He smiled as he turned to M. Liancourt. 
 
 ' ' Which only means, ' ' he said, ' ' that the acknowledged 
 leaders do not lead." 
 
 ' ' That is true. We hate to set over us men of ability. 
 Paris fears talent, and is in mortal dread of genius. Do you 
 observe the President over there, talking to Monsieur Sullj- ? 
 Do you imagine he possesses power ? It was precisely 
 because he is incapable of it that he was chosen for the office. 
 He is head of the state in everything save essentials. In 
 fact, he has a talent for incapacity. He has made an art of 
 mediocrity. But he is tall, and he rides well, and he hap- 
 pened to have secured the great chef, M. Prevost, before we 
 knew he was in the market, and voilh tout ! " 
 
 ' * But your ministers ! ' ' 
 
 " Shall I show you a couple of them ? You know M. de 
 Tournon, I obser\'e. He is a great patriot, so sacrificing 
 of self that he will waive any conviction he possesses to 
 retain for the country his invaluable services. He has kept 
 his portfolio under three ministries. 
 
 " Regard M. Ribou, the Minister of War. He obtained 
 that gallant post because he won a duel with M. Printemps 
 of the Gaulois. You will see how narrow his brow is, how 
 deep his eyes, how prominent his nose and chin. He retains 
 
A Challenge 67 
 
 some striking features of the chimpanzee. They are indica- 
 tive of his character. He is narrow, mean, jealous, and 
 vain. But, alas! our countrymen are sometimes a little 
 childish. He jumped into fame, and first became minister 
 because on a certain occasion we were discussing some trivial 
 arrangement with Germany about consular rights. 
 
 " He suddenly remembered the date, and sprang up. 
 ' M. le President ! ' he shouted, * have you forgotten that this 
 is the 4th of September ? On such a day I refuse to discuss 
 an}'^ matter of agreement between perfidious Germany and 
 ourselves ! ' That was enough. He was the idol of the hour, 
 and a week later he was invited to take up an unimportant 
 portfolio to support a tottering gov^ernment. He saved it. ' ' 
 
 Jerome scrutinized M. Ribou wdth very natural curiosity. 
 The Minister of War had a peculiar interest for him. 
 
 M. lyiancourt pointed out several other celebrities with 
 much wit and acuteness. Under his examination each min- 
 ister became vacuous, feeble, and of small account. 
 
 " Politics seem to be in no better condition than in my 
 own country," Vansittart said with a laugh, " y^t we are 
 both republics dedicated to liberty. ' ' 
 
 " With a difierence," answered lyiancourt. " Do you 
 remember what the wise man said ? With you, liberty is a 
 wife. You sometimes disregard her, and sometimes are not 
 overkind to her; but still you are married, and you respect 
 the bond. With us, liberty is a mistress. Our affection is 
 more violent, our passion more fierce ; but then, we may 
 change and cast her off at any moment. In fact, France is 
 waiting for a master. She is wearing her widow's weeds as 
 coyly as she can, in the hope that her very obduracy may 
 attract a suitor." 
 
 The two men advanced into the room, and mingled in the 
 throng. A gay volley of even fire made conversation dan- 
 gerous and enticing. In these salons still wanders the spirit 
 of the old days of the Fronde and the rule of the immortal 
 I^ouis, 
 
68 An American Emperor 
 
 Vansittart entered with nonchalance into the engagement, 
 and astonished his audience by his readiness and his wit. 
 Smiles rained on him from the women, and envious glances 
 from the men. In half an hour he had made a dozen friendSc 
 M. de Tournon watched him closely, and M. Ribou seemed 
 no less interested. But Jerome moved through the assembly, 
 affable and inscrutable. 
 
 Later on he joined the men in a lower apartment, where, 
 according to the hospitable habits of the Embass}^ cigarettes 
 and refreshments of a stronger character than those above 
 were provided as a bonyie bouche. 
 
 The talk here was more animated and less constrained. 
 Politics, art, philosophy, were in the air, through which epi- 
 grams flew like so many witches on their broomsticks. 
 Suddenly M. Ribou, who had been making himself merry 
 with the editor of the Figaro on an indiscretion of the Presi- 
 dent, turned round to Vansittart and said, — 
 
 " Come, Mr. Vansittart, we are all a little anxious to 
 know your opinion of us poor Parisians. Am I intrusive in 
 asking 3^ou ? " 
 
 At this question the conversation came to a pause, and all 
 eyes were turned upon the visitor. Vansittart slowly took 
 from his lips a cigarette, and, an extraordinary idea rushing 
 through his mind, thus replied : — 
 
 * ' M. Ribou, Paris is the most delightful cit}^ in the world, 
 and her citizens the most charming of all peoples ; but there 
 is one defect that I notice with grief. It is a thousand pities 
 that a race otherwise so accomplished should be so deficient 
 in the art of cooking ! ' ' 
 
 A general cry of amazement greeted this reply. 
 
 *' Monsieur is jesting, surely," put in M. de Tournon with 
 an incredulous look. ' ' Do you not know that our cooking 
 is the most elegant and the most delicate in the world ? ' ' 
 
 " Ah! M. de Tournon," responded Jerome languidly, " it 
 has such a reputation; but cooking, after all, is a matter 
 of the material world, and not of the imagination. Your 
 
A Challenge 69 
 
 dinners are volatile, airy, deliciously fanciful, what you will, 
 but there is ail abstract element about them. They are 
 the dinners of men that dream. They tend to become im- 
 palpable and shadowy. There is needed a touch of Eastern 
 opulence, or, shall I say, of Western coarseness. But your 
 people dwell upon the emotional and the transcendental. 
 Things material are to them mere obstacles in the w^ay of 
 ideas. It is so with your cooking. ' ' 
 
 " Pardon me, monsieur!" interrupted Liancourt with a 
 smile, " if our cooking is a similar obstacle, we manage to 
 clear it away expeditiously." 
 
 " No," urged the American. " Take your viemi, 5'our 
 soup, for instance. Is not three quarters of it a tremendous 
 effort to defy analysis ? It abhors clearness and the display 
 of its elements. Your fish loses its character in the effort to 
 die away into the impalpable. As a matter of fact, your fish 
 is only used as a kind of accompaniment to your sauces. As 
 to your entries, they lack substance. I admit they are won- 
 derful, appetizing, fascinating; but they lack the funda- 
 mental. Each dish seeks to secure the hollow pretence of 
 not being food, but a mere garnish, a pretty relish for the 
 appetite, which toils unsatisfied, but finds no solid ground. 
 Is it not so with 3'our wines ? — wines so light that they seem 
 almost to be liquid in the abstract, the mere primal element 
 resting for a moment on a flavor, and threatening to dissolve 
 in a flash." 
 
 " You should not bring the philosopher to table," ob- 
 served some one. 
 
 " Rather," retorted Jerome, " you should not' bring the 
 poet to the kitchen. Your cooking is like your character, — 
 brilliant, piquant, superficial, irresistible, lacking in depth 
 and substance, but aglow with a fine sense of taste. You 
 are, as I said, dreamers. Your food is dream-like. It seems 
 to tremble on the threshold of existence, fearing to assume 
 bodily form. Just as you seek to avoid the stern facts of life, 
 so your cooking is a mere turning-aside from reality. It is 
 
70 An American Emperor 
 
 all an evasion, a subterfuge. Yes, and it is all in all to you. 
 Your cooking is a true art ; for all art is at once bewitchingly 
 beautiful and a lie. French cooking, I maintain, is the 
 most superb lie that has ever been uttered. You should put 
 over your cook's apartment the old phrase, Splcndide Men- 
 dax. That is why, gentlemen, I maintain that in the true 
 sense you do not know how to cook." 
 
 " We are unfortunate, monsieur," said M. Ribou, " or we 
 might have had the good fortune of some instruction in this 
 art we know not of. Is it that in a new country some divine 
 secret has been discovered ? ' ' 
 
 " I shall be happy to demonstrate the truth of my theory," 
 replied Jerome calmly. " If the company desire proof, may 
 I be so rash as to offer to provide it ? " 
 
 A murmur of assent travelled through the room, half of 
 them amused, half a trifle perplexed. 
 
 " Then, gentlemen," exclaimed Jerome, " I take it as a 
 challenge ; and I shall insist, in common fairness, that all of 
 you here shall attend me on the occasion. I need but a 
 week. Shall we say, then, Wednesday, at the Grand Hotel ? 
 And let us fix the hour at half-past seven. Is it a bargain ? " 
 
 The extraordinary offer, and the curiosit)^ it evoked, at- 
 tracted every one. A general acceptance, from the minister 
 down to the poet was made, and, with hilarious warnings to 
 the American on the audacious and impious task he had 
 undertaken, the company separated. 
 
 Jerome seemed to be particularly happy as he returned 
 home. 
 
 ' ' Whatever becomes of the theory, ' ' he murmured to him- 
 self, ' ' they shall hear a proposal which will unsettle their 
 equilibrium for a month ! ' ' 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A STARTLING SCHEME 
 
 THE guests, on mounting the staircase of the Grand Hotel 
 on the appointed day, and entering the banqueting- 
 room, were struck speechless with amazement. It was as if 
 they had stepped out of Paris and suddenly found them- 
 selves in some storied palace of the East ; or as if Aladdin's 
 magic carpet had whisked them to a mysterious nook in 
 fairyland, where every object that the eye rested on was a 
 new marvel, and where wonder grew on wonder till the tired 
 sense refused its office, and accepted the incredible with stu- 
 pefied acquiescence. 
 
 A delicate perfume pervaded the air, — a sweet seductive 
 scent which refused to be distinguished, and haunted one like 
 some pleasant dream half remembered and half forgotten. 
 
 The table, arranged as a complete circle, occupied the 
 middle of the room. In the centre was a fountain of the 
 most delicate workmanship in purest porcelain. From this 
 a thousand slender sprays scattered their cooling streams, 
 almost all of them horizontally, that the vision of the vis-d.-vis 
 should not be interfered with. Two glorious threads of 
 water, however, shot high to the ceiling, and as they turned 
 and became transformed into mist, an ingenious electric 
 arrangement infused them with all the infinite hues of pris- 
 matic light, and they fell to earth, dazzling and sparkling 
 like infinitesimal clusters of jewels. 
 
 And this mar\'el was far exceeded by the sight which 
 greeted the astonished eyes of the guests when they regarded 
 the boundaries of the room. 
 
 71 
 
72 An American Emperor 
 
 Everything had disappeared. There were no walls — only 
 a wonderful garden such as romancists have never conceived 
 of nor poets dreamed. 
 
 For here was the miraculous in all its forms. Spring 
 nodded to Autumn, Summer to Winter. The inexorable 
 law which governs the seasons no more existed. All that 
 the teeming year produced was present in rich profusion. 
 At one end of the room was a stately orange-tree, with its 
 ruddy fruit growing upon the branches. Hard by, the citron, 
 the lime, the apple, the pear, the pomegranate, spread their 
 fragrant foliage, still in full life and in the exotic state, breath- 
 ing the odorous air of far-off lands, and carrying the mind to 
 countries remote, to barbarous languages and savage man- 
 ners. Upon the ground sprang the lowlier fruits, — the pine, 
 the melon, and innumerable others which rarely travel from 
 their distant home. Here was, in truth, a paradise for 
 gourmets ! 
 
 But even this did not equal the wondrous glory of the 
 ceiling. By what sprites or by the genius of what magician 
 had their host torn from its lodgment in some far country 
 this noble vine, which spread its luxuriant branches, alive 
 with a hundred quivering tendrils, above their heads, and 
 formed a verdant roof for them during their repast ? Yet 
 here it was, its great trunk springing from its native soil, 
 and its leaves seeming still in the freshness of their delicate 
 bloom. From the branches hung countless clusters of rare 
 black grapes but just above the heads of the company, and it 
 was only necessary to stretch forth the hand to secure the 
 coveted prize. I^uckless vine ! born to give pleasure unto 
 men for generations, 5'et 3'ielding up thy life for a single 
 night's wonderment to gratify the tastes of a few Parisian 
 gentlemen. 
 
 In fact, the room, with all its splendor of tree, flower, 
 fruit, and foliage, was another of those ever-increasing 
 proofs, now becoming almost tedious to Vansittart, of the 
 irresistible power of wealth. When he had first held con- 
 
A Startlmg Scheme ']'^ 
 
 lerence with the manager of the hotel, that worthy gentle- 
 man had emphatically declared that the American's scheme 
 was mad, impracticable, hopeless. After half an hour's 
 earnest conversation, however, M. L,oubet's eyes grew grad- 
 ually larger, and his tone less emphatic ; and it may even be 
 said that his opinions in general did not remain so rigid as 
 at first. This may clearly be gathered from his last remark, 
 made almost reverentiall5\ 
 
 * * Yes, ' ' he said, ' ' as you say, the miraculous can occur. 
 All can be carried out according to orders. As for me, I 
 assure you, monsieur, I will, if necessary, break into the 
 Jardin des Plantes and crown your table with the treasures 
 of the Republic !" 
 
 It was in a hushed and almost solemn stillness that the 
 guests took their seats. These they discovered by the 
 napkins of rare Indian silk on which their names were deli- 
 cately embroidered in threads of gold. The table was cov- 
 ered with silver relieved by the most beautiful blooms, and 
 by the plate of each guest Vv-as a nosega}-^ of priceless exotics. 
 
 No wonder that even ministers unbent, that philosophers 
 became aroused, that the eyes of poets gleamed, and that an 
 air of refined and intelligent animalism appropriate to good 
 eating passed over the faces of the company \ 
 
 M. Lesieur, the erotic poet, wagged his great head in 
 delighted anticipation ; the eyes of M. Lacontel, the Minister 
 from the Colonies, furtively sought the wine list ; M. Legru, 
 the famous journalist of La Patne, tightened his napkin 
 round his throat, and shook himself free in readiness for an 
 encounter ; and even Cornelius Van Regen, the American 
 Ambassador, turned approvingly upon his fellow-country- 
 man, and felt a thrill of triumph at this victory. 
 
 The dinner was superb. Did it prove Jerome's theory ? 
 Who can say, for who can remember ? The delicious wines 
 hurried on the appetite, and each course was forgotten in the 
 sweet apparition of its successor. 
 
 Vansittart's cook was a supreme genius. He was an Arab 
 
74 An American Emperor 
 
 of many languages and an extraordinary palate. He would 
 simply taste a new dish in Russia, India, Spain, — where you 
 will, — retire for an hour, and produce it for you, but invaria- 
 bly improved b}^ some more delicate treatment. All dishes 
 were to him alike. He knew the cuisine of every country. 
 
 Silent, phlegmatic, proud, yet faithful, he never cared for 
 money or reward. He had a deep satisfaction in his own 
 unique superiority. Only once had Jerome complained of a 
 dish. Next day the Arab was missing. Jerome waited a 
 week, then packed up a bag, and went off to Cairo. There 
 he found his cook, sitting, as when he first met him, at the 
 door of a tiny house in the bazaar, calmly smoking his 
 hookah. His master approached him gently, administered 
 a severe kick, and ordered him to his hotel. The Arab 
 meekly obej-ed, and since then had never threatened to 
 depart. 
 
 When dinner was over and even rarer wines were brought 
 on, the conversation became animated and brilliant. During 
 the meal the soft strains of a distant orchestra — for so it 
 seemed — stole through the room, so faint as not to disturb 
 speech, so clear and delicious as to intoxicate the ear when- 
 ever there came a pause. 
 
 But now even this ceased ; and as the waiters handed to 
 each guest a cigarette case of solid gold, with his initials 
 upon it, as a souvenir of the feast, the company abandoned 
 themselves to the channs of rapid and sparkling talk. There 
 was not one who was not excited by the wonderful wines, 
 not one eye that did not glow a little feverishly, and not a 
 tongue that did not wag a trifle more freely than its wont. 
 
 " Dinner," observed M. Lefevre of the Academy, " is the 
 poetry of the animal. To blend, to humanize, the material; 
 to refine and chasten it ; to secure the perfect cadence which 
 lies in a well-chosen menu ; to soothe alike and in equal degree 
 every sense, — that is real poetry of a sort." 
 
 " Poetry, egad ! That' s good ! " ejaculated an under 
 secretary who was a little tipsy. " Let 's have a poem ! 
 
A Startling Scheme 75 
 
 Such a dinner deserves it. There 's that lazy Lesieur, who 
 Hves on a reputation made ten years ago. Come, let 's have 
 an impromptu ! ' ' 
 
 " And you shall ! " declared M. Lesieur, suddenly rising, 
 his great head scarce steady on his narrow shoulders. 
 " Come ! I will toss 3^ou a trifle in honor of our host." 
 
 And folding his arms, as if in deep thought, he slowly 
 repeated, — 
 
 " Seeds of the East, strewn far. 
 
 By the breath of the ocean wind, 
 To lands of golden hope that are 
 'Neath the radiance rare of the Western star, 
 
 And a sk}- that is clear and kind ! 
 
 ' ' Blossoms and buds that spring 
 
 In the virgin fields of the West, 
 That scatter their bloom in the air, and fling 
 Their odors sweet without reckoning. 
 
 O'er continents not so blest ! 
 
 " Odors that soothe the hot 
 
 And feverish pulse of the East, 
 Which lies all spent and has quite forgot 
 Whether it ever had youth or not, 
 
 And scrunches the crusts of its own death feast ! " 
 
 A murmur of doubtful applause greeted this effusion. 
 Poor Lesieur was born to gloom ; but on this occasion his 
 melancholy picture of the East ill accorded with his appear- 
 ance, which was that of a man who had dined singularly 
 well. 
 
 ' ' You did not repeat it exactly as you gave it me this 
 morning for La Patrie,'" whispered M, Legru. 
 
 " Alas ! " replied the poet, "it is a mistake. No man 
 should go in for impromptus v/ho has not a really good 
 memory. ' ' 
 
 " America will be a nation when it has won its first Euro- 
 pean war," M. Liancourt was saying. " We cannot invent 
 glory for a banner, nor truth for a national motto. ' ' 
 
y6 A 71 American Emperor 
 
 " National mottoes," replied the host, " are mere hypoc- 
 risies. If you desire to find out the weakness of a country, 
 find its motto, reverse it, and, behold ! there it stands 
 revealed. ' ' 
 
 " But surely," protested M. Ribou, " that cannot apply to 
 France ? " 
 
 ' ' To France ? ' ' exclaimed Jerome in surprise, ' ' more 
 than to any other nation. Take your national motto, 
 Defense d'afficher — " 
 
 " Mon Dicic! " interrupted M. Lacontel. " Do you imag- 
 ine that to be our national motto ? ' ' 
 
 ' * Certainly, ' ' replied the American calml3\ ' ' What 
 else?" 
 
 " Liberie, Egalite, FratemitS,'' repeated M. Lacontel sen- 
 tentiously. 
 
 " Nonsense! " cried Jerome. " True, I have seen those 
 words somewhere — let me see, yes, on the Morgue, where 
 they appeared to me singularly appropriate. Elsewhere, 
 indeed, they could in no wise be correct. On the other 
 hand, I have seen Defense d'afficher on every public build- 
 ing, church, school, institution, monument, galler>', mu- 
 seum, palace, cathedral. What must I conclude ? It must 
 be 3'our national motto, — Difense d'afficher (' Bill-sticking not 
 allowed'). 
 
 * ' Now, gentlemen, how hypocritical, how false ! Do the 
 French nation ever engage in any other occupation but 
 advertising ? Is not Paris, in herself and in all her parts, a 
 mere advertisement of the things you pique yourselves upon 
 in history ? You win a battle. Do you not immediately 
 build a bridge, a monument, a street, and call them all after 
 it ? Is not the Seine spanned by advertisements of Napo- 
 leon ? Are not the Champs Elysees studded with them ? Do 
 you not even call 3'our streets after historical dates ? If you 
 achieve anything nowadays, do you not immediatel)' plaster 
 the world with advertisements ? Do not your papers shriek 
 and your telegraph wires groan ? Why, France is nothing 
 
A Startling Scheme yy 
 
 but a colossal bill-sticker, and she uses the whole of Etirope 
 as a gigantic hoarding. ' ' 
 
 ** M. lyiancourt smiled, the Colonial Minister winced. M. 
 Ribou bit his lips, the poet groaned. 
 
 " Look at Versailles," continued Jerome. " You have 
 used its walls simply for advertisements. ' Come in here,' 
 you cry, * and see the fine things we have done ! ' And 
 there in ceaseless succession. Napoleon at Jena, Napoleon at 
 Austerlitz, Napoleon at Wagram — everywhere Napoleon, 
 and repeated a dozen times ! What a mirror to a nation's 
 vanit}^ ! There is the bill-sticking genius again. Paris and 
 Versailles are absolutely plastered with these intenuinable 
 advertisements. Not that I pretend that I have ever seen a 
 picture or a monument of Waterloo. ' ' 
 
 " Monsieur ! " cried the poet, rising in wrath and lurch- 
 ing forward, * ' let me tell you — ' ' 
 
 " Nay, sir ! " remarked Jerom.e pleasantly, " I do not 
 blame you. A tradesman naturally shows his best wares in 
 the window, and his doubtful ones he discreetly keeps in the 
 shop." 
 
 ' ' Your philosophy is hard on England, ' ' observed lyian- 
 court, laughing. 
 
 "Precisely. Imagine! Honi soit qui vial y pe7ise ! 
 (* Shame to him who thinks ill of it ! ') And is there a coun- 
 try where they do think more ill of it, where they are more 
 tied to convention and form and barbarous Puritanic absurd- 
 ities, than England ? And this country of Mrs. Grundy 
 placidly takes Honi soit for its motto ! ' ' 
 
 " Yet a useful motto when you consider England's genius 
 for land-grabbing," murmured M. Lacontel, he of the 
 Colonies. 
 
 " Yes," added M. de Tournon, " for you Americans alone 
 have escaped her clutches. ' ' 
 
 *' By England's stupidity," put in the American Ambas- 
 sador. " She forgot we had gone out of childhood. A boy 
 of eighteen objects to wearing his father's cut-down clothes. ' ' 
 
78 An American Emperor 
 
 " But did you gain ? " interjected M. Liancourt. " You 
 got rid of the second-hand suit and went in for a misfit ! ' ' 
 
 ' ' Ah ! ' ' repHed the ambassador, ' ' we are unfortunate. 
 We have had a long succession of tailors to take up the job, 
 but somehow they never succeeded in getting further than 
 the pockets. ' ' 
 
 " And, besides," snarled the journalist, " American rais- 
 government is absolutely essential for the Sunday editions 
 of the New York papers. ' ' 
 
 "Nay," was the sweet response, " if you were ever to 
 try the experiment of a nev/spaper in Paris, you would find it 
 only an incidental evil. ' * 
 
 " America is so vast, so isolated ! " said M. Ribou. " You 
 never put forth offshoots such as would bring you into touch 
 with other nations." 
 
 " That is so," replied Vansittart. " America is engaged 
 in colonizing her own country." 
 
 " You have the instinct from England," remarked M. 
 Lacontel. " With her it is not art, but nature. She is but 
 an animal, and her sons are mere unformed creatures of sav- 
 agedom. Great Britain flings her barbarians out to other 
 climes and other shores. They are a brood of vegetable 
 brutes, who care not where they fall. They immediately 
 take root in the earth, and are natives in a month." 
 
 " Alas ! yes," moaned M. Lesieur. " France is too 
 civilized to colonize. The Frenchman is a delicately nur- 
 tured flower that needs its native soil. Transplant him, and 
 he fades !" 
 
 " In other words," added M. lyiancourt, " the Frenchman 
 is always the Boulevardier. He must be v.ithin reasonable 
 distance of his cafe." 
 
 " Sentiment governs us, you see, even in politics ! " and 
 M. I^esieur looked seraphic. 
 
 " Yes," retorted Jerome, " a neurotic sentiment, like that 
 of your poetry. That is why in colonizing you instinctively 
 choose the unhealthy spots." 
 
A Startling Scheme 79 
 
 A laugh went round the table; and Jerome seeing his 
 opportunity, struck in again. 
 
 " You need colonies, gentlemen. Who can deny it is the 
 ambition of all nations to have the truest of immortalities, a 
 great colonial empire, — alas ! the only immortality that they 
 can look to with certainty. A greater France, a France of 
 the seas, a France that has its arms round the world, — is not 
 that the dream of all true patriots ? ' ' 
 
 There was a murmur of assent. 
 
 " But there are difl&culties. What corner of the earth 
 is there left ? Where can you plant your children ? Eng- 
 land is always beforehand. Her step is like that of the 
 giant of fable. Each time she plants her foot on earth, her 
 strength is doubled. What is left, all Europe has struggled 
 for ; and if an odd fragment is to be found, do not all 
 the powers sit round it, snarling, and showing their teeth ? 
 Then where is France to colonize ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' There is still force ! ' ' muttered the Minister of War. 
 
 "An idle hope. No; you need a new continent, some 
 fresh hemisphere, perhaps a region in the centre of the 
 earth. And then your colony, as you say, must be near 
 France. Her sons will not live happily unless they are near 
 their beloved Paris. You observe how you add to other 
 difficulties a final one that seems insuperable ? " 
 
 " That seems insuperable ! " exclaimed M. Lacontel with 
 significant emphasis. His eyes were fixed in deep engross- 
 ment on the American's face. Jerome went on calmly, — 
 
 " I said seems ; for, gentlemen, I have an idea that if you 
 cannot find a colony close to your elbow, if no habitable spot 
 be left on earth, then " — 
 
 " Yes, yes ! " cried a dozen eager voices. 
 
 " Why, in that case," continued Vansittart imperturb- 
 ably, ' ' there is nothing left but to create a new continent, 
 to call it from the vasty deep, to construct a colony ; in other 
 words, to manufacture what you do not find ready to hand." 
 
 A gasp of surprise went round the table at these extraor- 
 
8o An American Emperor 
 
 dinary words. The excitement of the evening had done its 
 work. Every one was inflamed and roused from his ordi- 
 nary calmness of temperament. This incredible utterance, 
 so flattering to French hopes, yet so extravagant, flashed 
 through every mind like the thrill of some sudden but pleas- 
 urable shock. A dead hush prevailed, and minister and 
 poet alike gazed earnestly at Vansittart as he continued, — 
 
 " I am in earnest, messieurs. I believe in what I say. It 
 rests with you. Do you desire a great, a mighty addition to 
 your empire close at hand, within a day or two's journey from 
 your own country ? ' ' 
 
 A shout of assent arose. The tension was almost un- 
 bearable. 
 
 ' ' Then behold ! ' ' and at these words Jerome suddenly 
 displayed to the company a map of Europe and northern 
 Africa. All else was colored green. France alone was col- 
 ored red; and, to the bewilderment of his guests, they ob- 
 served that this color leapt over the Mediterranean Sea, and 
 spread through the vast territory of the Sahara. 
 
 " Impossible ! " gasped the Colonial Minister. 
 
 M. Ribou trembled. M. de Tournon, in his excitement, 
 swept some glasses off the table. Even the phlegmatic Lian- 
 court became pale. 
 
 " No, gentlemen," cried Vansittart, flinging the map 
 away, *' it is not impossible ! That great wilderness, with its 
 burning sands, has been for centuries the blot on the map 
 of civilization. It shall remain so no longer. I tell you that 
 the Sahara can be watered, you can drive canals through it, 
 you can transform it into a smiling country. It shall be a 
 second France, a new dominion of the Republic. 
 
 " Do you think I speak at random ? I shall prove to you, 
 M. Lacontel, naj-, to any one who chooses, that it is merely a 
 matter of money. My engineers have already surveyed the 
 country. They are convinced. They have prepared their 
 plans. In five years the Sahara shall be one of the most 
 fruitful regfious of the earth. 
 
A Startling Scheme 8i 
 
 " And to whom shall it belong ? Gentlemen, I back up 
 my opinion with my whole wealth. I place it at the feet of 
 the Republic. France shall undertake the work, and I will 
 throw in my lot with her. France shall be the pioneer 
 amongst the nations. Gentlemen, the Sahara — you are the 
 flower of the French people — shall the Sahara be left to Eng- 
 land, or shall it flourish under the tricolor ? " 
 
 At this question an extraordinary scene took place. There 
 was no resisting the magnetism, the spirit, the calm assur- 
 ance, of this powerful American. Every one started to his 
 feet with a cry; and a shout of " France and the Sahara I " 
 was taken up and repeated with v/ild enthusiasm by all. 
 The flushed faces of the excited statesmen vied with the 
 more mad exuberance of the rest. It was many minutes 
 before there came a lull in the storm. 
 
 Then M. Liancourt cried out, raising his glass unsteadily 
 to his lips, — 
 
 " To the nuptials of France and the Sahara ! " 
 
 Jerome stayed his arm. 
 
 "Nay," he said gravely, "you are premature. Let me 
 propose a toast more fitting. Gentlepen ; ' To their 
 betrothal !'" 
 
 And v;ith loud cries the glasses were drained and the 
 stupefied party, unable to restrain their excitement, sepa- 
 rated into groups, and the great dinner-party was at an end ! 
 
 6 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 HOW VANSITTART BECAME; A FRKNCHMAN 
 
 A SENSATIONAL item of news appeared in the Figaro 
 side by side with the report of the banquet. 
 
 It had many headings, and the information it contained 
 was sufficiently startling to occupy the minds of the Paris- 
 ians for the whole of that day. 
 
 It announced to its readers that Jerome K. Vansittart had 
 become naturalized as a citizen of the Republic of France, 
 and a short Act to be forthwith passed through the Chamber 
 would place him in full enjoj^nient of all the rights and 
 privileges appertaining thereto. This was sufficiently 
 remarkable, but there were many who rubbed their eyes 
 with amazement when they read the statements which fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 "It is both rare and difficult," said the Figaro, " for a 
 foreigner to become a citizen of France unless he has won a 
 right to that distinction by long residence, or by distinguished 
 services to the Republic. M. Vansittart can at present claim 
 neither, and 5^et there are very potent reasons why this honor 
 should have been conferred upon him. 
 
 " In the veins of M. Vansittart flows the blood of one of 
 the royal houses of France. He is not a foreigner. He is a 
 citizen whose circumstances have kept him apart from his 
 native land. 
 
 ' ' The stor>^ is strange and romantic, but we can vouch for 
 the accuracy of the facts. 
 
 ' ' Students of French history — and what honest patriot has 
 not followed the glorious annals of our great country — will 
 
 82 
 
How Vansittart Became a Frenchman %'i^ 
 
 be aware that there were several offshoots of the Buonaparte 
 family who were overwhelmed in the ruin of the great em- 
 pire, and who sought a safe exile on foreign shores. 
 
 " One of the most distinguished of these was Prince 
 Jerome, — not the uncle, but the cousin, of Napoleon, — a man 
 whom destiny seemed to have marked out for a noble career, 
 and who certainly would have become the prince of one of 
 the empires of Europe which the great Buonaparte was carv- 
 ing out for himself and for France. This Jerome, upon the 
 fall of his cousin, having sought in vain to accompany him 
 to the accursed island of St. Helena, fled to America, hoping 
 that in that new land of promise bright ideals of freedom and 
 of empire might be realized. 
 
 " From that time forth nothing was heard of Prince 
 Jerome, and it was believed that the sorrows of his house 
 had overwhelmed the man, and that he had fallen a victim 
 to his own despair. 
 
 ' ' This was not so. Prince Jerome was one who accepted 
 fate with equanimity. He found America to be a country 
 which needed honest labor and civic devotion. He became 
 a citizen of America, took unto himself a large tract of the 
 country, and there followed the habits and pursuits common 
 to those who may be called the pioneers of civilization in 
 that new continent. He married and had a daughter, and it 
 is from this daughter that M. Jerome K. Vansittart is directly 
 descended. It will therefore be seen that M. Vansittart's 
 great-grandfather was the cousin of the greatest of French 
 emperors, and that therefore his claims to citizenship in our 
 country are not those of a foreigner coming from an alien 
 shore. 
 
 ' ' We understand that strong representations were made 
 to the Office of the Interior, that, in view of the extraordi- 
 nary and romantic circumstances surrounding M. Vansittart's 
 birth and descent, the usual tedious preliminaries should be 
 dispensed w4th, and that he should enter into the full rights 
 of citizenship immediately. 
 
84 An American Emperor 
 
 ' ' So long as the French heart beats warmly, so long will 
 the name of our great Napoleon have power to persuade. 
 The argument was successful. 
 
 " M. Vansittart we may claim with satisfaction as a fellow- 
 subject of our mighty Republic." 
 
 When Jerome read this interesting and fanciful story, he 
 smiled with a satisfied air. But as he took out of his pocket 
 a check-book, and proceeded to write a check for a very large 
 sum made payable to M. de Tournon, the Minister for the 
 Interior, he said to himself, — 
 
 " There is something even more persuasive in its effect 
 than the name of ' our great Napoleon ! ' " 
 
 The news excited Paris. Vansittart had made himself 
 popular, not merely by his wit and address amongst the 
 higher classes, but in particular amongst the unknown nuil- 
 titudes that form the populace, by his courtesy, his consider- 
 ation, and his extreme affability. 
 
 Jerome was aware that his chief conquest would be that of 
 the workmen of Paris. It was well enough to secure the 
 good favor of the brilliant members of Paris society who 
 glittered in drawing-rooms, and whose names were on every- 
 one's tongue. But, after all, it was not these who were the 
 serious members of the community. It was not these, as M. 
 Liancourt had observed, who ruled the fortunes of France. 
 Poets, philosophers, statesmen, wits, — these were weather- 
 cocks, light-headed creatures, who would bend before circum- 
 stances, and who might be expected to be found in the v/ake 
 of success. 
 
 But the truly solid part of the nation — the ballast, as it 
 were, to a ship that would otherwise be dangerously light — 
 was the great multitude of silent workmen who walked of a 
 morning to their manufactory, who sat dreamily at their 
 cafes at dSjeiiner, who spoke little, who seemed to think little,, 
 whose lives consisted in the same ceaseless round of common 
 existence, — the workshop, the cafe, the home. 
 
 Yet it was this ponderous mass which, set moving, had 
 
How Vansittart Became a Frenchman 85 
 
 the power to overturn ministries and to throw down em- 
 pires. The honest ouvrier, who loves peace, who cares not 
 for the ceaseless excitement of political fanaticism, — him and 
 his class it was necessary for the ruler of France to convince. 
 
 And, curiously, Vansittart had already moved them. His 
 honesty and kindness had been so free from ostentation, his 
 generosity so quiet and so thoughtful, and his manner had 
 so much of that real spirit of good comradeship which is the 
 ideal so sought for and so little found in Republican coun- 
 tries, that he seemed to be a man of the people, and his 
 enormous wealth only added the touch of romance to his 
 figure which made him loom largely in the eyes of those who 
 regarded him. 
 
 Jerome was to discover the extraordinary- progress he had 
 made in the affections of the people in a very remarkable 
 way. One or two of the more disreputable papers in Paris 
 had already commenced to attack this American. One of 
 them, Lc Soir, had attempted to jeer at him for his wealth 
 by publishing extravagant stories about him, and by giving 
 him ridiculous names, all of which were not heeded by any- 
 body. 
 
 But one morning Le Soir made a very unhappy mistake. 
 In a violent article, in w-hich it shrieked forth anathemas 
 against this wealthy stranger who was taking Paris by 
 storm, the writer wound up, — 
 
 " Does this man imagine that by his vulgar gold, torn by 
 violent hands from a starving and miserable countr}^ by 
 unholy and dastardly methods of financial sharp practice — 
 does he imagine that he can secure for himself thereby an 
 honored position in our stately capital, or be accepted by our 
 distinguished society ? 
 
 " And yet such is the audacity of the monster, that he 
 comports himself as an emperor ! 
 
 " We, the mere miserable citizens of our own countr}-, are 
 expected to bow the knee before this new dictator, or, shall 
 we not rather at once call him, Jerome the First ! " 
 
86 All Ajjterica7z Emperor 
 
 The editor was pleased when he had written this, for he 
 had given Vausittart a nick-name, and nick-names in Paris 
 are very dangerous. 
 
 He forgot, however, that it is all in the throw of the die. 
 Sometimes a nick-name makes, not mars. 
 
 The fact was that in the eyes of the Parisian multitude 
 Vansittart had something of the kingly air, and it pleased 
 their imagination to regard him in the light of a great 
 prince. Since they knew that he was a descendant of their 
 adored Napoleon, they had placed around his head the halo 
 of sentiment ; and they considered how possible it was, that, 
 had fortune been more kindly, this fine, noble, dangerous 
 American might have sat upon the throne of France. When, 
 therefore, they read the virulent article in Le Soir, they 
 were inflamed, not to wTath, but to enthusiasm, by the new 
 name that the editor had found for the man he hated. 
 
 The next time that Vansittart drove in the streets of Paris, 
 he was astonished to find himself greeted by loud cries of 
 " Long live Jerome the First ! " 
 
 The name had run through Paris like a fire. Not a street 
 gamin but caught it up and repeated it. 
 
 Already Vansittart, though he had not found his throne, 
 had received his kingly title. 
 
 Who that kuov.-s Paris will be surprised ? — who that knows 
 the yearning of her people for a fixed and settled govern- 
 ment, for the rule of the strong man, for the personal ascend- 
 ency of the individual ? for the French citizen at heart 
 despises the shifting, inconstant statesmanship which knows 
 not where it is going or whence it comes, such as marks its 
 present constitution, — a chamber which is the home of igno- 
 rant demagogues or vain-glorious aspirants, where man 
 marks out man, faction fights with faction, and the Repub- 
 lic is forgotten in the mean struggle for personal aggrandize- 
 ment. 
 
 Politics were, in fact, a mere trade, in v^hich men made 
 their money or lost it, on which they staked their reputations 
 
How Vansittart Became a Frenchman Sy 
 
 and made their fortunes or achieved their ruin ; or perhaps, 
 better still, it was a game in which the only thing of import- 
 ance was not the state, that tremendous interest always at 
 stake, but the diseased ambitions of reckless gamblers, which 
 put now this and now that party into power. There was no 
 permanence in such policy, no sound principle at the bottom 
 of it. Over and over again the people of France yearned for 
 something nobler, for some fixed and honorable form of gov- 
 ernment; beyond all things, for some powerful monarch to 
 rule justly and gather round him those who were prudent 
 and wise and statesmanlike. 
 
 Of late this feeling had had a curious stimulus from the 
 visit of the Czar of Russia to the capital. 
 
 There are words which fall upon French ears with a curi- 
 ous effect, — an effect that has power to heat the blood and 
 overthrow empires. They are words, coming from the past, 
 long since disused, and yet laden with the hopes and emo- 
 tions of a brave and brilliant nation. 
 
 When the Czar had gone through the streets of Paris, and 
 the soldiers and populace alike had shouted in loud tones of 
 acclamation " Vive V Em per cur ! " there was no doubt of the 
 enthusiasm for their distinguished visitor. But the phrase 
 lingered pleasantly in their memory ; it fired their imagina- 
 tion ; it recalled the past ; its sound, as it swelled forth from 
 ten thousand voices, seemed to bear with it the accents of 
 their own great history, and to recall too vividly those noble 
 passages in the annals of France which fired the emotions and 
 stirred the spirit of the citizen. 
 
 Were they, then, to shout " Vive V Empereicr ! ^^ only to 
 those who came from other countries, and never to one of 
 themselves ? There were some who remembered how they 
 cheered Napoleon the Third before that fatal declaration of 
 war which ruined the Third Empire. There were others 
 whose imaginations carried them back to those wonderful 
 scenes of excitement and national passion, when the great 
 Kmperor himself would pass in the streets of Paris, and the 
 
88 Aft American Emperor 
 
 uaiue, made nobler by a hundred victories, would burst from 
 the lips of an adoring people. 
 
 There are some countries which are phlegmatic and logical 
 and sober. To them names are but symbols ; but to others 
 these names have around them an atmosphere of passion. 
 France is the land of emotion. A word can inflame her; and 
 the word, thus early sinking deep in her heart, was already 
 calling forth all her slumbering energies, all her hidden 
 dreams and hopes. 
 
 And thus it was that when the Paris mob cried out, at 
 first perhaps carelessly and half with a smile, but after- 
 wards without the smile and half seriously, ' ' Vive Jc7'ome 
 Premier .' " it was still more natural to go into the cafe and 
 think. And what those thoughts were, who can tell ? 
 
 Most of all, the sound was dear to the French soldiery. 
 To have their Emperor restored was dearer still. To them 
 it meant empire, victory, glory. 
 
 In fact, there could be no doubt that the worst day's work 
 the editor of Le Soir ev^er did for himself, and the best turn 
 that had ever been done to Vansittart, was when, in con- 
 tempt, he put into the mouths of the Parisians the name 
 which invested the American with some of the attributes of 
 kingship. 
 
 Jerome was sitting in a happy frame of mind in his study 
 two days after the famous banquet, when, with an uncere- 
 monious bang and a clatter of feet, his Master of the Horse 
 broke in upon his meditations. 
 
 ' ' Hullo, Dick ! " he cried. ' ' Why this uproar ? Brought 
 your whole blood-stock with 3'ou ? ' ' 
 
 " Look here, old man! " was the reply. " What on earth 
 will 5^ou be doing next ? If things go on like this, my 
 brain '11 burst, and in that case j'ou won't win the Grand 
 Prix next 3'ear. Have j'ou seen the Telegraph f ' ' 
 
 " No," replied Jerome languidly, " Anything in it ? " 
 
 " Yes, by George ! thej^ 've started a column called 
 " ' VANSITTART DAY BY DAY.' " 
 
How Vansittart Became a Frejichman 89 
 
 The American took the paper, glanced at it, and then put 
 
 it quietly on the table. 
 
 "My dear Dick," he said, "they don't quite seem to 
 have grasped me in Fleet Street yet, and I 'm not particu- 
 larly anxious that they should. When English journalism 
 comes into the game, it means cards face-up right vv'ay 
 through. The Telegraph is smart enough, perhaps ; but I 
 tell you, if it wants to keep up with me, it will have to be 
 ' Vansittart hour by hour,' ' minute by minute, ' yes,' second 
 by second.' There 's no going slow now, Dick. We 're 
 in it." 
 
 " Do you really imagine you can make a flourishing col- 
 ony of the Sahara ? ' ' 
 
 " Not onl}^ do I think it, I know it, and, what is more, 
 I am going to spend every penny I have in the world, if 
 necessary, in doing it ! " 
 
 " But why, in the name of wonder ? " 
 
 " Because it 's the biggest thing left on earth to do. Do 
 you remember how Alexander cried for new worlds to con- 
 quer ? Well, I have found what he could n't see. I 'm 
 going to conquer a new world, and that new world is the 
 Sahara. I 'm going to add a new vast country to civiliza- 
 tion. Don't you think that a scheme like that is worthy of 
 a man ? Look at my wealth ! What am I going to do with 
 it ? Fritter it away in benefactions and speculations, in doing 
 odd good turns, building a church or tvv'o, and endowing a 
 couple of universities ? Not I ! Such wealth gives a man 
 boundless power, and I feel that I have similar responsi- 
 bilities. I intend to confer a service upon mankind. People 
 shall say of Vansittart, not that he was rich, but that he 
 used his riches well. I shall rank," he ended with a merry 
 laugh, ' ' with Sebastian Cabot and Christopher Columbus ! ' ' 
 
 " But how unpracticable a proposal ! It 's worse than 
 reaching the North Pole." 
 
 Jerome looked grave. 
 
 ' ' My dear Dick, the difficulties of the Sahara have seemed 
 
90 An American Emperor 
 
 insuperable, simply because the money needed to overcome 
 them was beyond the practical range of finance. There is 
 nothing on earth that money cannot do. Well, we have 
 money, France and I : we will do it together. Shall we say 
 a hundred millions sterling to start with, it shall be there. 
 Is a second hundred millions wanted, a third, a fourth, a 
 fifth, the money shall never be to seek. In a few years' 
 time the Sahara will be exporting fruits, grain, and cattle. 
 Do you smile ? But will 3'ou believe me when I say that 
 there have been many practicable schemes prepared, and 
 that I have one now which has obtained the approval of the 
 first three engineers in the world ? ' ' 
 
 Dick looked at his friend admiringly. 
 
 " I believe you can do anything you like, Jerry," he said ; 
 " but I did not know you were such a philanthropist." 
 
 ' ' Call it ambition, if you like. Mind, I am not doing this 
 simply to call into existence a new continent. I want to 
 find along those vast sandy deserts the smiling tokens of a 
 pleasant and prosperous country. The canals are important, 
 of course, but they are no mere speculation on mj^ part. I 
 am thinking of quite different things, of farms and town- 
 ships, of the vast wealth to be derived from a willing people, 
 whose charges will be the signs of their prosperity. I am 
 not going to water the Sahara and leave it there to fate. I 
 am going to develop it, — to build great cities and great 
 docks, — to make a second France of it. You see, do 5^ou 
 not, that it is a new kingdom that I am thinking of, 
 — a kingdom which will rise by magic from desert and 
 waste, from arid wilderness and burning sands. Will it not 
 be something to have effected it ? " 
 
 "It is wonderful," admitted Dick pensively. " But you 
 are dragging France into it. You are now a Frenchman. 
 What is your idea there ? Why not do the whole thing 
 yourself ? ' ' 
 
 " Ah, Dick ! " smiled Jerome. " I must read you a chapter 
 out of a little book I am preparing, which will show you that 
 
How Vansittart Became a Frenchman 91 
 
 more is necessary for a prosperous colony than money and 
 good soil. It must have a sentiment, and a history ready 
 made. It must belong to a great country, it must be colo- 
 nized by a noble people. You will never be able to found 
 a happy colony by a limited liability company alone. I have 
 chosen France, partly for that reason, partly because of my 
 mission here. Don't 3^ou .see, Dick, that it is the Sahara 
 that will place me on the throne of France ? 
 
 " They are always dreaming of the aggrandizement of 
 France, of new colonies, of great deeds, of dazzling victories. 
 Do you remember how the Suez Canal made them frantic 
 with jubilation, that it was they who had initiated and car- 
 ried through an undertaking so stupendous ? A^^'as it not so 
 with the Panama scheme ? Every Frenchman, rich or poor, 
 subscribed, and subscribed again, not merely because there 
 was hope of profit, but because each one believed he was 
 doing something for the glorification of his country, that he 
 was helping in a cause that would throw new lustre around 
 the head of France. Even when the scheme collapsed, it 
 w^as not all dishonor. The aged De Lesseps — inculpated as 
 the rest — do you not remember how there remained to the 
 end a feeling of reverence for him, and all because, though 
 it proved a failure, he had endeavored to do something to 
 increase the power and splendor of France ? They honored 
 him for the mere wish, the mere desire, though they were 
 ruined by it. That could never be quite forgotten even 
 amid the public despair. 
 
 ' ' This new scheme is by far the vastest, the most extraor- 
 dinary, the most romantic, the most incredible of all. And 
 it will succeed. Remember that. Dick, France will be at my 
 feet in six months. I am giving her a new colony, a new 
 empire. I am letting her achieve the last miracle left to be 
 performed. Her pride, her honor, are concerned as they 
 have never before been concerned in a scheme of empire, 
 science, or finance. What will my position be if I can suc- 
 ceed in all this ? Ay, and right through I am the one man 
 
92 A 71 American E^npcror 
 
 who can direct, who can foresee, who can command, who can 
 keep the exchequer ever full. Dick, old fellow," and 
 Jerome got up and paced the room, showing for the first 
 time how deeply he was moved by the extraordinary^ possi- 
 bilities of his scheme, " the problem is solved. I set out to 
 conquer a people. I shall do it, ay, and honestly too, — 
 for I shall be a friend to France. She shall never have 
 cause to turn and accuse me." 
 
 Then suddenly sinking down in his chair, he said 
 abruptly : 
 
 " What about a hand at poker ? " 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 VANSITTART'S PROPOSAI, 
 
 WHEN Vansittart, early in July, asked France to give 
 him at the outset fifty millions sterling, which he pro- 
 posed to double out of his own pocket, for the purpose of 
 starting the conquest of the Sahara, he no longer used the 
 language of heated rhetoric, but descended to plain facts and 
 figures. 
 
 He was not now dealing with the imaginative poet or the 
 venal politician, but with the shrewd and cautious investor, 
 who had to be convinced, that, at the end of years of frightful 
 struggle against the most potent forces of nature, a fertile 
 province as large as the whole of Europe would be won for 
 France from the wastes of torrid sand. 
 
 For the French to embark upon any such wild-cat scheme, 
 it was necessary, in the first instance, to secure Government 
 sanction for the company, which was curiously entitled 
 " Sahara, Limited, and Jerome Vansittart." 
 
 This was easily obtained, and carried with it a certain 
 amount of prestige; for, although ministers held aloof from 
 the undertaking, the fact that they had allowed the money 
 to be subscribed was regarded as in some sort an oflBcial 
 imprimatur. 
 
 But what did Vansittart propose ? It will best serve to 
 elucidate this remarkable narrative of events if quotations 
 be liberally made from the original prospectus. The accom- 
 panying map will also make clear the chief features of the 
 design. 
 
 93 
 
94 An Americaft Emperor 
 
 " My intention," lie wrote (and lie invariably used pro- 
 nouns in the first person) "is to rescue from the sleep of 
 ages a rich, fruitful, and bounteous land, which Nature, in 
 her last fierce struggle to remain barbarian, has shrouded 
 from the tents of men. 
 
 ' ' There is no room for doubt that in prehistoric days the 
 region now known as the Great Desert of the Sahara con- 
 sisted of an inland sea whose waters washed the shores of a 
 fertile country stretching from the southern centre of the 
 Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean. Its bays and estu- 
 aries flooded the depressions that run from the existing 
 desert northwards to Morocco and Algeria, and southwards 
 to Timbuktu and Lake Tchad. 
 
 " Your scientists, AIM. Desor and Cosson ; eminent Eng- 
 lishmen like Sir Charles Lyell, Professors Ramsay and Boj'd 
 Dawkins, and Messrs. Wallace, Tristram, and George Maw, — 
 unite with Teuton geographers, represented by Herr Escher 
 von der Einth, in definitely establishing the early submerg- 
 ence of the Sahara below the level of the sea. 
 
 ' ' Sir Charlq^ Ej'ell declares his conviction that the Desert 
 of the Sahara was under water between the twentieth and 
 thirtieth degrees of latitude, ' so that the eastern part of the 
 Mediterranean communicated with that part of the ocean 
 now bounded by the West Coast of Africa ' ; and Mr. Wallace 
 writes, ' The important fact has now been ascertained that 
 a considerable portion of the Sahara south of Algeria and 
 Morocco was under water at a very recent epoch.' 
 
 " I afiinn without fear of contradiction, that, aided by the 
 people of France, I can again subjugate this dried-up ocean 
 bed, with the far-reaching difference between its fonner and 
 its future state, that, whereas salt water once covered the face 
 of the land, its place wiU now be taken by vivifying fresh 
 water. 
 
 * ' Can this be done ? Yes, by men and money spent with- 
 out stint, and directed and encouraged by the intelligence 
 that an all-wise Providence has given to us. 
 
Vansittarf s Proposal 95 
 
 *' The map shows clearly the position of Cape Juby on 
 the Atlantic seaboard opposite to the Canary Islands, and 
 the series of salt lakes, called Shotts, extending from the 
 Gulf of Gabes in the Mediterranean as far as the centre of 
 the Algerian province of Constantine. It also shows two 
 lines of railway running from Algiers to El Aghuat, and 
 from Philippeville to Biskra. 
 
 " El Aghuat and Biskra are the two main caravan centres 
 for the Desert, — trading-points selected by the Arabs from 
 the times when the north of Africa was throughout as fertile 
 as Herodotus found Egypt where now the Suez Canal runs 
 through an arid plain, in which the mirage alone conjures 
 up ghostly visions of the glorious past. These railroads will 
 be built forthwith. 
 
 * ' Through a fourteen-mile barrier of sand and rock, at a 
 site already selected at Boca Grande near Cape Juby, an 
 aqueduct will carry daily to the parched wilderness 100,000,- 
 000 gallons of distilled water. The sea will be guided into 
 gigantic basins erected on the coast. Here the salt will be 
 extracted, forming in itself a remunerative article of com- 
 merce; and the residuum of sweet water will be allowed, 
 under efficient scientific control, to irrigate and fertilize the 
 Great Desert of Igidi up to the base of the mud walls of the 
 city of Timbuktu. 
 
 " On the eastern side a number of short canals will con- 
 nect the Mediterranean Sea with Shott Jerid, Shott Rharsa, 
 Shott Ashishina, and Shott Melrhir, thus enabling ocean- 
 going steamers to reach almost to the outskirts of Biskra. 
 At this terminus of the salt-water system, similar appliances 
 to those proposed to be used on the Atlantic coast Vvill de- 
 liver an equal volume of distilled water into the wadys, or 
 valleys, that lead from Biskra to the southwest through the 
 Sandhill region and close to the Muydir Plateau. 
 
 " It is impossible to believe that even the enormous quan- 
 tity of 200,000,000 gallons of distilled water daily, flowing 
 from east and west into a region that contains nearly three 
 
96 All American Emperor 
 
 and a half millions of square miles, will alone suffice to bring 
 it back under the control of the agriculturist and the stock- 
 breeder. 
 
 ' ' But there are throughout this vast territory great moun- 
 tain ranges, which during the rainy season pour torrents of 
 fresh water down their slopes, to be greedily swallowed by 
 the desert, which has been desiccated by the unchecked heat 
 of the sun throughout the rest of the year. 
 
 ' ' What the Boca Grande and Biskra aqueducts will accom- 
 plish is the suspension of the process of complete evaporation 
 which now goes on annually. 
 
 " The forces of nature will thus co-operate with us in 
 yearly increasing area and power; and it is mathematically 
 certain that within five years after the fresh-water canals 
 have commenced to pour their contents into the interior, the 
 Great Desert of the Sahara will cease to exist as a geo- 
 graphical expression. 
 
 " My engineers, who have been making exhaustive sur- 
 veys during many months past, have issued reports which 
 fully bear out my statements, and the most satisfactory fea- 
 ture of the project is that the world will not be called upon 
 to wait for its completion before ocular proof is given of its 
 success. Each foot won from the desert is an asset for the 
 shareholders, and is an extension of France. 
 
 " As to the cost, the two railways, with ample equipment, 
 will require ten milHons sterling. That they will at once be 
 remunerative is amply shown by the fact that the French 
 Government and private speculators alike have long enter- 
 tained their construction. 
 
 *' In the larger scheme it is difficult to forecast the expend- 
 iture. On the salt-reduction works alone, some fift}^ millions 
 of pounds will be spent ; the canals and aqueducts will 
 require another hundred millions ; and a similar sum will go 
 toward establishing and consolidating this newly-won empire. 
 
 " I am, by the will of the Great Ruler, wealthy enough 
 myself to do this work unaided. But I prefer to be asso- 
 
Vansittarf s Proposal 97 
 
 dated with the people of France in the greatest enterprise 
 that has yet been attempted by the human race ; and, to 
 give earnest proof of my convictions, I propose to finance the 
 project on the following basis : 
 
 " The capital of the company will consist, in the first 
 instance, of ^100,000,000 sterling in 1,000,000 shares of 
 ^100 each. Of this sum, 500,000 ordinary shares are now 
 offered to the public at par ; and I subscribe an equal amount 
 in deferred shares, which will not rank for dividend until six 
 per cent, is paid on the ordinary capital. I also guarantee 
 four per cent, interest out of my own purse during construc- 
 tion ; and, if the proposal should prove to be impracticable 
 after this first stage of expenditure is exhausted, I undertake 
 to repay every ordinary shareholder at par. 
 
 " If, however, as I believe, it be proved beyond doubt to 
 be successful, further capital will be called for as needed, 
 always bearing four per cent, interest during construction, 
 and issued in the same proportions and under the same con- 
 ditions as the first amount. 
 
 * ' The sum which I personally expend in interest will be 
 returned to me as a preferential charge upon earnings after 
 the payment of six per cent, on the ordinary capital. 
 
 " In a word, people of France, if you believe in me as I trust 
 in you, we will march together triumphantly to the conquest 
 of the richest domain yet wrested by humanity from grudging 
 Nature. ' ' 
 
 The foregoing is but a digest of Jerome's forcible and con- 
 vincing appeal, and his remarkable statements were sup- 
 ported in calm and clear terms by the expert reports which 
 he annexed to the main document. He explained, in paren- 
 thesis, that the term pound sterling had been used throughout 
 as the most convenient unit of value, owing to the predomi- 
 nant position of England in the financial world. 
 
 Although this statement was not soothing to French van- 
 ity, Jerome knew that the highest possible unit was imperative 
 in the view of the tremendous system of accounts necessary 
 
98 An Anurican Emperor 
 
 for the careful conduct of the enterprise ; aud he cleverly 
 gilded the pill by observing that the shares would in this 
 form be more readily marketable in England when they had 
 risen by force of circumstances to a high premium. 
 
 It may be urged that the stock of the company was placed 
 beyond the reach of the small investor by reason of its price ; 
 namely, 2500 francs per share. 
 
 But the riches of France are far more evenly divided 
 among the people than in other countries ; and he was able 
 to reach a lower level of the population, even with this maxi- 
 mum price, than would have been possible outside the limits 
 of the Republic. 
 
 At a stroke of the pen he settled the unemploj'ed problem 
 in France. Besides asking for and obtaining the money of 
 her wealthier citizens, he announced that in due course there 
 would be unlimited openings for labor and skilled artisans 
 upon the works, and that to every man who passed two com- 
 plete years in his employment he would personally give one 
 fully-paid deferred share. As it was stipulated that these 
 shares would absorb two thirds of the earnings after the 
 preferential claims of the ordinary shares were met, he sug- 
 gested that ultimately they would be the more valuable 
 possession of the two. 
 
 To say that this marvellous production astounded France, 
 is simply to state a bald fact. 
 
 "It is a proclamation, not a prospectus," said a member 
 of the Senate when he had finished reading it. 
 
 " Yes," said another, " they are curious phrases, — ' I and 
 the people of France,' ' this newly-won empire,' and the 
 rest." 
 
 " He is an inspired madman," growled de Tournon. " I 
 must watch him closely, for, if he succeeds, there will be no 
 stopping him." 
 
 The French Press, corrupt and venal to the last degree, 
 realized that there was no chance for Panama peculations in 
 this nuge project, and with few exceptions, following the 
 
Vansittarf s Proposal 99 
 
 bent of public sympathies, eulogized the proposal and 
 its originator to the magnificent extent of the French 
 language. 
 
 In England, ' ' Vansittart and his Desert, ' ' as Truth 
 dubbed the company, were received with some degree of 
 hesitancy. But the Times frankly confessed that the vast- 
 ness of the scheme disarmed criticism. " It is a creation of 
 genius, ' ' said the great newspaper, ' ' and it cannot therefore 
 be tested by ordinary standards. All that the average man 
 can do is to reflect upon the wide meaning of M. Vansittart's 
 statement that he is individually rich enough to back the 
 enterprise by the full amount of capital supposed to be 
 required. That he will be strongly supported by the French 
 investor cannot be doubted ; and the question naturally 
 occurs to the English mind, ' What cannot be achieved by 
 a sum equal to half the national debt of England ? ' "We 
 wish this bold American, or Frenchman as he now is, luck 
 in his undertaking. ' ' 
 
 The Telegraph contented itself with several leading arti- 
 cles upon the history of the world from the earliest periods, 
 with obvious references to the canalization of Mars and the 
 discovery of Uranus. 
 
 It was left for the Daily Mail to take a really useful view 
 of the situation. It sent a special commissioner to Boca 
 Grande ; and he reported that the gradients were dead in 
 favor of Jerome's plans, " if only the salt could be extracted 
 from a sufiicient quantity of water. ' ' Upon this finding, the 
 city editor of that enterprising journal advised some one in 
 Brixton not to dabble in the shares, but to invest in brewery 
 debentures. 
 
 The British Foreign Ofl5ce kept an eye upon Vansittart's 
 proceedings ; and the Penuanent Under Secretary, after a 
 scrutiny of the map and a consultation with the Keeper of 
 Records anent a certain long-forgotten treaty with Spain, 
 solemnly winked at his immediate subordinate as he made ^ 
 memorandum for the information of his chief. 
 
lOO An American Emperor 
 
 The meaning of that portentous drooping of the eyelid 
 unfolded itself in later days. 
 
 Meanwhile stories of Vansittart's generous magnificence 
 were in the mouths of all men. 
 
 People had ceased to marvel at his wealth and his extrava- 
 gance, for the bounds of wonder had long been reached. 
 But still they talked ; and when descriptive columns appeared 
 in the papers concerning the rapid erection of his splendid 
 palace at St. Cloud, — " a dream built of commonplace mate- 
 rials," wrote the Gil Bias concerning it, — the omnibus pro- 
 prietors of Paris began to run special lines of vehicles to 
 enable curious Parisians to inspect the structure for them- 
 selves. 
 
 Vansittart insisted upon regarding all such visitors as his 
 guests, and light refreshments were dispensed to them with 
 ready hospitality. Thus St. Cloud again became a house- 
 hold word in Paris, and the association was clearly of an 
 imperial character. 
 
 The American colony in Paris were greatly puzzled by 
 the proceedings of their apparently eccentric fellow-country- 
 man. 
 
 They crowded his receptions, and with characteristic 
 naivete invited him to confide his intentions to them fully 
 and without reserve. But although the American papers 
 had dozens of ' ' interviews ' ' and articles by ' ' well-informed ' ' 
 correspondents, Vansittart and his motives remained a sealed 
 book to them, save in so far as his actions were common 
 property. 
 
 The New York journals might guess and sunnise to their 
 heart's content, but not one of them was any the wiser ; and, 
 curiousl)^ enough, none of them thought it necessary to 
 interview the employees at the Netherlands Hotel. 
 
 To the Press and the public alike, Vansittart's career 
 seemed to have commenced with his arrival in France. 
 
 The only man, outside Vansittart's two chosen confidants, 
 who knew anything more of the business than appeared 
 
Vansittart 's Proposal i o i 
 
 on the surface, was M. de Tournon, the Minister of the 
 Interior. 
 
 By means of his spies he was kept acquainted with the 
 comings and goings of Jerome and his companions ; and he 
 was absolutely unable to account for the prolonged presence 
 of Mademoiselle de Montpensier in the hotel, and her com- 
 plete seclusion. 
 
 She was visited by no members of the Royalist party ; nor 
 was Vansittart himself a persona grata with them, for no 
 man who attracts the respect and obtains the confidence of 
 the French people can be complacently regarded by the 
 Bonapartists, and Orleanists, and Bourbonists, and other 
 opportunists in behalf of royalty, in Paris. 
 
 These factions have their only hope, their sole oppor- 
 tunity, in disorder or political turmoil. Obviously the 
 American, with his money-making and empire-building pro- 
 posals, in no way furthered their cause. 
 
 " Then what is the woman doing in the case ? " said M. 
 de Tournon. "A thousand thunders ! the more this man 
 pays me, the less do I understand him." 
 
 And already Vansittart had bribed him handsomely. The 
 naturalization, the granting of the park of St. Cloud for a 
 residence, the mere registration of the company, with its 
 peculiar charter and still more peculiar name, had each 
 added to de Tournon' s exchequer. 
 
 Nevertheless he felt that he was but a counter in a game 
 which he could not see, and he hated Jerome for the affable 
 grace with which he bent all things to his will. 
 
 He had boggled long at the nomenclature of the company. 
 * ' It suggests, ' ' he said to Vansittart, ' ' that whilst the 
 Sahara is limited, Jerome Vansittart is not. The Minister 
 of the Interior, in such a matter, should ask the extent of 
 your designs." This with an unctuous smile of jocose 
 politeness. 
 
 " I do not care to have my designs questioned when I pay 
 for their accomplishment, ' ' replied Vansittart, and de Tour- 
 
I02 An Americafi Emperor 
 
 non winced at the allusion. He offered no further opposition, 
 however. It was not yet time to bite the hand that fed 
 him. 
 
 De Tournon would not have felt so content with his per- 
 sonal prospects had he known that M. lyiancourt had seen 
 each of the later checks paid to him by the millionnaire, and 
 that ex-Prefect Folliet was watching both him and his 
 agents with lynx-like care. 
 
 As it transpired, Vansittart knew not only what was pass- 
 ing in his own mind, but also in that of M, de Tournon: so 
 thus far the game lay with him. 
 
 On the evening of their last conversation, M. de Tournon 
 was engaged upon an occupation which would have proved 
 deeply interesting to Vansittart could he have been present. 
 
 He was writing letters. The last of them was very care- 
 fully and clearly worded. It was addressed to M. Contral, 
 Prefect of Police. It ran, — 
 
 ' ' I desire you to pick out a couple of your most secret and 
 reliable men, upon whose discretion you can absolutely 
 depend. One of these shall take up his station near the 
 Grand Hotel, and watch carefully all the movements of 
 Mademoiselle de Montpensier, at present staying there. He 
 shall also follow her wherever she goes. The other man 
 shall proceed to Fontainebleau. I desire that he shall look 
 carefully after the thatched cottage where we surprised 
 Prince Henri two years ago, and also keep an eye on the 
 grotto in the wood to which we followed the Prince on the 
 afternoon of his assignation with the lady I have mentioned. 
 Both men will report daily, and j'ou will forward these 
 reports to me. Your close attention to these instructions 
 shall n®t go unrewarded. I still have the nomination to the 
 Silver Star." 
 
 " Curse this American ! " growled the minister, when he 
 had sealed this curious document. " His Sahara scheme 
 upsets every calculation I have made. These madmen of 
 
Vansittart 's Proposal 1 03 
 
 Paris are already making a god of him. However, he has a 
 tender spot, clearly ; I, both an excellent memory and a 
 well-drilled staflf of officers. We shall see. There will be a 
 struggle to the death between us in six months. And I will 
 then be sitting in the President's chair ! " 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 ON THE verge; of THE DESERT. 
 
 " T^HAT is our chief difficulty," said Maclaren to Vausit- 
 1 tart, as they stood together ou the shore of the Shott 
 Jerid, in the province of Tunis, towards the close of a burn- 
 ing day in August. 
 
 The engineer pointed, as he spoke, to a vast expanse of 
 white-brown plain, a crumbling amalgam of sea salt and 
 sand ; and it will thus be perceived that the term shore 
 was only a relative one when applied to this great inland 
 lake, which is only separated from the Mediterranean by a 
 narrow isthmus some twelve miles in width, but extends for 
 one hundred miles right across Tunis from the Gulf of 
 Gabes. 
 
 ' ' The present height, ' ' he explained, ' ' is an average of 
 sixty feet above sea-level, but it is only a crust of varying 
 thickness, resting upon islands and shallows, and covering 
 irregularly a huge underground lake, which we have repeat- 
 edly sounded to a depth of over a hundred feet below sea- 
 level. The neighboring Shotts, principally Rharsa and 
 Melrhir, are uncovered, and maintain an average depth in 
 the main channels of thirtj^ feet, being themselves some 
 seventy feet below sea-level." 
 
 " So I understood," said Vansittart. " In your sound- 
 ings here through boreholes, have you succeeded in tracing 
 the general position of the deep parts of the lake with any 
 degree of accuracy ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! I have a chart which shows this clearly 
 
 104 
 
On the Verge of the Desert 105 
 
 enough. And jolly dangerous work it was, working on this 
 treacherous stuff. We only lost one camel laden with the- 
 odolites, but the Arabs about here tell a blood-curdling story 
 of a caravan with a thousand camels going slap through on 
 one occasion. Not a man or a beast escaped alive, as the 
 subsidence was wholesale. Towards the west there is quite 
 a stretch of clear water, and here we have the prevalent 
 depression below sea-level." 
 
 " A Frenchman, Captain Roudaire, proposed to cut a 
 canal through the crust, did he not ? ' ' said Jerome. 
 
 " That 's what we shall have to do, but we won't start 
 cutting operations until we are compelled." 
 
 "What then?" 
 
 ' ' We will blow the stuff up with dynamite. Do you see 
 that line of posts, with little red flags, extending for nearly 
 a mile, at intervals of fifty yards ? Bach of those marks a 
 deposit of dynamite and gun-cotton alternately. They are 
 connected electrically, and I suggest that you should blow 
 up the lot to-morrov7 morning. You will .see something fresh 
 in the way of explosions, I can assure 5^011." 
 
 Vansittart had only arrived at the Gulf of Gabes in the 
 Seafarer that day ; and he had at once ridden over to Bl 
 Fejej, on the borders of the shott, where Maclaren had 
 established his permanent camp. 
 
 For a little while, it must be confessed, his heart sank 
 within him as his Arab pony shuffled through the loose sand, 
 or picked his way among scattered heaps of volcanic rock. 
 
 It was his first sight of the road towards the Great Desert ; 
 and as the silent wastes unfolded their vast solemnity before 
 him, he realized how puny was his power in face of this 
 majestic expanse of a ruined continent. 
 
 Science told him that in every rock and in each separate 
 particle of sand lay the open records of the ages. Here were 
 the fossil remains of marine animals and plants ; here were 
 gaunt water-courses, which even yet became raging torrents 
 when the too rare rain-clouds burst over the neighboring 
 
io6 An American Emperor 
 
 heights ; here was salt water beneath his very feet in gloomy 
 and awesome caverns. 
 
 Yet human nature is but weak, and the once sanguine 
 millionnaire was momentarily depressed by the thought that 
 he was committed to an apparently superhuman under- 
 taking. 
 
 ' ' Ah, well ! ' ' came the reflection of slight comfort, ' ' Co- 
 lumbus believed in the existence of land when others saw 
 nought but the rolling Atlantic. I must be equally stead- 
 fast on the opposite quest, and perhaps I shall be equally 
 right." 
 
 A long talk with the cheerj^ Maclaren had reassured him. 
 The skilled engineer had faith in nothing that was not veri- 
 fied by his instruments, and they assured him that the first 
 stage of the enterprise was merely a matter of energetic dig- 
 ging and a liberal use of explosives. 
 
 Early next day the camp was agog with excitement. 
 
 Some vague idea of what was going to occur had caused a 
 great multitude of Arabs, Tuaregs, and negroes to assemble 
 in the locality, and a quaint hum went through this wild- 
 looking crowd as Vansittart moved through their midst 
 towards the tent which shielded the electric batter>^ from the 
 fierce rays of the sun. 
 
 Maclaren had already made a personal tour of the whole 
 line of explosives, and assured himself that everything was 
 in order. He was calm and confident. 
 
 " Press that button," he said to Vansittart, " and there 
 will be a commotion." 
 
 Jerome smiled, for an odd thought came to him at the 
 moment. 
 
 A similarly simple movement in the box at the New York 
 Opera House had revealed to him the identit}' of Honorine 
 de Montpensier, with its bewildering train of consequences. 
 
 Now, with equal ease, the pressure of a little ivory knob 
 would reveal to him — what ? 
 
 He put forth his hand, and, almost before he was conscious 
 
On the Verge of the Desert 107 
 
 of the contact, a dull roar of overpowering volume came to 
 him from the congealed surface of the lake. The earth 
 shook violently ; terrible reverberations caused a series of 
 less forcible earth tremors ; a dense cloud of dust slowly- 
 spread itself over all things, for a time blotting out even the 
 bright radiance of the sun ; and from the crowd of natives 
 came an awful yell of terror and amazement. 
 
 " It 's all right ! " shouted Maclaren through the turmoil. 
 * ' When the smoke clears off, you will see the first mile of 
 your new waterway. ' ' 
 
 He was right ; but a long and anxious period of suspense 
 had to be borne with such patience as the different onlookers 
 could summon to their aid, before the great dust-cloud had 
 suflBciently dissipated to enable them to glean, by fitful visions 
 through the murky depths, some definite idea of the result of 
 the explosion. 
 
 Magnificent and awe-inspiring as the spectacle was in its 
 earlier glimpses, it was not for nearly an hour that its full 
 extent could be ascertained. 
 
 A wide and deep rift of irregular proportions had been torn 
 through the overlying crust ; and the waters of the lake, 
 flurried into activity after a rest of centuries, were now 
 seen sparkling brightly in the full brilliance of a powerful 
 sun. 
 
 The pathway cleft through the mass of salt and sand, 
 although following the general line previously marked by 
 the posts, was highly irregular in its conformation. 
 
 In some portions a wholesale subsidence had opened a gap 
 nearly a quarter of a mile in width ; in others the greater 
 thickness of the crust, or the fact that it was supported in 
 some manner beneath, narrowed the passage down to a few 
 yards ; but the rent made by the explosion would evidently 
 not end for many a long day. 
 
 Ever and anon some huge mass of dSbris, varying in size 
 from a few cubic yards to a vast bulk containing many thou- 
 sands of tons, would break away from the unsupported sides 
 
io8 An American Emperor 
 
 of the excavation, and fall with a tremendous crash into the 
 water. 
 
 In some parts the crust filled up the bed of the lake and 
 created small islands, but as a rule it had been swallowed 
 up in the depths ; and there could not be the slightest doubt, 
 that with similarly drastic methods, adopted throughout the 
 whole extent of Shott Jerid, it would be a comparativelj- easy- 
 task for a dredger to secure as broad a passage as might be 
 desired for vessels of any tonnage. 
 
 And it must not be forgotten that the real surface of the 
 lake was much below sea-level ; so that, when the connecting 
 canal was made through the isthmus that separated it from 
 the Gulf of Gabes, the whole of the existing obstructions to 
 navigation woidd be hidden away far beneath the new level 
 attained by the water. 
 
 Vansittart was himself so stirred by the great spectacle — 
 which had suddenly dispelled the doubts and fears of the 
 preceding day, and had made his scheme as plain and defi- 
 nite to his e3'e as it was to his brain in the quietude of his 
 library at New York — that for a long while he could not find 
 words to express his emotion. 
 
 Even Maclaren, who added to the cool and collected 
 demeanor of the unperturbed Yankee no inconsiderable spice 
 of the phlegmatic disposition inherited from his Scottish 
 ancestors, was at first silent whilst he surveyed the superb 
 result of his labors. 
 
 But professional instinct soon restored him to a nonnal 
 frame of mind. 
 
 " I never saw or heard of a mile of canal being made as 
 easily as that," he said with a smile, his ej-es still fixed upon 
 the glittering waters, which were always becoming more 
 distinct and well defined in their area. ' ' If only we can 
 turn the salt water into fresh, the job is as good as done 
 already. ' ' 
 
 His words recalled Vansittart to his surroundings, and he 
 said, — 
 
On the Verge of the Desert 109 
 
 " I must congratulate you, Mr. Maclaren, upon the suc- 
 cess of your initial step. I candidly confess that I never 
 dreamt of such progress being made at the outset. A photo- 
 graph of the fissure will send up the shares of the company 
 twenty points, and they are now at a slight premium on 
 faith alone." 
 
 " There is nothing like the combination recommended by 
 the Apostle," said Maclaren. " Faith, hope, and charity 
 go a long way, but they must be supplemented by good 
 works. ' ' 
 
 " It is obvious, ' ' observed Vansittart after a pause, ' ' that 
 there will be much danger attending your operations until 
 the unsupported crust on each side of the water-way has 
 sunk to its new natural level. I hope that you will not 
 needlessly expose your life, nor the lives of your employees, 
 until this risk at least has disappeared." 
 
 ' ' There is not the slightest need of it. I shall not even 
 attempt to blow up a passage through the whole length of 
 the lake. I think that our next effort should be on a larger 
 scale, starting from a point about five miles distant. By 
 following out this principle on an ever-extended basis until 
 we reach the open water on the western shore, I feel certain 
 that the rest can be left to natural laws of gravitation. 
 L^ong before the Gabes Canal is excavated the whole of the 
 crust on this lake will have sunk to such an extent that there 
 will be absolutely no hazard attending the passage of a 
 steamer through the main channel of the lake. Nature her- 
 self will be our best engineer, not alone in this portion of the 
 project, but in many others. It is no small thing to throw 
 open these hundreds of square miles of water to evaporation. 
 Even this limited achievement means a very considerable 
 increase of rainfall during years to come." 
 
 " I think," said Vansittart thoughtfullj', " that when a 
 man has reasoned out a proposition, he ought to tie a towel 
 round his eyes, rather than witness its gradual accomplish- 
 ment. I must admit that twenty-four hours ago I was more 
 
no An American Emperor 
 
 than dubious as to the outcome of our undertaking. Reason 
 told me that I could have made no mistake : every other 
 sense, encouraged no doubt by the appearance of things, 
 rose in rebellion, and for the time completely subjugated my 
 logical faculties. ' ' 
 
 " Ah, well ! " replied Maclaren, " you can afford to have 
 your bad quarter of an hour ; for I am convinced, sir, that in 
 this scheme of yours you have struck the biggest thing that 
 has yet been achieved by mankind. If you were not a rich 
 man, Mr. Vansittart, j^ou would have gained fame as an 
 engineer, and I am personally delighted to have the oppor- 
 tunity of being associated with you in this great work. 
 When it is ended, I think I shall be about used up." 
 
 " Not a bit," laughed Vansittart. " My chief engineer, 
 Mr. Maclaren, will, I hope, always remain in that position ; 
 and I think there will be ample scope for your abilities be- 
 fore you begin to have trouble with the gas and water 
 authorities of the big cities which we shall see established in 
 the middle of the Sahara." 
 
 A flush of pleasure turned even the bronzed cheek of the 
 engineer to a deeper hue, for Vansittart could have found no 
 better way of convej'ing his appreciation of the services 
 rendered to him than in the few simple words just uttered. 
 
 If ever a man saw his life's work spread out before his 
 feet in ample panorama, Walter Maclaren did so at that 
 moment. 
 
 Whilst the two men were thus conversing, they did not 
 notice that amidst the crowd of natives, now slowly recover- 
 ing from the stupor into which they had been plunged by 
 the events of the preceding hour, a new and unaccountable 
 commotion was gradually making its presence felt. 
 
 Strange cries, guttural exclamations in Arabic and the less 
 sonorous tongues of the desert, came from the motley as- 
 sembly ; and more than one Moullah, or Mohammedan priest, 
 was rapidly working himself into a state of perfectly un- 
 governable rage, whilst he gesticulated wildly, first towards 
 
On the Ve7''ge of the Desert 1 1 1 
 
 the lake, and anon in the direction of Vansittart and his 
 immediate companions. 
 
 At last the attention of both men was enlisted by this 
 curious demonstration. 
 
 ' ' What is the matter with those chaps ? ' ' said Vansittart ; 
 ' ' they seem to have something troubling their minds more 
 than enough." 
 
 Maclaren gazed anxiously at the crowd, and then scruti- 
 nized the lake. 
 
 " I don't like their attitude," he said. " You never know 
 what these cut-throats may be up to. Whenever a Moullah 
 starts to harangue them, you may be sure that it means mis- 
 chief. By Jove ! what is that ? " he added, sweeping the 
 full length of the excavation with his glasses. 
 
 Following his example, Vansittart also scrutinized the 
 scene ; and, by the aid of a powerful field telescope, he made 
 out objects that appeared strangely like the inanimate forms 
 of men and laden camels strewn about among the debris col- 
 lected on a small island in the centre of one of the open 
 reaches of water. 
 
 ' ' I have seen a few odd things in the course of my life, ' ' 
 he said ; ' ' but if those are not the bodies of men and animals, 
 I will never trust my eyes again. And how on earth did 
 they get there ? I am prepared to swear that there was not 
 a living creature an5^'here nearer than this spot to the scene 
 of the explosion before it took place." 
 
 " There can be no doubt about that," cried Maclaren, 
 speaking rapidly and excitedly. " Those confounded appa- 
 ritions down there are well-preserved spooks. They are the 
 relics of that caravan I told you about, which was swallowed 
 up years ago in this lake, and they have been kept nice and 
 fresh by the brine beneath, for the purpose of giving us a 
 tremendous lot of trouble straight away." 
 
 * ' Why, ' ' said Vansittart, ' ' how can they affect us ? " 
 
 " These superstitious idiots of natives," replied Maclaren, 
 dropping his glass and pointing towards i.he now yelling 
 
112 An American Emperor 
 
 multitude that swaj^ed and vociferated at some little dis- 
 tance, " will readily imagine that we have disturbed the 
 dead in their graves, and that Allah has taken this means to 
 pronounce a thorough-going curse upon our work. This is 
 the ugliest business that could possibly have happened. ' ' 
 
 " It reall}' looks as though 3'ou were right," said Van- 
 sittart, who, although ignorant of the language and customs 
 of the Arabs and their kindred tribes, could not fail to notice 
 the growing frenzy of the crowd of fanatics who had so un- 
 fortunately witnessed what they believed to be a miracle. 
 
 " Do you reall)^ think they mean mischief?" he added ; 
 for there was now a definite movement in the crowd, and an 
 aged Moidlah had advanced alone towards the small group 
 of Europeans. 
 
 " Yes, I am sure of it," said Maclaren, whose face now 
 wore an aspect of grim determination. " We shall have to 
 shoot quick and often if we mean to save our lives. Get 
 3'our revolvers read}'-, ' ' he went on quietl}^ to the few assist- 
 ants who stood near him. " Form a half circle facing 
 towards the mob, and when I tell you to fire, blaze away at 
 your best pace into the thick of them ! ' ' 
 
 " Is this really necessary ? " said Vansittart, who shrank 
 from thus marking the inauguration of his enterprise with 
 the loss of human life. 
 
 " It may be," replied Maclaren, " but we Vvill only act on 
 the defensive. Perhaps this Jlloiillah may explain matters a 
 bit. Here, Abdullah Khan ! " he cried to the interpreter 
 attached to the part}', " come and tell us what this old 
 vagabond says." 
 
 The 3To2inak, who was now quite close to them, was a fear- 
 some object. His hair and straggling beard were matted 
 with the dirt of years. 
 
 His body, naked but for a loin cloth, and emaciated with 
 long years of religious penance, glistened with oil ; and in 
 his hand he brandished a large knife, whose glittering blade 
 well accorded with his fierce and murderous aspect. 
 
On the Verge of the Desert 113 
 
 He growled something in Arabic, whilst his eyes were 
 fixed with the lambent glare of a tiger upon Vansittart. 
 The interpreter, himself an outcast Arab, shaking with fear, 
 explained in broken English, — 
 
 ' * This is great priest, Sahib, ' ' he said. ' ' He very angry 
 at bones of his fathers being profaned. He say j-ou have 
 done an evil thing. You must go away, and never look 
 upon the dead again." 
 
 " Tell him," said Maclaren, " that we could not help this 
 thing, and did not know of it, and that we will inter the 
 bones with all respect. Tell him, too, that the great Sahib," 
 indicating Vansittart, " will give plenty of bakshish." 
 
 The interpreter held a brief conversation with the Moullah^ 
 and it was obvious that no progress had been made towards 
 reconciliation. 
 
 ' ' The great priest says, ' ' again explained Abdullah Khan, 
 whose terror had increased during his animated colloquy 
 with the wretched being who strove to impose his will upon 
 them, "that he will not take bakshish. All the Sahibs 
 must go away at once. It would be well for you to obey 
 him," added the man upon his own account. 
 
 "That which he asks is impossible," said Maclaren 
 sternly. * ' We cannot be interrupted in our work, and we 
 refuse to meet his wishes. We will do anything he 
 asks in reason, but it is impossible for us to leave this 
 place. ' ' 
 
 Again the interpreter explained ; and Vansittart, in the 
 desire to impress the Moullah with his kindly intentions, 
 stepped nearer to him, and sought by expression and gesture 
 to tone down the emphasis of their refusal to fall in with the 
 desires of the crowd, of whom the priest was obviously the 
 spokesman. 
 
 The act nearly cost him his life. When the aged fanatic 
 understood that there was to be no retrogression by these 
 foreign devils who had disturbed the weird grave found by 
 the caravan during that terrible catastrophe of the half- 
 
 8 
 
114 An American Emperor 
 
 forgotten past, he sprang towards Vansittart with the clear 
 intention of pkniging the knife into his heart. 
 
 Jerome was utterly unprepared for this dramatic develop- 
 ment of events, and would have fallen a victim to Moham- 
 medan hatred of the dominant race, had not, in that supreme 
 moment, a bullet lodged itself in the Moullah's brain. 
 
 The wretched man fell back under the force of the blow as 
 though he had been struck bj'- lightning. 
 
 The knife dropped from his nerveless grasp, and he 
 crumpled up, a sorry heap of dead humanity, upon the 
 ground. 
 
 It was Arizona Jim whose promptitude had thus solved a 
 difficult situation. 
 
 Bates had been an amazed spectator of that morning's pro- 
 ceedings ; but throughout the whole of the remarkable inci- 
 dents that had taken place, he never abandoned for a moment 
 the folc which Vansittart had imposed when he humorously 
 dubbed him his ' * Captain of the Guard. ' ' 
 
 Had the Day of Judgment suddenly super\'ened, Jim Bates 
 would still have striven to be faithful to his trust. 
 
 Joined to this tenacity of purpose was that natural quick- 
 ness, " on the draw," which he had imbibed with his 
 mother's milk in the wild and woolly West. None but an 
 habitui of the drinking-saloons of Denver in its infancy 
 could have fired that shot with such remarkable promptitude 
 and precision. 
 
 Vansittart hardly realized what had occurred, before a 
 determined movement on the part of the natives showed that 
 they were not disposed to allow the death of their co-relig- 
 ionist to go unavenged. With frantic yells, and brandishing 
 such weapons as they possessed, they advanced upon the 
 tiny knot of Europeans. 
 
 " Fire a volley into the air ! " shouted Maclaren, and obe- 
 dient to his commands the revolvers rattled forth a message 
 of defiance to the fanatical crowd. 
 
 Half-blind with passion though they were, this resolute 
 
On the Verge of the Desert 1 1 5 
 
 attitude on the part of Vansittart's companions made them 
 pause. 
 
 Those in the rear were ready enough to urge their friends 
 in the front to advance to the attack ; but somebody had to 
 get shot, and the blusterers who saw most likelihood of being 
 selected for this undesirable distinction were not eager to 
 earn immortality. They were, in fact, cowed by the firm 
 front displayed by their opponents ; and Maclaren, who was 
 a born leader of men, quickly seized the opportunity. 
 
 He stepped forward and sternly ordered them to depart, 
 adding that his men would shoot if his commands were not 
 instantly obeyed. 
 
 His words they did not understand ; but his actions were 
 unmistakable, and the trembling interpreter mustered up 
 courage enough to come to his side and shout out a forcible 
 translation. 
 
 With many a wild curse and muttered threat the infuriated 
 crowd gradually drew off, and Maclaren was at last able to 
 say to Vansittart, — 
 
 ' ' We must retire immediately to Gabes. It wdll be im- 
 possible for us to pursue our work until we have a sufiicient 
 armed force to protect us. These fellows are wild with rage, 
 and we have unfortunately killed one of the holiest of their 
 religious mendicants. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Is there no other way out of the difl&culty ? ' ' said Van- 
 sittart. 
 
 ' ' Absolutely none. Had it not been for the chance that 
 no disturbance was expected, and they were practically un- 
 armed, not one of us would now have been alive. We shall 
 require a considerable body of troops to protect us, as to- 
 day's events will spread like wildfire throughout the district, 
 and we may easily have a rebellion upon our hands. France 
 is constantly fighting these chaps on the border of the desert, 
 and it will be necessary to teach them a severe lesson once 
 and for all. Otherwise we shall be constantly subjected to 
 similar interruptions. ' ' 
 
ii6 Ajt American Emperor 
 
 There was no gainsaying the truth of his conclusions, and 
 that night the whole party were safely lodged on board the 
 Seafarer at anchor in the Gulf of Gabes. 
 
 Thus was the first step taken in the big enterprise of 
 "Sahara, I^imited, and Jerome Vansittart. " 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 the; BATTI.E OP EI, HKGKF 
 
 ' ' T^HE Departments of War and Marine have placed at the 
 1 disposal of M. Jerome Vansittart one battery of horse 
 artillery, six machine-guns with a company of Spahi artil- 
 lerists, one squadron of cavalry, two regiments of infantry, 
 the 67th and 105th of the line, the whole under the com- 
 mand of General Daubisson, and the gunboat Sphinx, com- 
 manded by Captain Pompier." 
 
 Such was the text of an official communication from the 
 French Government received by Vansittart at Algiers, in 
 response to his cabled request for troops to protect his engi- 
 neers during the initial operations on the Tunisian lakes. 
 
 ' ' We shall want far more than that number of men, ' ' was 
 Maclaren's comment when he heard the news. 
 
 * ' I should like to have the whole French army, ' ' said 
 Vansittart. 
 
 " Hardly so many as that," laughed the engineer. " It 
 would cost a bit, would n't it ? " 
 
 " Yes. It would cost France a great deal." 
 
 Vansittart was thinking aloud, as was his habit when in 
 company with those whom he felt intuitively he could trust. 
 
 Maclaren glanced at him sharply. The millionnaire puzzled 
 his practical friend exceedingly. Jerome always, by his 
 manner, conveyed the impression that the conquest of the 
 desert was but a means towards an end ; and what that end 
 might be, the other could not determine, as the only person 
 in the French Soudan who had a vague inkling of Vansit- 
 
 117 
 
1 18 An American Emperor 
 
 tart's intentions was Arizona Jim, and that worthy was as 
 close as an oyster, 
 
 Vansittart suddenly became conscious that his companion 
 was scrutinizing him, and in the same instant he resolved to 
 take him partly, at least, into his confidence. 
 
 " Maclaren," he said, fixing his eyes intently upon the 
 keen face of his friend, ' ' I know that you do not understand 
 why I launched mj^self into this business at the outset. You 
 believe, and rightly, that my actions are not wholly prompted 
 by ambition to accomplish a task in subjugating the desert 
 before which other men might pale. It would not be fair to 
 you, under the circumstances, to say more than this, that I 
 wish to control France ; and to control France, one must 
 control the army." 
 
 Maclaren returned his gaze with equal frankness. " I 
 guess you 're the right sort of man to control anything," he 
 said with smiling confidence, and the subject then dropped. 
 
 When they met General Daubisson, they did not immedi- 
 ately exchange views with regard to him. He was short 
 and stout and wheezy, — not exactly the type of soldier for 
 colonial warfare, — and Maclaren was at first inclined to 
 growl at the ministerial choice of a commander for the 
 expedition. 
 
 But Vansittart reassured him on this point. " It is more 
 than lucky," he explained, " that our military leader will 
 be likely to break down in front of the hardships of the 
 desert. In such a position, no one can blame me if I direct 
 the troops myself. ' ' 
 
 The fat general did not belie their expectations. In the 
 Gulf of Gabes he had a sharp attack of fever ; and before the 
 expedition had reached the scene of their first exploit, he 
 was so ill from incipient heat apoplexy that he had to be 
 sent for a sea trip forthwith on board the Seafarer. 
 
 Now, the French Minister of War was not a friend of 
 Vansittart, but he was a nerveless creature ; and a cablegram 
 to him soon gave the millionnaire tacit command in the field. 
 
The Battle of El Hegef 1 1 9 
 
 though nominally Captain Pompier, as the ofl5cer next in 
 rank to the disabled general, issued all orders. 
 
 Vansittart had found a way to Pompier's heart. That 
 gallant officer had shown considerable skill in organizing 
 the commissariat and transport arrangements, which, in com- 
 mon with every French military undertaking known to 
 history, were lamentably deficient. 
 
 With the millionnaire's complete approval, he had amplified 
 and perfected the details by extensive purchases at Algiers, 
 and Jerome took the earliest opportunity to congratulate him 
 upon his methods. 
 
 ' ' You ought to be a power in the Ministry of Marine rather 
 than commanding a gunboat, Captain Pompier," he said. 
 
 The sailor flushed with pleasure, for what Frenchman 
 does not love Paris ? 
 
 ' ' Such is not my good fortune, ' ' he sighed ; " I have no 
 influence. ' ' 
 
 " Perhaps not at this moment," returned Vansittart 
 quietly, " but everything is possible in France." 
 
 Pompier did not stop to ask himself what this strange 
 French- American meant. He bowed with gratified courtesy, 
 and there was no further possibility of service etiquette 
 causing a rift in the relations between them. 
 
 The troops numbered 2500, all told. They bivouacked in 
 sight of Shott Jerid, and Jerome was amazed to find how 
 amply the prediction made by Maclaren had been fulfilled. 
 Already a tremendous subsidence of the crust had taken 
 place, and it had even spread far to the westward. 
 
 The disintegrating influence of the sun had crumbled 
 away the rotten compound, whose surface alone was firm ; 
 and it was now quite possible to row a boat over extensive 
 open spaces of the water, the density of which was phenom- 
 enal, owing to the quantity of salt held in solution. 
 
 An early excursion was made to the island on which 
 reposed the remains of the ill-fated caravan, and a remark- 
 able discovery resulted. 
 
I20 An American Emperor 
 
 The bodies of men and animals were petrified ; and Van- 
 sittart's ready wit jumped at the conclusion, that, if he wanted 
 to create a genuine sensation in Paris, he need only send a 
 group of stone Arabs mounted on stone camels for exhibition 
 in a prominent boulevard. 
 
 All Paris would gape at the weird spectacle. This project 
 he subsequently carried out, and the sequel was dramatic. 
 
 The neighboring country was practically denuded of its 
 nomad inhabitants, but spies soon reported that a large 
 gathering of Arabs and Tuaregs was centred at El Hegef, a 
 town situated some sixty miles from the coast, and close to 
 the great southern bend of Shott Jerid. 
 
 A Jehad, or religious war, had been proclaimed, and there 
 could be no doubt that a widespread emeute had broken out 
 among these wayward sons of the desert. 
 
 A messenger sent to them with pacific and conciliator^' 
 words was immediately decapitated : so Vansittart decided 
 that a drastic movement would be the most effective, and, in 
 the long-run, the most humane policy. 
 
 He therefore ordered an advance ; and in four days, march- 
 ing by easy stages, the expedition came within sight of the 
 town, — a collection of mud huts, with a few stone houses 
 perched on a rocky eminence which swarmed with swarthy 
 figures. 
 
 The white burnous of the iVrabs lent animation to the dark 
 hordes of Tuaregs, and it soon became apparent that the 
 rebels were armed with rifles of precision, for dropping shots 
 fell in the midst of the advance guard at a distance of over 
 two miles. 
 
 There were no casualties, and as a parlej- was out of the 
 question, Vansittart bivouacked for the night in a position 
 reasonably safeguarded from attack before sunrise. 
 
 The enemy evidently thought their stronghold to be too 
 secure to venture forth from its fastnesses, as day dawned to 
 find them in the same disposition, and a careful reconnais- 
 sance made at an early hour convinced both Jerome and the 
 
The Battle of El Hegef 121 
 
 officers of the expedition that the place could be rushed in 
 front only by a considerable expenditure of life, even if the 
 attempt were successful. 
 
 Yet on both flanks and towards the rear it appeared to be 
 defended by impregnable precipices. It was certainly a 
 hard nut to crack. 
 
 A council of war was held, and it was settled that as a 
 preliminary the artillery and machine-guns should make 
 things lively for the denizens of El Hegef, and a storm of 
 shells and bullets soon beat the wretched little houses into 
 fragments. 
 
 But, after the first wild scurrying of the natives before 
 this unpleasant visitation, it was perceived that little damage 
 was inflicted upon them. 
 
 ' ' Thej^ have their caves and sheltered hollows to retreat 
 to," said an experienced officer of Spahis, who was accus- 
 tomed to Algerian warfare. 
 
 " Is there no way to get at them from the rear ? " said 
 Vansittart. 
 
 " None that we know of," was the answer. 
 
 " We do not know, it is true, but some individual in the 
 expedition may be better informed. Let everj^ man be ques- 
 tioned as to his knowledge of the locality. ' ' 
 
 This novelty in the conduct of warlike operations amused 
 some of the French officers, but in the result Vansittart was 
 shown to be justified in his surmise. 
 
 A Spahi was found who had visited El Hegef in his youth, 
 and who quite distinctly remembered driving a fiock of goats 
 to an oasis on the plain behind the town by means of a diffi- 
 cult path practicable for two men abreast. 
 
 Here, then, was a clew to the solution of the difficulty. 
 
 The artillery practice was sustained intermittently, and 
 before the sun went down a cloud of skirmishers feigned a 
 direct attack, but no damage was done b}'- the ineffectual 
 exchange of shots. 
 
 Shrouded by the rapidly grov/ing darkness, Captain Pom- 
 
122 An American Emperor 
 
 pier and his marines from the Sphinx, with the 67th Regi- 
 ment, guided by the Spahi, moved ofif on a detour to reach 
 the oasis of which the Algerian soldier had such a fortunate 
 recollection. 
 
 Pompier was to begin the assault, if possible, at dawn, and 
 when the sounds of firing reached the main body a general 
 advance of all arms would at once be made. 
 
 There was little sleep that night for either officers or men, 
 as it was quite within the bounds of probability that Pom- 
 pier's movements might be precipitated by events into a 
 surprise at an earlier hour. 
 
 And this was exactly what happened. 
 
 Precisely at 2 a.m. a brisk fusilade from the direction of 
 El Hegef startled the camp into sudden activity. Within 
 five minutes every man was on the move, and ere the first 
 companies reached the foot of the hill leading to the town 
 they encountered a stream of fugitives bolting wildly down 
 the pathway and scattering over the plain. 
 
 A lively but uncertain fight ensued, mostly with the bay- 
 onet, and there was more than one severe tussle between the 
 gallant Frenchmen and the maddened rebels before the 
 sharp ring of the Lebel rifle at close quarters warned Van- 
 sittart's force that Pompier's troops were close at hand, hav- 
 ing passed right through the battered bazaar. 
 
 A couple of rockets now spluttered their welcome signal 
 into the sky, and in a little while the two sections of the 
 expedition were congratulating each other upon the excellent 
 result of their ruse. 
 
 The French loss was 18 killed and 64 wounded, whilst 
 nearly 500 Arabs and Tuaregs, lying dead or severely injured 
 in the precincts of the place, testified to the severity of the 
 resistance offered to the enemy. 
 
 Very few prisoners were made, except women and chil- 
 dren, and vast numbers of the tribesmen had escaped during 
 the darkness, cavalry pursuit being impossible under the 
 conditions. 
 
The Battle of El Hegef 1 23 
 
 As it happened, Pompier's force had marched rapidly and 
 without check to the oasis, whence the Spahi had easily 
 found the path. This was much shorter than it had ap- 
 peared to his boyish imagination, and the leading files of 
 the column stumbled unexpectedly upon a small party of 
 Arabs smoking round a fire. 
 
 The alarm was at once given, and further concealment 
 was not to be thought of, so Pompier hurried forward with 
 the utmost speed upon the heels of the astounded Arabs. 
 
 French troops are alwa3^s renowned for their dash and 
 clan, and their distinctive qualities were never exhibited to 
 a higher degree than upon this occasion. Officers and men 
 were greatly elated by the rapidity and completeness of the 
 victory they had achieved against foniiidable odds. 
 
 It was a new thing for the arms of the Republic to prevail 
 in a Colonial campaign within five days of the arrival of the 
 expedition in the country. 
 
 " This comes of having a man at the head of affairs. 
 Sapristi ! If Jerome the First could lead us, we should soon 
 see Metz and Strasbourg again," growled the oldest soldier 
 of the 105th, and this view predominated with all ranks. 
 
 Vansittart was personally astonished to find that the in- 
 stinct of the armed conqueror had been so closely hidden 
 away in some mysterious receptacle of his brain that he had 
 never previously suspected its existence. 
 
 When he met Pompier he warmly shook hands with him, 
 saj'ing emphatically, ' ' You possess every characteristic of a 
 commander, Captain. I can only express my regret that at 
 present my gratitude can but take the inadequate form of 
 tendering you my hearty thanks, and adding that I shall 
 seize the earliest opportunity of placing 25,000 francs to 
 your credit at 3'our bankers. ' ' 
 
 He also announced to the troops that he would hand 
 them a year's field allowances, and would see that the rela- 
 tives of the men killed or wounded in the action were com- 
 pensated liberally. 
 
124 ^^ American Emperor 
 
 These things were telegraphed to France in due course, 
 and the whole nation nearly went mad with delight. 
 
 So extravagant were the demonstrations of the army at 
 the tidings of their comrades' prowess in the Soudan that 
 the Berlin Press began to sneer and the French Ministry 
 endeavored to stop the growing enthusiasm. 
 
 As well might they seek to turn the tide. They were now 
 irrevocably committed to the Sahara scheme, and although 
 a brisk war of words against England for her prolonged 
 occupation of Eg^'pt succeeded in enlisting the attention of 
 the fickle mob, the army and navy paid no heed. 
 
 In every mess, ashore or afloat, the one topic of conversa- 
 tion was the battle of El Hegef, and Vansittart's name was 
 in the mouths of all men. Soldiers and sailors both dubbed 
 him " V Emperair f " and, whilst their officers frowned at 
 the phrase, they used it themselves. It came more easily 
 from French lips than Jerome's Knickerbocker appellation. 
 And it seemed, too, happilj'- to sum up his attributes. By 
 adroit management on the part of Harland and Liancourt, 
 the Paris Press was persuaded to send out special repre- 
 sentatives to Shott Jerid for a brief visit, and when they 
 reached the camp near El Hegef they found themselves 
 regarded as the one set of men in existence that Vansittart 
 was particularly anxious to meet. 
 
 One night, whilst the leading officers and journalists were 
 assembling in the mess tent, and Vansittart was discussing 
 with them the phenomenal strides Maclaren was making 
 towards opening up the lake, General Daubisson was 
 announced. 
 
 It was a ticklish moment. 
 
 Jerome went forward to receive him. " Welcome, Gen- 
 eral," he said. "I am more than pleased to think that so 
 many of your brave comrades should be present to hear me, 
 as the head of the Sahara Company, thank you warmly for 
 the foresight and intelligence of your dispositions, which 
 enabled us to so effectually strike the first blow in the cam- 
 
The Battle of El Hegef 125 
 
 paign. To you, above all others, our victory is due, and 
 we can only give voice to our deep regret that you were 
 unable to lead us in the field." 
 
 General Daubisson was looked upon in high quarters as 
 the future Governor of Paris. By Vansittart's words he was 
 firmly restored to his shaken position. 
 
 He became positively balloon-like as he beamed upon the 
 company, and he was thenceforth Jerome's unswerving 
 supporter. 
 
 Pompier, who had a note from his banker in his pocket, 
 winked quietly at Maclaren, and the engineer telegraphed 
 an answering signal. These two understood each other. 
 
 Events now marched with giant strides. 
 
 Great steamers arrived daily at Boca Grande and the 
 Gulf of Gabes from France, England, and America, laden 
 with piers, railway's, engines, steam launches, and the thou- 
 sand and one appliances necessary for the prosecution of the 
 work. 
 
 Workmen, too, were coming, but more slowly, as the 
 reality of the undertaking had not yet permeated the labor- 
 ing classes sufficiently to induce them to leave home and 
 friends for the possible uncertainties of the desert. 
 , But the flaming articles sent to France by the corps of 
 pressmen were insidiously eating their way into the hearts 
 and minds of the people. 
 
 The insurrection was steadily gaining force in the interior, 
 and when Mr. Robertson and M. Hezard, the English and 
 French engineers in charge of the Boca Grande section, 
 reported that they had been compelled to suspend their ca- 
 dastral survey and retire to the coast, Vansittart took advan- 
 tage of the direction of public sympathies. 
 
 He boldly cabled to the Ministry : ' ' The Company re- 
 quires men who can fight as well as work. Let France send 
 me 50,000 troops whom I can employ in the field and who 
 will also work on the canals. I will pay them the wages of 
 victors." 
 
126 An American Empc7'or 
 
 No one troubled to ask an explanation of this mysterious 
 guerdon. Vansittart said it, and that sufficed. 
 
 The Minister of War gave the necessary instrvictions for 
 the movements of the soldiers, else the political life of the 
 government would not have been worth a moment's pur- 
 chase. They reflected that the reduction of the army 
 charges to such a considerable amount would produce a 
 flattering budget — the best seen for years — so they yielded 
 to the popular will with ready grace. 
 
 And Vansittart wrote to Honorine de Montpensier in a 
 cipher which she and Harland alone could read : 
 
 " The shadow is becoming a substance." 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A TOMB IN THK WILDEIRNKSS 
 
 AS some weeks must elapse before any forward movement 
 could be practicable in the neigbborhood of the great 
 salt lakes, Vansittart decided to run round to Boca Grande 
 in the Seafarer and give some personal attention to affairs in 
 that locality. 
 
 Maclaren, a man of iron constitution, was nevertheless 
 slightly weakened by the heat of the Sahara, for he had been 
 in the locality for over nine months, and the millionnaire com- 
 pelled him to accompany him on the trip, as the engineer 
 was very unwilling to leave the scene of his labors even for 
 a brief holiday. But Jerome pointed out that in Pompier 
 they had a master of commissariat detail, and this was the 
 only pressing difficulty that had to be encountered during 
 the next month. 
 
 The outbreak among the natives had spread like wildfire. 
 They were in a condition of superstitious fright, and a pretty 
 stiff campaign must be fought and won before work could 
 seriously be entered upon. 
 
 All that was possible was to land and house the troops and 
 laborers, and accumulate stores in the vicinity of the Gulf 
 of Gabes, whilst Pompier, in possession of unlimited means 
 and authority, was not only able to undertake this work, but 
 he also guaranteed that by their return a light railway 
 would be laid between the coast and Shott Jerid. 
 
 Once they were on board the yacht, Maclaren >'ielded to 
 the inevitable, and soon came round to the view that it 
 
 127 
 
128 An American Emperor 
 
 would perhaps be well for him to pay a brief visit to Boca 
 Grande. The position of affairs on the west coast might 
 materially influence subsequent operations from the east. 
 
 As the Seafarer spun through the Straits of Gibraltar, 
 Maclaren, pointing to the opposite shores of Spain and 
 Africa, said : 
 
 " These picturesque cliffs should be an excellent object 
 lesson to us. ' ' 
 
 ' ' In what sense ? ' ' said Vansittart. 
 
 " Because there cannot be the slightest doubt that at one 
 time the Atlas Mountains, of which the coast of Morocco is 
 the fringe, were washed by the sea at their base on the south 
 as freely as they are now on the north. ' ' 
 
 ' ' In other words, ' ' said Vansittart, ' ' the whole of North- 
 ern Africa was an island." 
 
 " Precisely, or a gigantic peninsula, possibly joined by a 
 narrow neck of land on the western confines of Shott 
 Melrhir. ' ' 
 
 Jerome seemed to be suddenly struck by some thought 
 which interested him greatl}'-, as he was silent for some 
 minutes. 
 
 When he spoke it was with a smile. " I have commenced 
 to found an empire," he said, " but I never expected to be 
 also on the way towards restoring a tradition. ' ' 
 
 ' ' What notion has occurred to you now ? ' ' cried the 
 other, who was becoming too accustomed to instances of his 
 friend's penetrating judgment to marvel at any new develop- 
 ment. 
 
 " Don't you see," said Vansittart, blowing a spiral of 
 smoke from his cigar and darting a number of small rings 
 rapidly through it, " that we are on the verge of discovering 
 the Lost Island of Atlantis ? ' ' 
 
 Maclaren could only whistle his amazement. 
 
 " By Jove ! " he cried at last. " You beat everything. 
 What next?" 
 
 " But am I not correct ? " 
 
A Tomb in the Wilderness 129 
 
 " Of course you are ; that 's the astounding part of it. 
 And it 's as plain as the nose on Wellington's face when 
 you only catch on to it. The similarity between the fauna 
 and flora of the Canary Islands and the south Mediterranean 
 littoral are tremendous facts in favor of this assumption. If 
 you want negative arguments on the same side you have 
 only to point to the huge differences found between the 
 plants of North and Central Africa, although the climate is 
 precisely similar. What a sensation this will make among 
 the scientific societies of Europe ! And say, Herodotus 
 knew a thing or two, did n't he ? " 
 
 "He had a fine imagination," laughed Vansittart, " and 
 that goes a long way. However, as you seem to be im- 
 pressed by the idea, I make you a present of it. It will 
 occupy your spare moments to accumulate proofs in behalf 
 of the contention, and then you can deliver a lecture a yard 
 long before a big gathering of the Royal Geographical 
 Society." 
 
 The Seafarer, with her average speed of twenty-five knots 
 an hour, made short work of the voyage to Boca Grande. 
 They were surprised on landing to find some preparation 
 made for their arrival, but soon learnt that a cable had been 
 successfully laid from the Canaries, and Harland had ap- 
 prized Mr. Robertson of their journe5^ Previously, all 
 telegraphic messages had to be conveyed by steamer to the 
 mainland, and manj^ days of delay often resulted, as there 
 was only one small steam yacht at the disposal of the resident 
 engineers. 
 
 ' ' I have extraordinarily good news for you if it can only 
 be trusted," said Robertson, a handsome, well set-up 3'oung 
 Englishman. " The natives in these parts heard by some 
 unexplained means of the proceedings in the east, and 
 threatened to be nasty at first. In fact we were, as you 
 know, obliged to retreat precipitately to the coast. But all 
 at once, about a fortnight ago, an elderl}^ sheik, who pos- 
 sesses great influence and poses as a prophet, condemned the 
 
130 An Amerzcaji Emperor 
 
 growing Jehad, and announced that the ancient dynasty of 
 the Sun was about to be restored. I actually believe that 
 the people are ready to accept you as their deliverer. ' ' 
 
 " How do you account for the sheik's attitude ? " queried 
 Vansittart, who was naturally much interested by this 
 intelligence. 
 
 " It seems he has discovered some hieroglyphic inscrip- 
 tions of great antiquity, and interprets these in some wa}^ by 
 the light of your resolve to flood the desert." 
 
 * ' Do you know where the inscriptions are to be found ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Yes, at a place named Adsokha, three days' quick ride 
 from here." 
 
 " Have you seen the man ? " 
 
 ' ' Oh, yes. He is quartered in a neighboring temple, half- 
 mosque, half-tomb. I thought he wanted bakshish, but he 
 was in a terrible rage with me when I suggested it. ' ' 
 
 " Money is good, Mr. Robertson," said Vansittart, " but 
 faith is more powerful. Can I meet this sheik ? ' ' 
 
 " He will be here in an hour's time, as he is intensely 
 anxious to set ej-es upon you." 
 
 The arrival of the Mussulman chieftain-priest was eagerly 
 awaited, and, in order to impress him, Maclaren suggested 
 some little display in the shape of a guard, and a liberal 
 exhibition of gaily colored bunting in the large tent set 
 apart for the millionnaire's use. 
 
 " There is no harm in your proposal," said Jerome with a 
 quiet smile. " Do as you suggest, by all means, but get me 
 an excellent interpreter, and above all else let there be some 
 writing paper and a pen and ink handy." 
 
 Maclaren looked surprised at the nature of the prepara- 
 tions. 
 
 " I expect he will open my peepers wider than the 
 sheik's," he said to himself, whilst Arizona Jim shifted his 
 revolver to a handier position. 
 
 " I don't like either shakes or moolers," he growled. 
 "It 's as well to be ready to git the drop on 'em." 
 
A Tomb in the Wilderness 131 
 
 But when the venerable Mohammedan made his appear- 
 ance — a tall, stark figure arrayed in snow-white linen, with 
 majestic beard and piercing black eyes darting keen glances 
 from beneath a forehead of great breadth and dignity — ^Jim 
 Bates was man of the world enough to feel instantly that 
 this time the interview would not end with attempted 
 murder. 
 
 In no wise dazzled by the fine parade arranged by Mac- 
 laren, and without paying the slightest heed to any other 
 person present, the aged prophet walked firmly toward Van- 
 sittart and scrutinized him carefully but without hesitancy. 
 
 Vansittart, who mystified his companions by the un- 
 wonted air of solemn hauteur he assumed, met the sheik's 
 gaze unflinchingly, and then the old man paid him the 
 greatest act of homage possible in one of his creed. 
 
 He bowed reverently, and taking ofi" his plaited turban, 
 laid it at Jerome's feet, murmuring the while a sonorous 
 greeting. 
 
 The interpreter would have translated, but the American 
 silenced him with a gesture. 
 
 Turning to the table he took the writing materials, drew 
 this sign ,«o upon a sheet of paper, and handed the docu- 
 ment to ^ the Arab. 
 
 The latter no sooner saw the symbol than he fell upon his 
 knees, raised his withered arms aloft whilst he chanted a 
 ringing canticle of praise, and then flung himself prone at 
 Vansittart' s feet. From their position Maclaren and Bates 
 alone could see the contents of the paper. 
 
 Maclaren kept his wonderment to himself, but Arizona 
 Jim's amazement was such that he whispered loudly : 
 
 " It 's Injun talk ! The totem of the duck an' ^gz ! " 
 
 Vansittart heard, and wanted to laugh, but mastered the 
 impulse and gave his henchman such a glance that Jim 
 resolv^ed not to risk his master's anger again. 
 
 ' ' He can bore holes in you with a look, ' ' explained Bates 
 subsequently to Maclaren, 
 
132 An American Emperor 
 
 These unusual proceedings were witnessed not only by the 
 Europeans present, but by a knot of natives gathered at 
 some distance. These easily swayed and emotional people 
 promptly followed the lead given by their religious head and 
 prostrated themselves in similar fashion. 
 
 After an effective pause, Jerome told the interpreter to ask 
 the sheik to rise and converse with him. 
 
 Slowly obeying, the Arab .spoke a few words in awed 
 accents. 
 
 " The holy prophet, Sa5^d Mohammed ben Izak," ex- 
 plained the interpreter, " gives your lordship humble greet- 
 ing on your entry into 3'our kingdom. He prays you to 
 accompany him to Adsokha to witness the sacred vvTiting 
 which foretells your arrival." 
 
 ' ' Tell him, ' ' said Vansittart, ' ' that I will go with him at 
 dawn." 
 
 Mohammed ben Izak withdrew with much ceremony and 
 obeisance, and when the Europeans were alone Maclaren 
 said : " What 's been going on ? The thirty- third degree 
 of Masonr}', or what ? ' ' 
 
 " Something like it," answered Jerome. " But I cannot 
 explain just yet. Wait until the business is ended and then 
 I wnll gratify' your curiosity. So far, I think I am on the 
 right track." 
 
 Next day, as the first shafts of light crept over the sand- 
 hills toward the low coast line, Vansittart, Maclaren, and 
 Bates, wdth a small company of native carriers, rode off with 
 the sheik towards Adsokha. At first the Arab wished the 
 millionnaire to accompany him alone. But the others, in- 
 cluding Mr. Robertson and M. Hezard, who feared treachery, 
 were so concerned at this that Jerome jdelded the point, 
 though he personally had not the slightest doubt that 
 his aged adherent would give his life to save him from 
 harm. 
 
 The journey was uneventful enough, and Maclaren took 
 advantage of the fact that they were practically following 
 the route to be taken by the fresh-water canal to check the 
 
A Tomb in the Wilderness 133 
 
 observations made by the other engineers, which were noted 
 for his guidance upon a small sketch-map. 
 
 He was quite satisfied that the difficulties, though great, 
 were surmountable, and he found, too, that the trend of the 
 irrigation channels was towards the southeast — a logical se- 
 quence of the theory of the scheme formulated by Vansittart. 
 
 When Adsokha was reached, the ill-suppressed excitement 
 under which Mohammed ben Izak had labored during the 
 few daj's' travelling obtained complete master^' over him. 
 
 The concluding march had been made during the early 
 hours, but the white-bearded prophet would brook no delay. 
 Through the scorching sunlight he hurried the three Amer- 
 icans along a rough path that led into the recesses of a 
 volcanic range of small hills until the party at length stood 
 at the opening to a cave — an opening obviously carved by 
 man's hands into a fair semblance of an Egyptian doorway. 
 
 Both Vansittart and Maclaren were surprised to note the 
 style of the workmanship. 
 
 How came this quaint device to appear in such a locality, 
 separated as it was b)^ two thousand miles of desert from the 
 Nile, and situated in the midst of a strange tribe of negroes 
 — for the Arabs were, after all, but the military' occupiers of 
 the country ? That the excavation and its sphinx-like exter- 
 ior pillars, with their huge superincumbent blocks of stone 
 — such as one raa^' see in dozens of ruined cities along the 
 banks of the Nile — were many centuries old could not be 
 doubted. 
 
 The sun had excoriated the figures until they were now 
 almost vShapeless, ond had they not been cut from the .solid 
 rock they would long since have crumbled away into the 
 mould of the desert. 
 
 Not much time was given them for noting these dim 
 evidences of a bj'gone age. 
 
 Hastily kicking off his shoes, the aged priest lit a torch 
 which he carried, and invited them by signs to enter. Pro- 
 ceeding in single file through a narrow passage, they found 
 themselves after a few paces in a spacious chamber. When 
 
134 
 
 An American Emperor 
 
 their eyes had become accustomed to the gloom, fitfully fun- 
 mined by the climbing flames of the resin, they saw that 
 they were standing in a square apartment, singularly lofty 
 and heavy with the odor of bitumen, the substance largely 
 used for preserving mummies. 
 
 They perceived that their ancient guide was furious with 
 indignation as he gazed round upon obvious tokens of recent 
 despoilment, as the stone lids of three sarcophagi were dis- 
 placed, and strips of linen and plaster were scattered on the 
 ground, whilst the aromatic scent showed that the occupants 
 of the coffins had been recently disturbed from their long rest. 
 
 The place had clearly been rifled for treasure. 
 
 Sayyid Mohammed ben Izak was already aware of the fact, 
 but they did not understand his words, as the interpreter had 
 remained with the other servants. 
 
 But his actions were easy enough to follow. 
 
 Motioning to Vansittart, he bade him scrutinize a wall- 
 painting, rudely but clearly drawn just above the largest 
 sarcophagus, and he held the torch so that Jerome could 
 examine it. 
 
 The millionnaire unhesitatingly stooped to obey his be- 
 hest, whilst Arizona Jim, although awed by the surround- 
 ings, gripped the butt of his revolver, in case of accident, for 
 he had no faith in ' ' niggers. ' ' And this is what Vansittart 
 saw : 
 
A Tomb ill the Wilderness 135 
 
 Beneath, there was a long inscription in smaller hiero- 
 glyphic characters, but differing somewhat in style from 
 those reproduced below. 
 
 Ivong and earnestly did Vansittart examine this curious 
 device, and Maclaren, looking over his shoulder, was quick 
 to see that prominent amongst the larger signs was the 
 strange emblem that his companion had handed to the Arab 
 at their first meeting. 
 
 This time he could not restrain an ejaculation. " Well, 
 that beats everything, ' ' he said, with a gasp. 
 
 "What does?" said Vansittart. "Do you understand 
 it?" 
 
 "No. Do you?" 
 
 " Yes, a little — the drawing represents a sepulchral barge 
 being ferried across water to a tomb. It contains a dec- 
 orated shrine or canopy, in which a mummy — obviously a 
 person of consequence — is laid, and on the top of the shrine 
 are professional wailing women. The chief line of the in- 
 scription reads thus, and he indicated words as follows : 
 
 GMI '^ CuEl 
 
 King of the North Nem-ab-Rab. Se-Ra. Nekau. 
 
 and South. Son of the Sun. 
 
 (Title.) (Prenomen.) (Title.) (Nomen.) 
 
 " The remainder of the inscription," he continued, " is in 
 the Phoenician character, compounds of certain letters of the 
 Hieratic character, which, again, was a species of written 
 hieroglyphic. I must have it carefully copied and translated 
 at Oxford." 
 
 " But how the deuce do you know so much about it ? " 
 
 Van.sittart straightened himself up as he modestl}' replied : 
 
 " During a visit to London once I was vastly attracted 
 
 by the Eg>'ptian monuments in the British Museum, and 
 
 spent some time in mastering the rudiments of the hiero- 
 
 gl3'phics. They are very ea^y when you have got the key. ' ' 
 
 " So I should imagine," said Maclaren, dubiously. " And 
 
136 An American Emperor 
 
 by that means you were able to paralyze our old friend here 
 with what Bates called the ' duck and ^^"g ' ? " 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 ' ' And have you any theory concerning the business ? It 
 leaves me out entirely, I must confess." 
 
 ' ' That is because you have been puzzled, but it is really 
 simple enough. Anyone can see that the gentleman interred 
 in this tomb was either a descendant of King Nekau, or was 
 buried here during his reign. The Phoenician inscription 
 will reveal all this. Then, to be brought here he was carried 
 in a boat. Ergo, there was water in the locality, — and now 
 there is none — proof positive of our contention that this 
 place was submerged within historic times. Again, this 
 Egyptian potentate was mixed up with the Phoenicians, the 
 great traders and sailors of the Mediterranean. When their 
 knowledge of the hieroglyphics gave out they used their own 
 language. Altogether, it is a marvellous find." 
 
 " And do you know what is the most marvellous thing 
 about it ? " said the engineer. 
 
 " No, not exactly." 
 
 " Why, your calling yourself Se-Ra at the right moment. 
 You have absolutely stopped the campaign on this side of 
 the Continent. Every native here will work for you for 
 nothing, and be honored in the asking. How on earth did 
 you think of it ? " 
 
 Vansittart laughed. "To tell the truth," he said, "it 
 was the only sign I could definitely remember at the 
 moment." 
 
 When they quitted the cave and obtained the aid of the 
 interpreter, they found that Mohammed ben Izak was ac- 
 quainted with a prophec}^ that when the Son of the Sun 
 returned to Adsokha the waters would again flow in the 
 valleys and the land spring into verdure. The news of the 
 American's project had reached him, and he immediately 
 resolved to visit him and ascertain whether or not he 
 was indeed Se-Ra. And had he not given him the sign at 
 
A Tomb in the Wilderness 137 
 
 the very moment of their meeting ? Allah was Allah, and 
 Mohammed was his prophet ! 
 
 When the party returned to Boca Grande, Jerome found 
 awaiting him a cable from Harland. It ran : 
 
 " De Tournon is stirring up trouble here. Chamber is 
 being influenced against you, and Ministry would withdraw 
 troops if they dared. Le Soir is publishing damaging 
 reports from Shott Jerid, written by someone there, and 
 they are steadily gaining credence. Liancourt advises im- 
 mediate return to Gabes and afterwards visit to Paris to 
 allay public uneasiness. Other matters are curious, but can 
 wait your arrival." 
 
 Vansittart re-read the last sentence several times. He cut 
 it from the cablegram form and then handed the rest of the 
 message to Maclaren, sajdng : 
 
 ' ' The curtain is now about to rise upon the second act of 
 our drama." 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 VANSITTART RIDES FOR A FAI,I« 
 
 " I WONDER which of these gentlemen of the Press it is 
 
 1 who writes the articles now appearing in Le Soir, ' ' 
 said Vansittart to Maclaren and Captain Pompier whilst en- 
 joying an after-dinner cigar and coflFee during the march of 
 the troops against the rebels massed at Tugurt. 
 
 He had not long returned from Boca Grande and found 
 all in readiness for a forward movement on his arrival. 
 
 " None of them is supposed to represent the rag," said 
 Pompier. ' ' They are all too high and mighty to contribute 
 to such a journal." 
 
 " The writer, whoever it is, does n't send his pleasant 
 comments to Le Soir direct, ' ' observed Jerome. ' ' He posts 
 them to an opponent of mine in Paris and the latter has them 
 published in the organ which appeals to the scum of the 
 capital. ' ' 
 
 * * In that case it will indeed be difiScult to discover the 
 blackguard," cried Pompier. " If only I knew the rascal I 
 would call him out and pink him in the liver, for he has lied 
 most scandalously about the commissariat." 
 
 " I have had inquiries made in Paris," observed Vansit- 
 tart, " and we may soon be enlightened. Meanwhile, let us 
 amuse ourselves with reading the villain's remarks." 
 
 He scanned some copies of the recent issues of Le Soir to 
 hand. 
 
 Cleverly twisting facts to suit his conclusions, the writer, 
 who signed himself " One of the Deluded," told how many 
 
 138 
 
Vmisittart Rides for a Fall 1 39 
 
 'iiundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of valuable plant 
 was being buried uselessly in the desert, how trigonometrical 
 signals alone represented the canals (even Maclaren growled 
 at this allusion, as his staff had done mar\'els in the shape 
 of detailing the operations in sections so that vast bodies of 
 laborers could be emplo3'ed simultaneously), how the cavalry 
 soldiers were eating their horses (and here Pompier swore 
 fiercely), and how generally the Sahara threatened to be 
 another and a more disastrous Panama. 
 
 Vansittart laughed heartily at the description of himself. 
 
 "He is a supreme actor, this dangerous lunatic," wrote 
 the correspondent. ' ' He poses superbly. In the midst of 
 obvious privations and losses he comforts himself v/ith tinsel 
 dignity, and reviews the gallant troops of France with the 
 hauteur of a stage emperor. Were he not ruining France, 
 one could tolerate the impostor for his splendid make- 
 believe." 
 
 " The rascal has a soft spot in his heart for you after all," 
 commented Maclaren, whose ill-humor speedily vanished. 
 
 But Pompier was more fiery. 
 
 " These press men." he cried, " grow fat on the menus I 
 give them — I must lessen their diet and teach them manners. " 
 
 ' ' Not so, ' ' cried Vansittart. ' ' You would star\-e the good 
 to punish the bad. That will never do." 
 
 At this moment, an orderly brought the letters. Jerome's 
 quick eye detected one amidst the number and he opened it. 
 
 ' ' Now we may have news, ' ' he said. 
 
 He whistled softly to relieve his feelings when he had 
 mastered its contents. The note was from Folliet. ' ' Listen, ' ' 
 he said in a low tone of voice. ' ' It has come with dramatic 
 sequence. I have here undoubted proof that the writer of 
 these attacks is M. Legru, oi La Patrie^ 
 
 " Sacri bleii ! " shrieked Pompier, springing to his feet, 
 " and but to-night I sent him a bottle of Heidsieck '84. 
 Ha ! there is a moon. Where is my rapier ? I must let 
 some sound wine out of his carcase before it is spoiled ! " 
 
140 An American Emperor 
 
 " Not so. Pray oblige me, Captain Pompier, as a per- 
 sonal matter, by keeping this afifair secret at present. After- 
 wards, when I have left you for a little while, you can do as 
 you choose. At this moment I desire M. Legru to say his 
 worst." 
 
 Vansittart did not add that his Chief of Police had in- 
 formed him that M. Legru sent his letters to De Tournon, 
 who gave them, type-written, to Le Sob . 
 
 " By the cross of St. Denis ! it was an excellent bottle," 
 howled the French officer in almost comic rage. 
 
 " Never mind. Give him another to-morrow. It will 
 inspire him, for his concluding effusions lack point." 
 
 ' ' He shall not lack point when I have finished with him, ' ' 
 cried Pompier, and he griinied at his pleasant conceit until 
 he had calmed sufficiently to plan out an absolute fattening 
 of the unfortunate L,egru for the spit. 
 
 General Daubisson, at Vansittart' s request, had been 
 given the chief command of the now enlarged expedition. 
 
 Of the 50,000 troops sent from France, about two fifths 
 were advancing across the desert to Tugurt, where an im- 
 mense assemblage of the enemy was reported by spies and 
 friendly negroes. 
 
 Tugurt, a small town lying at the extreme south of the 
 valley that ran for nearly one hundred miles from the 
 southwest corner of Shott Melrhir, was not only naturally 
 strong but was protected by its fearsome approaches. 
 
 On the arid plain lay the bleached bones of thousands of 
 men and animals, relics of generations of trading caravans. 
 These gruesome evidences of the inhospitable climate were 
 more terrifying by night than by day. The moonbeams 
 glinted from their whiteness and created ghostly imageries 
 of malicious gnomes and affrighting demons. 
 
 It required all the haphazard nonchalance of the French 
 soldier to endure the tedious horrors of the march ; but the 
 
Vansittart Rides for a Fall 141 
 
 success that had attended their first brush with the enemy 
 inspired the men, and each of them was buoyant with the 
 hope that fame and fortune might be wrung from this wild 
 country of sand and rock under the leadership of Jerome. 
 
 His wealth and his forethought, applied by Captain Pom- 
 pier's fertile resourcefulness, had smoothed away many of 
 the hardships that would otherwise have attended the ad- 
 vance. 
 
 Every care had been taken by Vansittart for the comfort 
 of the men — little for himself. He shared their meals, their 
 labors, and their amusements. He was ever ready with a 
 kindly word or a kindlier action, and it was no exaggera- 
 tion to say that by rank and file he was idolized, whilst the 
 officers looked to him in some vague way for promotion and 
 distinction. 
 
 Even at that early date every man in the Sahara Expedi- 
 tion was indissolubly bound up in his interests. 
 
 As the column neared Tugurt, greater precautions were 
 taken to guard against unexpected attack, and Vansittart 
 communicated to General Daubisson his desire to act per- 
 sonally with the cavalry and guns during the forthcoming 
 battle. 
 
 The pompous little commander readily consented. 
 
 " I know well your rapidity of thought and action, mon- 
 sieur," he said. " You are a born leader of horse. But 
 pray be careful. Vast interests are attached to your person. 
 Do not put 5'ourself unnecessarily in harm's way. There 
 are those with us who would magnify even trivial events. ' ' 
 
 Daubisson meant well by his advice. 
 
 "General," replied Jerome, "my power of magnifying 
 events is much greater than that of those against whom you 
 wani me. Above all else, I never forget a friend, and j-our 
 name is prominent amongst my best well-wishers. ' ' 
 
 Tugurt was to be assaulted by daylight, and this time 
 there was no guide to help the expedition in the preliminary 
 strategy. 
 
142 A71 America7i Emperor 
 
 The enemy, too, were strongly posted and obviously better 
 led than at El Hegef. 
 
 A cloud of mounted nomads checked and irritated the 
 advance, and their scattered formation prevented the artiller}' 
 from doing much execution. 
 
 The town occupied the usual rocky eminence, and Dau- 
 bisson resolved to deliver a direct frontal attack by the in- 
 fantry under cover of the guns, whilst the cavalry were to 
 sweep round immediately by the left to the rear of the \.o\<\\ 
 in order to cut off the exodus of flying natives which lie 
 assumed would at once take place. 
 
 Vansittart doubted the wisdom of the arrangements, but 
 he only asked and obtained the general's permission to 
 slightly delay the movement of the cavalry until the affair 
 had developed to some extent. 
 
 The guns galloped ahead and soon made things lively 
 among the rocks on which Tugurt was perched. 
 
 As soon as the infantry had deployed, the guns ceased, and 
 it was then seen that the enemy were advantageously dis- 
 posed behind cover, whilst a rapid and well-aimed fire from 
 arms of precision showed that the opening tussle would be 
 a severe one. 
 
 Already many men were hit in the fighting line, and 
 although the advance proceeded most gallantly there was 
 some natural unsteadiness in the formation of the leading 
 regiments. 
 
 Whilst this phase of the battle was unfolding itself, Van- 
 sittart was neared by the group of newspaper correspond- 
 ents, amongst whom was Legru, carrying himself bravely 
 on a magnificent Arab. The American was quick to notice 
 that the representative of La Patrie had almost encumbered 
 himself with a large haversack and a gigantic water-skin. 
 " You are prepared for possibilities, monsieur," he said with 
 a smile. 
 
 "It is well, monsieur, in the desert," was the jaunty 
 answer. 
 
Vansittart Rides for a Fall 143 
 
 " That is a fine horse you are riding." 
 
 " I have held him in reserve," replied lyegru. Then 
 apparently desirous to change the conversation, he went on : 
 " Although a civilian, M. Vansittart, I hear you intend to 
 take part in the action." 
 
 " Surely I must participate in my own quarrel. And 
 you?" 
 
 " Alas, my profession debars me. I can only observe ! " 
 
 * ' I have no keener critic, ' ' laughed the other. 
 
 M. Legru also seemed pleased, and bowed, but he bit his 
 moustache as he thought : 
 
 " Confound him. Does he suspect ? " 
 
 But a diversion came to his relief. Vansittart had seen a 
 cloud of dust rising from a wady, or depression, on the right, 
 and rode off to call the attention of the ofl&cer in command 
 of the cavalry to it. 
 
 They watched the moving cloud in silence for some 
 moments, and then Arizona Jim, w^ho never quitted his 
 master's side, said : 
 
 " There 's spear points in that dust, guv' nor." 
 
 His trained vision had discerned this significant appari- 
 tion long before anybody else, but Vansittart accepted his 
 statement, and counselled a sharp trot in that direction. 
 
 The cavalry moved off, and before they had gone half a 
 mile, the right of the fighting line being still well in front, 
 the reason of the dust cloud became quite clear. 
 
 A large body of mounted dervishes were advancing at a 
 gallop to take the French infantry in flank, and the nature 
 of the ground would prevent the brigadier in charge of the 
 attack from noting this hostile demonstration until too late 
 to change front. 
 
 In a word, General Daubisson had exposed his troops to 
 disaster. 
 
 The 6th Dragoons led the cavalry brigade and with them 
 were the i8th Chasseurs and the 9th Hussars. 
 
 They now rode hard at the advancing Arabs, and spread 
 
144 •^'^ American Emperor 
 
 fan-wise, so as to get their full strength at work simulta- 
 neously. 
 
 It chanced that Jerome accompanied the i8th Chasseurs, 
 whereas M. I^egru, in the earliest and most sensational des- 
 patch subsequently published in Paris, announced that hg 
 headed the 6th Dragoons. The mistake was a trivial one at 
 the time, but it had a highly important bearing upon gub- 
 sequent events of a very different nature. 
 
 When the Frenchmen dashed into the midst of the der- 
 vishes an exciting melee followed. 
 
 Foiled in the object of their attacl^, and compelled to me^t 
 on equal terms three of the finest regiments in the French 
 army, the tribesmen nevertheless made the best of a bad 
 business and offered a desperate resistance. 
 
 The fight was of a give-and-take nature, and Vansittart 
 was compelled more than once to hit his hardest at an assail- 
 ant to prevent the other from cutting him down, whilst on 
 one occasion he owed his life to the smart parrj' made by a 
 trooper of the Chasseurs to a stroke from an Arab scimitar. 
 
 But though his blood coursed madly through his veins 
 with the fierce joy of a cavalry action, he nevertheless felt 
 the constraint of being a non-combatant, and endeavored 
 where possible to use the flat of his sword. 
 
 It was othenvise with Arizona Jim. That w^orthy as- 
 tounded the French soldiers in the vicinity by the ease with 
 which he emptied saddle after saddle of their occupants by 
 means of his revolver. More than once he safeguarded 
 Vansittart from harm by drilling a hole in some unobserved 
 foe. 
 
 Within five minutes the Arabs were thoroughly routed, 
 and the defenders of Tugurt, more conscious than the French 
 infantry of the disastrous nature of the repulse, began to 
 retire before the impetuous onset made upon them. 
 
 Hastily gathering his cavalry brigade by bugle-call, the 
 leader sought Jerome's prompt acquiescence in a sharp move- 
 ment towards the rear of the town, in order to fulfil General 
 
'■ It was otherwise with Arizona [im. 
 
VansiU-ari Rides for a Fall 145 
 
 Daubisson's first idea, which had been so happily delayed 
 and improved upon. 
 
 They trotted off, and whilst passing through some difficult 
 country, broken and intersected by small ravines, a queer 
 notion suddenly possessed Vansittart. 
 
 Already deuse masses of fugitives were pouring out of the 
 town toward the west, and the French horsemen were break- 
 ing into small groups in their eagerness to begin their pur- 
 suit, when Jerome said to Bates, speaking in English and in 
 a low tone : 
 
 " Follow me closely, and do as I do." 
 
 Watching his opportunity, he darted unobserved into an 
 unusually deep nullah, and ten minutes' ride among its tor- 
 tuous course soon lessened the sounds of conflict almost into 
 nothingness. 
 
 "What's the game, guv'nor?" cried Jim, who was 
 genuinely amazed at this singular proceeding. 
 
 '■ The game now is to dismount, loosen our horses' girths, 
 hobble them, have a drink, and smoke a cigar in the shade 
 of a rock, ' ' 
 
 Bates regarded his master with keen anxiety. * ' You 
 hev n't been touched up with the sun, hev you ? " he cried, 
 
 Vansittart laughed heartily at the question. " No, 
 Bates," he said when he had recovered his breath. " Don't 
 think that I am running away from trouble. That fight," 
 pointing towards Tugurt, " is over. By simply resting our- 
 .selves here for a little while I am much mistaken if we don't 
 create a vastl}^ bigger row elsewhere. I am onl}'' sorry that 
 I cannot relieve Mr. Maclaren's anxiety about us." 
 
 *' That 's just it, sir," urged Bates excitedly. " They '11 
 think you 've been knocked on the head, sure, and there 
 will be a tremenjous hullabaloo." 
 
 ' ' Exactly what I desire. Come, calm yourself, and light 
 up." 
 
1 46 An American Emperor 
 
 Two hours later, when the cavalry returned hot and weary 
 from a prolonged pursuit, Vansittart was reported missing. 
 
 The news spread like wildfire through the camp, and there 
 were not wanting those who saw him struck down during 
 the fight with the dervishes. Others, however, were posi- 
 tive that he rode with the brigade subsequently, and search 
 parties were sent out to try and find him and his inseparable 
 attendant. 
 
 General Daubisson was frantic, Maclaren miserable to the 
 last degree, and reproaching himself for having obeyed 
 Jerome's order to remain with the reserves, and every 
 officer and man in the expedition felt that they had sus- 
 tained an irreparable loss. 
 
 The newspaper correspondents, of course, realized the full 
 significance of Vansittart' s possible death, and strove to ar- 
 range for camel expresses to reach the coast. But General 
 Daubisson issued imperative orders that his despatches must 
 precede all news telegrams, and refused to allow anyone to 
 leave the camp. 
 
 He did not know, then, that M. Legru had already de- 
 parted, having arranged for stores and fresh camels to meet 
 him at predetermined depots on the march, 
 
 Vansittart' s death was the one thing he had been waiting 
 for as a rich possibilit5^ He was not going to be balked at 
 the crucial moment by an interfering commander. 
 
 At four o'clock one of the search parties, to their great 
 joy, discovered Vansittart, suffering badly from a sprained 
 ankle, and convej^ed him to the camp on an improvised 
 stretcher, 
 
 Joy now filled the hearts of all ranks, but Maclaren could 
 not understand why, when he hastened to meet his friend, 
 Jerome should press his hand significantly, and murmur in 
 English : 
 
 " It 's all right. I will explain presently," 
 
 General Daubisson was among the first to offer his con- 
 gratulations. He came personally to Vansittart' s tent 
 
Vansittart Rides for a Fall 147 
 
 where Bates was binding up the injured ankle after an ap- 
 proved prairie method, as the milHonnaire had refused medi- 
 cal assistance. 
 
 " My dear sir," cried the General, " I am overjoyed at 
 your safety. I can now write my despatches and expedite 
 them to the utmost, as one of those rascally press men has 
 got away in spite of my orders, and I fear alarmist reports 
 concerning you may be published in Paris." 
 
 "General," said Vansittart earnestly, "in the ordinary 
 course of events the staff officer who conveys your despatches 
 would not begin to cross the desert with his escort until the 
 morning. ' ' 
 
 " That is so, undoubtedly." 
 
 ' ' Then let me ask you, as a great favor, not to depart from 
 established custom in this instance." 
 
 " But Legru, who is already en route, will report you 
 dead." 
 
 " In may be so. In that case I shall know my friends by 
 my obituary notices." 
 
 The General, who was cute enough in business matters, 
 paused. " You will know your enemies, too," he said at 
 last. 
 
 ' ' General Daubisson, ' ' replied Jerome, ' ' you are a poli- 
 tician as well as a soldier." 
 
 The fat officer smiled with a self-satisfied air. 
 
 ' ' The despatches shall not go before sunrise, ' ' he cried as 
 he took his leave. 
 
 The military surgeons attached to the expedition were 
 much exercised to know the method of Arizona Jim's treat- 
 ment for sprained ankles, as two days later Vansittart was 
 able to begin the journey to the Gulf of Gabes. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 A STORM BREWING 
 
 SHORTIyY after Vansittart had set out for the Soudan, 
 it was raining and blowing at Paris, and Paris was very 
 wretched. 
 
 Some cities have the strange faculty of deriving some 
 fresh aspect of beauty from the inclemencies of weather. 
 Their spirit is akin to melancholy. The solemnity of Lon- 
 don becomes awe-inspiring in the rain ; the dull, the sombre, 
 become majestic when they are carried to an extremity. 
 So she gains in grandeur, in that imposing appearance of 
 impregnable strength which is her chief virtue. In mist and 
 fog, her hoary buildings and irregular lines of streets be- 
 come mj'sterious. Their outlines die away iii a rich, vague 
 beauty. The gauntness is lost — only the charm of poetic 
 indistinctness is left. London is then Nature's masterpiece 
 of etching. 
 
 But Paris has none of this virtue. She exists for the sun. 
 She is a flower that pines for light and warmth. Let there 
 come wind and rain and she shrinks and quivers beneath 
 them like a sensitive plant struck by a cruel gale. She 
 collapses in a moment. Pier smile is gone, her tranquillitj^ 
 her beauty. There is a pathetic appeal in the aspect of her 
 streets : her great buildings are no longer sprightly, her 
 gardens no more gay ; her shops become limp and listless. 
 Even the Arc de Triomphe loses some of its assurance, and 
 the Vendome Column is not half so truculent. The statue 
 
 148 
 
A Storm Braving 149 
 
 of Strasbourg alone draws its profit from the weather ; it be- 
 comes more gloomj^ and more reminiscent than ever. 
 
 It is so, too, with the people of Paris. 
 
 It is said that on one occasion a French general and an 
 experienced French boulevardier were standing on a portico 
 watching one of these sudden outbursts of popular fury. 
 
 " Oh, for a salvo of artillery ! " sighed the general. 
 
 " Oh, for a shower of rain ! " groaned the boulevardier. 
 
 And the boulevardier was wiser than the general. 
 
 In the rain the people of Paris can no longer stroll in the 
 boulevards or sit before the cafes. They are driven from the 
 boats which carr}'- them up and down the Seine. There is 
 nothing to observe in the streets. They have to go right 
 inside their brasseries and the Vvindows are all closed. It is 
 not life, that. There is time for grumbling and recollecting 
 evil things. 
 
 Sometimes a spell of bad weather will determine a revolu- 
 tion. It is true, the most disastrous riots are those that 
 spring up like thunder in the hot air on a fine summer's 
 da5\ And there is something to fear when the Parisian 
 hurries gaily to his barricade ; but the rainy riot is more fre- 
 quent, and is not at all to be despised. 
 
 Just now there were many mutterings throughout Paris. 
 A skilled obsen^er would have noticed two things — first, 
 that there was every prospect of an outburst, and, secondly, 
 that some skilled hand was piloting it in the way he wanted 
 it to go. 
 
 For in Paris there are manj' volcanic centres and as many 
 formidable parties. There are irreconcilables, whose hand 
 is against authorit}- of all kinds and who are equally danger- 
 ous to a republic as to a monarchy. There are democrats 
 who are always suspicious of individuals, for fear of the 
 supremac}'- of a single ambitious man. There are proletariats 
 whose vague and ignorant theories on Socialism can be 
 directed against any person or any party by a few subtle 
 arguments. There are idlers who can be excited, there are 
 
150 An American Emperor 
 
 the covetous who can be bought, and there are the pugna- 
 cious who love a fight. Paris is, in fact, an instrument of 
 many strings, from which can be extracted the most contrary 
 music. Sometimes the strain may be enchanting and melo- 
 dious, again it is wild, riotous, and discordant. It is then 
 the prelude to some stormy outbursts of civic fury. 
 
 These strings were vibrating to the touch of a master 
 hand. Its victims little knew what skilled player it was 
 that called forth at will their ebullitions. 
 
 M. de Tournon knew his instrument well. He made no 
 blunders. His execution was that of an expert. 
 
 The first passionate exultations over the great Sahara 
 scheme were naturally followed by a period of calmer criti- 
 cism. There were some who wondered, some who ques- 
 tioned, some who doubted. But of these last there were not 
 many. 
 
 Then came the appalling news of Vansittart's death. 
 There had been a sudden fall in the stock. Paris reeled 
 before the advance of ruin. The croakers opened their lips. 
 Inflammatory speeches, delivered to a stricken public, urged 
 that the scheme never was sound, never could be sound, if 
 it depended on a single man. The report soon proved to be 
 a lie, but shares in the great company were listless. Those 
 who had speculated and lost their money became bitter; the 
 wound still ached. 
 
 After this some curious pamphlets made their appearance 
 in every cafe, and in almost every house. Nobody knew 
 whence they came. The writer, in fierce and virulent lan- 
 guage, pointed what he called the moral of the recent slump. 
 France was in the hands of one man. 
 
 Who was this Vansittart, to so manage things that the 
 whole fortunes of the Republic depended upon himself? 
 Was it not obvious that he was working for himself — that 
 he did not love or trust France, that la pattie was once more 
 to be made the tool of an adventurer ? And, finally, was it 
 not clear that, having got the country into his toils, the 
 
A Storm Brewing 151 
 
 upstart meditated some daring scheme of personal ambition ? 
 The growing mischief was increased by groups of men who 
 moved about inflaming their fellow-citizens, and grum- 
 bling and declaiming in every cafe. They did this at a 
 salary. 
 
 Now, there are peculiar and insidious allies of the ma- 
 licious schemer in Paris. They take the. form of newspapers, 
 and their birth is as mysterious as their death is clear to 
 view. The ordinary rules of law would need to be inverted 
 in their case. An inquest should be held upon their birth, 
 and a free certificate granted on their death. 
 
 In certain periods of the year, when a damp, heavy atmos- 
 phere passes over the meadows, and the night is stifled with 
 moisture, one wakes and finds a miracle. The meadows are 
 filled with mushrooms — they are the creatures of a single 
 day. It is so with these newspapers. 
 
 When the air of Paris is laden with omen, there suddenly 
 spring up these ephemeral journals. No one knows how. 
 It does not matter. They do not seek to live. They are 
 created to advocate the fortunes of one man or ruin those of 
 another. The task done, they disappear as suddenly and as 
 mysteriously. 
 
 Two points about them are uniform. Their titles betoken 
 incredible honesty and patriotism — their contents display 
 incredible knowledge of the more infamous epithets in the 
 French language. 
 
 There were two such journals which came into being at 
 this juncture. One was called L' Hotuiete Citoyen ; the 
 other, Le Bourgeois Patriote. Both of them attacked Jerome 
 with the most terrible virulence. Paris is not discriminat- 
 ing. She bought and read these papers, and they stirred up 
 the growing sense of uneasiness. 
 
 There were doubts cast on Vansittart's descent. D Hon- 
 nete Citoyen even produced a letter from the true descendant, 
 exposing the pretences of the impostor. It was proved that 
 all this man wanted was to draw France into a second Pan- 
 
152 An American EiJiperor 
 
 aiua catastrophe, only one mudh more stupendous, ahd then 
 involve her in irretrievable fuin. 
 
 There were differences df opinion as to th^ motive. 
 V Honnete Citoyen announced that Vansittart was in the pay 
 of England — it was the new mode of fighting invented by 
 that nation of shopkeepers. Le Bourgeois Patriote, which 
 seemed better informed, assured its readers that he was con- 
 nected with the Ro3'alist part}', and that he had bartered his 
 wealth for a dukedom. In proof whereof, the editor point- 
 edly asked who was the lady who was staying at the Grand 
 Hotel, and was undoubtedly a partner in his schemes ? 
 Then followed some would-be m3'sterious but not very im- 
 penetrable hints. 
 
 Paris is changeable, she is easily persuaded, she becomes 
 quickly excited. The campaign was carried on so skilfully 
 and from so many quarters, that from sheer pressure she 
 began to think, then get restless, then to become roused. 
 
 For it must not be forgotten that the Paris which moves 
 and acts in all the turmoils of political strife, which Over- 
 turns ministries and destroys reputations, is the Paris of the 
 cafe and the boulevard. That is the volatile, the excitable, 
 the flamboyant Paris. The greater Paris, the phlegmatic, 
 enduring, laboring Paris keeps aloof. It wants peace and 
 good government. When stirring moments come, it shrugs 
 its shoulders, and knows that in a month or two all will be well. 
 
 If all is not then well, it raises its great hand and brings 
 it down on boulevard and cafe, on Assembly and Senate 
 House alike, and there is peace of a different kind. Things 
 begin anew, and much more quietly. That greater Paris 
 knew and believed in Vansittart. But It did its work, ate its 
 black bread, and simply waited. 
 
 The weather suited M. de Tournon's mood, as he sat in 
 his office and for a moment dreamily looked out at the drip- 
 ping facades of a distant street. He knew that there Were a 
 hundred agents at work who could catch the Parisian in his 
 angry moments and send the good work along. 
 
A Storm Brewing 153 
 
 " So you have seen him ? " he suddenly asked of the Pre- 
 fect of Pohce who sat a Httle way oflF. 
 
 " Yes, monsieur, yesterday. He arrived the day before. 
 When I was assured that it ivas Prince Henri, I hastened 
 there myself. There is no doubt he is back — a dangerous 
 man, that. It is no light matter to jest at proscription." 
 
 ' ' He is in the same house ? ' ' 
 
 " Yes, and in the same disguise. A student of theology. 
 It becomes him," 
 
 " You are right, he is a dangerous man. He is young, he 
 is handsome, he rides well. His title to the throne is a little 
 too clear for the comfort of our good citizens. ' ' 
 
 " Monsieur, shall I arrest him ? " 
 
 M. de Tournon paused a moment. Then, with difficulty, 
 replied : 
 
 " No, not that. I have reasons, M. le Prefect. Some- 
 times it is safer to have the enemy near. Keep a close watch, 
 and, before all, let your guard at the Grand Hotel redouble 
 his vigilance. ' ' 
 
 The prefect bowed and retired. The minister rubbed his 
 hands. He was evidently much pleased. 
 
 " It only needs a meeting ! " he chuckled to himself 
 " My dear friend Vansittart doubtless has a heart. How I 
 grieve to torment it. But women are proverbially fickle ; 
 and, after all, the Prince has the first refusal ! " 
 
 M. de Tournon took up some papers that were on the 
 table and examined them cursorily. 
 
 " H'm ! " he growled with a grim smile. " My Honest 
 Citizen and my Patriot Bourgeois are expensive gentlemen. 
 That is the worst of virtues. They are never profitable. 
 Bah ! It needs only three days more. By that time Van- 
 sittart will be a lost man. While he is fasting in the wilder- 
 ness, I But sta5^ There is more than political power to 
 
 be got out of this little masterpiece of mine. I must write 
 to Bulbere at once." 
 
 So saying, he drew out of its case some note-paper, and 
 
154 ^^^ American Emperor 
 
 proceeded to write a long letter of instructions to his stock- 
 broker. It amounted to this : 
 
 The broker was to bear the market for him in Sahara 
 shares. He was to sell ^1,000,000 worth of stock at present 
 prices, and he was to buy as soon as the Bourse opened on 
 Thursday — that was in three days' time — and the difference 
 would become payable or due on settling day, which was a 
 week later. 
 
 "Admirable!" exclaimed M. de Tournon. "Stock is 
 now at par, ^^loo. I sell 10,000 shares. After I throw out 
 the Sahara Debenture Bill on Wednesday, stock will fall to 
 at least ^80. I buy, and thus get a clear gain of ^200,000. 
 It lays the foundation of a fortune ! ' ' 
 
 Which was a most profitable and honorable transaction for 
 a member of a French Ministry ! 
 
 Having sealed and despatched this document, M. de Tour- 
 non put on his coat, summoned his carriage, and went forth 
 to visit M, Ribou of the War Department. M. Ribou 
 received him with every demonstration of delight, and 
 inwardly wondered how he could manage to put his foot on 
 the neck of this powerful and unscrupulous rival. 
 
 M. de Tournon soon plunged into the matters he had 
 come to discuss. 
 
 ' ' The Sahara Company, ' ' he observed gravely, ' ' is not 
 quite well at present. Its ailments are many. But I think 
 the chief is that it suffers from too big a head and too small 
 a body." 
 
 Ribou bowed in assent. 
 
 ' ' The shares have gone steadily down. They are still 
 fairly high, but they have dropped." 
 
 * ' That is so, ' ' assented the other. 
 
 * ' Mr. Vansittart is becoming unpopular. It seems he is 
 not a Frenchman by descent. He is also conspiring with 
 the Royalists. Paris is getting uneasy. I fear an unpleas- 
 ant reception for our poor friend when he returns. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Monsieur, ' ' replied the other, * * you are thinking there 
 is another blow to give." 
 
A Storm Brewing 155 
 
 " True, as patriots, how can we help it ? Friendship 
 must yield to devotion to our country. ' ' 
 
 " Your sentiments, M. de Toumon, are always both 
 wholesome and admirable. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Well, let us proceed. On Wednesday a motion will be 
 made in the Chamber asking its formal consent to the rais- 
 ing of a fresh debenture stock to the amount of one million 
 of francs. It is a large sum." 
 
 ' ' The shareholders can raise it if they choose without our 
 assent." 
 
 " Your remark is most judicious, M. Ribou. But, as 
 patrons of the scheme, the directors come to us to give the 
 new proposal our blessing. That is what it means. If we 
 refuse, the public will be alarmed. They will believe that 
 the Government of France no longer trusts the practicability 
 of the Great Sahara scheme. ' ' 
 
 " Thatis very true." 
 
 "And it will appear that, after all, Mr. Vansittart has 
 been leading us all astray — that, in short, he is burjang us 
 in another Gulf of Darien. ' ' 
 
 " The public will undoubtedly gather that conclusion." 
 
 " Now, M. Ribou, the Chamber is getting afraid of the 
 Sahara scheme. Too much money is asked. We are sink- 
 ing deep in the mire. Progress seems to be almost impos- 
 sible. If the shareholders care to increase their capital, 
 poof ! it is their own concern. But it is something for us to 
 consider — shall we, statesmen of reputation, sanction the 
 raising of a national loan, and risk our position for a project 
 which seems to be an impossible one ? No, certainly not. 
 The Chamber does not deny that the scheme may prove to 
 be quite a fine affair. But it is not sufficiently convinced. 
 It cannot commit itself. It is not just that, by the weight 
 of its enormous influence, it should be the means of persuad- 
 ing the people of France to invest all their hard-earned 
 savings in so vast and uncertain a project." 
 
 M. Ribou smiled. He knew his colleague's methods thor- 
 oughly. 
 
156 All A merican Emperor 
 
 ''^ Does the Chamber really think that, monsieur?" he 
 asked. 
 
 " Undoubtedl}'. M. Renouf, M. Poussaiut, M. Fourville, 
 leaders of certain active parties, are quite persuaded ; so is 
 M. Tanqueville " 
 
 " M. Tanqueville ! " cried Ribou in surprise. " Is he also 
 convinced ? You must be indeed rich, monsieur ! " 
 
 " Ah, do not misjudge me. I have a clear majorit)' of 
 thirty in the Chamber. You, M. Ribou, will make it thirt}-- 
 two. Our views are the same. We cannot afford to see this 
 American ruin our country, and if we have to deal a blow to 
 his ambitions and to his reputation — shall we hesitate ? " 
 
 ' ' You need not doubt I am with you, provided you assure 
 me you have the majorit}'." 
 
 " Beyond question. There is lyiancourt to deal with. I 
 will see him. The more we get, the better. You have 
 friends, M. Ribou. May I count on them ? " 
 
 The Minister for War smiled in a sphinx-like way. " I 
 will do my best," he said firmly. And the two parted. 
 
 Thus, whilst Jerome was hurrying across the sea, and was 
 hastening to the great capital, this cruel plot was hatching 
 to ruin the credit of his company, and of himself — of him 
 who was toiling night and day to give to France another 
 empire ! 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 A RIVAL prince; 
 
 ON the following morning, the Comtesse de Fontaine- 
 blean, when she went to visit her mistress, was much 
 surprised to find her agitated and distressed. 
 
 On the table at her side la}' an opened letter. It was clear 
 that this had wrought the mischief. The Comtesse cast a 
 swift look at the handwriting, and a startled look entered 
 her eyes, a look which blended surprise and fear. 
 
 ' ' You have heard from him ? ' ' she cried, putting her arm 
 around Plonorine's neck. " He has written to you ? He is 
 in France ? ' ' 
 
 Honorine sighed. 
 
 " You are right, Anita. He has been there over two 
 days, at Fontainebleau, at the old house you must remember 
 so well. He begs of me to come and see him, if only for 
 once. He begs me to come to-day. I suppose, poor fellow, 
 that ever}^ moment is dangerous to him. Princes of the 
 royal blood are mere outlaws and vagrants, and in their own 
 country dare not show their faces. ' ' 
 
 " Prince Henri is very indiscreet, mademoiselle," replied 
 the Comtesse, pursing her lips. " You know he will get 
 you into trouble. And what for ? You cannot see him. 
 Surely it would not be fair to Mr. Vansittart. Two years 
 ago things were different. Then you had onl}- yourself to 
 consider. It is, alas, impossible that Prince Henri should 
 help you to ' ' 
 
 " Silence, madame," cried Honorine with great sternness. 
 
 157 
 
158 Alt American Emperor 
 
 * * You are forgetting 3^ourself. I need no instruction as to 
 my duty to the man who is restoring the throne of the royal 
 race of France. This young man, who begs me to see him, 
 is also of the same sacred stock. Our interests are in com- 
 mon. Under a happier fate he would have sat on the throne 
 himself. If I visit him, it is as one exiled monarch may 
 visit another." 
 
 " I crave pardon, mademoiselle," replied the Comtesse. 
 ' ' I spoke with the freedom of a friend. You must not forget 
 that even kings and queens are men and women, and who 
 can deny that two years ago, when we last met in the woods 
 at Fontainebleau, there was something more than a mere 
 royal conference. You know yourself, Honorine, that Prince 
 Henri loves you. Why deny it ? And for you it might 
 have been the same." 
 
 " It might have been," said Honorine dreamily. " But 
 was not. Those were pleasant days, Anita. Henri and I 
 were companions in misfortune. He is a brave youth, and 
 would make a brave king. Perhaps I was rash in those 
 days. Perhaps I listened too much to him as we sat in the 
 arbor. But I kept him within limits, did I not ? The poor 
 fellow is free to do as he likes. Fate has directed our des- 
 tinies in widely diJQFerent paths, and it is no use for you to 
 speak of what might have been." 
 
 Honorine trembled as she spoke, and her voice quivered 
 as under the stress of a deep emotion. 
 
 " But, Anita, he has come back," she went on slowly. 
 ' ' You know his rashness. He will not depart without see- 
 ing me. He might be arrested, imprisoned, who knows 
 what ? Now, Anita, I think I see my duty plainly alike to 
 Jerome, to Henri, and to myself. I must put an end at once 
 to any hope that may linger in Henri's mind. I must bid 
 him banish me from his memory. Ah, no ! not from his 
 memory, but from his dreams of the future. I must once 
 and for all part from him that he may no more run this ter- 
 rible risk. I shall give him back a freedom which he has 
 
A Rival Prince 159 
 
 never lost, but only thinks he has lost. He will be under 
 no delusion. His life will be before him to work out as he 
 chooses. As to myself, ' ' and here Honorine rose from her 
 chair with dignity, ' ' I shall make the sacrifice of friendship. 
 I shall be true to my word. I shall do so much to help on 
 the cause, even though my heart aches a little." 
 
 The Comtesse de Fontainebleau regarded Honorine atten- 
 tively. 
 
 " I feel you are right, mademoiselle," she said, " if you 
 have only strength of mind enough to carry through what 
 you propose. You need not look so imperiously upon me. I 
 know full well that you will sacrifice everything for a sacred 
 purpose like that you have undertaken, but I feel sure that 
 you deceive yourself when you plead that you feel nothing 
 for this brave prince. Nay, what I almost hope is that some 
 spark still lingers in your heart, and that at such a meeting 
 his words — and are they not fiery and eloquent ? — may make 
 it burst into flame. I, too, am a woman ! " 
 
 " I shall not forget myself, Anita," replied Honorine, 
 " nor the word I have given to Mr. Vansittart, nor the dig- 
 nity of my position, nor the sacred duty of womanhood. 
 Come, we will go this morning, as he desires. It will be 
 well that it should be soon over." 
 
 And thus it happened that a little before twelve o'clock 
 these two ladies, closely wrapped iip against the inclemency 
 of the weather, were descending the steps of the Grand Hotel 
 in order to drive to the Gare de L,yon. 
 
 By what strange coincidence was it that at this moment 
 Jerome made his appearance on the staircase on his return 
 from the wilderness of the Sahara ? He had come in quietly 
 by the Southern express, had driven in an ordinary Jiacre to 
 the hotel, and had been whirled through Paris absolutely 
 unrecognized. 
 
 He might have passed the closely veiled ladies without 
 noticing them, had not Honorine given expression to an 
 exclamation of surprise. Vansittart hastened to her, and, 
 
i6o An Ainericafi Emperor 
 
 in a cheerful tone, begged her for news of herself and of her 
 companion. 
 
 Honoriue made a hurried reply. The minutes were fly- 
 ing, and trains do not wait. She had not seen this hero of 
 hers for months. He had passed through dangers, had 
 suffered hardships, had encountered terrible risks, all for her 
 sake, and yet here she was, as she bitterly reproached 
 herself, tr>'ing to dismiss him the moment she met him. 
 
 What is it that makes us so perverse ? 
 
 Jerome noticed her distraught manner. 
 
 " I see you are going out somewhere," he observed. " Is 
 it important ? Cannot you postpone it ? " 
 
 "It is important," replied Honorine. " I am grieved 
 that I must go the instant you return." 
 
 ' ' But at least, ' ' said Vausittart, ' ' j'ou will have an escort. 
 You will take one of my carriages, and a couple of my 
 footmen." 
 
 Honorine shook her head. 
 
 " We must go as we are," she said. " We require no 
 assi.stance." 
 
 " I shall see you at dinner ? " pursued Jerome. 
 
 " I trust so," and Honorine colored, " but please don't 
 rely upon it," and, so saying, the Princess and her com- 
 panion proceeded on their way. 
 
 Jerome looked after them as they drove oif, with a troubled 
 look. There was perhaps a little pang of disappointment in 
 his heart, for this was not the reception he had hoped for, 
 and at that moment he seemed to stand so terribly alone. 
 But it was not this feeling that was uppermost in his mind ; 
 it was not even jealousy, certainly it was not suspicion. 
 
 He muttered to himself as he reached his room, " If she 
 would only trust me ! There is something in her life, some- 
 thing that troubles her. Is there not such a thing in every 
 life ? I do not want to pry into lier secrets, but how much 
 better for us both if she would only have faith in me, and let 
 me help her. ' ' 
 
A Rival Prince l6i 
 
 And with a heavier heart than he had borne through all 
 his difficulties in the Sahara, amid the attacks and bitter 
 calumnies directed against him, he sat down to look through 
 the vast accumulations of correspondence which he found 
 upon his study table. 
 
 Both he and the two ladies would have been much more 
 uneasy had they obsen'^ed the curious iticident which took 
 place as the carriage was driving off. 
 
 A man who had been loitering upon the pavement, idly 
 gazing into the windows of the shops, and affecting to be 
 quite happy with the rain pattering around him, suddenly 
 quickened into unusual animation. Hailing a victoria, he 
 directed the driver to follow the carriage which was convey- 
 ing Honorine and the Comtesse to the station, and as he set- 
 tled himself comfortably in the seat, secured from the weather 
 by the drawn hood, a malicious look of anticipated pleasure 
 stole over his face. His expression was not unlike that of a 
 stage villain who is about to have a good time. 
 
 Thus the terrible shadow crept on in the wake of the 
 unsuspecting Princess. 
 
 Meanwhile Jerome was busily occupied. He merely 
 glanced at the newspapers lying on his table. Some of them 
 were friendl}^ most neutral ; in others he read headings 
 such as " de Tournon, the Savior of France," "Sunk in 
 the Sahara," " The Nation Once More Hoodwinked," 
 " Van5nttart Plots against the Republic." He pushed them 
 away with a motion of contempt, and rang the bell. 
 
 " Send Mr. Jim Bates and M. Folliet to me." 
 
 His Captain of the Guard and the Chief of Police soon 
 stood before him. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said Vansittart, in a clear, cold tone. " Our 
 work seems now about to begin. You, M. Folliet, have 
 complained that there is little call for your services. I do not 
 think you will reproich me on that score for a month or so." 
 
 Arizona Jim's eyes gleamed. He thought there would be 
 no more ' ' trouble ' ' once they had quitted the Soudan. 
 
i62 An American Emperor 
 
 " M. Folliet," continued Jerome, addressing himself to 
 the Frenchman. " You know Paris well ? " 
 
 " Ever)^ nook and corner, monsieur." 
 
 " Every doubtful house, every harbor of thieves, every 
 dark cellar, ever>" man of bad character ? ' ' 
 
 " It is so." 
 
 " Well, I desire j^ou to find M. de Tournon immediately, 
 and shadow him. I want to know every house and building 
 he visits. Not an act of his must remain unnoticed. Some- 
 thing may occur to change his habits of life, his haunts, and 
 his companions. But you must not leave him. You must 
 find out exactly what he is doing, and keep me constantly 
 informed." 
 
 ' ' Monsieur, it is done. ' ' 
 
 " You shall be munificentl}^ rewarded. Those who stand 
 by me now shall stand by me when it will be a favor to come 
 into my presence. You may go, M. Folliet." 
 
 " As for 5'OU," turning to Jim Bates, " yo\x are in good 
 condition ? ' ' 
 
 Arizona Jim smiled. 
 
 " Bring 'em along, boss, and you '11 see." 
 
 " How many Frenchmen do you think you are equal 
 to?" 
 
 " Frenchmen ! " and a look of disgust spread over Jim's 
 face. " Waal, I guess, judging from the sort they keep in 
 Paris, something like ten score ! " 
 
 Vansittart could not help a faint smile. 
 
 * ' It will be 3'our duty to stand at the head of the staircase 
 outside my door. If visitors call upon me, admit those you 
 know. If 3'ou don't know them, treat them with perfect 
 courtes}' at first, and if their business seems real, admit them 
 — rich or poor. I don't want z.\\y one excluded who comes 
 in a fair spirit. But if 3'ou think they are bullies, or seem 
 impertinent, or are likel}^ to cause a disturbance, throw them 
 down.stairs. And, remember ; no shooting." 
 
 Arizona Jim's eyes again gleamed. 
 
A Rival Prince 163 
 
 " It 's a fine, deep staircase," he chuckled to himself as 
 he left the room, " and what the boss says, goes." 
 
 Jerome looked at the timepiece. It was one o'clock. On 
 the stroke a visitor was announced. M. Renouf, a distin- 
 guished member of the Senate. 
 
 The American bowed a little stiffly, and offered his visitor 
 a seat. 
 
 " You may guess on what errand I have come, monsieur," 
 began M. Renouf " I trust you will believe I am one of 
 your friends. You have just arrived. Perhaps you do not 
 know the position of affairs in Paris ? ' ' 
 
 " I know them quite accurately, M. Renouf," was Je- 
 rome's quiet answer. 
 
 ' ' Then you know that there has been a storm brewing for 
 some time — a change has come over public opinion — and 
 that it will break to-morrow. ' ' 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 * ' In other words, the Request that the Chamber should 
 sanction the issue of new stock will be thrown out ? ' ' 
 
 " Your summing up of the situation is perfect, M. 
 Renouf" 
 
 ' ' Well, monsieur, I come, as I said, as a friend. I cannot 
 stand by and see you ruined. What will be the effect on 
 Paris ? Disastrous beyond words. The flame will be sedu- 
 lously fanned. All France would be up in arms against 
 you and your scheme in a day. ' ' 
 
 Vansittart smiled. 
 
 " It may be so," he said. " We shall see, monsieur." 
 
 ' ' Ah, no, that is unwise. It is walking into destruction. 
 I come from influential people, people of high rank, who 
 wish you well. They beg 3'ou at least to withdraw the 
 Request." 
 
 " Impossible, monsieur," Jerome replied calmly. " That 
 Request has been made according to precedent and proper 
 form, and I absolutely refuse to withdraw it." 
 
 " But it is certain of defeat ! " 
 
164 An American Ejnperor 
 
 " And if I grant that ? " 
 
 M. Reiiouf clutched his hands. What was he to do with 
 this obstinate man who ivould run his head against a stone 
 wall ? 
 
 '* Then do not withdraw, Mr. Vansittart," he continued, 
 " but get your directors together, and raise the stock before 
 the Request conies before the Chamber. ' ' 
 
 Jerome laughed scornfull3\ 
 
 " M. Renouf," he observed. " You are, I believe, my 
 friend, and you speak honestly. But I assure you it is quite 
 in vain. I will not withdraw the Request. I will not call 
 the directors together. 
 
 " Do you understand my position ? I have acted through- 
 out this undertaking in and for the interests of France. I 
 have devoted my time and risked my bod}' without asking 
 reward of any sort. The scheme has progressed admirably 
 to the point at which we expected to be at this time. 
 
 " Meanwhile there have sprung up enemies of France and 
 of mine who have inflamed tlie people. I do not inquire 
 into their motives. I merely point to the result, which is, 
 that the deputies are endeavoring to deal what might easily 
 be a death-blow to the noblest and the grandest enterprise 
 that France has ever undertaken. Well, then, if the French 
 people choose to listen to these men, and if the Chamber votes 
 as they dictate to it, upon them be the responsibility. It is 
 no affair of mine. 
 
 ' ' You ask me to humiliate myself before these enemies, to 
 let them conquer whilst the evil results of their victory are 
 stayed by my generosity. No, M. Renouf, you forget that 
 I have no interest in the Sahara Scheme, save as an investor. 
 It is undertaken in the name of France. If France with- 
 draws her name, then the scheme collapses — for some other 
 less volatile and changeable nation to take it up. 
 
 *' But If Am / to take the place of France, and act 
 against her will ? You say Paris is against me. You say 
 the Chamber is against me. Well, the Chamber represents 
 
A Rival Prince 165 
 
 France herself. I bow to the decision of France. I,et her 
 vote freely. Let her destroy the Sahara .scheme or not, as 
 she pleases. I have nothing to do with it. I am indeed 
 already weary of the work — under conditions so harassing. 
 
 " If j'ou doubt my sincerit}^ M. Renouf, I can only assure 
 you I am leaving for the country to-morrow. I shall be 
 amongst green fields when the Chamber votes, and shall be 
 feeling gratitude that the responsibility for the development 
 of the Sahara will thenceforth rest upon the Chamber. ' ' 
 
 At the close of this spirited reply, M. Renouf rose. 
 
 "It is useless to plead further, it is clear," he said. 
 " And, believe me, monsieur, I sympathize with much that 
 you have said." 
 
 Jerome was about to dismiss his visitor when a loud noise 
 was heard in the passage, followed b}- a series of thuds 
 accentuated by muffled curses which became fainter and 
 fainter. 
 
 Both men rushed to the door. What they saw was Ari- 
 zona Jim calmly leaning over the balustrade in the passage, 
 and regarding two tall and powerful Frenchmen wlio were 
 rolling, entangled and bruised, at the bottom of the staircase. 
 
 " What is all this ? " demanded Jerome. 
 
 " Obeying orders, boss. These two Frenchies came up, 
 sort 'er violent, and asked for M. Vansittart. As you 
 ordered, I began with civility, and in my best French said, 
 * Vous ne poiivez voir M. Vansittart.^ ' On ne pent entrcr f 
 cried one. ^ Nous Ic verrons,' shouted the other, and they 
 both sets at me, and makes for the door. ' Aha, Jim, ' sez 
 I, ' it 's about time for the other thing.' So I grabbed 'em 
 both by the scruff of the neck, and sent them spinning down 
 these 'ere stone steps. Your orders, .sir, and when you sez 
 a thing, it goes ! ' ' 
 
 Jerome bit his lip. 
 
 " You are a trifle too literal. Bates," he said. " However, 
 M. Renouf, you see I am not quite unprepared for my ene- 
 mies ! ' ' And so they parted. 
 
1 66 An American Emperor 
 
 When Vansittart returned to his room, he found Dick 
 Harland awaiting him, having recently arrived from St. 
 Cloud, where he had now taken up quarters. 
 
 " It 's too bad, old fellow, not telling a chap you 'd re- 
 turned," he complained, after a hearty hand-clasp. " Here 
 I 've been fooling about all morning and never knew any- 
 thing about it, until I met a rascally scoundrel downstairs 
 who was asking for you. And my sister 's here, too, old 
 chap. I want you to see her ! ' ' 
 
 "Your sister!" exclaimed Jerome with interest. "I 
 remember her as pretty and sprightly. I should much like 
 to see her now, Dick, but it 's not to be. There 's serious 
 trouble on, and I want your sister and you to be off in half 
 an hour." 
 
 Dick whistled. " What 's up now ? " he asked. 
 
 " I want you to take train for Ivcoville at once. I have a 
 country house there I bought before leaving Paris. Every- 
 thing is in readiness, but I want you to be there beforehand. 
 I shall join you to-morrow, and hey ! for a week's rest and 
 ease ! " 
 
 " Right you are, Jerry," replied Dick, with a merry laugh. 
 "I 'm off at once. Good-bye — and don't put your head out 
 of the window ! ' ' and he disappeared. 
 
 Jerome felt the friendly interest of the last observation, but 
 he winced under it nevertheless. He picked without appe- 
 tite his dejefiner, and then drove in a closed carriage to his 
 broker, with whom he had a long conference. 
 
 On his return he felt the bleakness of the day more and 
 more. Some people passing him in the Rue du Quatre Sep- 
 tembre recognized him, stopped, and shouted " Panama ! 
 Panama ! " at him. Farther along he was met with cries of 
 ' ' Traitre ! Vive M. de Tournon ! ' ' Jerome reached home 
 with bitterness in his heart. 
 
 Honorine and her companion did not arrive for dinner, 
 and this puzzled and vexed him. He felt solitary once 
 more. He was alone at the crisis of his life. 
 
A Rival Prince 167 
 
 He went moodily to his room and tried to read. An hour 
 passed. 
 
 " Liancourt has not come, though I wired him ! " he 
 exclaimed with irritation. " Has he, too, deserted me ? " 
 
 He looked gloomily out of the window. Paris was black 
 and dull. The Opera House looked like the monstrous tomb 
 of some barbarous monarch. The streets shivered beneath 
 the rain. How altered from the Paris he had left three 
 months back ! And how her appearance harmonized with 
 the change that had come over her people during that time ! 
 They, too, wore black faces and hearts full of bitterness. 
 Jerome reflected on the mutability of all things human. 
 
 He heard some shouts in the distance, away over the 
 Banque de France. He wondered what was happening. 
 
 He did not know that some of the ' ' patriots ' ' were en- 
 gaged in breaking the windows of the offices of Sahara, 
 Limited, and that stones were being thrown at the solemn 
 figures of the Arabs and the camels, standing in stony death 
 on the site of a demolished kiosk outside. 
 
 Before turning in, he carelessly glanced at a copy of Le 
 Soir, when the following paragraph caught his eye : 
 
 " Renter's agent at Gabes telegraphs that a duel took 
 place this morning between Captain Pompier, of the gunboat 
 Sphinx, and M. Legru, of La Patrie. The journalist was 
 run through the neck, and died immediately. The cause of 
 the quarrel is unknown." 
 
 " Good ! " ejaculated Vansittart as he climbed into bed. 
 " Pompier soon trussed his bird." 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE STORM BURSTS 
 
 JEROME rose early, but not earlier than M. lyiaiicourt, 
 who was waiting for him in his room when he en- 
 tered it. 
 
 " My dear Vansittart," cried the Frenchman, extending 
 his arms warmly to his friend, ' ' how delighted I am to see 
 you back safe and sound," 
 
 " Yet only last night I v/as bewailing your desertion," 
 responded Jerome. " I was expecting 3'ou all the evening." 
 
 " Ah ! I was in an awkward position. I had two invita- 
 tions, and I was bound to choose between them." 
 
 " In that case, M. Liancourt, I withdraw all objection. I 
 do not pretend to compete with anyone in hospitality." 
 
 " Ah, now you are angry, and you misunderstand me 
 quite," replied Liancourt. " It is true you invited me here. 
 I resolved to come, when behold ! A pressing message 
 came from M. de Tournon, begging me to give him the 
 honor of my company to dinner. ' ' 
 
 " M. de Tournon is an agreeable host," replied Vansit- 
 tart, coldly. 
 
 " My friend, M. de Tournon, was an exceedingly agreea- 
 ble host last night, and his conversation was most entertain- 
 ing. He was able to instruct me upon many remarkable 
 matters, more particularly with regard to the Sahara Scheme, 
 and his own distinguished statesmanship. 
 
 ' ' He also showed me how money might be made out of 
 the situation, and, in fact, his conversation was so very 
 
 i68 
 
The Storm Bursts 1 69 
 
 charming.so full of information, that I really could not leave 
 him until midnight. 
 
 "And, if you complain, I can only say that I am not 
 selfish, and that all along I thought to myself during the 
 evening, how delighted I would be to let my friend Vansit- 
 tart share in the knowledge of these interesting matters. 
 Knowing your keenness for information of every kind, I 
 really thought, my friend, that I was doing you a service." 
 
 Jerome's wayward mood had vanished during this speech. 
 A broad smile lit up his face as he extended his hand to the 
 statesman. 
 
 " Excuse me, lyiancourt, " he exclaimed, " you have done 
 me a valuable service, and I was wrong ever to have sus- 
 pected that you were not away on business of pressing 
 importance like this. So de Tournon lias quite made up his 
 mind ? The Request is to be thrown out, I suppose ? ' ' 
 
 " Yes, for in his confidence last night, M. de Tournon 
 showed me how he w^as building up his reputation as a patri- 
 otic statesman. And the people of Paris will bless him. 
 He will become Premier. Indeed, that this is certain, you 
 may realize from the fact that he has already offered me a 
 portfolio ! Behold in me, Mr. Vansittart, one who can and 
 will become the Minister for the Interior ! My friend, since 
 I heard this delightful news, I am too proud and elated to 
 enjo}' life, and I thank Providence hourly for having created 
 so generous and gracious a spirit as that which resides in M. 
 de Tournon' s somewhat unattractive figure." 
 
 Jerome laughed. " So he has tried to bribe you ? " 
 
 " He justly claims my support and vote." 
 
 " And what did you say in reply ? " 
 
 " My friend, I ought perhaps to have refused his mag- 
 nanimous offer at once, but the fact is, I so enjoyed M. de 
 Tournon's remarks, and they became so interesting, I may 
 say so romantic, through the quantity of Chateau Lafitte he 
 was drinking, that I did not absolutely refuse — indeed, I 
 held out hopes, and I was rewarded. 
 
I/O An American Emperor 
 
 " For now I understand how it is that you may ally patri- 
 otism with personal gain, and may become the savior of 
 3'our country, and a wealthy man at one and the same time. 
 M. de Touruon is clever. He is an extraordinary genius. 
 He became certain of my friendship, and directed me to fol- 
 low his example and become rich. And I, being a poor 
 man, have serious thoughts of it. 
 
 "It is so simple, my friend. I go to my broker to-day, 
 and bid him sell a parcel of Sahara stock. Stock is at 
 present at par. On Thursday, after the throwing out of the 
 Request, stock, it seems, will fall to eighty. I shall then 
 buy the shares which I have to deliver at the settlement, 
 and thus, you see, monsieur, with a snap of the finger I 
 become possessed of a fortune. ' ' 
 
 Jerome's brow darkened. 
 
 " I guessed as much, and yet I had hoped that de Tour- 
 non was not a scoundrel, but only a politician with a diseased 
 ambition. Ah, well, monsieur, we shall see, we shall see. 
 Meanwhile, I have to ask a favor of you. Do you know de 
 Tournon's broker ? " 
 
 " Undoubtedly. It is M. Bulbere." 
 
 " Is he a weak man or a strong man ? ' ' 
 
 " Well," replied the other with an inscrutable smile, 
 " there are things, perhaps, if I speak firmly to him, I may 
 be able to " 
 
 " Well, my friend," continued Jerome, " what I want 
 you to do is somewhat singular. I desire you to go to M. 
 Bulbere and compel him to sell to you, apparently for your- 
 self, but in reality for me, the shares which M. de Tournon 
 is anxious to dispose of. I will place the necessary funds to 
 your credit. You may require a strong argument to per- 
 suade the good man ? I will give you one. It can only be 
 a hint. Supposing that shares do not fall but rise, what 
 would become of M. de Tournon's profit ? I even fear that 
 both he and the broker might come to grief ' ' 
 
 A curious light came into lyiancourt's eyes. 
 
The Storm Bursts i 7 1 
 
 '* That seems a sound deduction. I will do what you say. 
 But why not confide in me what all this means ? Do you 
 distrust my attachment to a-qu ? I believe in you, Mr. Van- 
 sittart. I believe in your scheme. I, who have belonged to 
 no part3^, already belong to yours. But am I to remain out- 
 side the closest confines of secrec}'-, or do 3'ou conceive it possi- 
 ble that my advice is either worthless or of doubtful faith ? ' ' 
 
 " No, no," exclaimed Vansittart. " Pardon me, lyian- 
 court, I value your friendship, and trust j'ou with my whole 
 heart, but as yet I must be more or less alone. My projects 
 are leading me into strange paths, they are surrounded by 
 terrible difficulties, and it is because I regard and esteem you 
 that I will not commit you to them as I should wish. 
 
 " Were I to take advantage of 3'our kindness, you would 
 become bound, as it were, to a course of action which might 
 be full of the gravest consequences, and which in its full 
 development might not only meet with your disapproval, 
 but even lead to your dishonor and your downfall. So far, 
 you have only been a personal friend of Vansittart. You 
 have been a partner to no secret. You have been advocate 
 of no policy. None can accuse you of being concerned in 
 aught that concerns me. 
 
 ' ' Ah, when the time comes that I have to call upon my 
 friends, and ask them boldly to make the line clear between 
 the present and the future, how gladl}' shall I welcome 3'ou, 
 if, in the full light of the knowledge j^ou will then have, j'ou 
 come to my side of 5'our own free will and acting on your 
 own free judgment ! You should be, L,iancourt, my most 
 honored and my most trusted lieutenant." 
 
 Liancourt was visibly moved. 
 
 "You are a noble fellow, Vansittart," he said, "and 
 when the times are settled a little, let us speak frankly to 
 one another. If honor bids me withdraw, I will do so as a 
 friend, and I shall respect your confidence." 
 
 " Be it so," replied Jerome, " and Heaven grant you may 
 choose to stand with me, and not against me. ' ' 
 
172 An A mcrica n Emperor 
 
 " Well," said Liancourt gaily, " I will be off to M. Bul- 
 b^re. And, by-the-way, would you care for me to speak in 
 defence of the Sahara in the Chamber, if only to break the 
 bubble of that over-grown bladder, de Toumon ? It would 
 be a matter of great delight to me." 
 
 ' ' No, ' ' answered Jerome decisivel}'. ' ' You need not vote 
 for the Refusal, but at least I beg you not to vote or speak 
 against it. I would have de Tournon's victory the more 
 conspicuous, that his downfall may be the more complete. 
 I do not fear, L,iancourt. I may be secret, but I am safe. 
 When I have to fight, I fight a decisive battle. I leave 
 nothing to my enemies. It is better than a long, weak 
 series of engagements which harass the spirit, and only lead 
 to a protracted victory shorn of half its value. Well, good- 
 bye. I am away to the country. Let everybody know that 
 Vansittart slumbers whilst his fortunes are trembling." 
 
 The two men parted with a warm handshake. 
 
 Liancourt left the hotel in a very pleased state of mind. 
 He felt that a dramatic climax was on its way, though he 
 could not guess what form it would take. He smacked his 
 lips, too, at the thought that M. de Tournon was apparently 
 riding as hard as he could for a fall. 
 
 He drove to the office of M, Bulbere, and after a long and 
 earnest conversation, in which the broker alternately became 
 flushed with anger and pale with terror, Liancourt gained 
 his point. 
 
 " You understand, M. Bulbere," were the statesman's 
 parting words, ' ' I save you from possible ruin, but if I am 
 content on settling day to take at market prices the stock 
 which I have bought previously from you for a smaller sum, 
 it is not done to protect de Tournon. You must clearly 
 understand that. I shall only carry out my word when you 
 have discovered that the Minister for the Interior has not 
 the wherewithal to meet the claim upon him, and becomes, 
 consequently, a ruined and dishonored man. The loss will 
 then fall upon your shoulders, and to save you from bank- 
 
The Storm Bursts 1 73 
 
 ruptcy I will consent to pay for the shares such price as they 
 are quoted at." 
 
 On his return, Liancourt passed through some of the great 
 open spaces of Paris, and was mortified to find what a hold, 
 by this time, the agitation against the Sahara Scheme had 
 obtained upon the people. 
 
 Excited mobs thronged the streets, and gravely discussed 
 the situation at every corner and at every cafe. 
 
 That evening a vote was to be taken ; it was for the 
 Chamber to declare whether the country was once more to 
 be saddled with the burden of a tremendous debt for a ven- 
 ture which they were assured was more mad and impossible 
 than that of Panama. 
 
 As the time grew near, the crowd proceeded to demon- 
 strate their feelings and to encourage timid deputies. 
 
 Liancourt grew sick at heart to hear the foul rhetoric of 
 mob orators who seized this mood of the Parisian people 
 to sully with ever>' species of vile calumniation the reputa- 
 tion of the great man so lately adored and so loudly ap- 
 plauded as he drove through the streets of the capital. 
 
 He was ashamed of his countr>mien for their childish weak- 
 ness, for their volatile character. How superficial it all 
 seemed ! 
 
 At one moment there was heard the cry, ''Ate Gratid 
 Hotel ! " They thought that Jerome was still there. There 
 vvcre bright visions of breaking wdndows, perhaps even 
 the rare felicity of throwing a few stones at the man him- 
 self. 
 
 By mid-day the police were compelled to form a cordon 
 round the hotel. 
 
 The Boulevard des Capucines became alive v.'ith the shouts 
 and the screams of the idle, thriftless scamps of Paris. 
 
 But Liancourt was cheered b}- one reniarkabk spectacle. 
 As he was passing to his house, situated near the Bois, he 
 met a company of soldiers marching down the Avenue des 
 Champs Elysees. Now, the Frenchman is always eager to 
 
174 An American Emperor 
 
 get the soldiers into his sympathy. He loves disorder much, 
 but he fears the Army more. 
 
 It was only when the Royal Guard passed over to the side 
 of the revolutionists and became the National Guard, that 
 the rule of King Louis had really passed away. 
 
 This regiment, then, marching peacefully along, was met 
 by a vast crowd of men and women, who, drunk with excite- 
 ment were actually thinking of marching to St. Cloud and 
 wrecking Vansittart's new house w^hich had risen in match- 
 less grace above the ruins of the old residence. 
 
 The motley crowd greeted the soldiers with effusive cries 
 of ' ' Down with Vansittart, " " Down with the traitor of the 
 Sahara," " Long live M. de Tournon," " Death to the 
 American," and other similar elegant utterances which they 
 trusted would stir the warm blood of the military. 
 
 To their surprise the regiment made no response. There 
 came even a frown upon their faces, their brows puckered 
 up, and their eyes darkened with anger. What did it 
 mean ? 
 
 Some of the women, after their wont when thus infuriated, 
 ran into the ranks and tugged at the tunics of the soldiers 
 with hoarse shrieks. Usually the French pioii-piou does not 
 dislike this method of address. He becomes bland and smil- 
 ing, and easy to persuade. 
 
 But, alas ! it was noticeable that these fair creatures were 
 rudel}- disentangled and firmly pushed aside. 
 
 Liancourt was almost stupefied. Delight filled his heart, 
 for he knew the meaning of this strange scene. The soldiers 
 were firm in their allegiance to Jerome. They had found 
 him a true man. Manj^ of their brothers had fought under 
 him in the Sahara and had won noble victories, achieved 
 decorations, had smelt the blood of battle, and report came 
 from all that this amateur commander was unparalleled in 
 courage, impartial in favor, generous in reward. 
 
 In their eyes, Vansittart was a soldier, a man who could 
 lead, a man imder whom honor and glory could be won. 
 
The Storm Bicrsls 1 75 
 
 Tliey were not going to cry for M. de Tournon with his 
 great flabby head and his huge ears and his rolling eyes — 
 this gourmet, who spent his time in plotting and eating — in 
 preference to the hero who was now creeping into their 
 dreams and rapidly standing out as the hope of France and 
 of the Army. 
 
 And so, when the mob made one more frantic effort to 
 enlist their sympathies, the soldiers suddenly, with one 
 spontaneous impulse, raised their rifles high in air, and 
 shouted, " Vive Vansittart ! Vive V Enipercur ! ''' 
 
 Then, at an angry growl from the colonel, they dropped 
 their arms, and proceeded calmly on their way. 
 
 The mob stared aghast, but it did not go to St. Cloud. 
 
 Elsewhere things were not satisfactory. Earlier in the 
 morning M. de Tournon had sallied forth in an open carri- 
 age, and, on pretence of calling upon supporters in different 
 parts of the city, had contrived to pass through all the prin- 
 cipal streets. His was a mean soul that thirsted for inglori- 
 ous applause. 
 
 The shouts of the populace were dear to him. It delighted 
 his heart that wherever he appeared there was always to be 
 found a knot of people to wave their hats, shout his name, 
 and proclaim him the savior of the Republic. 
 
 He assumed a look of great gravity, as though the cares 
 and burdens of the state rested heavily upon him, and he 
 took off" his hat in gracious response. 
 
 He did not know that in all his tortuous meanderings 
 through Paris he was followed by the man who hated him 
 most, the old Prefect of Police, whom he had turned from 
 his office to gratify the preference of a mistress for some rela- 
 tive of her own. Not a movement of de Tournon' s escaped 
 the practised eyes of M. Folliet. 
 
 He saw him, for instance, enter the office of M. Bulbere, 
 and come out looking singularly well pleased. He had just 
 learnt that the shares had been sold, and that everythiug 
 was ripe for his financial coup. 
 
176 An American Emperor 
 
 M. Ribou essaj-ed to gleau some of the popular enthusi- 
 asm, and came in for the lees of the applause. But it is 
 always so when the principal actor has exhausted the audi- 
 ence ; there is little power of demonstration left. Still, M. 
 Ribou, being the most incapable man in France, was always 
 well enough pleased when he was not actually hissed. To 
 cling hard to the portfolio which he knew he would never 
 possess again was the sum of his ambition. 
 
 At three o'clock the deputies met. Around the doors a 
 vast crowd assembled, stretching far over the bridge to the 
 Place de la Concorde. Back and forth the multitude of men 
 and women surged in the hope of getting nearer the build- 
 ing, and of seeing something of the spectacle. 
 
 It was a terrible ordeal for the poor members. There was 
 not one of whom the French populace had not a pretty 
 shrewd guess as to his policy, and according to their favor or 
 disfavor they cheered or groaned at the newcomer. 
 
 The gendarmes with difficulty formed a narrow passage 
 through the dense mass of people from the bridge to the 
 great entrance, and each deputy, as he slowly made his way 
 through this li\ang avenue, became the object of ridicule and 
 abuse, or it might be of encouragement and exhortation. 
 Those who were known to favor the Sahara Scheme had to 
 be conducted into the building by the police. 
 
 When de Tournon appeared, a great roar of acclamation 
 rent the sky. He bowed to right and left, and could not 
 bow enough, and he passed into the building with the assur- 
 ance that he was about to give the final sti^oke to a gigantic 
 scheme of ambition. He fondly imagined he was going to 
 rule France, at least for the moment. 
 
 Never was debate carried on with greater uneasiness. 
 Despite the difficulty of passage, messages were continually 
 brought to the crowd of the progress of the proceedings, who 
 was speaking, what line he was taking, what his arguments 
 were. 
 
 And thus it occurred that as each member rose to address 
 
Tfte Storm Bursts i "]*] 
 
 the Chamber his observations were deafened and made indis- 
 tinct either by uproarious applause, or by the more signifi- 
 cant noise of groaning and hissing. 
 
 The President gave up the struggle. He did not pretend 
 to listen. De Tournon alone succeeded in bringing off his 
 carefully prepared oration. 
 
 He was wise enough to send word personally to the crowd 
 that he was about to address the Chamber, and that his 
 observations were important. He trusted he might call upon 
 the indulgence of his friends and receive the favor of their 
 silence. 
 
 The multitude acceded to the request of their most recent 
 idol. 
 
 It was in a way a masterly speech. There was great cun- 
 ning in the careful manner in which the Minister forbore 
 from indulging in any personal attack upon Vansittart. He 
 posed as the distressed friend of the American. He put 
 down his mistake to no other cause than want of good feel- 
 ing. Perhaps he misjudged, perhaps he was a dreamer, 
 perhaps the task was too much for him. 
 
 Anyhow, how was it that this Company, with its bound- 
 less wealth, came after six months to demand another million 
 of francs ? And how much more would they ask in the next 
 six months ? It meant that France was to be drained of her 
 gold. 
 
 These arguments were effective only when assisted by the 
 judicious concealment of the real facts, for one of Vansit- 
 tart' s friends was hooted down when he mildly reminded the 
 deputies that this demand was only made in accordance with 
 the expectations formed and duly formulated by the com- 
 pany at the time of its constitution, and that the Sahara 
 Scheme had reached the very point of development antici- 
 pated at its inauguration. 
 
 When the time came for the vote there was much curiosity 
 to see how the members would go. Some were convinced, 
 many had been bought, most had been terrified by the atti- 
 
178 An American Emperor 
 
 tude of Paris. Others were influenced by the advice of Lian- 
 court, and did not vote at all, and thus the Request was 
 refused by the enormous majority of 286, and the House 
 passed to the Order of the Day. 
 
 A wild yell of exultation rose from the multitude when 
 the}' heard this news, and when the Savior of his Country 
 made his appearance, it seemed that words were not equal to 
 the occasion. The only thing left to do was to take the 
 horses from the carriage, and drag him bodily to his residence. 
 
 It is not a pleasant way of driving through Paris. The 
 motion is neither easy nor regular, and one sees little of the 
 beauties of the Tuileries or the Champs Elysees when a 
 howling mob is racing on both sides of 3'ou. But to M. de 
 Tournou it was the pleasantest ride he had had in his life, 
 and the foul breath of the mob the sweetest odor that had 
 ever entered his nostrils. 
 
 Paris, with all her beauty, was not so beautiful as the 
 ragged caps which were flung into the air or the clapped 
 hands which applauded his progress. 
 
 When he arrived at the office of the Interior, he mounted 
 the window and made a brief speech. 
 
 " Gentlemen," he declared, " France is saved. Her pros- 
 perity is assured. Let France rejoice, and let me quietly 
 withdraw into the ordinary routine of my commonplace 
 duties. If I have deserved to-day of your good favor, I am 
 enough rewarded." 
 
 The multitude received this speech with another shout of 
 delight, and amid cries of " Vive le Presideyit ! Vive le 
 Prhidcnt!'" the inflated minister withdrew to his ofiice. 
 
 Poor de Tournon — he was the victim of true dramatic 
 irony ! He had been carving, inch by inch, the steps which 
 would take him to the pinnacle of his glory, and did not 
 know that each one of these was leading to an abyss of irre- 
 trievable misfortune. 
 
 The mob passed from one extreme to the next. An orgie 
 of exultation must be succeeded by one of passion. 
 
The Storm Bursts 1 79 
 
 Vansittart was not in Paris, but his stone Arabs were. 
 
 Away rushed the crowd, ropes were procured, and the 
 unoffending effigies from Shott Jerid were torn down from 
 their pedestal and .smashed. 
 
 The police charged the mob, shots were fired, swords 
 drawn ; soon the air resounded with the shrieks of the 
 wounded and the groans of the dying. 
 
 Thus, for a third time, did the gaunt relics of the caravan 
 witness with their solemn, staring eyes a scene of bloodshed 
 and death. Ill-luck followed them through the ages. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 HOW JEROME; ENJOYED HIS HOLIDAY 
 
 THE) little village of lyeoville is one of those small jewels 
 which sparkle in the rich diadem of Normandy. It is 
 to-day what it was four centuries back. The same river, the 
 same church, the same parsonage serve it now as served it in 
 days lost to memory. 
 
 No impulse from the great world without ever agitates 
 Leoville. The villagers scarcely heed the passage of years. 
 Monarchy, Republic, Empire, these are but vague terms to 
 them. Those who are fortunate enough to discover this 
 beautiful spot are drawn irresistibly into its old-world 
 oblivions, and each century becomes merged in the other. 
 
 It would not have surprised one to see D'Artagnan of the 
 Musketeers ride furiously to the hostel door and demand a 
 bottle of wine, a capon, and a fresh horse. If a lumbering 
 coach passed through the little street, and one were told that 
 it was the carriage of Madame de Longueville fl5'ing from 
 Mazarin's wrath and on her way to her home in Normandy 
 and to her abandoned husband, there would have appeared 
 no incongruity in the incident. 
 
 Time has, in fact, overlooked Leoville, and has left it to 
 dream its dreams undisturbed by the movements of events. 
 
 One thing alone had changed. The beautiful Manor 
 House had for 3'ears lacked a master. There was no one to 
 rule over lycoville and grind down his tenants to star\'ation. 
 And this was a pity, for Leoville was conservative at heart, 
 and preferred being ground down to nothing occurring 
 at all. 
 
 180 
 
How Jerome Enjoyed his Holiday 1 8 1 
 
 Judge, then, the delight of the village when it was an- 
 nounced that a great seigneur had bought the Manor House, 
 village and all. There was some chance of tyranny now, 
 and I^eoville became excited and cheerful. 
 
 In due time strange men entered the place, and extraor- 
 dinary revolutions occurred in the Manor House. It became 
 a palace. Never was such a wonderful transformation. 
 
 Then servants and agents appeared. The Manor House 
 was at last habitable ; its grounds became beautiful again as 
 in the days of old. In the end, the name of the new tyrant 
 leaked out. It was Jerome K. Vansittart. The people of 
 I^eoville thought it a strange name, and wondered what the 
 K. stood for. They thought it was an eccentricity of the 
 Southern Provinces. 
 
 A beautiful home it was, and Jerome became singularly 
 content as he gazed lazily around at the swelling lawns 
 which spread up from the placid river to the house. 
 
 He was sitting on the verandah with his hat tilted over his 
 eyes to protect them from the vigorous winter sun. Close 
 to him, snugly ensconced in a basket chair, was Evelyn 
 Harland, her pretty face hidden deep in a wrap. Some dis- 
 tance away reclined Dick, with his head against the root of 
 a vine, an enormous pipe in his mouth, and an air of abso- 
 lute and inexpugnable indolence. 
 
 The silver Seine sparkled at their feet, and through the 
 trees to the right could be seen one of those graceful bridges 
 of chased light stone with which France is proud to decorate 
 her noblest stream. 
 
 Jerome had arrived but an hour before. As he was thus 
 peacefully regarding his couzitry house, and drawing deep 
 breaths of relief, M. de Tournon was already entertaining 
 the Assemblj', and the rabid mob were cheering to the echo 
 this unscrupulous rival. 
 
 A long silence had prevailed. Then, noticing his distrac- 
 tion, Evelyn said : 
 
 * ' Your thoughts are in Paris, Mr. Vansittart, are they not ? ' ' 
 
1 82 An American Emperor 
 
 Jerome looked up on hearing the voice, and then, with a 
 smile, replied : 
 
 " By no means. Miss Harland. I should be ashamed to 
 tell you of what I was thinking." 
 
 Evelyn laughed gaily. 
 
 ' ' Then you have descended for a moment from the 
 heroic ! ' ' she exclaimed. 
 
 " I 'm afraid there 's little of the hero in me," answered 
 Jerome ruefully. 
 
 ' ' Ah, that is not so. Who, but a hero born, would have 
 attempted to carry out such a wonderful enterprise as 
 yours ? ' ' 
 
 " You forget. Miss Harland. It is not I, but my oppor- 
 tunity that is magnificent. Personally, I am a lazy, good- 
 for-nothing idler, whose existence is not of the faintest 
 consequence to anybody. It is not I, but my wealth that is 
 doing all this Sahara work. I^et me misquote Shakespeare : 
 
 ' How oft it is the power to do good deeds 
 Makes good deeds done.' " 
 
 "How seldom you mean," cried Evelyn. "The very 
 possession of means makes men incurably opposed to using 
 them." 
 
 ' ' And yet how easy ? Suppose a man possessed the seven- 
 league boots, would you regard him as a wonder if he be- 
 came the champion sprinter of the world ? ' ' 
 
 * ' No, but I should if he devoted his boots to the service 
 of international postage ! " laughed Evelyn. 
 
 " Perhaps you are right," murmured Jerome. " I sup- 
 pose that most men who had those boots would give exhi- 
 bitions with them at a dollar a head." 
 
 ' ' So that you see you are heroic. ' ' 
 
 " Not at all. A hero is a man who does something 
 exceedingly difficult for the good of others, and not for 
 himself." 
 
How Jerome Enjoyed his Holiday 183 
 
 ** And are you creating this colony for yourself? " 
 
 ' ' Not exactly, ' ' laughed Jerome, ' ' but I should not 
 grumble if at the end it paid a dividend of cent, per cent. ! ' ' 
 
 " You mistake yourself," said Evelyn, reproachfully, 
 looking at Jerome with the admiration of a woman who sees 
 in a man the bold unconquerable spirit that stimulates her 
 emotions, " You perhaps are unconscious of your own 
 courage. Perhaps you lack the motive that carries one on 
 to great achievements." 
 
 ' ' Indeed ! ' ' exclaimed Jerome, now turning full upon the 
 girl, and looking at her with new interest. " And what is 
 this motive ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' There are several, ' ' said Evelyn. ' ' There is ambition. '* 
 
 Jerome shook his head. " I have none ! " 
 
 ' ' There is love of country. There is self-respect. There 
 is " Evelyn hesitated and colored. 
 
 ' ' Yes ! ' ' said Jerome quickly. " Go on ! There is ? ' ' 
 
 * ' Love ! ' ' Evelyn spoke the words softly. Her cheeks 
 became rosier still. 
 
 Jerome gazed upon her with an admiration which seemed 
 to be quite new to him. What a superb creatiue was this 
 English girl, he thought to himself. How frank and yet 
 how free from the license of speech which in many he had 
 met was often so impertinent and so intrusive. Self-posses- 
 sion and reserve were tempered by a charming candor and an 
 absence of affectation which quite entranced him. 
 
 The girl that he was looking at was surely a superb speci- 
 men of her race. The delicate brow, the deep lustrous eyes, 
 the fine straight nose, the small mouth with its ruddy, tempt- 
 ing lips, the rounded chin, and the pure complexion which 
 seemed at once delicate yet defiant of wind and weather — 
 these were the marks of a loveliness that was wholly 
 healthy and wholly fascinating. 
 
 " Love ! " repeated Jerome, after a pause, during which 
 he had gazed so intently upon his companion that she 
 turned her head away. ' ' So that is the great motive ? ' ' 
 
184 ^fi^ American Emperor 
 
 ' * ' Love that builds up cities and throws down towers, ' ' ' 
 quoted Evelyn. " It is much to a man and all to a woman. 
 .And it is the only power left that can work miracles." 
 
 " IvOve ! " a second time repeated Jerome. 
 
 ' ' Have you not loved ? ' ' Evelyn summoned up courage 
 to put this bold question to him. 
 
 Jerome started. Had he ever loved ? It was the moment- 
 ous question of his present life. It haunted him, it disturbed 
 his rest, it followed him to his labors, it arose like a spectre 
 at his feasts. Did he really love ? Was his feeling for 
 Honorine of this ennobling character that Evelyn had 
 spoken of — something to inspire to heroic deeds and per- 
 form miracles ? Was there the subtle and elevating change 
 in his being that love brings with it — a passion, an over- 
 whelming instinct of devotion, a constant ever-present feeling 
 that refined, that stimulated, that comforted, that rewarded ? 
 He had gallantly done his work. But was it all for Honor- 
 ine' s sake, for the sake of tlie wife he was to win ? Or was 
 it partly from a feeling of excitement in the game ; from the 
 honorable resolve to fulfil his promise ; perhaps from some 
 feeling of self-pride wdiich carried him through any scheme 
 he had undertaken ? 
 
 Somehow, as he looked upon this fresh, health}^ charming, 
 educated girl at his side, full of life and hope, he felt that 
 his experience of what is called love was not such as slie 
 might have inspired him with. He wondered how far the 
 mere determination to conquer a difiicult subject, the mere 
 zest of victory where obstacles seemed superhuman, had 
 entered into his feelings towards Honorine. To the proud 
 Frenchwoman, whose trust in him was so implicit, he would 
 be true to the end. But was it love ? 
 
 ' ' You do not answer me ? " It was Evelyn who inter- 
 rupted his thoughts. 
 
 " Pardon me, Miss Harland. Your question is one of 
 those before w^hich the wisest of us needs to pause a long 
 time and think. Have I ever loved ? Do you know, I can- 
 
How Jerome Enjoyed his Holiday 185 
 
 not tell you. I am as much posed as were the poor Greeks 
 by the question of the Sphinx." 
 
 Evelyn laughed merrily. 
 
 " Then I am afraid the answer is clear as noonday. Some 
 day, Mr. Vansittart, the motive will come into your life and 
 you will do wonders. You are doing them now, but you will 
 not do them quite so languidly and indifferently. Here you 
 are idling away in I,eoville and the fate of your Company is 
 being decided in Paris. Fie on you ! Have you run 
 away ? ' ' 
 
 "A pretty hero, after all, am I not ? " said Jerome, smiling. 
 
 " The moment there is danger off I go in a trice and leave 
 
 the poor directors shivering in their skins. It is shameful." 
 
 ' ' Then why are you here ? ' ' she asked with a pucker of 
 
 her pretty brow. 
 
 * ' What ! ' ' cried Jerome, in mock dismay. ' * Has my one 
 believer thrown me up ? " 
 
 " But you should n't tax your believer's fidelity," she 
 answered. 
 
 " Then, O Believer in the true Prophet whose name is 
 Vansittart, hearken unto me and behold ! I will reveal to 
 you a mystery ' ' 
 
 " Yes, yes," broke in Evelyn eagerly. " Tell me all." 
 
 " Verily I say unto 3'ou, wait until 10.15 to-morrow and 
 you shall hear such tidings as shall rehabilitate 3'our fallen 
 prophet and show that he has not neglected to lay snares 
 in the way of his enemies." 
 
 Evelyn's voice rang out in a peal of laughter. " You are 
 a thousand times too provoking, Mr. Vansittart. But I will 
 have patience. I have never lost confidence in you. But 
 sometimes pride needs chastening by a pretence of doubt. 
 But, come, tell me now what you were thinking of when I 
 so rudely interrupted you at first ? ' ' 
 
 Jerome gazed for a moment at a book he had been holding 
 in his hand. " Well, to speak the truth, on this momentous 
 day of all days, I was thinking of the Derb3%" 
 
1 86 An American Emperor 
 
 "Of the Derby?" 
 
 " Certainly. It is my one ambition to win it. 
 
 ' For crowns aud empires strive let other folks, 
 But let yne win the Derby or the Oaks ! ' 
 
 * ' There ! My enthusiasm has led me to drop into original 
 poetry ! They are my first verses, ' ' he added modestly. 
 
 ' ' And how are you going to set about it ? " 
 
 " Very simply. You shall decide it yourself. You see 
 this book ? It contains a full list of all the two-year-olds 
 entered. Now I want you to run your e3^e over it, and pick 
 out a horse whose name strikes your fancy. ' ' 
 
 Evelyn took the paper and carefully perused it. Suddenly 
 she stopped. 
 
 ' ' Here it is ! Of course ! Victor ! Could any name be 
 more appropriate for a horse of yours ? ' ' 
 
 Vansittart slightly colored. 
 
 " Then Victor it shall be. I will send Dick over to buy 
 him, and he shall run next year. And, with you as spon- 
 sor. Miss Harland, we shall be sure of the race. ' ' 
 
 Now, reiuarkable as it may seem, Dick Harland had been 
 sitting in perfect oblivion of the world, smoking his pipe and 
 puffing great clouds of smoke at the insects on the vine. 
 He had not heard a word of all this conversation. He was 
 too far off if he had tried. And yet is it that when certain 
 subjects to which our whole soul responds are mentioned 
 there comes a miraculous acuteness of ear, or is it from some 
 other deep psjxhological cause ? In any case, at the instant 
 Jerome spoke of the Derby and the Oaks, Dick became alert : 
 when Victor was mentioned, his pipe dropped from his lips : 
 and when his visit to England came on the tapis, he suddenly 
 rose and came to his friend. 
 
 " Right you are, Jerry, my boy ! " he exclaimed jubi- 
 lantly. " It 's better than a thousand of 3'our Saharas. 
 We '11 have the finest horse in England, keep him dark, and 
 win a pot of money. I 'm off as soon as you like." 
 
How Jerome Enjoyed his Holiday 1 8 7 
 
 " Telegram, sir ! " It was a footman who had interrupted. 
 He had entered the closed-in verandah unheard, with a 
 silver tray in his hand. Jerome did not show the faintest 
 sign of emotion as he opened the envelope and took out the 
 message. He mastered its contents in a moment, and then, 
 rising, addressed his companions calmly but seriously : 
 
 " You shall hear what my friends in Paris have been doing 
 this afternoon," he said. " ' The Request rejected by 286 
 votes. De Tournon triumphant, and carried home with 
 acclamation. Paris excited and tumultuous. Yet possi- 
 bility of reaction. Quieter citizens doubtful. A strong 
 move will save all. — Liancourt.' 
 
 " You hear ? That is how France regards this precious 
 scheme which is to add a new glor}^ to her empire ! ' ' 
 
 Dick clenched his fists, and looked as if he would like to 
 take on the whole Chamber en masse. Kvel}^! glanced at 
 Jerome with a pained expression of sympathy which quite 
 touched his heart. He took her hand gently. 
 
 "Do not be troubled, Miss Harland," he said, and the 
 strong, victorious light came into his eyes, whilst all his 
 languor passed away in a flash. " This vote has not shaken 
 the faintest scaffolding of my great undertaking. But it has 
 ruined, irretrievably and for ever, the man who has worked 
 this evil ! To-morrow a bomb will fall on Paris which will 
 sweep my enemies into everlasting destruction ! ' ' 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 DE tournon's downfai^i, 
 
 THE Bourse at Paris is outwardly far too respectable a 
 place for those unseemlj- scenes which are said to dis- 
 turb the ordinary progress of stock-broking. It is not unlike 
 a church. An artist would admire it as a Greek temple, and 
 the ordinary excursionist from London frequently mistakes 
 it for the Madeleine. It is a noble building, surrounded by 
 columns, and looks like a great haven of peace and thought 
 and prayer. 
 
 Inside, however, it gives rise to no such illusions. The 
 most extraordinary feeling of restlessness prevailed on the 
 morning after M. de Tournon's great political coup. Nearly 
 everyone was concerned in the affairs of the Sahara Com- 
 pany, and there was none who could doubt that the effect of 
 yesterday's vote would be to send stock down to a very low 
 point. It would mean ruin to many and financial sickness 
 to all, and therefore there was the utmost concern expressed 
 on the faces of the members of the Bourse as they flocked in 
 at an unusually early hour. Indeed, as soon as the doors 
 were opened, a crowd of members proceeded to discuss the 
 situation. It was calculated that the net loss to investors by 
 the unhappy event would amount to something like twenty 
 millions sterling. It was not only the wealthy who would 
 be afiected by this reverse in the fortunes of the Company, 
 but the whole people of France, in every city and every 
 Province. 
 
 Agriculturalist, artisan, ouvrier — all who had patriotically 
 
 l88 
 
De Tournons Dow7ifall 189 
 
 invested their small earnings in this scheme for the aggran- 
 dizement of France would find half their capital swept ruth- 
 lessly away and the remainder jeopardized. No member of 
 the Bourse had the hardihood to make a price for the stock. 
 Fluctuations were likely to be too violent and far-reaching. 
 
 Much surprise therefore was expressed when it was ob- 
 served that M. Motteville, who was well known as Vansit- 
 tart's broker, mounted his rostrum, and, with a curious air 
 of blended importance and grim satisfaction, rapped his desk 
 sharply with a hammer. 
 
 A dead silence fell upon 'Change. The impatient audi- 
 ence felt that some announcement of extraordinar}^ impor- 
 tance was about to be made. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said M. Motteville, " I have a brief but 
 interesting statement to make. It refers to the vote taken 
 in the Chamber yesterday afternoon. The effect of that 
 vote would, in the common course of events, be to send 
 down the shares of the Sahara Company with a run, and 
 therefore it is imperative that I impart the information I 
 have for you before business is entered upon to-day. The 
 Request made to the Chamber was that an issue of deben- 
 ture shares should be sanctioned. The deputies have refused 
 that Request. I am directed by Mr. Vansittart to state that 
 he has given to the Company one milliard of francs (fortj^ 
 millions sterling), which will not be repaid until the ordi- 
 nary stock shows a ten per cent, dividend. For this immense 
 sum he absolutely demands no security. This, gentlemen, 
 he does, because he has no need of mere confidence in the 
 great Sahara Scheme. The first year's work will prove its 
 practicability beyond all doubt. He further hopes by this 
 act to place the Company beyond the reach of political 
 intriguers and the schemes of petty tricksters. I am also 
 authorized to add, not exactly so explicith' as I have hitherto 
 spoken, but still with confidence, that Mr. Vansittart is pre- 
 pared to make a second advance of a milliard of francs if 
 necessary. In fact, he regards the scheme itself as so abso- 
 
190 An American Emperor 
 
 lutely assured that he is ready at any moment, if called upon 
 by the people of France, to take over the entire financial 
 responsibility, and to purchase every share, wheresoever 
 owned, at par. This, of course, he hopes he need not be 
 compelled to do, because he trusts that the Sahara develop- 
 ment will remain the scheme of France, and not the scheme 
 of an individual." 
 
 The intense silence, which had become almost painful 
 whilst these remarks fell from the lips of M. Motteville, now 
 gave place to a scene of indescribable commotion. It was 
 observed by a very old member of the House that never in 
 his recollection, not even during those terrible days that 
 preceded the Franco-German war, had he seen or heard 
 such excitement, such absolute confusion, such clatter of 
 tongues as upon this occasion. 
 
 For Jerome had cleared the air in the masterful waj^ pecul- 
 iar to himself. He had refused to relieve the situation when 
 the Chamber was asked to express its opinion. He had 
 permitted his enemies to rush into headlong destruction. 
 And now that they were already putting forth their hands to 
 grasp the fruit of victory, by a few outspoken words through 
 the lips of another he had overwhelmed them. 
 
 What was the immediate effect of this announcement ? 
 Instead of falling to 80, Sahara stock immediately rose to 
 105. It advanced five points instead of dropping twenty ! 
 And, what was more, there seemed every likelihood of a still 
 further advance being made, for it was clear that with such 
 personal undertaking as Jerome had made, there would be a 
 new rush in city and country, at home and abroad, for 
 shares. 
 
 There was one man in the Bourse who felt extremely 
 happy. He wore a look of infinite relief. He was wiping 
 with his handkerchief great beads of perspiration that stood 
 out upon his forehead, and his hand vShook as he drew to 
 himself a chair and sank helplessly into it. It was M, 
 Bulbere, de Tournon's broker. 
 
De Tournons Downfall 1 9 1 
 
 For when "he had sold the shares which M. de Tournon 
 had instructed him to sell, the deal ran thus : de Tournon 
 sold the ;^i, 000,000 worth of shares at par, 100. He was 
 certain of buying them in at 80. And thus what he sold for 
 ^1,000,000 he could deliver for ;^8oo,ooo, with a clear gain 
 of ;^200,ooo to himself, if things had gone as he had hoped 
 and planned. But as the case now stood, he had already- 
 lost, in the few minutes since the Bourse opened, ;i^50,ooo. 
 Nor was this all. How would matters stand at settling 
 da}' ? 
 
 From all his experience, M. Bulbere was confident that 
 the stock would go steadily up, and probably at the end of 
 the account, would read something like 120. If so, M. de 
 Tournon would lose nearly ^200,000. Could de Tournon 
 pay this enormous sum ? Bulbere, who knew his distin- 
 guished client well, had watched his progress from poverty 
 to notoriety, from notoriet}' to Parliament, from Parliament 
 to the Cabinet. He knew that de Tournon was one of those 
 needy politicians who have to live a menial life getting what 
 they can and spending what they get. With his recent 
 expenses, it was doubtful whether de Tournon had 200,000 
 sous. 
 
 And in that case this terrible loss would have fallen upon 
 the shoulders of Bulbere, and this reputable and honorable 
 man, who never took up a responsibility which he could not 
 fulfil, would have paid the money, and in his old age have 
 retired to squalid poverty. Were it not for the extraor- 
 dinary ofier made to him by M. lyiancourt, by which Vansit- 
 tart generously proposed to pay current market rates for the 
 stock, he would have been ruined. He saw it clearly now, 
 and he also still more clearly saw that it would be his duty, 
 nay, his pleasure, to turn in unmitigated wrath against the 
 scoundrel who would have betraj'ed him. With the terrible 
 weapon that he had in his hand he must ruin M. de Tournon. 
 
 The news flew through Paris like wild-fire. " Vansittart 
 has subscribed the money ! ' ' shouted some of the people as 
 
192 An American E^nperor 
 
 they raced about. " It 's all right with the Company. 
 Hurrah for Vausittart. Long live Jerome the First ! " The 
 change was sudden. But how sudden the revelation ! 
 
 When such indescribable proofs as these were given by 
 Vansittart of his honor, his integrity, and his generosity, 
 how was it possible to harbor those ill-begotten slanders, 
 those miserable lies, those trumped-up stories, which, having 
 no basis, burst bubble-like into fragments as soon as they 
 rubbed up against a solid substance ? There was no resist- 
 ing this great important Fact. The moment he was accused 
 of desiring to drain the life of France, Vansittart had, from 
 his own pocket, subscribed a sum beyond the dreams of 
 shareholders, under conditions that seemed mad in their 
 liberality. If there is one thing that Frenchmen are subject 
 to, it is the emotion of gratitude. And the cleverly worked 
 stratagems of the preceding week onl}^ intensified a thou- 
 sand-fold the feelings which Vansittart' s dramatic ofiFer had 
 aroused. 
 
 And what still further helped to convert the Parisians was 
 a proclamation Jerome himself made to them. For, about 
 ten o'clock in the morning, those who were walking to and 
 fro in the streets were surprised to see an army of bill-stickers 
 posting in all effective points a huge placard arranged in 
 large type. It was an appeal from Jerome K. Vansittart to 
 the People of France. 
 
 It reminded them that the enormous undertaking in the 
 Sahara was solely for the glorj' of the French people and the 
 extension of their dominions. It was not a scheme of per- 
 sonal aggrandizement. Was there anj-thing in the original 
 proposal which had not been faithfully carried out to the 
 present moment ? Na}', was not even the Request, so read- 
 ily thrown out by the deputies, plainly foreshadowed three 
 months back ? 
 
 Then Jerome went on : 
 
 " Men of France, this project of ours has its enemies at 
 headquarters — enemies who hold high position and seek to 
 
De Toiirnons Downfall 193 
 
 make use of it for their own selfish gains and their own 
 political ambition. They have lied, they have deceived, 
 they have bribed, they have tried to seduce you from your 
 loyalty to your own country and its eternal interests ; and 
 now they have succeeded in getting your popular repre- 
 sentatives to turn against the Sahara Company, to cast a 
 slur upon the Scheme, and to put its fortunes into extreme 
 peril. 
 
 ' ' Your new colony is on a fair way to realization, but it 
 has been nearly lost within the last week owing to the das- 
 tardly action of some of your statesmen. I call upon 3^ou to 
 take the punishment of these men into your own hands, and 
 I ask you to proclaim loudly, once and for all, whether or 
 not 3'our own Government is to fight against your colony, 
 and whether those who are promoting its interests are to be 
 the victims of its spleen and its envy. 
 
 ' ' If 3^ou make this clearly understood, I promise you that 
 all will go well, and that in a few years' time you will rejoice 
 in a second France in Africa. ' ' 
 
 There were those afterwards who wondered whether Van- 
 si tlart was thoroughly acquainted with the characteristics of 
 the people he addressed, when he wrote those last stirring 
 words, and summoned them to take vengeance upon the 
 evil-doers. Such an invitation is never declined in Paris. 
 The natural impulse of the French spirit needs little incite- 
 ment of such sort to rush into the wildest extravagance of 
 iwxy. 
 
 But Vansittart was true to the word he had spoken. 
 When he struck, he struck hard and true. He was deter- 
 mined to get rid of de Tournon. As the day wore on, the 
 proclamation sank into the hearts of the people, and from 
 far and wide might be obser\-ed the growing of the storm, 
 the ominous foreshadowing of a tempest that threatened to 
 overwhelm the whole city. 
 
 The instrument of Vansittart' s wrath was ready to his 
 hand. Dark masses of men crowded together in angry 
 
194 An Aineruafi Emperor 
 
 mood at various points. With that strange unanimity of 
 purpose that seems to grow from chaos, they gathered un- 
 consciously as if in obedience to a common instinct. There 
 soon appeared to be a settled and steady movement towards 
 one locality. Half unknowing what they did, the mob 
 surged in the direction of the offices of the Interior. 
 
 De Tournon was in his room. He was sitting before a 
 littered table, his head upon his hand, his eyes wild, his face 
 haggard, and his hair dishevelled. He had the aspect of a 
 man whom ruin of the bitterest sort stares in the face. He 
 was glancing at a note he had received from his broker. 
 
 ' ' Curse him ! Curse him ! Curse him ! " he cried a 
 dozen times. ' ' Vansittart has the resources of the devil ! 
 There is but a week, and in that time what can I do ? A 
 week ! and I am ruined, disgraced ! ' ' 
 
 He covered his face with his hands. This bitter man 
 could have wept. His carefully built structure of ambition 
 was toppling towards irretrievable destruction. 
 
 * ' Will you sell now, or will you wait till settling day ? ' ' 
 was the question of his broker, for Sahara stock at 3 p.m. 
 was 105. 
 
 Should he get rid of his bargain now, he would lose 
 ;^50,ooo, and, with a faint smile of savage cynicism, de 
 Tournon reflected that he could no more clear this sum than 
 he could clear the National Debt of France. Well, should 
 he wait ? Aye, and wait for what ? For the shares to rise ? 
 Was there doubt of that ? The American's power was now 
 unbounded, and as the country began to read and hear, 
 what would become of the stock ? De Tournon knew not to 
 what fabulous figure it might attain within a week. Yet 
 where a man's case is desperate, even a desperate hope may 
 be clung to. To sell now was to embrace ruin with open 
 arms ; to wait was still to cling to some phantom of hope, 
 some faint shadow which might by a miracle become a real 
 thing. 
 
 Ruin ! Disgrace ! Yes, and that not all. For what of his 
 
De Totcrnons Dow7ifall I95 
 
 political position ? De Tournon shivered as he thought that 
 this too was gone, that he must resign all his offices to 
 escape the public degradation called forth by the financial 
 intrigue so ruthlessly exposed. Fool that he was, he had 
 struggled with a giant who had played with him as with the 
 feebleness of a child. He found, too late, that the first 
 strong grip of his opponent had choked him. In that su- 
 preme moment de Tournon resolved to murder Vansittart. 
 
 Thus deep in meditation, he heard nothing of the strange 
 tumult which was growing in ever-increasing gusts of sub- 
 dued passion along the Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore. It 
 was like the growl of a coming storm, a terrible, incoherent 
 sound which had nothing human in it ; or if there were 
 aught of human, it was of men who had laid aside their 
 humanity and fallen back to the uncontrolled passions of 
 the brute. 
 
 This terrible roar is known in Paris. It means death ! 
 
 It swept along the street, grew into a majestic volume, 
 and were not de Tournon so deeply immersed in his dis- 
 tracting thoughts, his quick sense would have gathered that 
 the Parisians were surrounding the offices of the minister on 
 all available sides. 
 
 The staff must have become frightened and fled, for no 
 one approached him. It was only when a loud noise fell 
 upon his ears, as of the bursting of men in wild riot into a 
 corridor hard by, that he started to his feet, and in a moment 
 realized his terrible and unexpected danger. 
 
 ' ' It wanted but this, ' ' he cried, as he staggered across the 
 room, and with difficulty locked the door. 
 
 He paused. Which way would they go ? He knew his 
 countr^nnen too well ; the}^ would not be likely to leave 
 open many avenues of escape. 
 
 It was fortunate for him that the wild multitude seemed 
 not to be aware of the location of de Tournon 's private 
 apartments, or his hesitation might have been fatal. It was 
 enough that he now heard powerful blows against his door. 
 
196 A71 American Emperor 
 
 He turned and fled towards another exit, where for a little 
 time he could not make the key turn in the long disused 
 lock. He had got the door open when a burly ouvrier burst 
 into his room, rushed across with savage menace, and, 
 raising a stout cudgel, attempted to brain the helpless 
 minister. 
 
 Luckily for his victim, as the man reached the door he 
 slipped on the polished floor. With a cry de Tournon 
 wrested the weapon from his grasp and brought it down 
 with a crash upon his head. The Frenchman sank back 
 stunned. What savage unaccountable instinct was it that 
 made de Tournon strike again and again upon his fallen 
 assailant ? Perhaps some S5'mbolic outburst of fury led him 
 thus to express his hatred of all his enemies, for he literally 
 smashed the man's skull to pulp. 
 
 With the glistening tokens of fear and horror upon his 
 brow, for a moment he stood, and then a thought struck 
 him. There was one means of escape which he was certain 
 none of the avengers would know. Darting forward, he 
 groped his way through ill-lit rooms and winding passages, 
 getting lower and lower until he gained the cellars of the 
 house, and then, through further tortuous windings, he 
 reached the end of a passage, dug by somebody long years 
 ago, which brought him to a point beneath the garden and 
 to a little grating which the observer would take to be a 
 mere sanitary appliance. Prising this open with difficulty, 
 de Tournon dragged himself into daylight. 
 
 Then, after a fearful look round, he slipped into the Rue 
 de Cambaceres. 
 
 His difficulties, he knew, had only begun. He must 
 escape detection. He had to cross the busiest part of Paris, 
 and it was folly to think of going to his own house. The 
 day, however, was a dull one, evening was drawing on, and 
 he managed, in an obscure street, to secure a cab, the driver 
 of which was much puzzled by the winding route selected 
 by his fare. De Tournon's sole thought now was to be 
 
De Tournons Downfall 197 
 
 revenged upon Vansittart, so he resolved, with the calmness 
 of despair, at once to take the first steps towards trapping 
 his victim. 
 
 An hour elapsed before he was set down in the Rue d' 
 Allemagne. Dismissing his voiture, he w^aited till it had 
 disappeared. Then he hurried quickly up the street, pushed 
 open the door of a dingy, dirty-looking hovel of a shop 
 which contained nothing that man or beast might want, and 
 disappeared. 
 
 De Tournon did not know that the ever-watchful ex- 
 Prefect of Police was still upon his track. M. FoUiet was not 
 unacquainted with that dark exit from the minister's office. 
 What was there in Paris he did not know ? And he had 
 waited patiently to see his enemy appear. 
 
 He was startled when he noted what manner of habitation 
 the minister entered. 
 
 ' ' What ! " he exclaimed to himself, * ' you have changed 
 your weapons then ! From high finance and political in- 
 trigue, 5^ou descend to the companionship of String-the-Neck 
 and his crew ! I have not yet seen the last of you ! ' ' 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 SOME ROYAI.TIES — AND OTHERS 
 
 THE afternoon had well advanced when Mile, de Mont- 
 pensier and her companion arrived at the beautiful 
 forest of Fontainebleau. The sun, slanting through trees 
 which seemed to blend together in such amorous embrace 
 that in many cases they had actually become entwined, 
 struck shafts of light across the path and gave to the beauti- 
 ful avenues a soft and subdued tone inexpressibly tender. 
 There is no other forest which has been so marked out by 
 Nature as the resting-place of romance. It is as though, 
 flying from the crude tracts of civilization, she had taken 
 refuge here. 
 
 But neither of the two ladies paused to contemplate the 
 scene, nor could they be lured by pressing guides or tempted 
 by promises of strange adventures. With their faces closely 
 hidden in their cloaks, they stole along half-frightened and 
 fearful of discovery. Turning from the beaten track, they 
 made their way through a difficult passage barred by bough 
 and rock to an arbor naturally formed by overhanging trees, 
 whose leaves swept down and bore almost to the earth. 
 Within, some enterprising hermit long years ago had built 
 a seat, and so a little grotto was formed which might have 
 served as a wayside temple to one of the drj^ads of the 
 woods. Here the pious Pagan, on his way to some civic 
 feast, would pause and pray. 
 
 When the ladies entered, a young man, slightly built and 
 of the average height, pale, delicate, yet with a certain 
 
 ig8 
 
Some Royalties — and Others 199 
 
 nobility of face, and eyes that seemed to flash authority 
 when they burned with the passion of a masterful purpose, 
 sprang up and hastened to meet them. He gave a cry of 
 joy, and led them through to the back of the shrine. 
 
 " You have come, Honorine. Then you have not forgot- 
 ten me ? What I have heard is false ? " he cried, looking 
 at her with eager eyes and still holding her hand within his 
 own, which burned feverishly. Honorine was pale, and 
 she shuddered as she replied : 
 
 " You are too rash, Henri; you have no right here. You 
 are in danger. What will happen if they arrest you ? You 
 will undo all by j^our daring, and gain nothing." 
 
 ' ' And is this all the welcome you have to give me — you 
 who fill my soul with longing ? ' ' replied the other. 
 
 ' ' There need be no idle words between us. Our destinies 
 are knit too closely together. But you must go. I have 
 come to tell you that this is not the time for sentimental 
 passages. You will ruin all." 
 
 ' ' What ? Have you forgotten our compact ? Are we no 
 longer allies ? " he asked bitterly. 
 
 " Allies, yes, dear friend," replied Honorine softly. " But 
 3^ou, Henri, ask more than that. It is not fair. You will 
 ruin France." 
 
 " I ask more ? " cried Henri. 
 
 Honorine took from her pocket a letter. ' ' I wept when I 
 read this to-day. But it was not for joy ; it was for sorrow, 
 for I saw that you could not sacrifice your headstrong tem- 
 per to our great purpose. You speak to me in language 
 you have no right to use. That was not our compact, 
 Henri. I should not have come here. I am in danger, but 
 I have come to tell you that 3'ou must not speak like that 
 again — that you dishonor yourself. ' ' 
 
 " Dishonor ! " cried Henri. " Dishonor ! You say that 
 tome? I, the heir of France. Nay," he added, drawing 
 himself up to his full height, which was not a great deal, 
 * ' I may say the King. ' ' 
 
200 An American Emperor 
 
 Honorine smiled. " Now I like you better, Henri. Yes, 
 the King always, but may I suggest that j'ou should speak 
 and act like a king. You make my duty difi&cult beyond 
 bearing. You wrong me, you persecute me. Yes, you make 
 my life bitter, for you — you of all men — tremble on the verge 
 of treachery, and in your passion beat down all bonds." 
 
 ' ' But I love you, Honorine, ' ' cried Henri. ' ' You know 
 it." 
 
 " Then," replied Honorine, " keep your secret to j^ourself, 
 for I can never return your love. You are breaking your 
 whole compact by addressing your vows to me." 
 
 " What ! exclaimed Henri in consternation and amaze- 
 ment. * ' You say that you cannot love me ! Where is your 
 sacred vow, and what has come to you ? Tell me, then, 
 what it was that you have sworn to me — here, in this forest 
 of Fontainebleau ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' I have sworn, ' ' replied Honorine proudl}-, ' ' to give my 
 hand to the King of France. I can never give it to Henri 
 of Navarre, and when Henri of Navarre presses me with his 
 suit, he dishonors the King of France." 
 
 Henri looked upon her with a certain pride. This vehe- 
 ment answer displayed the dignified and noble nature of the 
 woman he loved. 
 
 " I, too," went on Honorine, " am working and schem- 
 ing, wondering and hoping. I, too, am looking forward to 
 the bright day when France will become herself once more. 
 And I, the weak, the impoterit — I, who can arm so few, am 
 to be impeded, and baffled, and thwarted by one who says 
 he loves me. You, Henri, have yet to win the throne of 
 France. Till then, you have sworn to be no more than an 
 ally. No word of affection has fallen from my lips, for I 
 love and can love no man but the King of France, and 
 whilst you break your sacred compact, you teach me how 
 easy it is to regard a friend as at last an enem5^" 
 
 Henri flushed beneath this vigorous attack. He bowed 
 his head. 
 
So7ne Royalties — and Others 201 
 
 " Mademoiselle," he said humbly, " I am wroug. I am 
 too reckless, and I do not reflect. But I love you so, and I 
 have felt, as a 3-outh must feel, that love gives strength and 
 makes the battle easy." 
 
 " Ah, yes," replied Honorine more gently. " If it is for 
 self we are fighting. But it is that you may become king or 
 that I may become queen that we are struggling. It is that 
 the royal throne of France once more may be occupied by 
 one who has a claim." 
 
 " And yet," broke in Henri, " this American, who is your 
 friend — what is he doing ? What means this alliance of 
 yours with him ? I hear such strange news that my ears 
 can scarce believe it. There is something afoot, Honorine, 
 and you are behind it. Am I, then, to be left in the cold, 
 and to have no share ? ' ' 
 
 " Henri," replied the other, " we have sworn to trust each 
 other. Will you now begin to suspect me ? Whatever there 
 ma)^ be afoot, and whatsoever little I may know of it, I have 
 sworn complete and absolute secrec}^, and secrecy is essential 
 to its success. Yes, Henri, to tell yo\x even would be a dis- 
 honor not to be borne. I take 5'our hand in mine, and I 
 swear as I swore before, that I will give my hand to no one 
 who does not wear the crown of France. But do not forget, 
 Henri, that whoever mounts those sacred steps must have 
 won them himself. Whoever he may be, if he have claimed 
 and deser\'ed it, I will wed him and no other. ' ' 
 
 Henri raised her hand to his lips and kissed it with rever- 
 ence. " I can plead no other condition, Honorine, and I 
 am content. We are for the cause and not for ourselves." 
 
 " And now," said Honorine, " you must go away. There 
 are strange doings in Paris, and I have come to warn you. 
 You will help France most if you keep from danger. I shall 
 regard you best, Henri, whilst you keep 3^our word. Don't 
 make me unhappy by throwing your head into the noose, 
 and that is what you are doing each time j'ou come like this 
 disguised to France. ' ' 
 
202 An American E^nperor 
 
 Henri pledged himself to leave France immediately. Sub- 
 dued and thoughtful, he gravely accompanied the two 
 ladies to the pathway. When they had gone out of sight he 
 sat upon a boulder, and a look of infinite sadness came into 
 his eyes. 
 
 " Who am I to win a crown ? " he cried. " The woman 
 I love will marry him who gains the crown of France, and 
 I, poor, weak, unstable creature, how dare I to raise my 
 eyes to that which powerful kings and warriors would strive 
 for ? " He rose and betook himself eastward through the 
 forest. 
 
 As he did so two men crept from their place of conceal- 
 ment near the arbor and hastened towards the village. 
 
 The house into which de Tournon precipitately entered 
 when he escaped from the Paris mob was in one of the dingi- 
 est quarters of the city. The shop itself reeked of stale bis- 
 cuits and of bad brandy. It seemed that no one was ever 
 called upon to attend to customers. The reason was because 
 no customers ever entered. The few relics of a past stock 
 might well have counted their existence since the days of the 
 Revolution, if one were guided by the historical smell which 
 they gave forth. 
 
 But de Tournon did not pause to note the peculiarities of 
 the repulsive den. Stamping on a trap door in the corner, 
 and giving certain curious taps, he waited, with such 
 patience as he could summon, for it to be opened. 
 
 At last it slowly moved, and a repulsive head made its 
 appearance, a head that might have suited Milton's Comus, 
 or have been evolved from the palette of some degenerate 
 painter of the second period of Greek art. Across the fore- 
 head was a scar which had come from a gash so deep that it 
 seemed even now to be a ruddy valley stretching through a 
 dreary morass. The e^-es were bloodshot and bleared, and 
 one half of the nose had disappeared, evidently many years 
 ago. To add to the horror of the man's appearance, his 
 
Some Royalties — and Others 203 
 
 mouth had been obligingly split by some antagonist. Its 
 shape would have suited those patrons of the dining-table 
 who find difficulty in consuming all that their hearts desire, 
 for it effected a downward path towards the throat. 
 
 To de Tournon the face was evidently familiar, for it did 
 not produce a particular impression upon him, and he slowly 
 put his foot upon the step and followed the guide, who, hav- 
 ing recognized him, had held up three fingers, either be- 
 cause the sign signified some secret warning, or because he 
 had not a fourth. The ladder was a long one, the cellar 
 deep, and there at first appeared no light to show to what 
 cavernous depths the two men were descending. 
 
 As they reached the bottom the passage took a quick turn, 
 and displayed a large irregularl}' constructed chamber, w'hich 
 might more accurately be described as a cavern, for it seemed 
 to be hewn out of the earth itself, with no regard to shape. 
 Four huge rough beams supported the roof, and in the 
 corner a small wood fire glimmering forth revealed gaunt 
 walls that were simply damp earth. The floor was uneven, 
 and rendered progress more difficult by reason of a hundred 
 repulsive objects which had been cast away carelessly and 
 never removed. 
 
 Close to the fire, sitting before a small table, were three 
 men. Few Parisians had seen them, and j-et they were three 
 of the most famous men in France. They were the doyens 
 of all that was most depraved, terrible, and bloody in roguer}' 
 and in crime. Day by day they sat in such unwholesome 
 places prepared to fight for life, should the avenues of escape 
 they had prepared fail them. By night they did their work 
 with such despatch, such secrec}^ such certainty, that they 
 became mere liv'ing nonentities, shadows, abstractions, which 
 took upon themselves at times the worst powers of human 
 beings. 
 
 The one to the right rejoiced in the name of " String-the- 
 Neck," because of a cumbrous but diabolical method of 
 taking human life he had invented, whilst he was still suffi- 
 
204 An American Emperor 
 
 ciently unknown to the police to be able to live openly in a 
 little house in Belleville. His victim, lured in, would be 
 plied with drink, and retired to bed for sleep, when String- 
 the-Neck, through a small aperture skilfully concealed in the 
 ceiling, would drop a stout rope. An accomplice, who had 
 crept behind the bed, would tenderly lift the victim's head 
 into the noose, and then, with the help of a windlass, the 
 ingenious murderer would drag by the neck the unhappy 
 being to the ceiling till he was choked. String-the-Neck 
 boasted of thirty who had experienced this novel form of 
 death. This scoundrel's left ear had been cut oflF close to 
 the skull during some midnight affray. 
 
 The man opposite, a dark, heavy-set ruflSan, with a most 
 unintelligent look, and ej-es that seemed insatiate with 
 blood, was called the Gouger, for reasons which were only 
 too appropriate. He was not content with simple murder. 
 He loved to make it intricate, and when he had slain his 
 victim he would strike out the eyes and rip the body until 
 the mad passion of his bestial thirst for the mutilation of 
 human flesh was cooled "by the fear of capture. 
 
 The third occupant was sitting with his back to the fire, 
 and he, as de Tournon entered, seemed to be fast asleep, 
 and the occasional twitches of his face appeared to suggest 
 unconscious shuddering at the recollection of a crime. 
 
 He was a born leader of villainy. He rarely spoke. His 
 eyes flashed in a manner which none could resist. His 
 form, burly and muscular, was strong as an oak. His great 
 head was like a cannon-ball that had been battered against 
 rocks. The lofty brow might have suggested intellect, were 
 it not pitted with the marks of small-pox ; and his figure, 
 though not without some grace of movement, was remark- 
 able for the fact that the left shoulder drooped some four 
 inches below the right. He was the embodiment of animal 
 strength, a silent, inexplicable man, from whom no word 
 came unnecessarily, whom no power had ever turned from 
 his ptupose. 
 
Some Royalties — and Others 205 
 
 He had slain his own family whilst barely a youth— father, 
 mother, brother, and sister — hindrances to the possession of 
 such small property as they owned. Since then his career 
 in murder was unparalleled and incredible. His favorite 
 method was that of the garrote, and, having no considera- 
 tion for life, and burthened by no sense of remorse, he would 
 garrote a child for a cake if he were hungry. He was even 
 known to turn upon a crippled pauper as though for amuse- 
 ment, and skilfully closing both nose and mouth, he would 
 leave the wretch to die in five minutes in some deserted 
 nook of the great city. 
 
 He was feared as no Mahratta chief was feared, and yet he 
 was safe, for his movements were so canny that no evidence 
 could be laid to his charge, nor was he ever detected in a 
 criminal act. If he suspected any of his associates, his days 
 were numbered. They died swiftly and secretly. He boasted 
 of hundreds of such victims, and he cared not. To him the 
 taking of life was a form only of recreation, a method of 
 passing the time. Even his companions dreaded him, and 
 never knew when his terrible eye might be turned upon 
 themselves. It might be wondered why thej' did not strive 
 to rend the man they hated, were it not that their terror of 
 him surpassed their courage. But it w^as they who had 
 given him his name, and it seemed bitterly true. He was 
 called the Plasterer. 
 
 These were the men whom de Tournon had come to visit. 
 The}'- were scoundrels whom he had met in that shady past 
 of his he was so anxious to forget, and which had now 
 rushed back upon him with demoniac swiftness. They were 
 members of the gang he had emploj^ed for many purposes, 
 for the Minister of the Interior rested his power upon that 
 low, base, infamous part of the population, not so numerous 
 as audacious, whose very appearance was calculated to pro- 
 duce a strong impression upon a frightened city. 
 
 The minister had now joined his accomplices. The two 
 men rose to greet him, but the Plasterer did not rouse him- 
 
2o6 An A'inerican Emperor 
 
 self from his sullen stupor, though he raised his glass to 
 his lips and drained it to the dregs. As de Touruon looked 
 round the chamber, an expression of disgust came into his 
 face. 
 
 ' ' I have work for you, ' ' he said, ' ' work that will bring 
 3'ou more money than you have yet earned, work which 
 only men like you can do, and for which only men like me 
 can pay. You will be under my direction for three months. 
 I will pay you each week, and you must be ready at a mo- 
 ment's notice to obey me." 
 
 He stopped, his nausea overcoming his discretion. 
 
 * ' Why have you moved to this vile hole ? " he said, 
 glancing round the reeking, unwholesome place. The Plas- 
 terer raised his head, and a sneer came from his lips. 
 
 " This is not a fitting spot for gentlemen," he said slowly. 
 " But we don't entertain cabinet ministers too often, you 
 know." 
 
 De Tournon turned sharply upon him. " Keep your 
 sneers for your companions, if you please," he cried in a 
 tone of command, " and don't forget that you are my ser- 
 vant. It will please me to hear you speak when you have 
 something of interest to say." 
 
 The Plasterer waved his hand and scowled. " I don't 
 speak too often," he said, still in the same slow tones. 
 ' * Sometimes I act, then no one is my master. ' ' 
 
 " Come, come," cried the Gouger. "It is but civil to 
 show M. de Tournon our discovery. There is an excellent 
 reason for our removal. Our last quarters were small, and 
 they became known. Besides, they looked mysterious had 
 a visitor come. Come with me, and I will show )'0U some- 
 thing." 
 
 De Tournon followed him across the room, and in a corner 
 he saw a passage, hewn out of the earth, extending some 
 thirty feet inwards and narrowing down to a height of about 
 three feet. At the farther end his guide threw aside an im- 
 pediment that barred the way. They crept through and 
 
Some Royalties — and Others 207 
 
 found themselves suddenly in a frightful place. De Tournon 
 stepped back with a cry of horror, 
 
 " It is a sewer ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 * * Yes, ' ' calmly replied the other, " it is a short arm of the 
 main sewer. It is visited irregularly, and, anyhow, it is 
 easy to hear the patrol go by. Then, you know, monsieur, 
 it is pleasant to be able to bring a guest here if he be trouble- 
 some after a joyous evening, and throw his body downward. 
 Really, it is murder made easy. It is a game for children." 
 
 De Tournon frowned. "Let me get out," he cried. 
 *' This place makes me faint : to what lengths will your 
 crimes go ? You are not men ! ' ' 
 
 " Men ! " cried the Gouger. " Well, well, it is as the 
 times go. Now the purse is lean, and now it is fat. There 
 are bad fortune and success, and we follow the tide of fashion 
 as women do. Just now we are lean enough. It will no 
 doubt cheer even the Plasterer if you were to make some 
 slight advance upon what you promised us." 
 
 De Tournon, who by this time felt as though he would 
 faint, promised readily. Sitting down at a table, he drank a 
 small glass of brandy to steady his nerves. Then he care- 
 fully discussed a project with his weird associates, and, 
 though details were wanting, it was determined from the 
 outset that the death of Vansittart was the chief object to be 
 aimed at. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THK RIVALS 
 
 SWIFTLY the weeks flew by, and the second gay season 
 of Paris had already opened its winter hospitality to 
 foreign guests. The brilliant salons of the capital were filled 
 with the wit and eloquence of all nations, and having 
 shown how efiervescent and beautifully pert she can be in 
 May and June, Paris proudly demoristrated to the world 
 how she could find within herself, despite inclement weather, 
 the resources and the delicacies of refined pleasures. Van- 
 sittart was little to be seen in the glittering whirl of society, 
 for he was now away in his palace of Saint Cloud, which had 
 risen like magic over the ruins of this ancient abode of 
 kings. 
 
 The large and graceful building, in which splendor 
 blended with domestic comfort, stood proudlj' serene upon 
 the height that looks down on the park of Saint Cloud 
 and away to the glorious forest of trees which the Parisian 
 bourgeois loves so dearly, and where his fetes seem so much 
 brighter and gayer than elsewhere. There was nothing of 
 the awe-inspiring in its architecture. Dick Harland was 
 heard to say that it might have have been taken for an 
 English country house, "if it had not too much of the 
 feudal castle about it." 
 
 Vansittart laughed. ' ' We blend comfort with security, ' ' 
 he replied. " It is a home that could be made into a fortress 
 p.t a moment's notice." 
 
 "Just like your American ideas," exclaimed Dick. 
 
 208 
 
The Rivals 209 
 
 " Turn a screw, and you convert a comfortable palace into a 
 grain elevator, or lift a lever, and it becomes a picture gal- 
 lery, but I must say that it is one of the most delightfully 
 jolly places I have ever stayed at in my life." 
 
 A little way to the east was a pretty bijou residence deco- 
 rated in the French Renaissance style, and surrounded by a 
 garden that was full of flowers ; a dainty, delicate structure 
 — a mere bon-bon, as it were — and in this dwelt Mile, de 
 Montpensier and her companion. 
 
 But to-day Vansittart had gathered for that domestic insti- 
 tution which he could not forego, ' ' English afternoon tea, ' ' 
 the whole of his " cabinet," as he called them, and the two 
 French ladies had walked through the park to join Jerome, 
 Dick Harland, and his sister in the drawing-room. 
 
 When they arrived, Vansittart was gazing contentedly at 
 his surroundings, with a comfortable air, as though he had 
 reached that state of mind which left nothing to be desired. 
 
 " I don't know how the old kings stood it," he said. 
 " Saint Cloud could not have been the place of comfort it is 
 now when Louis the Fourteenth used to prowl about dark 
 passages and Louis the Sixteenth tried to keep up vain 
 appearances of strength. Personally, I should not care to 
 be constantly slipping over polished floors, and going to 
 sleep with the courtiers looking on, and eating before a few 
 hundred spectators. That is not to be the rule of Saint 
 Cloud now. Imagine the promiscuity of the kingly life in 
 those days when the monarch could not sneeze without the 
 intervention of a state officer, and when, if he wanted to be 
 absolutely alone, he had to hide himself behind a curtain. 
 How would you like all this formality, mademoiselle ? ' ' and 
 he turned to the Princess. 
 
 A flush came into her cheeks, and she drew herself up 
 with an air of dignity. " It is a matter of blood, perhaps," 
 she said, " and to some people freedom is not a luxury. If 
 I were queen I would obey the laws of ray station. A queen 
 is not a private person." 
 
2IO Ail Afuerican Emperor 
 
 What ! ' ' exclaimed Vansittart. * ' Is that your notion ? 
 Vital e est moif 
 
 Honorine smiled. " At least the queen is an order to her- 
 self, ' ' she replied. 
 
 " Ah, yes," retorted Jerome. " How willingly women 
 give of their heart's blood for this terrible ceremony, and 
 endure the dreadful torture of a wearing and ceaseless Court 
 etiquette. What stories the Escorial would relate if its dark 
 corridors could speak, of bright 5'oung queens who have 
 entered proudly and pined to death in the suffocating atmos- 
 phere of that dreadful prison — who have been choked by the 
 pressure of that grim and terrible state decorum which 
 yields no hope, allows no private authority which checks 
 the manner, the thought, the speech, the dress even, of a 
 king or a queen, and permits no wayward shadow to pass 
 over the cheek unrecognized. Well, those days are past, and 
 yet to-day w^e have dangers not less to be avoided. The 
 royal state asks the greatest sacrifice a man can give. He 
 must surrender his independence ! Surely, ' ' he exclaimed, 
 turning to Evelyn, " you don't agree with mademoiselle? 
 How would you care to be a queen ? " 
 
 "A queen?" she answered. ""I? Never! To be a 
 queen, and to do one's duty properly, requires the training 
 of a slave. She must accustom herself to the rigid and unal- 
 terable succession of the same tedious routine. What is the 
 difference between the fates of a queen and a slave under 
 such conditions, save in the matter of food and clothes ? ' ' 
 
 " Well," laughed Vansittart, " there seems to be some 
 difference, that is all. To be supreme — that is the one ambi- 
 tion of the world. But alas ! we spend our dearest coin in 
 the struggle, and when we reach the top, behold ! our 
 wealth is gone. We are already poor in everything that is 
 worth anything at all." 
 
 " Well," put in Dick, " I would not mind trying for a year 
 or two, if only to keep a capital stable. It is said that Royalty 
 has a good chance of winning the Derby now-adays. ' ' 
 
The Rivals 211 
 
 There was a general laugh — and Vansittart exclaimed : 
 " Why, Dick, if you were king, you would hold your court 
 in the mews, and you would appoint your best jockey Prime 
 Minister." 
 
 " So you would not be a queen ? " he repeated, turning 
 again to Evelyn. 
 
 Evelyn colored : " Yes, where best a woman can reign." 
 
 "And that is?" 
 
 " To rule her husband's heart." 
 
 " All very sentimental," exclaimed Dick. " I have often 
 heard of the chatter of afternoon tea, and if this is a sample, 
 I think I had better keep to my whiskey and soda in the 
 study, only I wanted to bring you a letter that had just 
 come, Jerry, and, of course, I forgot it as soon as I entered 
 the room." 
 
 Vansittart took it and opened it. He read it carefully 
 twice. ' ' Do you remember the name Beaulieu ? " he said 
 turning to Dick. 
 
 Dick thought a while. " Why, yes," he answered. 
 * * Surely that is the man of whom Bates told us. He 
 knocked an Arab's scimitar aside when he was making for 
 you that last day, you remember ? ' ' 
 
 " Yes," answered Vansittart thoughtfully, " I remember. 
 I merely wanted corroboration." He looked grave as he 
 spoke, and appeared troubled. 
 
 ' ' Anything up ? " asked Dick. 
 
 ' ' Nothing of any consequence. ' ' 
 
 Dick's face became clouded also. " I wish you had not 
 sent Folliet away," he said earnestly, and putting his arm 
 affectionately upon his friend's shoulder. " Do you know, 
 old chap, I feel much safer when he is around. The fellow 
 seems to know everj'thing, and you can never tell when the 
 coast is clear." 
 
 ' ' Yes, ' ' agreed Vansittart almost reluctantly, ' ' but what 
 could I do ? There were some matters of the most pressing 
 importance in London, which only a man like Folliet could 
 
212 All American Emperor 
 
 deal with. Never uiiiid, Dick, cheer up. If the hour has 
 come when Jerome K. Vansittart depends for his career on 
 the presence in Paris of a prefect of police, I think it is about 
 time he retired from the business. ' ' 
 
 He was going to say more when a strange interruption 
 occurred which threw everything into confusion. The door 
 opened with more violence than was usual, and there entered 
 the room a well-groomed, well-dressed young French gentle- 
 man, holding in his hands an immaculate silk hat and a pair 
 of lavender kid gloves. Behind him could be seen the pant- 
 ing fonn of a footman, whose quick breathing betokened 
 that he must have been pushed aside imperiously, and had 
 followed in vain to announce this singular intruder. 
 
 As the new-comer entered, Honorine cast one glance at 
 Inm, then cried, " Henri, you ! How dare you ? What do 
 you here ? ' ' She rose imperiously to her feet, and gazed at 
 him in the wrath of unutterable dread. 
 
 Vansittart had also risen and stood quietly by, for the ve- 
 hemence of his uninvited guest admitted of no interference. 
 
 " I have found you, Honorine," the Prince replied with 
 stifled excitement. " I have searched for days, and none 
 could tell me where you were. ' ' 
 
 ' ' What ? ' ' and her voice rang scornfully out — * ' You 
 perjure yourself once more ? You again break your sacred 
 compact ? Away ! Away ! You teach me to hate you. ' ' 
 
 " No, no," cried Henri impulsively, and made one step in 
 advance. " You wrong me, Honorine, I am free." 
 
 " Free ! " exclaimed the Princess. 
 
 ' ' My proscription has been withdrawn. I am no longer 
 the hunted outlaw. I can walk the streets of Paris. I have 
 broken no compact." 
 
 " But this intrusion," she cried vehemently, " what of 
 that ? What right have you thus to violate the laws of 
 courtesy and civility ? Do you think I would speak to you 
 here ? " and the blood rose to her brow in the fury of her 
 indignation. 
 
TJie Rivals 2 1 3 
 
 Vansittart got his chance. Henri had turned pale. Fall- 
 ing a little back he leant his arm upon the door for support. 
 At this, with perfect suavity, Jerome approached the visitor, 
 and said, " I perceive, sir, that some little emotion on your 
 part has occasioned a slight informality that had better now 
 be removed. I am your host, and will gladly exchange 
 names. I had not the honor of a formal announcement." 
 
 Henri looked curiously upon this singularly cool man, 
 whose face betrayed no interest in the strange scene w^hich 
 had occurred, and who approached him with all the dignity 
 and self-possession of a born courtier. This, he knew, was 
 the great Vansittart, and he felt instinctively that this was 
 the man against whom he might have to measure himself. 
 Why, he knew not, but as he gazed upon his host, it was 
 partly with fear, partly with hatred, partly with wonder. 
 
 He had paused a little, and then, recovering himself, 
 found it impossible to do anything but bend to the stern will 
 of the American. He said : 
 
 " I, monsieur, am Prince Henri de Navarre." 
 
 Vansittart bowed. " I am delighted to meet you, mon- 
 sieur, and to inform you that I am Jerome K. Vansittart, 
 late of New York, and now of Paris. It will be clear to 
 you, sir, that something has occurred to disturb the ladies 
 here, and we will, I think, leave them to recover. Mean- 
 while, I have some excellent engravings in my study, which 
 I should like to show you, if you care for these trifles in 
 modern art ? ' ' 
 
 Jerome slipped his arm through that of Henri, and the 
 other, unwilling to go, yoX. unable to resist the mastership of 
 this strange being, walked gravely out of the room with him. 
 
 But the}^ saw no engravings. 
 
 When they reached the study, Henri, tearing himself 
 away a little impatiently from his host, walked over to the 
 window, and then turned upon him. " I addressed myself 
 to you, sir, as Henri de Navarre," he said with great 
 hauteiir. 
 
214 ^^i American Ejnpcror 
 
 Vansittart nodded assent, " Pray sit down," he said. 
 
 " But I wish to explain, sir " 
 
 ' ' Come, come, ' ' said Jerome, ' ' I must really insist upon 
 a host's privilege, and beg you to sit down." With a scowl 
 Henri obeyed the imperative tone that gave insistence to 
 the request. 
 
 " You were about to explain, I think," continued Jerome, 
 " that your name was not Henri de Navarre." 
 
 " No, sir," replied the Prince, who flushed slowly ; " but 
 I would have you know, for it is necessary in order to 
 explain my intrusion here, that I am heir to the throne of 
 France. Na)% that I may by all proper precedent regard 
 myself as the ruler of this country. ' ' 
 
 " And a ver>' beautiful country, indeed, it is ! " exclaimed 
 Jerome cheerfully. Henri looked sharply at his host. Was 
 there a covert laugh in this remark, but Jerome's face was 
 imperturbable. 
 
 " I am indeed honored," he said, " to meet one of j^'our 
 position, so distinguished for his many high virtues. The 
 French throne is not literally occupied at present. I am a 
 French subject myself, and if a new occupant came in my 
 time, I assure you that no one would regard him with more 
 respect, or fight more willingly for his interests, than I." 
 
 Henri bowed. 
 
 " If, indeed," continued Jerome, " tradition permits you 
 to consider j-ourself already the King of France, do you 
 require that I shall address you as ' Your Majesty,' or are 
 we to disregard the striking fact for a moment in order that 
 conversation may run smoothly on a more equal plane ? ' ' 
 
 Henri felt uncomfortable, and scarcely knew why. 
 
 " Sir," he answered, " I am content to claim at present 
 nothing but my title, ' the Prince,' and you will understand 
 perhaps how it is that, after a long proscription, on my 
 return to Paris a free man, I have sought the ally of my 
 destiny, the Princesse de Montpensier. She shares with me 
 the unhappy fortune of being of royal blood, and is of stand- 
 
The Rivals 215 
 
 ing far above me in regard to the succession were she not of 
 the opposite sex." 
 
 " Your search for her," admitted Vansittart, " was nat- 
 ural. It ended successfully, if a little violently. But tell 
 me, if I do not intrude upon your confidence — what caused 
 the French Government thus to give back your liberty ? " 
 
 " I am utterly puzzled," replied Henri. " The notice of 
 withdrawal of the proscription reached me in England some 
 days ago — a small parchment signed by the name of de 
 Tournon." 
 
 ' ' De Tournon ! ' ' exclaimed Vansittart. ' ' Why, he has 
 been out of the Cabinet for two months ! ' ' 
 
 " It is strange, ' ' agreed the Prince, ' ' but there can be no 
 doubt — there is no mistake — as I called yesterday upon M. 
 Lacontel, the Minister for the Colonies, and he assured me 
 that this paper was duly signed within the term of ofiice of 
 de Tournon, and if any one questioned it, he would himself 
 present me with another warrant. ' ' 
 
 " Is that so," said Jerome calmly. " Obviously the 
 change of policy is in the direction of mercy. ' ' 
 
 He spoke lightly, but his mind was rapidly revolving 
 many things. It seemed clear to him that if this document 
 signed by his enemy, possibly a day or two before his down- 
 fall, was permitted to be regarded as valid many weeks after, 
 despite the disgrace of the minister, it must have been so 
 sanctioned by others within the Cabinet who had the same 
 motives as de Tournon. What could these motives be ? 
 Above all, who was the minister ? 
 
 M. I,acontel, the Minister for the Colonies ! He, no 
 doubt, being better acquainted with the Sahara Scheme and 
 all its winding operations, was therefore more jealous of one 
 who in his own department outshone him, made him like 
 unto a hired clerk, a mere cipher in the administration of his 
 own ofiice. For the man who was a Minister of the Colo- 
 nies was as nothing to the man who made them. The 
 motive ? — ^that, too, seemed clear to him. This fiery, hot- 
 
2i6 An American Emperor 
 
 headed young Frenchman, with his absurd claim to the 
 throne, might be easily made a thorn in the side of an in- 
 truder who was likely to rise to too great a height in the 
 affections of the people. 
 
 And his friendship with Honorine ? There, again, no 
 doubt lay some so far unrevealed complication which the 
 presence of this young blood in Paris might render danger- 
 ous. Jerome looked with interest upon his visitor. His eye 
 gathered in every detail of his features, and sought to enter 
 his mind, in order to weigh every quality and faculty which 
 he possessed. Had Henri of Navarre been the single factor 
 in the struggle the American smiled at the thought that 
 such a rival should have been chosen for him. 
 
 At length Vansittart spoke. ' ' You will pardon me. Prince, 
 but there is one point upon which I am sure you are longing 
 to give an explanation. Let it be understood that we are 
 friends, and that my friends ma}' enter my house as they 
 choose. Yet this slight informality to-day in a first visit sug- 
 gests the existence of some misunderstanding between us, for, 
 surely, you were not refused admittance at the gate ? ' ' 
 
 " No, monsieur," cried Henri, abashed somewhat by the 
 calm analysis displayed in his host's method of conversation, 
 which had promptly shown him with what folly and reck- 
 lessness he had acted, ' ' but I did not know definiteh' of 
 !Mlle. de Montpensier's presence, to say nothing of yours. 
 And yet who is not aware that she crossed the Atlantic with 
 you, and since then has been more or less in close connection 
 with you ? ' ' 
 
 Jerome raised his eyebrows as if in remonstrance. 
 "Prince," he answered, "has mademoiselle no right to 
 choose her friends ? ' ' 
 
 " That is true," answered the other, flushing again. 
 " But she has cast me off, though we are allies in the great 
 scheme to bring back the monarchy to France." 
 
 Vansittart rose and approached his visitor. " M. le 
 Prince," he said, " will you permit me to lay aside formality 
 
The Rivals 2 1 7 
 
 for a moment, and say something to you, whicli I think will 
 be of importance ? You are younger than I am, and I think 
 you are hastier. It is not well for a man with a burden so 
 heavy as yours to practise intemperance, whether in speech 
 or in deed ; and it is, indeed, fatal if he becomes habituated 
 to jump to conclusions without having gravely anal3'-zed 
 everything that bears upon the question. lyct us not upon 
 this occasion deal in innuendoes. 
 
 " You say that you desire to become King of France. 
 Well, I know that Mile, de Montpensier will marry no one 
 but the King of France, so I shall re-congratulate you if you 
 succeed in obtaining two such treasures. But mademoiselle 
 is free to do exactly as she pleases. I in no way have the 
 right or desire to interfere. She has the utmost and most 
 entire independence. She may take any course or line of 
 action that she chooses. Unquestionably go to her. Let 
 her decide as to what she desires to do with you, for it is no 
 matter of mine. I value mademoiselle's friendship, bvit I 
 have no right or desire to influence her in the faintest degree 
 in anything whatsoever. These idle suspicions of j-ours 
 surely are unworthy of you ? Go, M. le Prince, and win 
 your empire. Win it, and I will be the first to bow the knee 
 to you, and I will claim the privilege perhaps of kissing the 
 fingers of the queen. That is all I have to say, and I think 
 it needs no addition." 
 
 Henri rose to his feet, still deeply troubled, for he knew 
 not what inscrutable purpose lay in the unfathomable brain 
 of this extraordinary man, w^ho created colonies, and by a 
 wave of the hand brought palaces into existence. There 
 could be no plainer speech than that used in regard to Hou- 
 orine. Whatever it might be that lay between the Princess 
 and Vansittart, there was nothing that could preclude him 
 from winning her heart if she but willed it, and he had the 
 power. 
 
 He held his hand out to his host. " You think, then, 
 there is no reason why I may not visit the Princess. ' ' 
 
2i8 An American Emperor 
 
 " As often as you please," replied Jerome with a smile, 
 " but subject, surely you as a gallant must know, to the 
 lady's consent. So far as I am concerned, I shall rejoice 
 the more at the tete-h-tete audiences you have the honor to 
 receive. ' ' 
 
 And thus ended the meeting of these two men, whose 
 thoughts were upon the same goal, and who walked towards 
 it with equipment so vastlj^ different. A strange contrast ! 
 Here the strong, indomitable conqueror of men, whose pur- 
 pose never flinched, whose resources never failed ; there the 
 weak, impulsive dreamer, whose purpose bent to his passion, 
 and whose mind knew no steadfastness ! If they were 
 rivals, then Nature was in one of her ironical moods. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 A CAPTURED LION 
 
 WHEN the Prince had gone, Vansittart drew from his 
 pocket the letter which Harland had given him earher 
 in the afternoon. 
 
 "It is a singular request," he said to himself. The 
 missive ran : 
 
 You may perhaps have forgotten my name, but you cannot have 
 forgotten the slight service I rendered you in the Sahara, in the last 
 desperate fight, when the sword of an Arab Sheik was near making 
 an end of you. You told me then that you would show your gratitude 
 in any way that was possible. I now beg you to fulfil your promise. 
 I am in trouble. I have left the army. Why, I will tell you when we 
 meet, but the causes are just. I dare not show myself in Paris, but I 
 entreat you, in your own interests much more than mine, to come to 
 the little wood at Laudon. The wood is only eight miles from St. 
 Cloud, and here I have got concealment for awhile. If you come 
 to-night it will add to my safety. Walk straight towards the wood 
 from the village and I will meet you. Yours gratefully — F. Beaulieu. 
 
 "It is a request I cannot refuse, ' ' mused Vansittart. 
 " Besides, it is likely to be a fine evening. Let me see ; if 
 I take a train for a few miles, I shall enjoy a country walk, 
 and be back in time for dinner. I presume he will be on the 
 outlook." 
 
 Vansittart was a man of impulse. Whether Beaulieu had 
 nearly saved his life or not mattered little. He was grateful 
 even for attempted service. It needed but the call for help 
 and it came. It was impossible for Jerome to resist the ap- 
 peal this ex-dragoon had made. A steady walk along a 
 
 219 
 
220 A 71 Ainericaji Emperor 
 
 straight country road, in a clear air, and under a serene sky, 
 would do Jerome good after the disturbing events of the day. 
 It was pleasant. He wanted to think, he wanted definitely 
 to realize what meant this new factor in the game which had 
 suddenly sprung up in the guise of the impulsive 3'oung 
 gentleman from the South. 
 
 ' ' Honorine and he were obviously friends in the old daj's, ' ' 
 he mused as he set out on his short journej^ 
 
 It was obvious that she had never loved the Prince, or at 
 any rate had never expressed such love — just as certain, he 
 reflected with remorse, that he himself had not a particle of 
 true affection for her. But it was now too late to draw back. 
 Then there was a compact, and what could it be ? Vansit- 
 tart quickly made up his mind on this point. It was the com- 
 pact she had offered to him. To the amorous youth she had 
 probably replied that she would marry only the King of 
 France, and had perhaps drawn up a kind of alliance which 
 permitted them to help each other, in their efforts, but allowed 
 Prince Henry to hope for no sort of attachment on her part. 
 
 And now, free once more to come and go as he pleased, 
 naturally the 3'oung Prince had burst in upon the circle at 
 Saint Cloud, seeking his Empress. Too headstrong to per- 
 ceive that she was in earnest, too little of a diplomat to 
 understand that every dubious step he took rendered his 
 chances of winning her less and less, the Prince had irre- 
 trievably damaged his own prospects. Again, the obvious 
 indignation wuth which she greeted him, had shown that 
 Honorine was true to the bargain, true to the cause. She 
 cared no more for this whipper-snapper than she did for any 
 other person who .stood somewhat nearly related to the royal 
 family of France. It was Henri's want of self-control that 
 would have always prevented him from seizing the throne. 
 He was clinging to the fatuous hope that he might shake 
 her resolution. He was one of those who believed that a 
 woman's word, where love was concerned, might never be 
 expected to remain steady. Was he right ? 
 
A Captured Lion 221 
 
 Jerome could not admit that Honorine would allow this 
 madman to repeat his constant protestations of afifection in 
 her presence. How, then, receive him, since he could talk 
 of nothing else, since he could not be relied on for a mo- 
 ment's discretion ? This was Jerome's analysis of the situa- 
 tion. Whatever affection Honorine had, it was his, and they 
 together were to win the Empire, and rule over it together. 
 He admired this constancy in a woman, and his purpose 
 grew in strength, if strength it needed. 
 
 The reasoning was admirable from all points of view but 
 one. Neither Jerome nor Honorine was in love with the 
 other nor with anybody else. When love came, reason 
 would be impotent. 
 
 In due course Vansittart reached the little wood of Eau- 
 don. It was a deserted spot, and it la}' quite out of the 
 reach of the two main roads which came that way, being an 
 uncultivated piece of land neither beautiful nor readily 
 accessible. In itself irregular and wild, it was seldom 
 resorted to, as superstition had invested it with many hor- 
 rors, and placed there the scene of many strange crimes. 
 
 According to popular logic it is impossible that there 
 should be an ugly place unless there be ugly deeds done 
 there, and it was only for the wood of Laudon to lose its good 
 name for it to become untraversable except by the irreverent 
 and the incredulous. The spot was reported to have a brood 
 of adders jumping about in readiness for any v/ayward 
 passenger. 
 
 As Vansittart approached the wood, he looked around, 
 expecting Beaulieu to meet him at the entrance. The 
 soldier was not there, but the course seemed clear ; he could 
 but pursue the path that wound its way into the midst of the 
 thicket. In a serene state of mind then, with his thoughts 
 brighter than they had been for many days, Jerome walked 
 on, though the gromng darkness caused by the densitj- of 
 the trees, rendered all objects quite indistinct. 
 
 He had scrambled into what might be called something of 
 
222 An Amcrica7t Emperor 
 
 an open space, and was about to utter a cry or whistle to 
 inform his friend of his arrival, when he heard the rapid 
 approach of feet. They appeared to come from all sides. 
 Glancing quickly in one direction and another, he saw what 
 seemed to him to be the forms of several men, unrecogniz- 
 able in the gloom, who sprang swiftly upon him, as he stood 
 helpless and unarmed. 
 
 Realizing in a second that he was either the victim of a 
 plot or a mistake, he dashed fiercely along the path he had 
 traversed, hoping to burst through this cordon of probable 
 assailants, and then make a bold race for liberty, or perhaps 
 life. 
 
 Encountering one man he deliberately closed with him, 
 and the two strained for an instant in deadly embrace. 
 Their muscles tightened like whipcord, and Jerome felt that 
 there was no mistake — a cleverly planned ambuscade was 
 being carried out efiectively and unscrupulously. In his 
 rage at the thought he had no mercy. He hugged at his 
 opponent with the grip of a bear until the man lost his bal- 
 ance and leaned back. Then plunging his right foot forward 
 and downwards Vansittart smashed the other's leg above the 
 ankle. 
 
 Had he succeeded in getting free that moment he might 
 have escaped. But the frenzied pain of the injury caused 
 the unknown villain instinctively to tighten his hold whilst 
 he 3'elled a frantic cr>' for help. 
 
 The American at last threw him off, maimed and cursing, 
 but it was too late. Four others had now seized him from 
 behind, and before he could utter a word his head and arms 
 were muffled in a blanket. He was then bound, both hands 
 and feet, the cord fastening his wrists being tightly hitched 
 around his waist. 
 
 Some little delay ensued, but after a whispered colloquy 
 Vansittart was carried into a rough hovel, deeply shrouded 
 in the wood, Ij'ing apart from the open space, and concealed 
 from human ken beyond a distance of a few feet. 
 
A Captured Lion 223 
 
 A lantern shone from a rough board over the fireplace, 
 and this, strangely enough, was the only solid piece of fur- 
 niture of this miserable hovel. It was as though some crazy 
 lunatic had built for himself a squalid kennel and decorated 
 it with a serviceable iron fireplace of the most cumbrous yet 
 useful description. 
 
 In the corner of the room were two bags of straw, upon 
 which Jerome was rudely thrown. Now that he was se- 
 curely tied and unable to move, the covering was taken from 
 his head and shoulders, and he had never set eyes upon such 
 horrible and ghastly creatures as his captors during the 
 whole course of his life. 
 
 One of these, the brute who had thrown the blanket over 
 him, was none other than the Plasterer, and two of his com- 
 panions were String-the-Neck and the Gouger. The five 
 men were, in fact, the chosen spirits of that terrible society 
 of assassins over which FoUiet had been keeping such close 
 guard until he was dismissed to England. In their faces 
 was no gleam of hope for the prisoner. Jerome could see 
 there only greed and impatient hate, for the wretch he had 
 injured was calling for his death with frightful imprecations, 
 having been conveyed to the hut by his mates. 
 
 Vansittart was bound so tightly that he felt pain, rapidly 
 becoming intolerable, in his arms, waist, and legs. The 
 Plasterer and his crew were evidently afraid of his strength. 
 It was no ordinary rope that they had used, and they had 
 tied it with no ordinarj^ firmness. Yet he lay with his head 
 propped up, looking upon his companions with a smile, 
 which was half-cynical, half-thoughtful. He wondered, not 
 what they would eventually do, but in what order they 
 would do it. 
 
 The cut-throats were evidently ill at ease. They had ful- 
 filled their instructions, and there was seemingly a stage 
 wait. They were visibly relieved when footsteps were heard 
 without, and there entered through the narrow door a sixth 
 personage. The new-comer was a man wrapped in a long 
 
2 24 An American Emperor 
 
 cloak, whose hat was pressed over his eyes. This latest 
 arrival gazed with deep satisfaction at Vausittart, and the 
 gaze was returned with interest. Suddenly the man turned 
 to the Plasterer: 
 
 " Have you injured him ? " 
 
 " No," was the responsive growl. " But he has cracked 
 Pierre's leg for him." 
 
 Vansittart was not surprised when he recognized the voice. 
 He had already guessed from the manner of his capture who 
 the chief conspirator was. 
 
 He knew as de Tournon flung his heavy coat off, tossed his 
 hat aside, and sat down upon a log which was put upon end, 
 that his old and unforgiving adversary had stooped to the 
 methods of the highwayman and assassin to obtain his 
 re\'enge. 
 
 The two men gazed at each other for some time, Vansittart 
 perfectly grave, calm, passionless, showing no emotion of any 
 sort, with no tremor of the lips, and no quiver of the eyelids. 
 
 De Tournon, weak, frightened by the very measure of his 
 success, was scarcely able to help a change of color and a 
 nervous twitch of the hand, as he saw his victim so fast a 
 prisoner. It seemed to him that now all was over he had 
 done too much for his strength, that the killing or the 
 robbing of this man was hopeless. The perspiration even 
 came to his brow. He had won a victory bej'ond his ca- 
 pacit3^ What use was it, he thought. 
 
 At length de Tournon broke the silence. " So 5'ou see, 
 monsieur, that the game is now in my hands ! " 
 
 " No," replied Vansittart, " not a game, surely? You 
 are like the impatient player who, when in danger of defeat, 
 clears the chessmen off the board with his hand. Our ances- 
 tors played like this, but they did not parade it as a game of 
 intellect, and I have no doubt that they did it very well. 
 But, really, no one is interested in the game now. This sort 
 of thing requires no genius, only the good fortune of having 
 an admirable circle of acquaintances. ' ' 
 
A C ap her ed Lion 225 
 
 "It is easy to say that, Mr. Vansittart," cried de Tour- 
 non. " Was it the game when you ruined me in position 
 and pocket ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' No doubt I had to act in a manner which distressed both 
 of us. Nevertheless, when I placed in the balance the inter- 
 ests of France and those of the Minister of the Interior I was 
 compelled to admit that the former somewhat outweighed 
 the latter. Besides, how could I know that your speeches 
 in the Chamber were made for the purpose of filling your 
 pocket ? I have calculated that your patriotic remarks on 
 the last famous occasion were in your opinion worth one 
 thousand francs a word. This, then, I assume, is the new 
 political method which you have happily inaugurated ? ' * 
 
 ' ' You may sneer, Mr. Vansittart, but I have the satisfac- 
 tion of seeing you bound and helpless. It is now my turn to 
 dictate terms." 
 
 " Distinctly, M. de Tournon, and surely you need them, 
 since fortune has compelled you to turn forger, footpad — and 
 cut-purse." 
 
 " Cut-purse ! " cried de Tournon. 
 
 ' ' Ah ! ' ' apologized Jerome, ' ' that was no doubt a little 
 premature. I should have waited an hour." 
 
 " It was you who blundered, Mr. Vansittart. You should 
 have trusted me. As allies we might have carried all before 
 us." 
 
 ' ' Nay, ' * replied the other, ' ' I assure you, your abilities 
 shone better as my tool." 
 
 De Tournon grew pale with rage, but he constrained him- 
 self in retorting : "I am bound to be victorious in the end. 
 When I take up a cause, whatever reverses occur, I carry it 
 through. That is the secret of my statesmanship." 
 
 "It is very true," replied Jerome, " and you have good 
 reason to be very proud of the last stroke of what you call 
 your statesmanship. May I inquire whether these gentle- 
 men are the members of j-our Cabinet ? Or, stay — on closer 
 examination, they seem rather to belong to the police depart- 
 
2 26 An American Emperor 
 
 ment. Your diplomacy, M. de Tournon, is very delicate. 
 You no longer use the parchment but the roller around 
 which it is wrapped. Altogether there is something of nov- 
 elty — I may say fascination — about the policy which your 
 Cabinet undoubtedly endorses to the full, a policy that con- 
 sists in alluring your opponent forth by forging the name of 
 an honest soldier, assaulting him with weapons, gagging 
 him, and imprisoning him, and then calmly proceeding to 
 rob and kill him. There is a finish about statesmanship of 
 that sort, M. de Tournon, which, alas ! we seldom see in the 
 long drawn-out red-tapeisms of other nations. ' ' 
 
 " You laugh at these gentlemen," broke out de Tournon 
 with a sneer. ' ' Where are yojir friends, pray ? Of what 
 avail are they ? ' ' 
 
 " My poor de Tournon," replied Jerome, " all France is 
 my friend, and you will find out to your cost that whatever 
 be the outcome of this fine stroke of yours, you will be in a 
 very unhappy position. However, good fortune seems 
 always to hover over you. You have shown so much inge- 
 nuity during the last three months in escaping from the per- 
 sistent bailiff, who, I regret to find, is ever watching for you 
 with a warrant for ^200,000, that you are by this time well 
 versed in the shifts of a man who must escape a danger that 
 is always round the corner. But I say no more, monsieur. 
 The conversation is channing, but, as 3'ou know, I am 
 always a busy man. I love despatch, and I wish to know 
 without delay precisely what you intend to do." 
 
 * ' You have not yet pleaded for mercy, ' ' put in the other 
 in a disappointed tone of voice. He had hoped to see his 
 victim whining before his e5'es. He would have enjoyed the 
 spectacle of this man, the greatest he had ever met, humbling 
 himself before him. He was unprepared for the full-faced 
 look of contempt Jerome cast upon him. 
 
 " You have discovered one weakness in ra}' armor, M. de 
 Tournon. Nevertheless, though friendship may make me 
 indiscreet, I ask you whether you believe I am also a fool ? " 
 
A Captured Lion 227 
 
 De Tournon moved uneasily. ' ' Then the matter is sim- 
 ple," he replied. " You have not seen an evening paper? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 ' ' In the later editions to-night of the evening papers in 
 Paris, there appears an interesting paragraph. I supplied it 
 myself. It refers to another caprice on the part of the chair- 
 man of the Sahara Company. It states that in order to make 
 a more impressive demonstration of his new scheme, by 
 which he practically gives a milliard of francs to the share- 
 holders, he intends, instead of producing a cheque merely at 
 the meeting of directors to-morrow, to do something more 
 impressive. ' ' 
 
 De Tournon paused. He hoped to see his enemy wince 
 at this reminder. The chairman of Sahara, lyimited, was 
 bound to attend next day's meeting in order to fully explain 
 his latest act of generosity. To be absent would manifest, 
 if even in a small degree, a lack of confidence. 
 
 But Jerome, raising his eyebrows, observed : ' ' Pray pro- 
 ceed, M. de Tournon. I assure you, you are not boring me 
 in the least." 
 
 " Well, it is stated that instead of writing a cheque to 
 clear up the whole amount, he will, as a first deposit, pro- 
 duce a quarter of a million sterling in bonds and securities. 
 A similar paragraph will probably be repeated in the morn- 
 ing papers. ' ' 
 
 " I really do not see how the matter interests me at all," 
 replied Jerome. " I have no objection to the Paris news- 
 papers amusing themselves by publishing such ridiculous 
 absurdities." 
 
 " Ah," replied the other. " You will see the significance 
 later on. You observe that this information will naturally 
 get to the ears of your banker. When two of your accredited 
 agents go to him to-morrow morning, shortly after the bank 
 opens, presenting a cheque for the two hundred and fifty 
 thousand pounds sterling, duly signed by you, with a note 
 requesting that bonds and securities for that amount shall 
 
2 28 An American Emperor 
 
 be handed out for presentation at the impending board meet- 
 ing, he will not be taken b}' surprise. These paragraphs will 
 remove any suspicion on the part of the banker, and he will 
 forthwith furnish your agents with these securities." 
 
 "It is possible — possible," replied Vansittart. "I only 
 say possible. But you say that my agents are going to 
 present this check. ' ' 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 " And I still further opine that — well, I scarcely like to 
 offend these members of your cabinet — but I presume that 
 you have gentlemen of less irregular features and of slightly 
 less blemished form under yovix control. It is a trifle of 
 some moment. You, meanwhile, are about to ask me for a 
 check for that amount ; 3'ou will secure the money, and then 
 immediately depart with the proceeds ? ' ' 
 
 " Your calculations, my dear Vansittart, prove your good 
 sense. Those are precisely the facts of the case, though I 
 ma)' still further add that the handing of this check to me is 
 the sole condition on which I will save you from death. If 
 you refuse the check, you understand these gentlemen here 
 will exercise their professional skill upon you. If you 
 are wise, and submit to my condition, why, then, 5'ou 
 will remain a prisoner until everything has gone through 
 well and the bonds have been realized, and I have had 
 time to start to other countries beyond 3'our reach. Then 
 3-ou will be set at liberty. I have no doubt that a discreet 
 apology to the directors will satisfy their misgivings, and 
 a quarter of a million to 3'ou, mj^ dear sir, is a mere nothing." 
 
 Vansittart thought a while. He was in no way deceived 
 as to de Tournon's real intentions ! That the subterfuge 
 adopted by these scoundrels for getting the monej- might 
 very readily succeed he was well aware, because the French 
 were accustomed to strange proceedings on his part. His 
 bank manager would probably not be astonished at the 
 request, but perfectly satisfied by the genuineness of his 
 handwriting, provided that he gave the check. 
 
A Captured Lion 229 
 
 On tlie other hand, he knew that de Tournon's promise to 
 release him was pure nonsense. He looked steadily into his 
 face, and saw the soul of the rascal there. The scheme was 
 first to obtain the money safely from the bank, and then to 
 quietly murder him. Was it likely that this miserable 
 villain, having brought him to a spot which no one knew, 
 and having also robbed him of a huge sum, would release an 
 enemy who would be at once upon his track, and in a week 
 or two have him by the heels ? Besides, was it only for this 
 trumpery sum that de Tournon had tracked him down, or 
 for a full and complete revenge ? Still, to appear to believe 
 this story b}^ giving the check was to gain time. That was 
 the great point, for he felt assured they would not kill him 
 until they had enriched themselves at his expense. So long 
 as he had time, despite the enormous difficulties of the task, 
 and the apparent hopelessness of the position, there was the 
 remote chance that he might make his escape. Finality 
 only came with death. 
 
 After a few minutes' silence he answered de Tournon. 
 
 " You are a clever rascal. But I am helpless. I have no 
 alternative. Release my hands, and I will not only write 
 the check but a letter to accompany it." 
 
 With trembling eagerness, de Tournon did as he was bid- 
 den. He produced a pen and ink and a blank check of the 
 Bank of France, in case Vansittart had left his own check- 
 book behind. 
 
 De Tournon shook with gratified cupidity as he carefully 
 perused the written coupon and its covering letter. They 
 were quite in order, and he placed letter and check in an 
 envelope, putting it in a side pocket. Hastily wrapping 
 himself up, he turned to the Plasterer, bade him take good 
 charge of the prisoner, and smiled cj'nically at Vansittart as 
 he reiterated his instructions. 
 
 "Good-bye, M. de Tournon," cried Jerome as the ex- 
 minister was about to pass out into the night. Then, with a 
 malicious tone in his voice, which the blunted senses of the 
 
230 All American Emperor 
 
 other could not appreciate, he went on, " If all goes well, I 
 should like to be at the directors' meeting to-morrow. ' ' 
 
 " We will see what we can do," de Tournon observed 
 blandly, as if talking to a child. 
 
 "Well, monsieur," retorted Jerome, "there is only one 
 thing I know about this strange matter. I have promised 
 to be in the chair at the directors' meeting to-morrow morn- 
 ing at eleven o'clock, and in that chair I intend to be on the 
 stroke of the hour. ' ' 
 
 De Tournon laughed, a vulgar, significant laugh, and 
 then went swiftly away. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 MURDER AS A FINE ART — WITH ILI.USTRATIONS 
 
 IN the forest of Fontainebleau shrubs spring from the bare 
 rock ; in Vansittart's helpless case, his solitary shred of 
 hope budded from the fact of de Tournon's absence. 
 
 His captors were now reduced to three in number. For 
 the most unfortunate element in rascality is that honor 
 among thieves cannot pass beyond the region of proverb. 
 They never trust each other, so one of the gang was neces- 
 sarily told off to watch M. de Tournon, and to see that he 
 did not look with too envious eyes on the share which fell to 
 his companions. In so far as this unnamed scoundrel's 
 morality might be weak and open to persuasion, it was still 
 further essential that the Gouger should be sent to follow 
 him in turn. 
 
 There were left in the hut the Plasterer, who took posses- 
 sion of the log which de Tournon had quitted, String-the- 
 Neck, and the humbler member of the corporation, who lay, 
 groaning at times with the pain of his broken ankle, in a 
 corner of the dark room. 
 
 Jerome carefully sur\^eyed each in turn. 
 
 His antagonists, it was clear, might have been a hundred, for 
 all the difference it made to his position, when the two who had 
 come scathless from the contest had the strength of bulls. 
 
 Their ingenuity in tying Vansittart was such that any 
 kind of movement was almost impossible, unless he elected 
 to roll along the floor, a form of exercise little likely to 
 relieve his situation. 
 
 231 
 
232 A 71 Americmi Emperor 
 
 The lamp began to flicker. It cast extraordiuary gleams 
 around the hut, making strange shadows of the uncouth 
 shapes of String-the-Neck and the Plasterer. 
 
 Scarce a word had been spoken. The Plasterer sat mood- 
 ily, now gazing upon his victim with a puzzled look, the 
 nature of which Jerome was not long in guessing, now turn- 
 ing to curse his querulous companion in the corner. 
 
 String-the-Neck was restless. He flitted about with the 
 air of a man who is robbed of his night's sleep and of the 
 cognac that he would have lapped up with such satisfaction 
 in his fetid den. 
 
 Vansittart did not fliisch from the terrible inquiry set 
 before him. Was it possible to escape, and, if so, how ? 
 
 As he lay there hour after hour, he calculated every 
 chance, however minute, however airy, however ridiculous, 
 which might occur to a mind constantly practised in sum- 
 ming up every element of the tnost complex problems. 
 
 Plans occurred to hiui such as came to the prisoners in the 
 Bastille. These, to our ears, now appear sublimely ridicu- 
 lous, even though we know that they were successfully 
 achieved by those who had to suffer the torturing question- 
 ings from which they were evolved. 
 
 The chief element of difficulty was that by no possibility 
 could he obtain the practical use of any of his limbs. In- 
 deed, if he were left alone, he did not at first see how he 
 could succeed in releasing himself from the bonds so cun- 
 ningly fixed upon him. 
 
 De Tournon's helpmates had experience extending through 
 long years in the art of making their victims helpless. More- 
 over, if with all his magnificent strength he was able to gain 
 his feet, it would but result, not, it is true, in death — for 
 they would wait at least until they had learned of the check 
 being honored — but in a blow so violent that he would be 
 left incapable of attempting any such rash and impracticable 
 plan as might occur to him again. 
 
 He knew that they would kill him. For that consumma- 
 
Murder as a Fine Art 233 
 
 tiou he was fully prepared. He even thought, with a sigh 
 of satisfaction, that the Sahara Scheme had now been demon- 
 strated beyond the domain of doubt, and that at least he had 
 not been found wanting in the great task of his life. 
 
 He was troubled that he could not fulfil his word to Hon- 
 orine, but, then, the chances were that she would find herself 
 better equipped at his decease to fight the battle of French 
 royalty than she was when he met her in New York. 
 
 His friends would never know his fate, unless — and here 
 he smiled as he thought of Folliet, and of the detective's un- 
 bending hatred for M. de Tournon. Yes ! that man would 
 guess the truth, and might safely be left to exact a full 
 measure of reparation. 
 
 Vansittart was content. To anticipate vengeance is not 
 attractive to one of his healthy organism. 
 
 Whilst he had been thinking these things the hideous face 
 of the Plasterer was often stretched slightly forward towards 
 his, with a look of unusual excitetnent, as of a professor 
 examining a new animal submitted to his knife. He felt the 
 need of speech, so he deigned to honor Vansittart with a 
 question. 
 
 " Have you any particular partiality with regard to 
 death ? " asked the grotesque. 
 
 ' ' To tell you the truth, ' ' replied Jerome, ' ' I have not given 
 it much thought. It is a wide region for speculation. There 
 are very many different methods of quitting existence." 
 
 ' * Eh ! Ah ! ' ' exclaimed the other impatiently, ' ' far many 
 more than you amateurs know about. What can you tell of 
 all the dozen little ways which men of observation learn 
 whilst practising their profession. Dear me ! Life w^ould be 
 monotonous if there were only the knife and the revolver, ' * 
 
 ' ' I feel assured that you are an expert, ' ' replied Jerome in 
 a tone of admiration. " You must have spent a long ap- 
 prenticeship before you gained renown ? " 
 
 " Oh, I have killed my share," replied the Plasterer. 
 ' ' But I often regret my early years. I was too fond of gar- 
 
234 '^^ American Emperor 
 
 roting then. You see, I was of an easy nature. My 
 inclinations made a sacrifice of art, and I did things simply ; 
 but, fortunately, I learned better, and I think I may say it, 
 who should n't, that there is hardly another in Europe who 
 would kill his man as variousl}' or with such delicacy of 
 feeling and firmness of execution as I." 
 
 " You are a murderer of taste, plainly," murmured Jerome, 
 sj^mpathetically. " Merely to kill is nothing, of course, to 
 one of your education and refinement. You add to it some- 
 thing of the unusual, a spice, perhaps, of the humorous, 
 even a soiipgofi of the tragic, and I suppose that you succeed 
 in obtaining as many gradations of note through the difier- 
 ent methods you adopt, as the poet through the varying 
 moods in which he regards nature and man." 
 
 The Plasterer eyed the millionnaire sharply. His blunted 
 mind could scarce understand whether he was being laughed 
 at or not. 
 
 " Now as to yourself, Mr. Vansittart," he continued 
 blandl}^ " I should rather like your opinion, for I feel that a 
 gentleman like you should have an end becoming his posi- 
 tion, and therefore it would be a pleasure for me and for my 
 companions to feel, whilst we were arranging your affairs, 
 that we were meeting your views and accomplishing every- 
 thing in the gentlemanly way." 
 
 "You are indeed too kind," replied Vansittart, "but 
 really your question opens such a vast field for reflection 
 that you must permit me to give a few hours thought to it. 
 I am a man of simple habit, and although I should appre- 
 ciate the honor of being despatched in your most artistic 
 manner, for instance in a way which would separate me 
 from the rest of your subjects, and give me the distinction 
 of having had a unique death ; yet I don't know whether 
 the greater dignity is attached to the simplicity of throat- 
 cutting or a more time-honored veneration to the blowing 
 out of one's brains. However, I will ponder the matter and 
 let you know in the morning." 
 
Murder as a Fine Art 235 
 
 The Plasterer appeared to be mollified by the obvious 
 admiration displayed by his victim for an art that he had 
 found not generally so appreciated as it should be. In good 
 humor with the conceit he bade his uninjured companion 
 light in the middle of the room a wood fire. Vansittart then 
 learnt for the first time that the massive iron fireplace was a 
 mere decoration rendered useless by the lack of a chimney, 
 and a hole had consequently been cut in the roof to permit 
 the smoke to escape. 
 
 In a few minutes the sharp crackling of dry timber was fol- 
 lowed by the ruddy leaping of bright flames, and the wood 
 gave out a white smoke, which, spreading steadily down- 
 wards from the roof, tended to obscure the apartment. 
 
 ' ' Time for supper, ' ' observed the Plasterer to String- the- 
 Neck. 
 
 The latter growled acquiescence. Some food was laid 
 upon the floor, and looked upon with disdain by the artist 
 in murder. 
 
 ' ' A dry meal this, ' ' he observed with an oath. ' ' You 
 might have brought some wine." 
 
 String-the-Neck scratched his head. 
 
 " You are right, but you know as well as I that it is not 
 impossible to get it. There is a cabaret just outside the 
 wood. ' ' 
 
 " Umph," grumbled the other, " a good two miles on this 
 dark night, with the lamp gone and the way tangled." 
 
 Here the sufierer chimed in with a pathetic request for 
 liquor. 
 
 ' ' How long do you think it will take you to get a couple 
 of litres ? ' ' said the leader of the gang. 
 
 " Never you fear. Plasterer," cried his companion. " I 
 will be back in an hour. Supper without wine is not the 
 fare for gentlemen and artists." 
 
 With a sigh of satisfaction he stumbled out of the hut into 
 the darkness of the wood. 
 
 There were but two left now, but Vansittart was not fool 
 
236 An Avicrica7t Empa^or 
 
 enough to rejoice. His chance of escape was in no visible 
 way bettered. He would have preferred twelve men more 
 and his limbs free, to being left thus helpless with a single 
 stout and sturdy scoundrel. Besides, he did not leave out 
 of his reckoning the man who lay in the corner. He could 
 do no damage, but his injured state shut out the hope of 
 bribery. One, perhaps, might be tempted, but the two of 
 them would be honest. These scoundrels could as little 
 afford to betraj^ as to trust. 
 
 By this time the Plasterer had grown tired of sitting. So 
 he slowly paced backwards and forwards between the fire- 
 place and the fire, showing all his physical defects to the eye 
 of Jerome. He was not a tall man, and Vansittart noted as 
 an idle fact that he was not indeed quite so tall as the iron 
 stove, which was a loftj' piece of furniture. 
 
 It had been one of Jerome's passions in his youth to study 
 the most difficult and curious problems in mathematics. 
 Tedious and fatiguing work he often now relieved by a 
 return for an hour to the complicated studies of differential 
 calculus. 
 
 His eye had consequently become trained to a nicety in 
 observation and to the most accurate comparisons and calcu- 
 lations of space and distance. 
 
 He was now employing his time by submitting the Plas- 
 terer to a few such fanciful measurements. He found that 
 the garroter would probably stand five inches beneath the 
 mantel-shelf. 
 
 He mentally placed him by the side of the great square 
 columns of metal which supported the transverse piece on 
 either hand, their blunt and jagged edges standing out 
 grimly in the flickering light. 
 
 Suddenly there came to him a speculative scheme, which 
 he first dismissed as impracticable, but which recurred to his 
 mind constantly and with growing domination. 
 
 He began to compare the height of his chief gaoler with 
 the height of the farther column, and to ascertain the precise 
 
Murder as a Fine Art 237 
 
 spot upon the floor on which the Plasterer would need to 
 stand in ord^r that he would dash his head against the cor- 
 ner of this iron support, if violently flung against it from 
 behind. 
 
 It was an inquiry which might seem useless, but to one in 
 Vansittart's desperate state it presented a single dim ray of 
 hope. To have the least chance of success, it needed the 
 nicest of calculation, the swiftest of action, and the most 
 heroic physical effort on his own part. 
 
 There was a particular moment and a particular spot 
 which occasionally coincided, when the Plasterer stood in 
 direct line between Jerome and the pillar. If by any possi- 
 bility Vansittart could at the psychological instant attack 
 the garroter, he would hurl him with terrific force against 
 the jagged edge of the iron upright and imdoubtedly render 
 him senseless. The other could not help himself, for his 
 hands were deep in his pockets. 
 
 Unfortunately, on most occasions when the Plasterer was 
 in a direct line between Jerome and the pillar he was not on 
 the precise spot necessary for the absolute certainty of the 
 experiment, and when he lurched exactly into the proper 
 distance he seemed to be almost invariably out of the line. 
 But both these factors must absolutely coincide. 
 
 Nevertheless, they did, very seldom, agree, and Jerome 
 now anxiousl}- asked himself if there was enough nervous 
 energy in his body, enough muscular force in his stiffened 
 limbs, to enable him to vSpring to his feet, and with one 
 gigantic effort, dash his enemy in the desired direction. 
 
 Anyhow, that was what Vansittart determined to try. 
 He silently worked his muscles to free them from cramp, 
 though the experiment caused the numb pain of his bonds 
 to develop into active torture. His hands, which had been 
 freed to enable him to write the check, had been tied again, 
 of course, but they were not now trussed to his waist. 
 Otherwise, all his scheming would have been useless. Ten 
 minutes of fearful agony passed. The whole nervous and 
 
238 An American Emperor 
 
 physical strength of this extraordinary man were centred in 
 the accomplishment of a single act. 
 
 Such things he had read of in records of adventures among 
 savages, and with ready altruism he contrasted his case 
 with the most desperate struggle for life he could recall. 
 And the odds went the wrong way for him. 
 
 At length all was ready. Jerome, it must be confessed, 
 watched with unusual interest the perambulations of his 
 gaoler as he walked up and down, all unconscious of the 
 stupendous effort about to be made. The Plasterer's foot 
 was about to fall upon the predetermined spot. Vansittart 
 with silent ease, apparently, rose to his feet. There was 
 needed only a slight bend of the body, but the fierce tension 
 of his muscles, and the veins upon his forehead, swollen as 
 though they were like to burst, showed what the almost 
 superhuman effort cost. 
 
 He rose and fell with a tremendous crash upon the Plas- 
 terer, whose head was rammed with savage violence against 
 the corner of the column. His skull was fractured by the 
 blow, and with a gurgling groan he collapsed upon the floor. 
 
 So far, science, aided by dauntless resolution, had been justi- 
 fied. But there was much yet to be done. String-the-Neck 
 might be back at any moment. Jerome jumped towards the 
 fire, which was now burning fiercely. He sank upon his 
 knees, and withdrawing a half-consumed log, did not spare his 
 wrists whilst he burned through the rope that bound them. 
 
 When it fell smouldering from his scorched flesh he made 
 for the Plasterer's knife which lay close at hand, but at that 
 moment he heard a movement on the other side of the hut, 
 and an ominous click warned him of danger. Instinctively 
 he recoiled, there was a sudden glare, a loud report, and 
 through the smoke there came a bullet which grazed him 
 on the cheek, drawing blood. Careless of consequence, and 
 with the rage of a hunted animal, he leaped across the fire 
 though his legs were still untied and fell upon this unex- 
 pected assailant, disconcerting a second shot by the rapidity 
 
Murder as a Fine Art 239 
 
 of his action, and clutching the would-be murderer's pistol- 
 arm with his left hand, whilst with the right he grasped his 
 throat as in a vice. 
 
 He never afterwards knew what had happened, nor did he 
 strive to remember. But when his senses returned, he again 
 sought the Plasterer's knife and quickly liberated his legs 
 and feet. 
 
 He was free. 
 
 Free ! Yes, but each limb was scarred with wounds, and 
 every atom of strength was spent. Few who had seen Van- 
 sittart at that moment would have recognized in him the 
 handsome athlete who had calmly walked forth from his 
 palace a few hours earlier on an imaginary errand of mercy. 
 
 He mechanically put on his hat, picked up the revolver 
 with its four undischarged chambers, and then staggered 
 feebly through the door. With uncertain motions he crawled 
 rather than walked through the dark and tangled wood, 
 unable for some time to find the path. 
 
 The night air, however, revived him. The exhilaration of 
 gaining this last great victory over his foes brought back 
 much of his mental vigor. 
 
 He stumbled laboriously in the direction where he thought 
 St. Cloud lay. Soon he reached a path which seemed to be 
 familiar, and a little farther on conviction grew into cer- 
 tainty. He had hit upon the roadway. 
 
 There was one consideration still left to crown his victory. 
 No one must know what had befallen him. He was com- 
 pelled to walk the whole distance to his residence, for at 
 such an hour there was no train, and to obtain a conveyance 
 was not to be thought of, so he staggered onward through 
 the night, buoyant, even in his weakness, at the knowledge 
 of de Tournon's discomfiture. 
 
 When he felt a roll of notes in his breast-pocket, and real- 
 ized that his assailants had not got a single sou for their 
 pains, he made shift to laugh. But he desisted, for his ribs 
 were sore ; he had been sufficiently amused for one evening. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE MEETING OF DIRECTORS 
 
 ROBERT OF SICILY, brother of Pope Urbane and of 
 Valmond, Emperor of AUemaine, on one occasion, we 
 are told by Longfellow, found himself benighted and in an 
 unpleasant predicament. This mediceval king, 
 
 Despoiled of his magnificent attire, 
 Bare-lieaded, breathless, and besprent with mire 
 With sense of wrong and outrage desperate, 
 Strode on and thundered at his palace gate. 
 
 And the uncrowned Emperor of France was in even worse 
 plight, save that he had his hat on, and did not expect to find 
 a usurper reigning in his stead when he reached St. Cloud. 
 
 His clothes were torn and soiled with blood, he was cut 
 and bruised in many places, his wrists and ankles were stiff 
 and contused with the pressure of the ropes, and when the 
 chill of an early winter day had slightly cooled his feverish 
 excitement, the pain of his burned hands and arms was 
 excruciating. 
 
 But he struggled on manfully, and within three hours after 
 he had quitted the ghastly scene of his capture his tired senses 
 quickened into fresh life at the sight of the first beams of the 
 rising sun glinting from the graceful minarets of his abode. 
 
 He avoided the lodge and climbed unobserved into the 
 park, whence he hoped to make his way quietly through a 
 small wood of fir-trees into the gardens and thence to his 
 private suite of apartments. 
 
 240 
 
The Meeting of Directors 241 
 
 His eyes were dimmed with clotted blood and dirt, and 
 his faltering limbs would scarce bear his weight. It needed 
 the full remnant of his superb will-power to carry him 
 through this final and easiest stage of the adventure. 
 
 So reliant was his soul within his weakened frame that he 
 even strove to quicken his pace, but his uncertain steps were 
 suddenly arrested by a woman's scream of terror. 
 
 Turning, he saw Evelyn Harland regarding him with 
 afiirighted gaze. He smiled to reassure her, and endeavored 
 to bow with his wonted grace whilst he murmured a few 
 words of apology. But the slight jar of her cry of alarm 
 was too much for his exhausted state, and he fell heavily, 
 almost senseless, on the turf beneath the trees. 
 
 Evelyn had now recognized him. His mysterious and 
 unaccountable absence from the palace during the preceding 
 evening had caused some inquiry, and Dick could not con- 
 ceal his anxiety as the night wore on, and there were no 
 tidings of his friend. 
 
 Arizona Jim, who regarded Honorine as a sacred curi- 
 osity, but whose whole heart went out to the lively English 
 girl, sought Evelyn at a late hour to ascertain if there were 
 any news of his master's whereabouts. 
 
 His evident distress at her want of intelligence impressed 
 Evelyn more than her brother's guarded remarks, and she 
 spent a restless night thinking of possible danger to the man 
 whom she regarded in the light of an inspired hero ot 
 romance, the first hero of flesh and blood she had encoun- 
 tered in the course of her girl-life. 
 
 She had risen with the dawn, ostensibly to sketch on the 
 outskirts of the wood, but really to obtain the earliest infor- 
 mation of Vansittart's return. 
 
 Tumultuous emotions of joy and fear disturbed her as she 
 
 ran to the spot where he had fallen. He was alive and safe, 
 
 apparently, but why so faint, and of what awful scene did he 
 
 bear the marks ? 
 
 ' ' Mr. Vansittart, ' ' she cried, as she bent over him, ' ' are 
 16 
 
242 An American Emperor 
 
 you hurt ? What has happened ? Can you not speak to 
 me ? Oh, do try and say one word before I go for help." 
 
 Jerome opened his ej^es, fighting now against an over- 
 powering desire for sleep. 
 
 ' ' Stay, ' ' he said feebly. ' ' Tell no one, but get me some 
 water. ' ' 
 
 There was a bottle of water with her palette. She flew 
 for this, and he drank a little. Then with her handkerchief 
 she bathed his face, and the vivifying efiect was soon evi- 
 dent. The mist cleared from his brain, his bodily strength 
 returned in some slight degree, and he was able to raise him- 
 self until he rested for a moment against the high roots of a 
 fir-tree. 
 
 " Miss Harland," he said, speaking with some difiiculty, 
 " I want you to help me. Just now I cannot explain. 
 Later, I will tell you everything, for I can at least trust 
 you." 
 
 Evelyn's color rose as she listened. "Yes," she cried 
 eagerly, with an unconscious tenderness in her voice that 
 Vansittart afterwards remembered with a pang, ' ' I will do 
 anything you ask me without question, provided that you 
 are not seriously wounded." 
 
 " No, I am unhurt, only dead tired. No one must know 
 of my present state, except your brother and Jim Bates. 
 Are they close at hand ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' My brother has, I feel sure, already gone to Paris to try 
 and learn something of your movements. We hoped that 
 you were staying in the hotel, but, on telephoning there, 
 learnt that it was not so. Bates is in your rooms, I believe." 
 
 " Thank you, ever so much. Will you bring Bates to me, 
 and send away any chance gardener on some pretext from 
 the shrubbery opposite my apartments ? ' ' 
 
 " Yes. I will mount guard myself, once I have found 
 Bates." This wath the gleeful laugh of a childish con- 
 spirator. 
 
 " We are already allies, you see, Miss Harland," said 
 
The Meeting of Directors 243 
 
 Jerome with a faint smile. " We have our secret, too. 
 This is what comes from being concerned with men who 
 plot and scheme. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Well, I will at least be a faithful ally. Wild horses shall 
 not drag ni}^ secret from me." 
 
 She spoke with such emphasis that she became somewhat 
 confused, so she ran off rapidly to carry out his wishes. 
 
 She pretended not to hear the remark with which Arizona 
 Jim expressed his relieved feelings, when told that his 
 master was at home again. 
 
 He strode off to find him, and quickly conveyed him to a 
 couch in the dressing-room. 
 
 Not a word did he utter until he had succeeded in un- 
 dressing him, and had helped him into and out of a hot bath. 
 It was then half-past seven o'clock. The meeting of directors 
 was at eleven, but the bank opened at ten. 
 
 ' ' Jim, ' ' said Vansittart, as a last effort. ' ' Get me up 
 somehow at 9.15. Not a moment later. Get Mr. Harland 
 here to meet me. My carriage — ready — at 9.30. Some wine 
 — something to eat . ' ' He was asleep. 
 
 Jim surveyed the exhausted millionnaire with the quiet 
 pride that a father might feel in a precocious son. He care- 
 fully covered him up, and then went in for an exhaustive 
 scrutiny of Vansittart' s clothing. Every mark, each tear, 
 each spot of blood was examined in turn, and with growing 
 dissatisfaction. 
 
 The captured revolver, with its two discharged chambers, 
 particularly aroused his ire. 
 
 " Now, who went foolin' round with this pop-gun ? " he 
 said aloud. " It must hev' bin either a Frenchman or a 
 Chinaman. No Christian, not even a Dago, would use sich 
 a toy. The chap who had it meant business, though. 
 Guess the boss did n't grab it from him for nuthin' ! " 
 
 He subsequently took steps to bring Harland back from 
 Paris, and at the appointed hour he awoke his master by 
 bathing his face with cold water. Kven this brief rest had 
 
244 -^^ America7i Emperor 
 
 greatly restored Vaiisittart's faculties, and he ate whilst he 
 dressed, for there was no time to be lost. 
 
 Jim Bates had a few questions to ask. 
 
 " There 's bin trouble, boss," he said. " Why did n't 
 you bring me along ? ' ' 
 
 " Trouble ? " cried Vansittart. " Not a bit. These cuts 
 and the rest are mere scratches from thorns and other 
 things." 
 
 " Some of 'em, boss, some of 'em. But you '11 allow that 
 I know the graze of a bullet on the cheek when I see it, an' 
 I 've known a man before to-day to burn a rope from his 
 wrists when he wanted to quit in a hurry." 
 
 " All right, Jim," laughed Jerome. " I can't bamboozle 
 you. I will tell you all about it later. No one can be more 
 sorry than I that you were left behind. It will not occur 
 again, I promise you." 
 
 " Were there many of 'em, guv' nor ? " 
 
 * ' Six, I think. Three I will meet later, two I left on 
 their backs, and one of them may be there now for all that I 
 can tell." 
 
 ' ' An' where was it ? " 
 
 * ' Oh, you will find a note in my clothes that will tell you 
 all about that. I was tied up for some hours in a hut quite 
 close to the spot there indicated. But call Mr. Harland. I 
 expect that some of the scoundrels will be at the bank by 
 ten, and I want to be there before them." 
 
 Although pale and feverish, Vansittart had now regained 
 his wonted appearance. The only visible sign of his recent 
 experiences, when his head was covered, was the scar upon 
 his cheek, which was slight enough to escape unusual 
 comment. 
 
 Jim betrayed great animation when his master had left the 
 house in company with Harland. He ordered a horse to be 
 saddled immediately, and quitted the park at a fast gallop, 
 rapidly disappearing in the direction of the wood which had 
 so nearly proved to be Vansittart' s burial-place. 
 
The Meeting of Directors 245 
 
 He had no difficulty in finding the way. Although in the 
 suburbs of Paris the roads were crowded, he drew rein for 
 nothing. He was sworn at by drivers, screamed at by 
 frightened pedestrians, ordered to stop in superb style by 
 furious policemen, but Jim whizzed through them all like a 
 small tornado in a hurry. 
 
 At last he reached the quiet woodland pathway, and he 
 hardly slackened his pace until his keen eyes caught the 
 signs of the first struggle between Vansittart and his 
 assailants. 
 
 He now dismounted, tied his horse to a tree, and prowled 
 round to pick up the trail. This, again, was a matter of 
 small difficulty to him, and in a few minutes he was peering 
 through the branches at the hut in which the great drama 
 of the previous night had been enacted. 
 
 String-the-Neck, it will be remembered, had gone to a 
 distant estaminet for wine, and the spectacle that met his 
 e3'es when he returned astounded even that callous villain. 
 
 After vainly endeavoring to restore the Plasterer to con- 
 sciousness, he hurried off to Paris to warn de Tournon and 
 his other associates of Vansittart's escape. But he could not 
 find them, for they had gone to more reputable quarters to 
 prepare for the expected coup of the morning, so he retraced 
 his steps to the forest and strove, ere it was too late, to save 
 his insensible comrade. 
 
 He was adopting some rough restoratives, when a shadow 
 darkened the door, and he sprang to his feet in amazement 
 — to confront Arizona Jim. 
 
 Jim looked him up and down much as he might note the 
 points of some strange animal. 
 
 "Well, you are a beauty, an' no mistake," was his 
 leisurely comment. 
 
 " Que veux-tu ? " demanded the startled Frenchman, feel- 
 ing for his knife, for he realized that this intrusion meant 
 mischief to him and his confederates. 
 
 Jim's hand fell to his hip. " Quit that ! " he said sternly, 
 
246 An American Emperor 
 
 but still String-the-Neck persisted, for he did not understand 
 the other's words. At last he had firmly gripped the handle 
 of his favorite weapon, and he was calculating the distance 
 for an effective spring when Bates growled : 
 
 " I shall hev to improve yer hearin'. " There was a loud 
 report and an agonized yell from the other, for Bates had 
 shot off the upper portion of his remaining ear. 
 
 With the desperation of the trapped panther the rufl&an 
 rushed at this new avenger, but that unerring revolver rang 
 out a second time, and the knife dropped from his shattered 
 hand. 
 
 He recoiled, livid with pain and terror, whilst Jim again 
 calmly addressed him : 
 
 " I shan't give yer any more hints, stranger. If yer don't 
 keep still, I will be obliged to hurt yer." 
 
 Heedless of String-the-Neck' s appeals for mercy, he pro- 
 ceeded to tie him with Vansittart's discarded bonds, and, this 
 task quickly accomplished, he searched his pockets, appro- 
 priating all their contents, except such money as the man 
 possessed. 
 
 Letters, in particular, he fastened upon eagerly, and he 
 had a good haul from the inanimate form of the Plasterer. 
 The third man lying in the corner was quiet enough, for the 
 rigor mortis had set in, and he owned no document save 
 some scraps of paper. 
 
 Jim neglected none of these, however. He even appropri- 
 ated the pen and ink-bottle that he found on the floor. 
 When quite satisfied that nothing had escaped his obser\'a- 
 tion, he quitted the hut without giving a parting glance at 
 its occupants. 
 
 " It 's a pity that chap had n't a six-shooter," he mused, 
 as he swning himself into the saddle ; ' ' things might hev 
 bin a bit livelier. But I guess these fixin's will be useful to 
 Folliet. He is a 'cute sort of cuss, is Folliet, even if he is a 
 Frenchman." 
 
The Meeting of Directors 247 
 
 At ten o'clock, sharp, Jerome's carriage drew up at the 
 doors of the bank. Entering, he was met by the manager, 
 who had just that moment arrived, and hastened to greet his 
 distinguished client with effusion. 
 
 " Ah ! I expected to see you to-day, Mr. Vansittart," he 
 cried. " There are strange reports about that you are going 
 to present bonds to your directors this morning instead of your 
 check, I never like to cross such clients as you, sir, and Iwill 
 only say that if I am correctly informed we can, I think, 
 manage to hand you the whole sum within half-an-hour. " 
 
 Jerome laughed. " Don't believe such nonsense. You 
 know me too well to think me mad in anything pertaining to 
 finance. No, monsieur, I shall in the usual way present a 
 check to the directors, and it will be written, of course, at 
 the Board meeting. There are some other matters I wish 
 to speak of to you. May I have a few minutes' private 
 conversation ? ' ' 
 
 The two men withdrew into the manager's room, where 
 Vansittart hurriedly gave the official some inkUng of ex- 
 pected occurrences. 
 
 Three minutes had barely elapsed before two gentlemen 
 of gorgeous attire appeared in the bank. 
 
 Had M. Folliet been in the locality, he would have noticed 
 that the new-comers shed around the streets a little knot 
 of companions of not too prepossessing appearance, who 
 were apparently watching the doors of the institution very 
 anxiously. 
 
 A clerk advanced. 
 
 ' ' I wish this check to be cashed at once, if you please, ' ' 
 said the spokesman of the pair. 
 
 The clerk took it and read it. He even went so far as to 
 violate the rules of official decorum by whistling. " My 
 dear sir," he cried, " you must really give notice for the 
 payment of so large a sum of money." 
 
 " My dear sir," replied the other, " do you not recognize 
 the signature? " 
 
248 An American Emperor 
 
 " Perfectly." 
 
 " You have heard no doubt that it is Mr. Vansittart's in- 
 tention to present to the directors of Sahara, lyimited, bonds 
 instead of a check at their meeting to-day. ' ' 
 
 ' ' It was so said in the papers. ' ' 
 
 " Mr. Vansittart has commanded me to present this to 
 you, and to ask for almost immediate payment. I fear that 
 half-an-hour is all the notice I can give you. The meeting 
 is at eleven o'clock." 
 
 ' ' Pardon me, ' ' replied the clerk. " It is a matter so large 
 that I must consult the manager," and he disappeared. 
 The manager had just left his private room and was speak- 
 ing with the cashier when the clerk put into his hand 
 Vansittart's check. 
 
 He looked closely at the signature. 
 
 " Clever ! " he said with a smile. " Exceedingly clever." 
 Turning towards the couple fidgeting in front of the pay 
 desk, he continued : " These gentlemen desire this check to 
 be cashed immediately ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Yes, ' ' cried the spokesman, with a fierce efibrt to control 
 his nerves. 
 
 " I have the misfortune to inform you that this cheque is 
 a forgery," said the manager blandly. 
 
 " What, sir ! " shouted the other, the blood rushing to 
 his face. " You tell me that you do not accept your client's 
 signature, or" — producing here the letter that Jerome had 
 written — ' ' his handwriting ? ' ' 
 
 The manager read the note carefully. His smile broadened. 
 
 " It is exceedingly clever," he said, " but I still regret to 
 inform you that both of these documents are forgeries. It is 
 my unhappy duty to place the matter in the hands of the 
 police forthwith. I have just been informed by Mr. Vansit- 
 tart himself that he has not, nor ever had, the intention of 
 demanding bonds and presenting them to the directors, and 
 that he will make out his check at the meeting in the usual 
 covurse." 
 
The Meeting of Directors 249 
 
 'Impossible ! " exclaimed de Tournon's agent, now re- 
 solved to brazen the matter out. " I left Mr. Vansittart 
 yesterda}', and he will be away until long after the meeting 
 has closed. ' ' 
 
 " But, sir, perhaps, it would be better for you to see Mr. 
 Vansittart ? ' ' demanded the manager. 
 
 * ' What do 3^ou mean ? ' ' 
 
 " Mr. Vansittart is at the present moment in my office. 
 This letter and its accompanying check must be accounted 
 for. It will satisfy me the more if you will kindly step this 
 way. ' ' 
 
 As if he had been attracted by the sound of squabbling, 
 Jerome at this moment appeared at the inner door, and 
 gazed upon the two men. 
 
 There was no time for explanations, or, indeed, for any- 
 thing short of swift movement. The pair darted with extra- 
 ordinary violence through the folding-doors of the bank, 
 raced along the pavement until they came upon a cab, and 
 then fled as though for their lives. 
 
 Their ragged confederates, seeing this miserable outcome 
 of what they hoped to be a magnificent haul, disappeared 
 with remarkable celerit}^, to the inexpressible glee of Har- 
 land, who witnessed the incident from the carriage. There 
 were left only the check and the letter to tell of the strange 
 scene which had just taken place. 
 
 ' ' A remarkably clever resemblance, is it not ? ' ' obsen^ed 
 the manager to Jerome. 
 
 " Yes," replied Jerome, " it is indeed a most extraordi- 
 nary forgery. It is as like my signature as two peas !" 
 
 As the clock struck eleven, Vansittart entered the board- 
 room and took this seat at the head of the table. One of the 
 directors rose and congratulated him upon his appearance. 
 
 " I was afraid you were not coming," he said. " I called 
 you up on the telephone last night — it must have been about 
 twelve o'clock — on very important business, and learnt that 
 
250 An American Emperor 
 
 you had gone away without leaving any sort of word to indi- 
 cate your whereabouts. You are somewhat given to mys- 
 terious disappearances. ' ' 
 
 " Ah, monsieur," replied Jerome, " sometimes in this 
 weary life one requires a little excitement. I^ast night, I 
 must confess, I filled myself to repletion ! " . 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 HOW THE SAHARA WAS FIvOODED 
 
 EARIyY in the spring Vansittart again journeyed to the 
 desert, accompanied, of course, by the ever-faithful Jim, 
 and this time by Dick Harland, who growled unceasingly 
 when the millionnaire sought to convince him that he should 
 still remain in Paris. 
 
 " I would n't care a pin," protested Dick, " if I were any 
 sort of use as a schemer or financier, but I 'm not. Now^ 
 there 's Liancourt and Folliet, two chaps to whom that kind 
 of thing comes natural. Let lyiancourt do the spoofing 
 and Folliet the watching. Take my tip, you can trust both 
 of them. They are honest right through. And if you want 
 someone to look after the money, why not cable for the old 
 boy in New York ? ' ' 
 
 " Peter Studevant, you mean ? " said Vansittart. 
 
 * ' Yes. From what I saw of him he will not chuck about 
 more millions than are absolutely necessary." 
 
 " That 's the soundest proposition you have made for 
 months, Dick. I will have him here within a week." 
 
 Hence it was that when the adventurous trio landed at 
 Gabes from the Seafarer, their leader felt that all was secure 
 at Paris, and his two associates were satisfied that nothing 
 could go wrong in their absence without the prompt atten- 
 tion of trustworthy deputies. 
 
 Jerome certainly possessed the kingly attribute of attach- 
 ing to himself and his fortunes a band of devoted adherents. 
 Each member of his little ' ' court ' ' was resolved to do or die 
 
 251 
 
252 An American Emperor 
 
 in the performance of his individual share of the great task 
 undertaken by the chief. 
 
 What that task was now remains to be described in some 
 detail. 
 
 So far, the flooding of the Sahara has been treated in the 
 course of this tumultuous narrative of strange events as 
 being a definite scheme based upon known data. But to many 
 ears it has sounded more like a wild and incoherent dream. 
 Perhaps this misapprehension may be removed if the full 
 scope of the project be dealt with in proper sequence and 
 with due regard to the different groups of obstacles to be met 
 and encountered. 
 
 Scientific proof has already been given, backed up by the 
 names of such men as Sir Charles Lyell, Professors Ramsay 
 and Boyd Dawkins, Herr Escher von der Linth and Captain 
 Roudaire, that the Sahara is a dried-up ocean bed. 
 
 It is probable that this North African sea, like the exist- 
 ing Victoria Nyanza, the Caspian Sea, and the great 
 North American lakes, had its normal level above the mean 
 altitude of the Atlantic and Mediterranean. 
 
 It lay in a gigantic shallow basin, and was not vivified by 
 vast river sj'-stems flowing into it from neighboring high- 
 lands. When, in the progress of the ages, the narrow outlets 
 leading into the surrounding oceans became blocked by 
 volcanic upheavals, it was but a question of centuries of 
 steady evaporation under the fierce tropical sun for the 
 whole area to become a parched and arid wilderness. 
 
 But the so-called unchanging face of Nature is far more 
 mutable than the deep-rooted characteristics of the human 
 race. 
 
 The Arab, born and bred in the desert, makes a first-class 
 sailor. He fearlessly navigates the Persian Gulf and the 
 Indian Ocean in crazy dhows that would daunt the boldest 
 tar in the British navy, whilst he vSails under rough-and- 
 ready reckonings that Vasco da Gama would have laughed 
 at as antiquated and unreliable. 
 
How the Sahara was Flooded 253 
 
 The Mid- African negro, unaccustomed for generations to 
 aught save an occasional canoe-journey across a river, 
 rapidly becomes a thoroughly efficient fore-mast hand on 
 a sea-going vessel. 
 
 Yet, whoever heard of a Central Asian nomad or a South 
 African Zulu embarking from choice upon the adventurous 
 career of a sailor ? Thus, not alone upon the face of each 
 rock in the desert, but upon the apparently transient scroll 
 of humanity itself, is indelibly written the fact that at one 
 time the northern interior of the African Continent was in- 
 dented with a vast ocean littoral and peopled by a maritime 
 population. 
 
 Vansittart's idea, then, was founded upon correct geo- 
 graphical and ethnological deductions. Now for the practi- 
 cal side. 
 
 The outer rims of the great central basin were most readily 
 approached at Boca Grande on the west, and Biskra on the 
 east. 
 
 At Boca Grande the works for distilling the salt water into 
 fresh, elevating it, and discharging it by an aqueduct into 
 the huge plain that lay beyond the intervening fourteen-mile 
 barrier of volcanic rock, were situated on the verge of the 
 Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 At Biskra, on the eastern or Mediterranean side, Mac- 
 laren's operations, already detailed, brought the sea through 
 canals and lakes two hundred miles into the interior of the 
 country, providing a splendid passage for vessels of any 
 capacity. Here, again, was encountered the saucer-like 
 edge of the Sahara, and the same method of overcoming the 
 obstacle must be adopted as at Boca Grande. 
 
 For France, the chief entrance and exit must be Biskra. 
 For the rest of the world the main avenue of commerce 
 would be at Boca Grande, with its grand situation at the 
 confines of the Atlantic. It was upon this spot that the Brit- 
 ish Foreign Ofl&ce kept an observant eye. 
 
 With his hordes of workmen and his unlimited supplies 
 
2 54 -^^ American Emperor 
 
 Maclaren had done marvels in the vicinity of the Shotts. 
 There was no waiting for developments. No sooner was 
 one section of the enterprise fairly started than another was 
 mapped out and commenced. The utility for employing 
 troops upon such a task quickly became apparent. Divis- 
 ions, brigades, regiments, companies, or squads — each and 
 all had their allotted labor, great or small, and an element 
 of rivalry was introduced that resulted in the utmost energy 
 and the maximum of excellence. 
 
 Whether in the construction of a dock, a railway, a canal, 
 or the laying out of a temporary town, all hands were busy, 
 and there was work for as many more. 
 
 Nearly 200,000 French troops were now on the spot, to- 
 gether with another army of skilled mechanics and artisans. 
 Into every French town and village the word had gone forth 
 that there was room in Africa for all men who were willing 
 to v»^ork, and a fortune to be made by those who had brains 
 enough to utilize the chances held forth to them. Conse- 
 quently the surplus labor of the Republic was absorbed, and 
 in many industries there was actual competition on the part 
 of employers to obtain workers. The immediate corollary 
 was a rise in wages, trade was improved all round, and Van- 
 sittart's name was revered by every one. Even at this early 
 date, France was at his feet. The impetus he had given to 
 millions of capital had set in motion the human tide which 
 was to bear him forward to his j-et distant goal. 
 
 Marseilles was the chief European centre of the Com- 
 pany's operations. Here was situated the principal store- 
 house for machinery and appliances, and from this port 
 embarked every man who took part in the undertaking. 
 
 The Company's labor bureau resembled a government 
 department in its crowded and busy state, whilst the wharves 
 were thronged day and night with men loading and dis- 
 charging cargoes. 
 
 Paris, of course, remained the financial centre, and the 
 Company's offices in the Boulevard des Capucines rapidly 
 
How the Sahara was Flooded 255 
 
 became one of the sights of the city. By a wonderfully 
 devised system of accounts the expenditure was kept under 
 daily, almost hourly, control. A staff of engineers and ac- 
 countants kept record of every foot of work done, and every 
 item of labor and material paid for. 
 
 Each morning the immense plans exhibited in front of the 
 offices recorded the previous day's work. The Parisians saw 
 the Sahara Scheme advancing to maturity before their very 
 eyes. 
 
 Within, each pound of iron, each square foot of stone, 
 each item of food and clothing was accurately traced from its 
 purchase to its final application. 
 
 Thus, whilst the supply was unstinted, there was no 
 waste, and minor contractors who thought they could scamp 
 the performance of a trivial task, soon found to their cost, by 
 sternly pressed actions in the law courts, that Vansittart paid 
 handsomely for honest work, but refused to be victimized. 
 
 One wholesale manufacturer of boots, who built up a for- 
 tune by supplying the army of Napoleon the Third with foot- 
 gear whose soles consisted of brown paper, thought that a 
 similarly simple enterprise would be successful in the case 
 of Vansittart. 
 
 When the whole of his stock was returned to him with 
 each boot destroyed by being cut in two, when he had paid 
 heavy damages, and the cost of expensive legal proceedings, 
 when he surveyed his ordinary business ruined by loss of 
 reputation, he changed his opinion, and blew his brains out. 
 
 This final act was sarcastically described by the Gil Bias 
 as " giving unnecessary emphasis to a plain fact — the Sahara 
 Scheme is not a swindle." 
 
 Vansittart' s arrival at Gabes was made the occasion of a 
 local holiday. He left the place a wild and inhospitable sea- 
 shore. He found it a town with electric lights, rows of 
 streets and shops, a steam-car nuining over some miles of 
 rails, a substantial wooden hotel, and a couple of solidly- 
 built churches rising over the roofs of the smaller buildings. 
 
256 An American Emperor 
 
 After tlie first hearty greetings from Maclaren and Pom- 
 pier, he natiirall}' inquired as to the progress of affairs. 
 
 " Greater than I had ventured to hope," vohmteered 
 Maclaren. " There will be no more fighting. Some exag- 
 gerated notion of your proceedings at the tomb near Ad- 
 sokha has percolated even thus far through the desert, and 
 the rebellion has collapsed like a pricked bubble. Hence I 
 have been able to get every man to work. That is all I 
 want. The rest is a matter of time and money." 
 
 Pompier was more epigrammatic. ' ' Gabes is now the gate 
 of Africa," he said. " It will soon be a suburb of Paris." 
 
 " How so ? " queried Jerome. 
 
 " It already possesses its Grand Hotel de Sahare, its 
 Grands Magasins de I'Afrique, its Grand Boulevard de la 
 Mer, and its Cafe St. Cloud — all we want now is a park with 
 a race-course." 
 
 " We shall have to wait a little for the park, eh ? " 
 
 ' ' Not long, ' ' exclaimed Pompier proudly. ' ' I have im- 
 ported 2000 cuttings from lime trees and acacias. The 
 average growth is two inches in ten weeks." 
 
 Pompier was inclined to be angrj^ when everj-body else 
 laughed at this seeming anti-climax, but Maclaren stopped 
 the others hy chiming in : " You maj' laugh, but it is a 
 marvellous achievement to result from irrigation by un- 
 drinkable water from ships' cisterns. Think what it means. 
 It demonstrates the positive truth of our contention that the 
 Sahara is a most fertile land if brought under cultivation 
 once more." 
 
 " Those who are successful may well afford to laugh, 
 Captain Pompier," said Vansittart. "It is surely a good 
 sign when we can giggle at diflSculties." 
 
 " Come, Pompier, produce 3'our profit and loss account, 
 and convince these sceptics ! " cried Maclaren. 
 
 The gallant sailor, who readily recovered his wonted good 
 humor, triumphantly handed to Vansittart a scrap of paper, 
 which bore the following figures : 
 
How the Sahara ivas Flooded 257 
 
 Capital expenditure on streets, electric plant, 
 drainage, arboricuUure, etc 450,000 francs. 
 
 Weekly receipts from ground rents, less 10 per 
 cent, for administration 8,500 " 
 
 Weekly receipts from tramway, less working 
 cost 500 * ' 
 
 Annual yield on present basis 468,000 " 
 
 ' ' There, ' ' he exclaimed. ' ' The first portion of your 
 property even now pays over one hundred per cent, per 
 annum ! " 
 
 " I fear the rents are high," laughed Vansittart. 
 
 ' ' Not a bit, ' ' said the delighted Pompier. ' ' An English- 
 man came here the other day and offered to bu}- up all exist- 
 ing properties for ten years at an increasing rental of ten per 
 cent, per anninn, money down now. But I refused. Albion 
 is perfidious. ' ' 
 
 " I don't see how Albion can be perfidious when she pays 
 in advance, ' ' hazarded Dick Harland. 
 
 Pompier swept aside the interruption with a prophecy that 
 in ten years the main street of Gabes would be worth a 
 hundred-fold its present value. 
 
 " There is only one thing that troubles me," said Mac- 
 laren, when Pompier had exhausted himself in grandiloquent 
 prediction. 
 
 ' ' And that is ? ' ' queried Jerome. 
 
 " I can see ray way quite clear now to the completion of 
 the work at a capital sum which will be a trivial debt upon 
 an extensive and fertile colony. But there is an undoubted 
 rock ahead in the shape of cost of maintenance." 
 
 ' ' Why should this be excessive ? ' ' 
 
 " We propose to do that, in the first instance, which 
 Nature was too exhausted to perform. By continuous irri- 
 gation we take the task upon our shoulders, and Nature 
 comes in a good second by delivering an increasing rainfall 
 annually, with resultant storage for the dry season. But 
 when we discontinue our primary operations — that is to say, 
 
258 An American Emperor 
 
 if ever we find it too costly to pour in some 200,000,000 
 gallons of fresh water daily, a retrograde influence will be at 
 once established." 
 
 "But is there any paramount reason wh}^ our efforts 
 should slacken ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' I cannot yet say definitely, but I must confess that the 
 everlasting cost of distillation appalls me. Distillation is 
 only another name for evaporation, and the mere consump- 
 tion of coal or petroleum will be enormous. In fact, there is 
 no parallel undertaking in the known world. All the steam 
 engines in existence do not equal it, I should imagine, and 
 every ounce of material must be imported with resultant 
 increase of price. Candidly, this part of the scheme be- 
 wilders me by its proportions. ' ' 
 
 Every one present felt the force of the engineer's remarks. 
 His known strength of character convinced them that he 
 would not have spoken thus if he had not deeply pondered 
 this knotty problem, and failed to find its solution. 
 
 Vansittart alone maintained his air of calm, serene confi- 
 dence. He smiled as he commented : "In other words, 
 Maclaren, you mean to say that although France and I may 
 rescue the Sahara from the destroying sun, you doubt if we 
 can keep it from his clutches ? ' ' 
 
 " No," cried Maclaren hastil}'. " I have never doubted, 
 Mr. Vansittart. I believe in you absolutely, but I cannot 
 see the way myself." 
 
 The others present vigorously applauded his words, and 
 for a little while Jerome could not conceal the pleasure that 
 such a compliment from such a man afforded him. 
 
 " When my own heart failed me at the beginning of our 
 enterprise, Maclaren, 3'our brave w^ords removed my traitor- 
 ous fears. You then told me that Nature herself was your 
 stoutest ally, and I would ask you to still trust to her. I 
 had not forgotten the difficulty you have now raised, and, 
 subject, of course, to your professional revision, I believe I 
 have solved it." 
 
How the Sahara was Flooded 259 
 
 Dead silence prevailed in the little group. At no other 
 period in the history of Sahara, Limited, had the founder's 
 words been more eagerly awaited by his chosen associates. 
 Even Arizona Jim, who stood near, listened to his announce- 
 ment with bated breath. 
 
 Vansittart hini.self felt the thrilling influence of the mo- 
 ment. But his wonderful nerve power enabled him to state 
 his case calmly and methodically ; he even started with a 
 joke. 
 
 " There 's no doubt about the supply of salt water, is 
 there ? " A sympathetic grin passed round the circle. 
 " Well, we are called upon to resolve an everlasting supply 
 from the ocean into solids, namely salt, some alkalies, and 
 even a little gold, and into liquid in the shape of steam, 
 converted back into distilled water ? ' ' 
 
 " That 's the proposition," assented Maclaren, " though 
 I never thought about the gold. ' ' 
 
 " Catch the boss forgettin' that," said Jim Bates in a stage 
 whisper which caused a smile all round. 
 
 " Let us deal with the solids first, and treat of salt as the 
 staple product. By a little manipulation of existing salt mines 
 we can practically control the salt supply of Europe. Here, 
 at any rate, we have a considerable source of revenue. It will 
 be augmented in the other directions I have indicated." 
 
 Again Maclaren nodded agreement. 
 
 " There remains the chief element of our scheme, distilled 
 water, which should also be chemicall}'' treated to give it the 
 properties of rain water. ' ' 
 
 " Diable ! " muttered Pompier. " C est magnijiqne ! " 
 
 " This supply," continued Vansittart, gently waving 
 aside the interruption, " must first be raised some .six hun- 
 dred feet to enable it to flow b}' gravitation into the great 
 central trough, so to speak, of the Sahara. Well, we get it 
 as steam, and steam will rise .six hundred feet as easily as 
 six feet, so I overcome one small difficulty without in the 
 slightest degree increasing the working cost." 
 
26o An American Emperor 
 
 " A simple method of making water flow uphill ! " ex- 
 claimed Maclaren. 
 
 " Precisely. Aud now for the motive power. It can be 
 stated in a sentence. If the sun was strong enough to turn 
 the ocean out of the Sahara, he is surel}' able to turn it in 
 again. We will not use coal or petroleum to heat our boil- 
 ers, but the sun's ra3's, focussed in the furnaces by burning 
 glasses. Again, there is no cost beyond the plant. I have 
 already had extensive experiments made in London by a 
 famous firm of astronomical lens makers, and they inform 
 me that under favorable conditions — seldom present in Eng- 
 land, but always at command here — they have easily suc- 
 ceeded in creating a heat of 2000 degrees, which burnt a 
 hole through three inches of chilled steel in less than ten 
 minutes. ' ' 
 
 A sort of cheer came from the excited gathering at this ex- 
 traordinary statement. In his excitement Maclaren reached 
 out and shook Vansittart's hand vigorously. 
 
 " Good old Father Sol ! " cried Dick Harland. 
 
 " There 's spots on him, is there ? " j-elled Arizona Jim. 
 
 Pompier's knowledge of English did not extend to 
 Americanisms. ' ' Vat you say ? No spot on de sun ? " he 
 shouted. 
 
 " No, capting ! " replied Jim joyously. " I ain't a blamed 
 astrologer. There 's no spots on the boss. What he says, 
 goes. ' ' 
 
 After some further conversation with Vansittart, Maclaren 
 withdrew and forthwith busied himself with some calcula- 
 tions. They resulted in a long telegram to the engineer in 
 charge of the extreme canal section on the west of Lake 
 Melrhir. Two days later when Vansittart was taken through 
 on the accommodation railwaj^ Maclaren announced that 
 he had arranged a picnic for the following morning on a 
 neighboring height, but observ^ed some reticence as to the 
 reason for the unexpected diversion. 
 
 Nearly a dozen persons accompanied Jerome and his chief 
 
How the Sahara was Flooded 261 
 
 engineer to the place selected for an al fresco breakfast. It 
 was on the side of a steep hill that overlooked the shallow 
 lake, and the vivid sunlight lit up the moving panorama of 
 men, camels, horses, and engines, that toiled unceasingly in 
 the valley beneath. 
 
 At the close of the meal, Maclaren made some flag signals 
 to the occupants of a hut on the verge of the works. The 
 reply he received was obviously satisfactory, for he said 
 cheerfully : 
 
 ' ' Come, I will show you a novel spectacle. ' ' 
 
 They followed, and at a little di.stance perceived a long 
 iron pipe that climbed up the height from the hut, and 
 ended in a coil embedded in an ice-box. 
 
 " All the morning," explained Maclaren to the million- 
 naire, " mj' as.sistants have been generating steam from salt 
 water by means of an improvi.sed .set of lenses. They have 
 just turned it into this pipe, and we shall soon see the result. ' ' 
 
 Not a word was spoken whilst those present watched the 
 mouth of the worm from which Maclaren had withdrawn a 
 plug. 
 
 First came a visible tremor in the length of the pipe, which 
 looked like a monstrous snake of vast length but absurdly 
 small girth. Then a drop of moisture appeared at the lip, 
 followed by another, and another, until a small stream plac- 
 idly flowed forth upon the arid earth. 
 
 Stooping down, Maclaren filled a gla.ss with the clear 
 liquid, which he offered to Van.sittart. " Come," he cried, 
 " drink to the health of your enterprise." 
 
 Jerome sipped it gravel5% "It is a sound wine, gentle- 
 men," he .said, " .somewhat tasteless, I admit, but that is its 
 chief virtue. And it has cost a million sterling for each 
 glass, at the lowest computation." 
 
 Naturally there was much di.scussion of this splendid 
 proof of Vansittart's theorj^ and the millionnaire warmly 
 thanked Maclaren for his thoughtfulness and skill in pro- 
 viding so convincing a demonstration. 
 
262 An American Emperor 
 
 * ' I am only sorry, ' ' said the engineer, ' ' that I did not 
 carry the piping to the crest of the hill, so that our first 
 effort in practical irrigation might flow towards the Sahara, 
 instead of towards France." 
 
 Sure enough, a tiny rill was already threading its way 
 down the hillside in a northerly direction. 
 
 Vansittart sur\^eyed it quietly before he said, with a 
 smile : " You have made no mistake. It is a good omen. 
 It flows in the right direction." 
 
 They all heard him, and the degree of accuracy of their 
 interpretation of his words was measured by the extent of 
 their knowledge of the man and his aims. So there was 
 plenty of scope for difference in their comprehension of his 
 meaning. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 A COMBAT OF MONARCHS 
 
 THE world's Press seized upon Vansittart's suggestion 
 with avidity. News was slack just then. The boom 
 in North Africa had again knocked the bottom out of the 
 South African market — a time-honored operation on the 
 Stock Exchange. The advent of a new American President 
 to power had contributed to keep the United States quiet for 
 a period of three years, and the German Emperor was ex- 
 perimenting in long-distance telephonic communication, as 
 the telegrapth system was slightly out of favor with him. 
 Peace reigned therefore, and peace means dulness for the 
 newspapers. 
 
 So Jerome's proposal to turn the sun into a mammoth 
 steam producer came at the right moment. 
 
 In England the Daily Telegraph found excellent reason in 
 a leading article for comparing him with Archimedes and 
 Galileo. The Saturday Review dubbed him the ' ' Jules 
 Verne of finance," whilst the Daily Mail was so tickled by 
 his notion that it announced that all future messages from 
 its wondrous Vienna corrCvSpondent would be heliographed, 
 weather permitting. 
 
 The caustic and always hostile Neiv York Uyiiverse gave 
 its opinion that Vansittart was already known to be moon- 
 struck — a comparatively harmless ailment — but now that he 
 had succumbed to sunstroke, serious complications might be 
 feared. 
 
 In Paris, the Gil Bias claimed the discovery as " a French 
 
 263 
 
264 An American Emperor 
 
 invention," and 'Cat Journal des Debats solemnly deduced it 
 from the system of sun-batlis recommended by a French 
 physician. 
 
 Naturally, the latest and most successful toy of the boule- 
 vards was a burning-glass that condensed water placed in a 
 small globe of steel, if properly focused. 
 
 The millionnaire and his companions found some amuse- 
 ment in reading the various extracts of newspaper criticism 
 collected at the Paris offices and forwarded to them at the 
 headquarters, now situated near Biskra. But progress with 
 the works, exceedingly quick in itself, was not so exciting as 
 to relieve the monotony of life in the desert, where the daily 
 northward advance of the sun was rapidl}^ dissipating all tok- 
 ens of the winter rains either in atmosphere or natural sur- 
 roundings. 
 
 " There are lions in this neighborhood, are there not? " 
 said Vansittart one day, when his head ached and his eyes 
 were tired with the perusal of drawings and specifications 
 prepared by the unflagging Maclaren. 
 
 ' ' Yes, within a couple of days' march ; at least, so I have 
 been told." 
 
 ' ' Well, let us take a short holiday and arrange a sporting 
 trip." 
 
 " Impossible. I cannot afford the time." 
 
 " Oh, yes, you can," said Jerome. " For a week at least 
 the chief work in hand is the forwarding of stores from 
 Gabes. Come, you want a change more than any of us." 
 
 Maclaren unwillingly yielded, and Pompier was delighted 
 with the idea. Ivike all Frenchmen, he flattered himself 
 that he was an adept at " /<? sp07't. ' ' But he had never shot 
 lions, so he grounded himself in the principles of the art by 
 reading a book written by an English hunter of wild beasts, 
 who said, " Compared with tiger shooting, the pursuit of the 
 African lion is similar to the killing of a pariah dog prowling 
 about the camp at night in search of refuse." Pompier 
 devoted himself to the slaughter of such wretched curs as 
 
A Combat of Monarchs 265 
 
 ventured within the practicable range of his tent. He did 
 not desist from his ' ' practice ' ' until Maclaren sternly remon- 
 strated with him, pointing out the danger to human life from 
 ricochetting bullets. 
 
 Pompier now knew that he could shoot dogs — therefore 
 lions — but he left out of all account the words " compared 
 with tiger shooting." 
 
 When the party set out, its chief members were Vansit- 
 tart, Maclaren, Harland, Jim Bates, Pompier, and Colonel 
 le Breton, chief of the iSth Chasseurs, between whom and 
 Jerome a close friendship subsisted. 
 
 It is an axiom of big-game hunting that the quarry is sel- 
 dom found where expected, but turns up at particularly awk- 
 ward moments, and under conditions that admit of the least 
 preparation in advance. It was so in this instance. Al- 
 though the desert was, figuratively speaking, full of lions, 
 during the four days the party never caught sight of one. 
 At night they came near the camp, and frightened the 
 camels and horses by their roaring, but not a shot could be 
 obtained. At last Vansittart heard from some Bedouins 
 that three Englishmen had shot over the same ground a 
 month earlier, so he decided to try another localitj', and 
 abandoned all thought of .sport for the time. After dinner, 
 on the evening of this decision, the servants commenced to 
 break up camp preparatory to an earl}^ start before dawn. 
 There was a bright moon, so Maclaren devoted himself to 
 reading reports from his engineers, Harland started writing 
 a long letter to his .sister, and Arizona Jim took the oppor- 
 tunity to thoroughly clean all the rifles. 
 
 Vansittart, Pompier, and Colonel le Breton went for a 
 ride to inspect some curious carved rocks they had discov- 
 ered on the banks of a dried-up river at some little distance, 
 Jerome and the sailor each carried a pair of six-chambered 
 revolvers, but the Colonel of Chasseurs happened to be un- 
 harmed. They were well mounted, and Vansittart rode an 
 Arab polo pony. Had he used a larger and less hardy ani- 
 
266 An American Emperor 
 
 mal, it is probable that this history would have come to an 
 untimely close that night. When they reached the pile of 
 rocks Pompier was slightly in advance, as his horse, a big 
 cavalry trooper, walked faster than the others. The animal 
 neighed and shivered when near the broken ground, but the 
 sailor paid no heed. An instant later he found himself fac- 
 ing a magnificent lion, a huge lioness, and a well-grown 
 cub, which was afterwards found to be nearly nine months 
 old. Of course, v/hat he ought to have done was to wheel 
 his horse, shout to his companions to warn them, and then 
 the trio should have galloped at top speed back to the camp. 
 He did none of these things. Simply yelling, " Here they 
 are, three of them ! " he blazed away as quickly as he could. 
 He managed to discharge four chambers before both himself 
 and his steed were knocked sprawling on the ground by a 
 charge from the lion, whose flank had been torn by one of 
 the bullets. Pompier was thrown clear, and the horse, 
 struggling madly to regain his feet, kicked the lion, break- 
 ing two of his ribs. In an instant the savage beast pounced 
 upon the charger, fastening on his shoulder with teeth and 
 claws. Vansittart realized what had happened when Pomp- 
 ier began firing. He was barely twenty yards away, but his 
 alert mind soon decided upon a plan of action. His first 
 thought was for his unarmed comrade. 
 
 " Ride for j^our life ! " he shouted. 
 
 But the gallant Frenchman replied, " I cannot without 
 you. I remain." 
 
 Vansittart had already spurred his trembling pony for- 
 ward. He reached the spot in time to see the lioness 
 spring upon Pompier, who was trying to rise. The mere 
 impact of the huge beast knocked the sailor senseless. A 
 second later she would have torn his head from his shoulders 
 had not Vansittart, reining in his Arab after a splendid 
 jump, bent down in the saddle and discharged his pistol 
 within a couple of inches of her ear. The bullet smashed 
 her skull, and what it lost in shock was made up by the 
 Stunning force of the explosion so close at hand. 
 
A Combat of Monarchs 267 
 
 Her claws clenched convulsively, tearing deep wounds in 
 Pompier's shoulder through his clothing, and she fell dead. 
 
 The cub now took part in the fray. Vansittart had barely 
 swung himself back into the saddle, when he caught sight 
 of the youngster crouching for a twenty-foot spring. In- 
 stinctively striving to avoid the danger, he fiercely spurred 
 his pony and wheeled him away from the animal. The Arab 
 reared and turned, and as Jerome's body swayed forward and 
 over to retain his seat, he felt rather than saw the lion's leap 
 through space within a few inches of his head. The grace- 
 ful beast alighted some six feet to the right of Vansittart, 
 and he now fired three times at it as fast as he could relax 
 and bend his trigger finger. 
 
 Not until the turmoil was over did he know that two of 
 the missiles were buried in its shoulder, whilst a third had 
 broken its backbone. 
 
 The glare of the third shot lit up the vicinity like a light- 
 ning flash, and in the same instant Jerome and his Arab 
 were struck with tremendous force from the other side. 
 The pony was spun on to his back as though he were no 
 heavier than a package of wool. Vansittart' s superb horse- 
 manship might now have proved fatal to him, for he never 
 relaxed his grip on the saddle, and he consequently lay right 
 beneath the plunging animal. Fortunately, the saddle was 
 a straight one, and he fell on the sand ; so, beyond a nast}^ 
 crushing, he sustained no injuries. It was the full-grown 
 lion who caused this diversion. He had killed Pompier's 
 horse, and forthwith launched himself against the nearest 
 visible opponents. 
 
 The frantic struggles of the Arab resulted in the lion 
 receiving another staggering kick, so he sprang to one side 
 in order to gain a better point of attack. As he did so his 
 off fore-paw alighted on Vansittart's arm, thus burying it in 
 the sand, and Jerome's hand closed spasmodically upon 
 what he knew was the butt of a revolver. It was the weapon 
 dropped by Pompier during the first onslaught of the en- 
 raged monarch of the desert. Vansittart managed to twist 
 
268 An American Emperor 
 
 his wrist aroiiud and three times pressed the trigger, but 
 oulj' two shots were forthcoming. The second of these 
 reached the Hon's heart. He gave a great bound forward, 
 uttering a fearful sob of rage, and fell on his head, lifeless. 
 
 During this dramatic scene, Colonel le Breton, who had 
 dismounted from his frightened horse, which at once flew 
 back across the desert towards the camp, stood with folded 
 arms awaiting the end. The brave soldier was helpless 
 from the outset, but he scorned to fl}-. To ride for assist- 
 ance was out of the question, for the affair must of necessity- 
 be a matter of moments, and he refused to save his life 
 merely to explain how Vansittart and Pompier had met 
 their fate. He remained, therefore, in statuesque pose, 
 watching keenly each phase of the wild struggle between 
 Jerome and the lions. His own doom was nothing to him, 
 compared with the weird fascination of this moonlit fight. 
 When it had ended, and the great chief of this noble band 
 of desert champions had rolled over in the dust. Colonel le 
 Breton's stoicism deserted him. He uttered a cry in which 
 triumph blended with anxiety, for he did not 3'et know 
 whether or not Vansittart had escaped unhurt. Rushing to 
 the Arab's head, he seized the bridle and pulled the pony off 
 his friend's body. 
 
 The millionnaire did not rise iramediatel5^ He could not, 
 for all the breath had been squeezed out of him, but in re- 
 sponse to Le Breton's eager interrogation he was able to 
 smile reassuringly, whereupon the soldier lifted him to a 
 sitting posture. 
 
 " Pompier may be dead," he cried, " but I am sure he 
 still carries some good liquor on him, ' ' and he ran towards 
 the sailor's prostrate form. Sure enough. Pompier's water- 
 bottle contained some excellent brandy, but Jerome would 
 not swallow any until he was able to speak. 
 
 The first words he said were : ' ' That Arab is worth his 
 weight in gold, though he is heavy enough as it is. Is 
 Pompier alive ? ' ' 
 
A Combat of Mouarchs 269 
 
 " I don't know yet. I^et lis examine him. It was a brave 
 fight. I wish I had taken a hand in it, even if I were lying 
 in Pompier's place." 
 
 The Colonel was more excited now than during the actual 
 melee. 
 
 A hasty survey of the fallen sailor revealed that he was 
 alive but unconscious, whilst a huge lump on the left tem- 
 ple, where the lioness's paw had struck him, showed the 
 cause. They opened his jacket and shirt at the neck, and 
 poured small doses of brandy down his throat, with the 
 result that after considerable trouble they restored his senses. 
 
 Meanwhile le Breton's riderless and terrified charger had 
 reached the camp, spreading immediate consternation. 
 Hastily arming themselves, Harland and the Americans, 
 followed by a group of orderlies and servants, followed the 
 easily discerned trail of the three missing men, and they 
 reached the scene of the fight just as Pompier opened his 
 eyes. A hurried explanation relieved their anxiety, but 
 Arizona Jim only growled as he Hstened. 
 
 " You '11 get into trouble, boss, if you slide off with these 
 Frenchies, an' always leave me behind." 
 
 Vansittart felt the justice of this second reproof, and was 
 silent ; but history again repeated itself, for Jim, in examin- 
 ing the prostrate lions, discovered that the cub was not yet 
 dead, so he ended its career with promptitude. The caval- 
 cade now returned to camp, with Pompier mounted on the 
 Arab, which had never quitted its master, the lions' carcases 
 being slung on rifles, and carried by the attendants. 
 
 ' ' What a lucky chap you are, ' ' said Maclaren to Vansit- 
 tart, when there was a momentary opportunity of not being 
 overheard. 
 
 ' ' Yes. It certainly was luck to bowl over three such fine 
 brutes with the revolver. ' ' 
 
 " I do not mean that, wonderful as it is; But just as 
 things were going slow for 3'ou, the French papers will be 
 full of columns about this latest feat." 
 
270 An American Emperor 
 
 " But wh}' should that be a stroke of special good for- 
 tune ? " said Jerome with a laugh. 
 
 " I don't know, because 3'ou won't tell me, but somehow 
 or other I feel that it is playing your game." 
 
 " Well, Maclaren," said the millionnaire after a pause, 
 " the time is at hand when you will know everything. But 
 I don't mind saying that to-night it was a question as to 
 which king killed the other. ' ' 
 
 ' ' And j'ou won ! ' ' 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 " So you \^^ll right through." The two men shook hands 
 silently as they tramped steadily on through the sand of the 
 Sahara. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 INTROSPECTIVE 
 
 " /\ /I '^^■^^' come up ! Gadzooks ! Whom have we 
 
 iVl here?" 
 
 In such merry Elizabethan phrase did Dick Harlaud 
 apostrophize a package, obviously containing a photograph, 
 that reached him one evening shortly after the party had 
 arrived at their new hunting ground. 
 
 Pompier had been hastily despatched to Biskra for proper 
 medical treatment, but Vansittart declared that he, person- 
 ally, would not return to work until he had met the big 
 game of the desert on more equal terras than obtained at 
 their first encounter. Dick leisurely opened the mysterious 
 parcel, and then found that it contained a handsomely 
 framed portrait of his sister, endorsed " With Evelyn's 
 love," which, in order to surprise him, she had caused to be 
 addressed to him in the shop where she purchased the 
 frame. 
 
 " By Jove ! " cried Dick, " it 's the old girl to a T. Just 
 her sweet face as she looks before she is going to say some- 
 thing desperately in earnest. She is a well-bred 'un, is 
 Evie. Worth fifty thickheads like me. I must show it to 
 Vansittart. He thinks a lot of her, and I wish — ah, well, 
 there 's no use in wishing ! " 
 
 Dick lit a cigarette, read Evelyn's accompanying letter, 
 smiled at her references to Honorine, whom she described 
 as being " quite too dignified for a woman of twenty-three. 
 She would be awfully nice if she forgot occasionally that she 
 
 871 
 
272 An American Emperor 
 
 was going to be a queen," and then strolled ofif to Jerome's 
 tent to exhibit the picture. Vausittart was not there. As 
 soon as he had finished dinner, he had gone for a stroll for 
 some little distance, to think quietly over various matters 
 whilst enjoying a cigar. 
 
 Dick dropped into a camp-chair, and placed the photo- 
 graph on a table near a small lamp, intending to await his 
 friend's return. He had not been seated a moment, when 
 Maclaren looked in. 
 
 ' ' I was told you were here, ' ' he said. * ' Vansittart has 
 sauntered off into the desert, being apparently anxious to be 
 alone. I don't wonder at it, for he has enough to think 
 about ; but he does n't know that Jim Bates is stalking him 
 to see that he runs no risks. Meanwhile, until he returns, 
 will you come and have a smoke in my tent ? " 
 
 " Delighted." 
 
 Dick sprang up, forgetting all about the photograph. 
 
 Jerome assuredly had plenty of scope for earnest reflec- 
 tion. His personal affairs were troubling him sorely. Now 
 that the Sahara Scheme was a well-established fact, and the 
 throne of France was no longer a mere imagery, he naturally 
 regarded the question of his union with Mademoiselle de 
 Montpensier from a different point of view. At first it was 
 but the true dramatic sequel to a financial and empire-build- 
 ing fairy tale. The weirdly successful progress of events 
 had changed the fanciful story into actuality. It had left 
 the pages of Hans Andersen to enter the columns of the 
 Times, and he was face to face with the fact that within a 
 year at most, he would, in all human probability, marry the 
 charming and high-souled Frenchwoman. And yet he did 
 not love her ! 
 
 For her sake, apparentl}', he had conquered odds never 
 yet faced by mythological hero. He had labored like Her- 
 cules, but for the same cause — merely to show his strength. 
 Not love, but a vivid consciousness of power, was his inspi- 
 ration. He had builded with surprising magnificence and 
 
Introspective 2 73 
 
 certainty. The sure foundations were laid for the future 
 edifice. What, then, caused them to tremble ? Vansittart 
 himself trembled as his heart gave the answer. Love had 
 come to destroy, not to sustain. He did love, fiercely, pas- 
 sionately, resistlessly, with all the virile intensity of his 
 reliant nature, and he loved a woman who could not be his 
 wife. He was pledged to Honorine de Montpensier by every 
 tie of honor and expediency, yet he hungered for a single 
 blissful instant when he could take Evelyn Harland in his 
 arms and tell her that she was all in the world to him. This 
 terrible knowledge had been forced upon him in slow but 
 torturing conviction. His relations with Dick's sister were 
 only those of a host entertaining one of his numerous friends. 
 Rarely had he met her alone ; once onl}- had their conversa- 
 tion touched on other than commonplace topics. 
 
 On that morning when they met so strangely in the pine 
 wood at St. Cloud he was deeply touched by her devoted 
 and girlish enthusiasm. Afterw^ards he bestowed more 
 thought upon her when they chanced to come together in 
 the social life of the house, until one fateful day when he 
 found himself comparing her with the Princess. He had 
 started at the mere thought, and shunned it as unfair and 
 even dangerous, but, like a mocking sprite, it danced before 
 his waking ej^es, and grinned at him in his dreams. 
 
 ' ' Honorine, ' ' it shrieked in his ears, ' ' barters herself for 
 a kingdom. Hveljm will yield for love. ' ' 
 
 And he groaned at the reflection that whilst a man could 
 be happ)^ in obscurity, he might be miserable in the dazzling 
 radiance of a throne. 
 
 Vansittart was neither a moral nor a physical coward. He 
 fought with the fiend out there in the silence of the de.sert, 
 and believed he had strangled him. Honor, duty, his 
 plighted word, all held him rigidl}- on the path he had 
 chosen, and he reflected, with a cj-nical smile at his own 
 wa3-ward fate, that he would bring a clearer judgment to 
 the solution of the many difficulties yet in front than if he 
 
2 74 An American Emperor 
 
 were inspired wholly by the grand passion. A lover may be 
 bold ; he is seldom judicial. Rapid, far-seeing decisions were 
 now more important than courage in prosecuting his designs. 
 
 ' ' I might have been spared this suffering, ' ' he mused with 
 bitterness. "It is ill not to love the woman you are about 
 to wed, but it is cruel when the other woman turns up. I 
 wish I had never met Evelyn Harland, and then I should at 
 least have found a negative happiness in my life's work." 
 
 He derived some comfort from thus upbraiding fate. In 
 a resolute and unflinching analysis of the situation there 
 was a sustaining element of certainty. The way was clear, 
 at any rate. He had to follow it without murmur or hesita- 
 tion, and all would be passively well. Indulging in some 
 such delusive settlement of the question — for so he deemed 
 it — he sauntered back to the camp and entered his tent. 
 And the first object his startled eyes fell upon was the pic- 
 tured presentment of Evelyn Harland herself, with her 
 cheek coquettishly perched upon her clasped hands, and her 
 sweet ej'es smiling at him in blissful unconsciousness of the 
 half-hour's torment he had just undergone for her sake. 
 
 Vansittart was first astounded and unnerved. 
 
 Without asking himself how the portrait had arrived at 
 such an unlikely locality as the midst of a hunting camp in 
 the Sahara, he took it up and kissed it passionately, a pro- 
 ceeding that was witnessed by Arizona Jim, who had strolled 
 towards the tent ostensibly to inquire if the millionnaire 
 wanted anything, but really to assure himself that Jerome 
 was safe within its folds. He now tried to steal away unob- 
 served, but Jerome had heard him, and darted forth to see 
 who it was that had disturbed him. 
 
 Bates came to his call somewhat sheepishly, and stuttered 
 over his labored explanation. 
 
 " So you witnessed my small act of folly — you saw me 
 kiss Miss Harland' s picture ? " said Vansittart sternly. 
 
 " Well, boss, I guess I did, an' I can't blame yer." 
 
 " Why do you say that ? " 
 
Introspective 275 
 
 *' It 's this way, boss. It ain't for me to pass remarks, 
 but I feel I must plump it out. Miss Harlaud is worth fifty 
 Frenchwomen, even if you was settin' up as a Turk." 
 
 Jerome was constrained to laugh at the reply. In a softer 
 tone he continued : 
 
 ' ' I can trust you, Jim. Keep my secret. ' ' 
 
 " I will, boss, to the finish. But I 've hopes as things 
 will come straight yet." 
 
 " They cannot. I must choose between an empire and 
 the woman I love." 
 
 Jim hesitated a moment before he replied. Then, looking 
 the millionnaire straight in the face, he said laconically : 
 
 " If I was you I would git both. An' although you know 
 a heap more 'n me, boss, we often think the same way." 
 
 Then, well satisfied that he had spoken his mind on a 
 subject very near to his heart, he strode off. 
 
 Vansittart re-entered the tent and laid the photograph on 
 the table. He was now in a calmer mood, and smiled as 
 he realized that Harland had evidently brought it to show 
 it to him as a recent arrival. His own letters were lying 
 unopened on one side, and he sat down to peruse them. 
 
 The first he scrutinized was from Liancourt. After satis- 
 factory details of the Company's doings in Paris and the 
 growing attitude of certainty on the part of the general 
 public towards the scheme, Liancourt proceeded : 
 
 " Ribou and Lacontel are daily becoming more hostile 
 and envenomed. They believe that your success means 
 their downfall, and they are laying their plans. What these 
 may be, I cannot accurately ascertain, but Prince Henri, 
 the Legitimist pretender, is becoming a pawn in their game. 
 General Daubisson, too, is to be detached from you by being 
 offered immediately the Govemship of Paris. This has not 
 been definitely decided, but if it would meet your own 
 wishes I could manage it on receipt of a cable. That is to 
 sa}', I could persuade the passive ministers to help the active 
 ones, and thus allow the latter to triumph with apparent ease. ' ' 
 
276 An American Emperor 
 
 The only other letter of importance was from M. Folliet. 
 
 " De Tournon " — Vansittart smiled at the implacable hate 
 which inspired the man's first thought — " still skulks with 
 his crew of gaol-birds, but he has been in frequent communi- 
 cation with his successor, M. Ribou, who protects and 
 finances him. There will not at present be any further 
 attempt at violence. The next move will be a curious one. 
 An honest and straightforward workingman deputy named 
 Mercier, the chief of the Socialists, together with his friend 
 Hudin, are to be made tools of by the new Minister of the 
 Interior. The propaganda to be adopted is not clear, but it 
 will aim at arousing the people against 5^ou. Mercier and 
 Hudin are my friends. They both believe in you and your 
 methods. They consider that j-ou liave done more for the 
 working classes in a year than has been accomplished by a 
 century of legislation. You can command them." 
 
 Vansittart perused both documents again, whilst an amused 
 but determined expression lit up his face as the subtleties of 
 the situation grew upon his imagination. 
 
 One thing he resolved to do at once. He wrote to Mer- 
 cier briefly, but to the point. 
 
 ' ' You are w4th me, I hear, and those who are with me 
 must share my prosperitj\ Allow me to send 3'ou 100,000 
 francs towards the furtherance of your cause — this by way of 
 instalment, and as a mere testimony of my good-will. I 
 shall be in Paris shortly, and may want to see you. If so, I 
 will send you as a token a cross, with an initial, and the 
 date. The place will be embossed on the paper." 
 
 When Vansittart and his companions had hastily returned 
 to Biskra, the millionnaire sought out General Daubisson. 
 
 After their first greetings, Jerome came at once to the 
 point with that distinguished soldier. " General," he said, 
 " there is to be no more fighting — here, at any rate." 
 
 " If not here, then where else?" queried the fat com- 
 mander, somewhat surprised at the qualification. 
 
Introspective 277 
 
 " There are niauj^ methods of warfare. The give-and-take 
 combat of the desert may be child's play compared with the 
 social stiletto in Paris." 
 
 " If I mistake not, Mr. Vansittart, you are well secured 
 from the most insidious attack. At least so those have 
 found who crossed 3^our path in France. ' ' 
 
 " Ah, you allude to deceased politicians. True, I have 
 cut off one head, but the dragon has many." 
 
 " I wish I could slice off a few for you," said General 
 Daubisson, with great heartiness. 
 
 " My friend, you can." 
 
 ' ' But how ? I shall have to kick up my heels in this — ■ 
 this — well, I don't mean to be unkind, but it is a desert yet, 
 is n't it?" 
 
 Jerome laughed. " Not so, General. You shall be 
 gazetted Governor of Paris within a week. How will that 
 please you ? ' ' 
 
 "I?" yelled the delighted soldier. "I, Governor of 
 Paris ! It is the desire of my life. But is it possible ? ' ' 
 
 " It is done, for I have said it. And, General, when the 
 trouble comes, as come it surely will, do not forget the man 
 who gratified your just ambition." 
 
 " Mr. Vansittart," cried Daubisson, seizing his hand with 
 effusion, " I can think what I dare not say. But rest assured 
 that if it be in my power, he alone who made me Governor 
 shall unmake me. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Is that so ? Then, believe me, you have a life tenancy 
 of the post." 
 
 Vansittart immediately cabled to lyiancourt : " Suggestion 
 excellent. Proceed." And the next Gazette recalled Dau- 
 bisson to France to take up the chief military command in 
 the gift of the French Government. The millionnaire did 
 not forget to relieve this valuable ally of financial care in 
 assuming his exalted office, and General Daubisson was 
 courtier enough to smile serenely when assured by M. Ribou 
 that he had obtained the place for him. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 ADUMBRATIONS 
 
 THERE were strange movements in Paris. Sometimes, 
 before a storm, the leaves of the forest will be full of 
 wide rumors, premonitions ; yet, to the onlooker, not a 
 breath accounts for these tremulous agitations. In the 
 early days of July something very similar was taking place 
 in the French capital. One man met another on the Boule- 
 vards and said : ' ' What is going to happen ? ' ' For answer, 
 the other shrugged. What was going to happen was a sum- 
 mer tempest ; some thunder, a tree or two struck by light- 
 ning, and it would be over. 
 
 M. Ribou, now bearing the Portfolio of the Interior, in 
 place of the disgraced de Tournon, said one day, in an inter- 
 view with Prince Henri of Navarre : 
 
 " Depend upon it, the da3^s of bourgeois rule, monsieur, 
 are nearing their end. The middle class has had its day. 
 It is the top or the bottom which must now rule ; or the top 
 and the bottom — together. ' ' 
 
 M. Ribou's deep dark eyes looked keenly at the young 
 man's face ; his narrow forehead and high nose were 
 wrinkled into a frown of intense meaning. ' ' What do you 
 mean, monsieur ? " said Prince Henri. " Pray be explicit." 
 
 " You cannot uproot the instinct of heredity, Monsieur le 
 Prince, from the minds of Frenchmen ; nor the peyichant for 
 kingship. They are like the frogs in the fable. They must 
 have a sovereign, and he must descend from Jupiter." 
 
 " But Jupiter sent the frogs two sovereigns, and they were 
 equally discontented with both, ' ' said Henri. 
 
 278 
 
Adumbrations 2 79 
 
 "Jupiter was unpropitious, monsieur," answered M. 
 Ribou, looking hard at him. " In the first instance, he 
 sent them for a king a log which could do nothing ; in the 
 second, he sent them a stork which ate up the frogs. A 
 king resembling neither would be ideal. The people, if they 
 be directed aright, will know where to find him. ' ' 
 
 Henri's eyes were bright. " But who is to direct them ? " 
 he asked. 
 
 " Monsieur, we will talk of this later," said Ribou. " Am 
 I right in believing that you attend the reception in the Rue 
 Galilee on Friday, in company with the Comtesse de Fon- 
 tainebleau ? " 
 
 " Yes, monsieur." 
 
 " We shall meet, then." 
 
 " I shall be delighted. But I had a question to ask you. 
 The repeal of my banishment from France was signed by 
 M. de Tournon some weeks before it was handed to me. Do 
 I owe the continuance of its validit}^ to the good ofiices of his 
 successor ? ' ' 
 
 Ribou bowed low. " I should have hoped that M. le 
 Prince would have gathered that much from the general 
 tenor of our already long interview. ' ' 
 
 " I can only say that I owe 3'ou a thousand obligations, 
 monsieur," said Henri, rising, " and that in the day of 
 triumph, if it ever come, I am not likely to forget my 
 friends." He went away with flushed brow, in a strange 
 excitement. 
 
 An hour later, the Comtesse de Fontainebleau had this 
 whole conversation detailed to her by the enthusiastic 
 Prince. She sat listening, in a small boudoir of the Chalet 
 at St. Cloud, Henri standing with one arm on the mantel- 
 piece. The gleam of hope gave to the young aspirant as 
 much buo5-ancy as though he had already achieved every- 
 thing at which he aimed. The Comtesse was silent, but her 
 large bosom heaved with some show of excitement. If 
 Honorine could gain the crown, and the man she loved as 
 
28o An American E viper or 
 
 well ! Such was the thought in her miiid. But she only 
 said : 
 
 " M, Ribou is a person of considerable shrewdness and 
 tact, I believe. You owe him thanks, Monsieur le Prince." 
 
 * ' And there can be no doubt, ' ' said Henri, * ' that there is 
 something or other in the air. One sees it by many signs ; 
 by a certain unrest among the lower orders, by the tone of 
 the public prints, vague hints here and there " 
 
 " And M. Ribou, you think, could control this ? " 
 
 " He is Minister of the Interior. He has a thousand 
 agents. In his hands are gathered a thousand threads." 
 
 ' ' Above all, he is in our — in 3-our favor. ' ' 
 
 * ' Say ' our, ' madame. I know that my cause is yours ; I 
 have always known it. ' ' 
 
 " Thank you for saj'ing that," she answered, throwing a 
 glance at his smiling face. " To me the happiness of 
 Honorine is everything. I cannot see her sacrificed to the 
 designs of scheming ambition without a struggle, when a 
 way, of its own accord, opens before me. But, pray, mon- 
 sieur, do nothing rash. Be sure of 3'our friends before you 
 trust them. Your rival is as nearly omnipotent as man can 
 be. Is M. Ribou your sole ally ? " 
 
 " He has hinted at many others. In particular, he has 
 mentioned Lacontel." 
 
 " The Minister for the Colonies ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Well, but that is a powerful — will you excuse me, mon- 
 sieur ? I am all eagerness. I should like to speak with 
 Mademoiselle de Montpensier. ' ' 
 
 The Comtesse rose, and hurried from the room, accom- 
 panied part of the way by Prince Henri. Honorine, under 
 the shade of a wide straw hat, was walking meditativelj'- 
 among the paths of the park, with an open book hanging in 
 her Hstless fingers. 
 
 The Comtesse poured into her ears the whole news of 
 Henri. Honorine listened in silence, with her head slightly 
 
Adumbrations 281 
 
 iuclined sideways to the eager words. When she had heard 
 all, she smiled, 
 
 " Henri is a sanguine, amiable boy," she said. " But 
 one expects from the Comtesse de Fontainebleau a certain 
 mental reserve, a greater knowledge of the world." 
 
 " Over-caution may ruin lives, Honorine." 
 
 " Caution may, rashness will, madame." 
 
 ' ' The hopes of Henri, mademoiselle, do not, at first sight, 
 seem so wild as did those of — of — the American." 
 
 " But the American is a great man, a man of action." 
 
 " Henri also has much spirit, I assure you." 
 
 " But no wealth." 
 
 " He has friends." 
 
 " That remains to be proved." 
 
 " At least, he loves you dearly." 
 
 She blushed and did not answer. 
 
 ' ' And, Honorine, why coerce your own heart, my child ? 
 
 You know that you, also " 
 
 * ' Pray, let us be loyal, at least in speech, ' ' said Honorine. 
 
 " I command 5'ou to be silent." 
 
 At that time M. lyacontel was closeted with M. Ribou in 
 the same office, in the Rue du Faubourg St. Honore, which 
 Prince Henri had lately left. The two were in fast league. 
 Ribou had voted against the Request in the Chamber of 
 Deputies, the rejection of which had seemed to mean the 
 ruin of the Sahara Scheme. He divined well that there was 
 no pardon for him. That pitiless arm of iron which had 
 struck down his predecessor in the Office of the Interior, 
 might be against him, too — probaby would be. As for 
 lyacontel, he looked upon himself as a clerk in his own Office 
 of the Colonies, and as he looked upon himself, so others 
 looked upon him. What is a Minister of Colonies under the 
 august shadow of the Maker of them ? He is not a minis- 
 ter ; he is an amanuensis. And Vansittart was due in Paris. 
 His next coup no one knew. What might such a man not 
 be expected to do to-morrow? It was with the present and 
 
282 Aft American Emperor 
 
 poignant consciousness of his expected arrival that both 
 ministers spoke. 
 
 " This man's aims are not lower than the very highest," 
 said Ribou, with his narrow, dark head quite near the ex- 
 pansive, pasty countenance of M. I,acontel. 
 
 " You know that ? " said lyacontel. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " /divined it." 
 
 " You may know it. De Tournon knew it, and hence, 
 perhaps, his fall." 
 
 ' ' But you have specific reasons for your view ? If 
 so, a hint of them should make Vansittart execrated in 
 France." 
 
 ' ' I doubt that, ' ' said Ribou ponderingly . " It is a ques- 
 tion whether the heart of the French people has that hatred 
 of kings which it is supposed to cherish. Vansittart will be 
 its king, if ' ' 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " If we do not take from him, in one coup, the foundation 
 stone of his edifice, his motive, and his queen." 
 
 " You mean Mademoiselle de Montpensier ? " 
 
 ' ' She is all that to him, and more. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Does she know of his designs ? ' ' 
 
 " Their close association is not only a proof that he has the 
 designs, but that she knows of them, and, in part, approves 
 them." 
 
 " You say, ' in part.' " 
 
 ' ' Yes — she is by no means an enthusiast in favor of the 
 royal line of Vansittart, I assure you." 
 
 "Then, why ?" 
 
 " I know what I say, M. Lacontel. The Comtesse de 
 Fontainebleau is the lady's dearest friend." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " I have met the Comtesse de Fontainebleau. She, also, 
 is no fanatic in the support of the new dynasty. We have 
 spoken together. She vainly tried to sound me, and was 
 
Adumbrations 283 
 
 herself sounded. We shall speak together again, and again 
 she shall be sounded. ' ' 
 
 " And you have learned from her ? " 
 
 " That Vansittart's schemes are indissolubly bound up 
 with Honorine de Montpensier ; that it is in virtue of her 
 royal blood that he hopes to reconcile the people of France 
 and the unbounded insolence of his aims. ' ' 
 
 ** He means to marry her ? " questioned Lacontel in some 
 surprise. 
 
 "It is clear. Money, popularity, success, he feels, will 
 not avail to win him the crown of an ancient empire. But 
 ■nio\\e.y plus blood will accomplish the conjurer's trick." 
 
 ' ' And in the face of such a combination, what can we do ? " 
 
 Ribou beamed. The man's inborn vanity almost chortled 
 in his throat. He resembled a cock at the instant before it 
 crows. " M. Lacontel," he said, " I never do things by 
 halves. You know me, and you know what I purpose I, in 
 general, accomplish. I have said that I have sounded the 
 Comtesse de Fontainebleau. I have told you that I have 
 got from her Vansittart's object in his association with the 
 female heir to the French crown. But I have not told you 
 all." 
 
 * ' I am all eagerness, ' ' said Lacontel. 
 
 " All that I have said we might by our native wit have 
 guessed. We did, in fact, divine it without the assistance 
 of the Comtesse de Fontainebleau. But without her assist- 
 ance, we should not have been aware that Honorine de 
 Montpensier is — in love." 
 
 " And not with Vansittart ? " 
 
 ' ' With Henri de Navarre. ' ' 
 
 " The female heir in love with the male heir! " 
 
 "It is so." 
 
 " And he with her ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 ' ' Then why does she countenance the ambitions of 
 Vansittart?" 
 
284 An American Emperor 
 
 ' ' Because she believes that Vansittart can do what Henri 
 cannot. He can make her queen. She sacrifices her affec- 
 tion to her ambition." 
 
 " In that case we can do nothing." 
 
 Again Ribou beamed. " Excuse me — I think we can. 
 We can make the lady believe in the future of Henri de 
 Navarre. We can harmonize affection and ambition. In 
 the eyes of the people we can put in the place of money p/us 
 blood, a coalition of blood plus blood. ' ' 
 
 " Excellent ! if we mn do it." 
 
 * ' We can do it ; at any rate, the first part of it. If we 
 cannot make the people prefer members of its ancient royal 
 family to this upstart, we can at least make the two young 
 people believe that we can." 
 
 "And then ?" 
 
 " They will marry. They will marry hurriedl}^, soon. 
 And Vansittart, as far as his great scheme is concerned, will 
 be hopelessly ruined." 
 
 " You may count upon me, of course. But I do not see 
 the means." 
 
 ' ' The means / will make clear. Not an hour ago, I was 
 closeted here with Henri de Navarre. He is a vain and 
 shallow stripling, easily fooled. Our plan will be to delude 
 /lis eyes ; and then to make /ler see through them. ' ' 
 
 " Again I ask ' how ? ' " 
 
 " He shall be cheered publicly in the streets as ' Em- 
 peror ? ' He shall tell her of it with sanguine exaggerations, 
 and she shall believe him." 
 
 ' ' But who is to cheer him as * Emperor ? ' The people 
 hardly remember his existence. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Leave that to me. The details you shall know hereafter, 
 monsieur." 
 
 " Meanwhile, how of this Socialist unrest ? " 
 
 ** It grows. My fingers are on its pulse. There were 
 thirty-five meetings last night. I know what happened at 
 each of them." 
 
Adumbrations 285 
 
 " There will be an cmcidef " 
 
 " It is certain. And the restilt will be disastrous for the 
 American dynasty." 
 
 ' ' In what way ? ' ' 
 
 " Mercier, the heart and soul of the movement is in my 
 power, and " 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " In my pay." 
 
 " I do not understand." 
 
 ' ' Last night, at one of the meetings, the demagogue, Hudin, 
 said : *A Socialist Monarchy, that is what we want ; away 
 w4th the rule of the bourgeois ! ' He then, amid loud cheers, 
 referred to the names of Prince Henri and Mademoiselle de 
 Montpensier. You must have seen it in the papers." 
 
 " But we ourselves — you and I — represent the rule of the 
 bourgeois ; we cannot fight against ourselves." lyacontel's 
 cheeks shook with laughter. Ribou frowned. 
 
 ' ' This rabble cannot really do away with the rule of any- 
 one," he said, " but they can make a noise; they can create 
 vain hopes ; they can unite for us this Henri and this Honor- 
 ine ; they can ruin Vansittart. That is why you behold in 
 me, monsieur, for the time being, an ultra-Socialist. He 
 threw himself back in the velveted chair and smiled com- 
 placently. 
 
 " But my rSle in all this ? " queried I^acontel, rising. 
 
 " That will unfold itself, monsieur." 
 
 They parted. At that hour Vansittart had quietly arrived 
 in Paris. He drove in a close voiture to the Grand Hotel. 
 He had come before his time, unrecognized, unannounced. 
 The proprietor gazed in flurried surprise at this swift appari- 
 tion as it hurried past him up the stairs. In half an hour 
 Vansittart was closeted with Folliet. 
 
 " And other news ? " he said, after a long colloquy. 
 
 " Ribou is still holding secret communications with de 
 Tournon, ' ' said Folliet, tiuruing the leaves of his little note- 
 book. 
 
286 An American Emperor 
 
 " Can you guess why ? " 
 
 ' ' Yes. I now know why. He has had two interviews with 
 Prince Henri of Navarre. He has spoken with the Comtesse 
 de Fontainebleau. He is in fast collusion with Lacontel. 
 There is some understanding between him and the Socialists, 
 Mercier and Hudin. All these relations are directed to the 
 same end as his communications with de Tournon, and all 
 are directed against j'(?m." 
 
 " Undoubtedly. Are the Socialists, then, making a 
 noise ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' They are about to. All the signs point in that direc- 
 tion." 
 
 " Very well, M. Folliet. I congratulate you on your 
 shrewdness, your unfailing skill in aflFairs. However grate- 
 ful you may think me, I hope to prove myself better than 
 your anticipations. Will you be good enough to hand this 
 sheet of paper, in person, to M. Mercier." 
 
 He put out his hand, took half a sheet of Grand Hotel 
 note-paper, and on it drew a cross. Beneath this hieroglyph, 
 he wrote the letter "V," and a date two days distant. 
 
 Vansittart was himself somewhat of a Socialist when it 
 suited his ends. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 INTRIGUE 
 
 VANSITTART'S friends at St. Cloud perceived a strange- 
 ness in his conduct in those days. He seemed, after his 
 return, to avoid them. They wondered why, and could not 
 guess that the man was torn asunder by the strength of his 
 will, fighting against a love which had grown, during the 
 later months, into a passion. 
 
 His perfect sa7tg froid never for an instant forsook him. 
 But he never now chanced to meet Evelyn Harland alone. 
 Even in the presence of others, if she were in the room, he 
 found a pretext to withdraw. 
 
 The Comtesse de Fontainebleau was blessed with seeing 
 eyes, and an unerring divination in matters of the heart. 
 What was dark to others, was to her as clear as daylight. 
 At the function five days later in the Rue Galilee, she sank 
 and curv^ed into a profound courtesy before M. Ribou. By 
 her smile, the minister surmised tidings of importance. And 
 these tidings modified his plans. 
 
 " I may tell you, madame," said M. Ribou, hanging ovet 
 her, " that things have taken an unexpectedly upward ten- 
 dency for your friends — and mine." 
 
 They sat in a grotto far down the illuminated gardens. 
 Above their heads swung a Moorish lantern, lit with an 
 electric jet. 
 
 " Prince Henri," said the Comtesse, " has mentioned the 
 excursion on which you took him last night, monsieur. ' ' 
 
 Ribou had taken the Prince incognito to one of the noisiest 
 
 ?87 
 
288 An American Emperor 
 
 of the Socialist meetings, where it had been previously 
 arranged by the minister that the young man's name should 
 be loudly acclaimed. 
 
 " There were, last night, fifty such meetings, madame ; 
 some of them secret, but all known to me ; and at many of 
 them Prince Henri's name was associated with Mademoiselle 
 de Montpensier's, and with the crown of " 
 
 " Well, monsieur, — is the word too momentous to be 
 uttered?" 
 
 " Of France, madame." He glanced round suspiciously. 
 This grotto's wall is of loose, round stones, madame, and 
 between each pair is an open — ear. ' ' 
 
 " They are eyes, Monsieur le Ministre," she answered 
 laughing. " ' Walls have ej'-es,' the proverb should run. 
 I, at least, have found it so within the last few days." 
 
 Ribou's ears were as wide as the wall's in a moment, 
 
 " How, madame ? " 
 
 " A person," she said, " who has persistently been retir- 
 ing behind a wall on certain occasions in order to screen 
 himself has thereby stood revealed to me. The more the 
 walls which he interposed the clearer was he seen through 
 them." 
 
 ' ' Who was the person, if one may ask ? ' ' 
 
 " The founder of dynasties, monsieur." 
 
 ' ' So, madame. And what did he seek to hide ? ' ' 
 
 " A passion." 
 
 ' ' But we already knew that he had it. ' ' 
 
 " You were deceived. He had it, but it was directed upon 
 an object of which you were not aware." 
 
 " And that object is ? " 
 
 " Monsieur, our manage consists, in the main, of five per- 
 sons, Mr. Vansittart, Mademoiselle de Montpensier, mj'self, 
 an English gentleman called Mr. Harland, and, monsieur- 
 Mr. Harland's sister." 
 
 " Ah ! " Ribou started. 
 
 " Monsieur, since Mr. Vansittart's last return from the 
 
Intrigue 
 
 Sahara, lie cannot meet Miss Harland with inward compos- 
 ure ; he cannot long bear her presence. He either hates 
 her mortally, or he loves her wildly. ' ' 
 
 " But does Mademoiselle de Montpensier divine this ? " 
 
 " She nxQ^y. But I believe not." 
 
 "She must be told." 
 
 ' ' She shall be told. But, you perceive, monsieur, that to 
 be told, is not necessarily to believe." 
 
 ' ' Why should she not believe, since you believe ? ' ' 
 
 " You notice, monsieur, that I said, ' He either hates her 
 mortally, or loves her wildly.' That manner of speaking 
 should be enough to convince you that there is no proof of 
 anything." 
 
 " Yet there is sufficient proof to convince j'<7« f " 
 
 " Yes, to give me a moral certainty, both of his love for 
 her, and of her's for him. But if Honorine asked me how I 
 knew, and I then gave her the only reasons I have, she 
 would laugh at me. She would say I was a dreamer. At 
 least, she would not be convinced. ' ' 
 
 " Mr. Vansittart is not apt to show his emotions, ma- 
 dame ? " 
 
 ' ' He has a front of adamant, that man ! He flames and 
 boils beneath an exterior of Arctic ice. I am sure of it. ' ' 
 
 ' ' But he has this weak spot, this crack in his armor, this 
 love," said Ribou meditatively. " Madame, I trust your 
 instincts. I do not question the means of your knowledge ; 
 I simply believe it, intuitively, to be related to facts. This 
 man is now in our hands. ' ' 
 
 " But how?" 
 
 " Madame, it is clear. We have only two things to do. 
 In the first place, we need to convince Mademoiselle de 
 Montpensier that a man she loves has every chance of shortly 
 ascending the throne of his fathers ; this, from what I have 
 already said to you, yo2i now know to be true, and 3-ou may 
 safely leave it to me to convince Prince Henri, and, through 
 him, mademoiselle, of the fact." 
 
290 An American Emperor 
 
 " And our second task, monsieur ? " 
 
 " We must convince mademoiselle that the love of Mr. 
 Vansittart is not hers, but another's. We must reveal to 
 her her perfect freedom to dispose of herself as she will, in 
 spite of any previous contract with a man whose heart proves 
 faithless to her. ' ' 
 
 " But there is the ver3^ aimcuity, monsieur : now aro v\'c 
 to do this ? We have already referred to Mr. Vansittart 's 
 ' front of adamant,' and we have sufficient knowledge of his 
 stern character to be aw^ra that he would sooner die than 
 confess a weakness, than relinquish a scheme." 
 
 " Yet, madame," replied Ribou, " you have 3'ourself indi- 
 cated the means by which Mr. Vansittart may be forced, in 
 spite of his adamant front, to confess his weakness. ' ' 
 
 " I am not aware of it." 
 
 " Have you not said that 3'ou have seen through the walls 
 — that he cannot now bear Miss Harland's presence ? " 
 
 ' ' That is so. Since his return he has lived mostly at the 
 Grand Hotel, fearing, I am sure, a downbreak of his cold- 
 ness in her company. But I am still in the dark as to what 
 you would do, monsieur. ' ' 
 
 ' ' I would make him meet her. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Ah ! Under what circumstances ? ' ' 
 
 " Privately — unexpectedly — ^by night — in a long, unin- 
 terrupted interview ' ' 
 
 " If it could be done, monsieur ? ' ' 
 
 Her ej'ebrows lifted in querJ^ 
 
 " It can, madame." 
 
 ' ' But who would be any the wiser, if they met privately ? ' ' 
 
 " Those who saw and heard." 
 
 " Mademoiselle de Montpensier is so incredulous of such 
 reports. ' ' 
 
 " Mademoiselle would herself be a witness of the scene. 
 That is part of xxxy plan. A week later she would be the 
 Princesse de Navarre." 
 
 *' Monsieur, you overwhelm me. I must think of all this. 
 
Intrigue 291 
 
 I perceive your acumen, I acknowledge your resource. 
 But ' ' 
 
 * ' I have said it, ' ' said Ribou, leaning back with purring 
 vanity — ' ' and it shall be done. ' ' 
 
 ' ' And when ? ' ' 
 
 " Within a week." 
 
 " And meanwhile ?" 
 
 ** Two things should happen." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 ' ' Prince Henri and mademoiselle should meet often, alone. 
 You must contrive to throw them together. He must ply 
 her with the news of his sucesses, while they are warm. ' ' 
 
 ' ' And the other thing ? ' ' 
 
 " Mademoiselle and Miss Harland must quarrel." 
 
 " Oh, monsieur ! " 
 
 ' ' Yes — it is necessary. Do you not see ? They must be 
 made to detest each other. You know your sex, madame. 
 Enmity is with it a strong motive. Miss Harland must be 
 given this added motive for her conduct in the lovers' scene, 
 in which she meets Mr. Vausittart. Honor ma}^ be stronger 
 than hate, or than love ; it will hardly prove stronger than 
 both together. ' ' 
 
 " Miss Harland and Honorine already bear each other no 
 superabundance of affection, as it appears," said the Com- 
 tesse. " No doubt a hint to mademoiselle of the state of 
 Vansittart's affection, whether I can prove it or not, will not 
 greatly add to her liking for Miss Harland." 
 
 " You have said, madame, what I would have tried to 
 say. ' ' 
 
 M. Ribou bowed ; the Comtesse rose ; they walked away. 
 M. Ribou then sought out, from amid the throng of the 
 soirSc, Prince Henri, with whom, in the same grotto, he had 
 a long colloquy, the result of which will appear. 
 
 That same night de Tournon sat in the bar parlor of an 
 inn at Iva Villette. His redundant wealth of buxom chins 
 rested upon his hand ; his elbow rested upon the table, and 
 
292 An American Emperor 
 
 the sleeve between elbow and hand was torn and frayed. 
 He was eyeing some dirty cards on the table, with a languid 
 down-look of the eyes. Around him were gathered a host 
 of yokels, some joining in the game. The white, raftered 
 ceiling was very low — one could touch it with the lifted 
 hand — the room was small, and full of the voices of the vil- 
 lage laborers, wearily drinking wine-dregs after the drudg- 
 ing day. The landlord lounged b)' the bar, and watched 
 the stains of the feet on his white floor of the morning. 
 
 "Trumps !" cried de Tournon. And he added, "To- 
 morrow afternoon there will be quite a to-do in the village, 
 I suppose ? ' ' 
 
 " What about ? What about ? " said two voices. 
 
 " Is n't — what do you call him— the rich American — ah, 
 Vansittart ! — going to pass through the village ? ' ' 
 
 The whole room gathered round him. 
 
 "Who says?" 
 
 " How do you know ? " 
 
 " A fine yarn that is ! " 
 
 " It can't be true ! " 
 
 " You are nice people, not to know the news of j^our own 
 little toyshop village ! Did n't I see it this morning in a 
 Paris paper? " 
 
 " What 's he coming for ? — since you Paris loungers know 
 everj^thing." 
 
 " He is not coming for anything. He merely passes 
 through — with the Minister of the Interior." 
 
 " In his own carriage ? " 
 
 ' ' No — the minister's. ' ' 
 
 " He is a brave one. We will give him a welcoming." 
 
 " You should. Do you know how to tickle him ? " 
 
 " No— how?" 
 
 " Call him ' the Emperor.' " 
 
 " Yes — one has heard that the}'- do that in Paris. And 
 why not ? He deserves it." 
 
 " Oh, in Paris, that is his name. When the people call 
 him so, he scatters among them showers of gold. ' ' 
 
Intrigue 293 
 
 " The Prince of Wealth ! He shall have a welcoming 
 here, and a warm one ! " 
 
 " Do any of you know his face ? " 
 
 "I do !" 
 
 * ' I also ; I saw him in Paris. ' ' 
 
 "That all?" 
 
 No answer. " Trumps again ! " called de Tournon. 
 
 Down the street, a hundred yards away, in the ' ' Golden 
 Dragon," I^acontel, in a disguise, also played at cards. 
 And here the same news of the passage of Vansittart was 
 recounted. 
 
 And on the next evening, as the shades of night gathered, 
 Ribou's carriage passed through a village street ringing 
 with huzzas. Every soul in the township was here, and 
 from nearly every throat rang the cr}', " V^ive f Empereiir ! " 
 But the carriage was a brougham, and closed. Ribou was 
 of opinion that a certain reserved dignity on the part of the 
 Prince would better suit the circumstances of the moment. 
 The Prince sat back in the carriage. Ribou himself looked 
 out and bowed, all smiles. Not ten people saw Prince 
 Henri's face. The carriage passed through the boisterous 
 crowd. 
 
 There was, however, a hitch or two which a keen and 
 worldl}^ eye would have noted. One man catching sight of 
 Henri's face, cried aloud, " But — that is not he ! " Some 
 others, instead of shouting, " Vive V Empereiir ! " cried, 
 ''Vive Vansittart!'' 
 
 But Prince Henri was in too high a heaven to notice these 
 details of earth. In the royal e^-e was the scarcel}' veiled 
 excitement of the conscious conqueror. He did not remain 
 long in Paris. Ribou suggested a lengthy interview% but the 
 Prince was incapable of listening that night. His tongue 
 was envious of his ears, and needed to divulge what they 
 had heard. He set out at once for St. Cloud, and, arrived 
 there, hurried to the Chalet. Was Honorine in ? No, she 
 was strollitig in the park. Alone ? Probably. He went to 
 look. The summer night was still, and full of the sleepy 
 
294 -^^ American Emperor 
 
 whispers of birds and insects, tired of the long sweet day. 
 Abroad in the heavens sailed the half-moon. He found her 
 after half-an-hour's longings and invocations. He knew her 
 favorite path, and went by it ; but she had wandered aside. 
 When he came upon her she was walking, with curved neck, 
 homeward, upon a thick moss beneath the trees, thinking of 
 him. Before he spoke she heard his hurried breath, and 
 stopped. The next moment he was before her. 
 
 " Oh, Honorine !" 
 
 " Henri ! " 
 
 "My dear " 
 
 " This is forbidden ground, Henri." 
 
 " It cannot last, Honorine. You must listen to me. The 
 Fates fight for us ; the stars in their courses are the allies of 
 kings " 
 
 She smiled. Her bosom heaved. A look of tenderest 
 pity came into her eyes. 
 
 " Poor Henri !" 
 
 * ' We need no longer pity ourselves or each other, Honor- 
 ine ; and the compact of silence we have made cannot, and 
 must not, be kept. ' ' 
 
 " But you must allow me to be in private if I choose. 
 You must not be my unrelenting shadow like this, rude boy ! '■' 
 
 ' ' Do not suppose that I have come to make love. ' ' 
 
 " Ah, well, that is some comfort, is it not ? " 
 
 " You know alread}^ how I love " 
 
 ' ' But now you are doing what you did not come to do. ' ' 
 
 " Your presence is deflecting, as the needle escapes and 
 runs back to the north." 
 
 ' ' And I am as cold as the north. ' ' 
 
 " In the winter of our discontent. But now — surely — 
 Honorine — it is summer with us ! Will you not relent ? " 
 
 ' ' I believe in summer when I see leaves on the trees, and 
 the boughs heavy with fruit. Not before." 
 
 " I bring you a basket of peaches — dear ; a very cornu- 
 copia from the lap of August," 
 
Intrigue 295 
 
 He handed her a card. They had walked to where the 
 moon came pouring on an open space. By its hght, she 
 looked at the face of the card, and saw the name of Ribou. 
 On the back, written in pencil, were these words : 
 
 " Union is strength." 
 
 " I hardly know this man," she said. 
 
 " He is a friend." 
 
 " With what motive? " 
 
 " His heart is pure Royalist." 
 
 " Or Ribouist ? " 
 
 ' ' Undoubtedly that, and Royalist, perhaps, because he is 
 that." 
 
 " I do not follow you." 
 
 " He is a shrewd man. He sees far ahead. He believes 
 it to be in Ribou' s interest to be a Royalist. Being a thor- 
 ough Ribouist, we may be sure of the sincerity of his 
 Royalism." 
 
 " Your argument is good, Henri — if your premise be just. 
 Why is it in his interest to be a Royalist ? " 
 
 " The Comtesse has told you of our excursion to the 
 Socialist meeting? " 
 
 " The Comtesse tells too much, perhaps." 
 
 " I have just come from La Villette." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " With Ribou." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 ' ' We passed down a long street ringing with vivats for 
 ' the Emperor.' " 
 
 " Is that so, Henri?" 
 
 " Yes, Honorine." 
 
 "Oh, Henri !" 
 
 " Ribou said to me, ' In a month all France will rever- 
 berate with that shout of rapture.' " 
 
 ' ' Did the people see you, then ? ' ' 
 
 " Hardly. We were in a brougham. But Ribou had 
 chanced to let out to some journalist fellow that we should 
 
296 An American Ernperor 
 
 pass through, and by means of his paper the news went 
 about the village. ' ' 
 
 "What paper?" 
 
 " I don't know. Some paper." 
 
 " But the cause, Henri, of this sudden enthusiasm ? " 
 
 " It is the stars that fight for kings. ' ' 
 
 " The stars won't do, Henri." 
 
 " There is a movement among the people — a hatred for 
 the middle class. Extremes have met and shaken hands. 
 The extreme democracy pines for union with the extreme 
 monocracy ; the extreme modern for union with the extreme 
 ancient. You see in me the hero of — the Socialists. ' ' 
 
 " It is singular. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Yet it is so. They have set their hopes upon the mar- 
 riage of you and me. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Henri ! ' ' She averted her face. 
 
 ' ' Do their wishes coinicide with 3'ours ? " he said. 
 
 A long sigh came from her parted lips. She struck him 
 with the back of her forefinger on his cheek. ' ' You are a 
 sanguine, charming boy ! I don't know what to do with 
 you ? ' ' 
 
 " Honorine ! You will not continue this uphill fight ? 
 Dearest, you will yield to me ' ' 
 
 " Go, Henri — leave me — can the tides fight against the 
 moon ? Can a stone fall upward ? Ah, what am I saying ? 
 
 -go 
 
 I " 
 
 His lips were pressed upon her hand. They were just 
 then crossing the lawn, toward the Chalet ; and crossing it 
 also, some distance away, was Evelyn Harland. And she 
 saw them in the vague moonlight. 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 TWO WOMEN 
 
 FOR three entire da3^s Vansittart had not come near St. 
 Cloud. " Something new is up ! " mused Dick Har- 
 land. " That Sahara business is a trifle too much for one 
 mortal back to bear, in my opinion." 
 
 The Comtesse de Fontainebleau said, " Mr. Vansittart 
 must be more than usually engaged. ' ' 
 
 She was walking on the terraces amid the flower-beds and 
 fountains with Honorine. It was the morning after the 
 meeting in the wood between Henri and Honorine, when, 
 in the moonshine, Evelyn had seen Henri's lips on her hand. 
 Evelyn and Honorine had not since met. Honorine walked 
 listlessly and dreamfully that morning. Her straw garden- 
 hat swung by the strings in her hand. 
 
 She did not answer the Comtesse until the latter said : 
 
 " And do you not think it singular, Honorine, this 
 absence ? ' ' 
 
 "I? No. I have not thought of it. He is busy, I 
 imagine." 
 
 " Or in love." 
 
 ' ' No, that is hardly the inference. His love would make 
 him come to me, not keep away, surely." 
 
 " Come \.o yoiL — yes " 
 
 " I do not understand you at all, madame. If you have 
 anything to say, I am willing to hear." 
 
 " Mr. Vansittart is a secret and silent man, Honorine. 
 But to me he is as open as a book." 
 
 297 
 
298 An American Emperor 
 
 " I should have thought not. And what do you read, 
 madame ? ' ' 
 
 " Is his absence not due to the fear of meeting Miss — 
 Harland?" 
 
 " Miss — the /ear/ — your jest is as poor as possible." 
 
 " You are not as old as I, my child." 
 
 " Nor, apparently, as erratic." 
 
 " I speak to warn you, you know." 
 
 " Pray, let the subject drop." 
 
 The Comtesse said no more. Honorine was slightly pale. 
 The corners of her mouth curv^ed slightly downward. 
 
 They w^alked leisurely into the palace. On a table were 
 letters on a golden salver. Near it stood Evelyn, reading 
 one. She, too, had just entered, and her fresh face bore its 
 bright morning smile. The letter she read was from a friend 
 in England. But the bow exchanged between her and 
 Honorine was somewhat cold. In the mind of each was a 
 thought, a doubt. 
 
 Honorine took some of the letters, and sat to read them. 
 One was from M. Ribou. One was from Henri. The young 
 Prince, after leaving her, had sat up half the night writing 
 it. As she read, she smiled, and the thought that rankled 
 in her mind, for a time, vanished. 
 
 Unnoticed, the Comtesse de Fontainebleau had passed 
 from the room. It was large, and oval-shaped. From the 
 domed roof depended three huge chandeliers of the cut glass 
 called margherita, whose prismic twinklings filled the upper 
 portion of the apartment with a chaos of rainbows. Into the 
 fleecy carpet, the treasure of some Levantic mart, the whole 
 foot sank. At the four quarters of the room's circumference 
 were heavil}^ curtained doors, and it was behind one of these 
 that the Comtesse passed into the adjoining salon. She sat 
 near the tapestry, with ear inclined to whatever sounds the 
 Fates might send, an open book in her lap, at which she did 
 not look. 
 
 The Emperors' families, in the days of Rome, thus sat 
 
Two Women 299 
 
 hidden behind the curtains of the amphitheatre to watch the 
 contests in the arena of the circus. The Comtesse knew 
 that two she-cats could not be left tied up in a small sack 
 with so safe a prediction of clawing, as these two ladies now, 
 in that rich hall, stately with classic chiselling, and the 
 wealth of nations. 
 
 " Mr. Vansittart is not here this morning, I suppose?" 
 said Honorine. 
 
 " Not that I am aware of," answered Evelyn. 
 
 They were both attired in loose morning robes, with wide 
 sleeves and long trains ; they were both ladies of stately 
 necks and luxuriant wealth of hair. The difference between 
 Honorine and Evel}^! was the difference between a damask 
 rose and a pink. 
 
 " Is Mr. Vansittart very busy ? " asked Honorine. 
 
 Evelyn's fresh pink flushed into a deeper carmine, as she 
 bent over a Benares vase of roses. She answered in care- 
 fully calm tones : 
 
 " How should I know ? " 
 
 " I thought you would." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 Lower and lower she bent over the roses, with hotter and 
 hotter cheeks. Honorine was reclining backwards in the lap 
 of a luxury of cushions at the couch-head, her clenched 
 right hand supporting her head. 
 
 " Do you ask ' why ' ? " she said, with a little light laugh. 
 " I hardly know. You seem good at business. I always 
 look upon you as Mr. Vansittart' s Prime Minister, you 
 know." 
 
 * ' That is quite a high metier, ' ' said Evelyn ; " I should 
 be proud to fill it ; but I am afraid no woman could. ' ' 
 
 " You have a high opinion of the post, evidently." 
 
 " Oh, immensely ! " 
 
 " But you are too open. You betray yourself. You 
 think so much of the post, because you think so much of the 
 giver of it. ' ' 
 
300 An American Emperor 
 
 ' ' Well, perhaps, as you say, I am too open. It is a char- 
 acteristic of us English, you know. We hate disguises, 
 falsehood in any form — especially we hate a false woman." 
 She said it with bitter venom. Two little dark red spots 
 flamed out on Honorine's cheeks, and her nostrils began to 
 broaden and pant like a thoroughbred's. 
 
 "The English are open, you say? Yes, I have heard 
 that. This qualitj' is no doubt related to their extraordinary 
 genius for affairs ! " A long ripple of laughter flowed from 
 her. 
 
 " Yes, that is quite so," said Evelyn. " They are essen- 
 tially practical, faithful to what the}^ undertake, and single- 
 minded." 
 
 ' ' ^/w/'/<?-minded, did you say ? ' ' 
 
 " No — single ; the word is perhaps too idiomatic ior you 
 to understand fully. I will explain, if you like." 
 
 " Pra}', do. You have such a pretty knack of making 
 clear to the dullest ej-es that which was hidden. ' ' 
 
 " I am so glad of that. I ma}' yet hope to do some good, 
 then, even in apparently desperate cases." 
 
 " You are too philanthropic. You cannot be a prime 
 minister and a knight-errant, a business man and a mission- 
 ary all at once." 
 
 " Oh, yes. Some missionaries act as traders, you know ; 
 some knight-errants were ministers of state. A monarch 
 may unbend to be a lover ; a lover may aspire to be a 
 monarch." 
 
 " But that is only for the double-minded. You, for in- 
 stance, would never aspire to be a monarch ; for you are 
 English, and single-minded, and, no doubt, a lover." 
 
 " I do not think you understand the exact meaning of 
 this word ' single-minded,' " said Evelyn, meditatively. 
 *' It is, perhaps, a little beyond you, with even your know- 
 ledge of English. Its opposite is well expressed in another 
 idiom of ours, ' Having two strings to one's bow.' " 
 
 " Precisely ; I understand. But suppose a single-minded 
 
Two Women 301 
 
 English lady who attracted a lover by acting to him in the 
 double capacity of prime minister and missionary, might she 
 not be said to have ' two strings to one bow ? ' She might, 
 at any rate, be said to have one beau by two strings." 
 
 " Which is, nevertheless, preferable to having two beaux 
 by one string." 
 
 To and fro flew the cutting, meaningful retort, lashing 
 like whip-cord, the two ladies facing each other with intense 
 eyes and reddened cheeks. 
 
 " But to have two beaux by any number of strings," 
 darted forth Honorine's answer, " is a venial offence, pro- 
 vided they are both your own. The wretchedness is to have 
 one beau who is somebod3^'s else ! " 
 
 " It is wretched, certainly — but not criminal." 
 
 " It is mean, it is base-spirited." 
 
 " It is weak, not wicked. But the other, among the great, 
 honest middle class of my country, is regarded as ' ' 
 
 ' ' Do not mention that class. I have no relation to it, no 
 interest in it. And you — and your brother^by your asso- 
 ciation with Mr. Vansittart, are now lifted out of it." 
 
 The words cut like a knife to Evelyn's inmost, tenderest 
 nerve. She flinched, and shrank. " My brother went to 
 school with Mr. Vansittart," she said, after a second's pain. 
 " There is no question of being lifted as regards him or me. 
 Our connection with Mr. Vansittart is not the result of an 
 ambitious scheme. We hope for nothing from his wealth." 
 
 Her tongue now was dipped in gall. It was the turn of 
 Honorine to wince. For a moment her face was blanched 
 with rage ; in the next it was aflame. " I cannot but con- 
 sider 3^our language personal," she said, in a deep guttural. 
 
 With these words, the hints, the meanings, suddenly 
 ceased, and there was open war. They were on fire, and 
 fire does not tralfic in innuendoes. " It is personal, of 
 course," said Evelyn. " You knew that all along. We 
 might all this time have spoken our minds clearly but for 
 your inveterate lack of candor. ' ' 
 
302 An American Emperor 
 
 " You are an insolent woman." 
 
 " You are not a faithful one." 
 
 " You are taking advantage of the absence of Mr. Van- 
 sittart." 
 
 " You are, j^ou mean. You would not have dared to hint 
 the things you have in his presence ! ' ' 
 
 " I ! — not dai'ed in the presence of the American ? " 
 
 " No, not in the presence of ' the American,' to whom 
 you happen to owe everything — not in the presence of any 
 gentleman — certainly not in the presence of my brother ' ' 
 
 " Your brother ! Ha ! ha ! He is a — Master of the 
 Horse ! " 
 
 ' * But that is something. It proves that he is a real man, 
 at any rate. As you seem fond of the species, you should 
 have him in your court. He is not a silly boy, whom every- 
 body makes fun of." 
 
 " Who is everj'body ? — yourself, the American, and the — 
 Master of the Horse ? ' ' 
 
 " Especially ' the American.' " 
 
 "When I next see the heir to the crown of France, I 
 must tell him that the Master of the Horse of the next 
 dynasty makes ' fun of him ! ' " 
 
 " Surely, you knew before ! You should have told him 
 last night, when he was kissing your hand. It might have 
 acted as a damper on the simpleton's ardors." 
 
 ' ' You do not, I hope, add to your other delightful func- 
 tions that of spy to the new dynasty ? ' ' 
 
 " It is not so much that I am a spy, as that j^ou are hope- 
 lessly blinded by folly. The ostrich pokes its head into the 
 bush, and thinks that no one can see his body. If some- 
 body comes along and sees it, and the ostrich chooses to call 
 him a spy, that is because the ostrich is an idiot." 
 
 " But there are ostriches and ostriches ! All, apparently, 
 have this folly of thinking themselves unseen, when every- 
 body can clearly see, and see into, them. Some, however, 
 are presumptuous. They do not keep to the plain, to their 
 
Two Women 303 
 
 own level. They climb the hills, where they are still more 
 conspicuous. If you have read my secret, others have read 
 yours. And you cannot say that I am presumptuous. I am 
 the equal of Henri of Navarre. In your case, there is a 
 difference." 
 
 " I do not admit your insinuation. But if it were so, no 
 liarm would be done to any one. There is nothing at stake. 
 In the other case, you are fooling a man who is spending his 
 life upon 3^ou. Shame ! " 
 
 There was a tender thrill in Evelyn's voice. 
 
 " It is false. I am fooling no one. If any one is being 
 fooled, it is I ; and if it is so, you know of it ' ' 
 
 At that moment, the Comtesse de Fontainebleau, thinking 
 the fray had served its purpose, sailed into the room. Hon- 
 orine glanced at a letter which lay on her lap ; Evelyn bent 
 once more over the roses. From the cheeks of both the 
 color faded slowly out, leaving a perfect pallor. 
 
 A footman appeared, and announced : 
 
 " M. Ribou." 
 
 And immediately the dapper minister, with a gray top- 
 coat, a gray frock-coat and amber gloves, was bowing before 
 the ladies. He was presented to Evelyn by the Comtesse 
 de Fontainebleau. 
 
 " I have already had the honor of a presentation to the 
 brother of Miss Harland, ' ' said the minister. ' ' This pleas- 
 ure was not unanticipated." 
 
 Honorine, on her side, smiled at him. 
 
 " Ah, mademoiselle," said Ribou, " I have had the ex- 
 treme delight of learning from Prince Henri of Navarre that 
 you will not disdain to attend my soirie on Thursday." 
 
 ' ' I have indicated my pleasure by letter, ' ' said Honorine. 
 " Monsieur's indications of sympathy with the fallen House 
 of France have been neither unknown nor unacceptable to 
 at least one of its descendants. ' ' 
 
 Ribou and the Comtesse exchanged an anxious glance. 
 This talk was somewhat plain for the ears of Evelyn. 
 
304 An American Emperor 
 
 ' ' You, too, madame, ' ' said Ribou quickly, ' ' will no doubt 
 be present in company with Mademoiselle de Montpensier ? ' ' 
 
 " Yes, monsieur." 
 
 " And Miss Harland ? " 
 
 Evelyn bad no intention to go. " I am uncertain, M. 
 Ribou," she said. " Invitations of courtesy from digni- 
 taries, personally unknown, are like out-worn ceremonies ; 
 they lack intention. Of course, I received your mrfe in 
 common with my friends, and thank you. ' ' 
 
 " Oh, I beg " began Ribou, all courtliness. 
 
 " Has Mr. Vansittart intimated an intention of being 
 present ? ' ' interrupted Honorine, meaningly. 
 
 " No, mademoiselle — that is, he maj' be. It is quite 
 uncertain." 
 
 "Then I also may be," said Evelyn boldly. It was a 
 retort and a challenge to Honorine. Everybody glanced at 
 everybody else. When Ribou rose, five minutes later, he 
 took Evelyn's hand. 
 
 " Then I shall expect, with even poignant anticipation, 
 to see Miss Harland ? " 
 
 Ev^elyn smiled. " It would be a pity to balk your pozg-ft- 
 d;;z/ anticipation, M. Ribou." 
 
 " It would certainl3^" Suddenly he bent to her with 
 lowered voice. ' ' May I write 5^ou on a matter of some im- 
 portance to 5^our friends and mine ? ' ' 
 
 She looked at him in surprise, and whispered a hurried 
 "Yes." 
 
 The Comtesse de Fontainebleau sat nearer the door of 
 entrance. As Ribou parted from her he muttered : 
 
 " Vansittart will be present — by special appointment with 
 Lacontel." 
 
 Vansittart was pacing from end to end of a long room at 
 the Grand Hotel, while Ribou drove back to Paris. His 
 arms were crossed on his chest, and his head drooped for- 
 ward and downward. He was alone, and his heart was 
 doing battle with its longings. 
 
Two Wonieii 305 
 
 A footman entered with a card. It bore the name, ' * M. 
 Mercier. ' ' 
 
 " Send him in," said Vansittart. 
 
 Mercier was a big man, with a huge head covered with a 
 mane of blue-black hair, which as he spoke, he would shake 
 backward, royally, like a lion's. But he stood lamb-like 
 enough before Vansittart as the latter stopped in his walk 
 and faced him. 
 
 " I see by the papers, M. Mercier," he said, " that you 
 have so far followed my suggestions. ' ' 
 
 "It is so, monsieur. At every meeting the name of 
 Henri has been acclaimed — that is, as far as our friends were 
 able to effect it." 
 
 ' ' You had some difficulty, then ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Well, naturally. The lad is unknown, or, at any rate, 
 quite ignored by the people. He is not a real factor in the 
 situation at all." 
 
 " Is M. Ribou, think you, a genuine Royalist at heart ? " 
 
 Mercier threw back his lion's mane. " Royalist, no ! 
 "Wretches of that class are not really anything at heart, 
 monsieur, except supporters of their own interests. ' ' 
 
 " Why, then, M. Mercier, did he have you, in the first 
 instance, acclaim Prince Henri ? ' ' 
 
 " I cannot tell you. He put some little money in our 
 funds. It cost us nothing. We acclaimed him." 
 
 ' ' Money ? Yet I think he is not what might be called 
 extremely rich. And it was a risk — a grave risk. He must 
 have had a motive." 
 
 ' ' Undoubtedly. You can perhaps fathom it better than 
 I." 
 
 ' ' Perhaps. And since the acclamation of the Prince at all 
 the meetings, have you seen aught of M. Ribou ? " 
 
 " Yes; and of Lacontel, too. It is rather a joke. They 
 onl}^ paid me for acclamation at three of the meetings. 
 Thej^ were perfectly mystified — even astounded, of course. 
 I told them it was the result of the spontaneous enthusiasm 
 
3o6 An American Emperor 
 
 of the people for Prince Henri, which, once aroused, was 
 spreading itself in that way. They seemed amused, and 
 even delighted." 
 
 " Good. We shall see. But suppose the people of France 
 were told that two of their ministers were distributing bribes 
 to have an exiled Prince acclaimed all over Paris, what, 
 think you, would be the sudden fate of those ministers ? " 
 
 Mercier tossed his mane, and roared with laughter. " I 
 would n't give that for them," he said, and snapped thumb 
 and finger. 
 
 " Very well. Monsieur Mercier. Our opinions coincide. 
 I will say an revoir. A further check for a hundred thou- 
 sand francs will reach you to-morrow. ' ' 
 
 ^'' Au revoir, monsieur " 
 
 " And, Monsieur Mercier ! On Thursday, in the evening, 
 you may hear from me. I am not sure ; but you may. Two 
 crosses, in pencil, or else one. You will know where to 
 strike, and do not spare them. One cross will mean the 
 Interior; two crosses the Interior and\}aQ. Colonies." 
 
 Mercier bowed and retired. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 the; soir:^^ 
 
 " T^HE rooms are too crowded, monsieur," said Lacontel. 
 1 ' ' How the throng presses ! If you would care to 
 take a turn with me in the gardens ' ' 
 
 " I am entirely at your disposal," said Vansittart, with a 
 smile that was like the smile of an iron mask. 
 
 * * Or to-morrow, at the Colonial Office ? ' ' suggested I<a- 
 contel timorously, " or at the Grand Hotel ? ' ' 
 
 Vansittart considered. " I could see you, then, at either 
 place. ' ' 
 
 " But — but — it must needs be at a very early hour — for a 
 very short time. ... I am compelled, monsieur, to leave 
 Paris — to-morrow — our interview would be hurried " 
 
 Vansittart smiled. " And you say that the matter is 
 urgent ? " 
 
 " Monsieur, it concerns the France in Africa." 
 
 " That is enough for me, Monsieur lyacontel. To the 
 gardens by all means, and at once. ' ' The breast-pocket of 
 Vansittart' s lavender-colored dress-coat bulged somewhat 
 outward. It contained a tiny Venetian revolver of embossed 
 silver. As the two men moved through the thronged vista 
 of rooms, the crowd parting at their advance, he touched the 
 spot with his finger. 
 
 For a soiree given by the minister of a republic, the recep- 
 tion produced an impression of extravagant displa3\ The 
 mansion had been recently redecorated from top to bottom. 
 On the chimney-pieces, adorned with ormolu foliage of the 
 
 307 
 
3o8 An American Emperor 
 
 richest sculpture, were placed huge mirrors iu superb frames, 
 aud on the tables were girandoles of fretted ivory. The 
 tables were Oriental and of alabaster, and the stools gilt 
 and covered with crimson velvet. The apartments received 
 upon their bright delicate summer draperies, and curtains of 
 fine gauze, the strange variegated illumination of innumer- 
 able colored lights ; and great, swift-darting bluish jets of 
 electric light would, all in a moment, cast pallor over these 
 thousands of other lights, throwing, as it were, the full 
 moon's frosty radiance over faces aud bare shoulders, over 
 the whole phantasmagory of feathers, fabrics, bows, and 
 ribbons, crushing each other in the vista, or ranked tier 
 upon tier on the broad staircases. Out in the grounds — 
 half park, half garden — an endless mosaic was wrought 
 among the foliage by Chinese, Moorish, Persian, and Japan- 
 ese lanterns, some made of perforated tin, cut into ogives 
 like mosque doors, others of colored paper resembling fruits. 
 M. Ribou had sought to set himself up as the rival in mag- 
 nificence of the millionnaire. 
 
 His whole attentions on this gala evening were devoted to 
 a stranger — to Evelyn Harland. The hint of some immi- 
 nent danger overhanging Vansittart was enough to secure 
 to M. Ribou the friendship of the simple-hearted English 
 girl. Since their first meeting at St. Cloud, this, on the 
 night of the reception, was their third. 
 
 A hurried lady came up, touched the sleeve of M. Ribou, 
 and whispered some words. 
 
 ' * I will follow you, immediately, madame, ' ' he said. 
 
 Then in a low voice to Evelyn : " It is impossible for us. 
 Miss Harland, to speak on such a subject here. I am, you 
 see, called away — always." 
 
 "One word," said Evelyn. "Does this scheme of de 
 Toumon's actually include the sacrifice of Mr. Vansittart' s 
 life — or only " 
 
 " Sh-h-h ! " he glanced round in theatrical affright. 
 " Certainly Miss Harland has not learned the truth that 
 
The Soiree 309 
 
 everything has ears in such an assembly. If you will do me 
 the honor of an interview — in private — in the grounds " 
 
 ' ' Yes ! ' ' she said eagerly. 
 
 " Descend, then, the staircase there. You will emerge 
 into a walk of poplars, at the end of which, if you turn to 
 the right, you will enter an avenue of limes. This, I think, 
 you will find deserted. And there, in from twenty minutes 
 to half-an-hour, I will have the honor to laj^ before you the 
 whole plan." 
 
 M. Ribou bowed and hurried away, steering his devious 
 path through the fashionable mob. But he did not make for 
 the lady, whoever she was, who had summoned him. In- 
 stead, he passed down one of the staircases leading to the 
 gardens. The avenue of poplars was a triple one, formed by 
 four lines of towering trees, with trunks so near together as 
 to form almost a pallisade. The central avenue was bril- 
 liantly variegated with colored lights, but the two flanks, 
 though broad, stretched out in a long gloomy perspective 
 under the crescent moon. Down one of these passed M. 
 Ribou. 
 
 Farther awaj' from the house, in another part of the 
 grounds, stood Lacontel and Vansittart. " And now, mon- 
 sieur, ' ' said the maker of colonies to the minister of them, 
 " I think we may here discuss the perils that overhang 
 France in Africa with perfect convenience. ' ' 
 
 "It is so, monsieur. The point upon which I wish to 
 confer with you, is this ' ' 
 
 But the two men never conferred upon the point. Appa- 
 rently starting out of the darkness of the shrubberies, a 
 commissionaire stood before them. He bowed and handed 
 to the minister a telegram. 
 
 Monsieur Lacontel stood beneath the light of a lantern, 
 and held the telegram before his apparently astonished eyes. 
 
 " What ! " he exclaimed. " Is this so ? " He turned to 
 Vansittart. 
 
 " Monsieur, I beg you a thousand pardons. It is abso- 
 
3IO An American Emperor 
 
 lutely essential that I should be at the Colonial Ofi&ce at this 
 moment. The message here ' ' 
 
 " Pray do not mention it," said Vansittart. " The Colo- 
 nies of France are their own excuse. Their minister, mon- 
 sieur, is above pardon." 
 
 ' ' Yet it is essential that I should speak with you. ' ' 
 
 " I will accompany you." 
 
 " Then you are kindness itself. Or would it be more 
 convenient if you await my return ? ' ' 
 
 " I am entirely at the disposal of the minister for the 
 Colonies. ' ' 
 
 "You are too good. So then let it be. I shall not be 
 twenty minutes, I think. The night, too, is warm and 
 balmy," 
 
 ' ' Very good, monsieur. At the end of that time I await 
 you here. ' ' 
 
 " Here, then," repeated M. Lacontel. " But stop ! 
 Where is ' here ? ' I declare I do not know at all. We 
 have strolled too far. I have lost myself in M. Ribou's 
 spacious estate. I seriously doubt whether I can find ' here ' 
 again." 
 
 Vansittart smiled his iron smile. 
 
 ' ' There is a staircase, ' ' he said, ' ' which leads directly 
 from the central salon into the gardens. At the foot of that, 
 let us say, I will await Monsieur le Ministre." 
 
 " Good, monsieur — there then. Or, since that spot is 
 likely to be swarming with guests, you might walk up the 
 avenue of poplars which you will find immediately before 
 the staircase, and turning to the right into an avenue of limes, 
 now in blossom, stroll until I come. At that spot we should 
 be perfectly secure. ' ' 
 
 * ' I shall not fail to be there, monsieur, ' ' said Vansittart, 
 reading keenly ever}' change of expression on Lacontel's face. 
 
 ^^ Au revoir, then, monsieur." 
 
 ^^ All revoir, Monsieur le Ministre." 
 
 They parted, the bearer of the telegram following at I^a- 
 
The Soiree 311 
 
 contel's hurried heels. Vansittart opened the door of one 
 of the lanterns, put a cigar to the flame, and began to 
 smoke. 
 
 Evelyn was at the end of the avenue of limes, walking 
 leisurely up and down. It was twenty minutes before the 
 time of her tryst with M. Ribou, but she had left the crowded 
 air of the salo?is immediatelj^ after her interview with him for 
 the spiced scent of the night in the gardens. 
 
 Lacontel had spoken truly ; the avenue of limes was rich 
 with perfume. 
 
 In the centre, the spray of a fountain whispered and mut- 
 tered, like some cold white spirit, weaving, in her far-tossed 
 hair of dew, aureoles of the lunar rainbow. The roots of the 
 trees were thick with growths of moss. But the middle 
 portion of the broad path was of a gray light soil, half earth, 
 half sand. Here and there were rustic seats. Yonder, not 
 far from the fountain, an octagonal kiosk of varnished twigs 
 occupied half the breadth of the avenue of limes. The path 
 was utterly lonely. The chirp of a cicada, piping some song 
 of jubilee from its covert of moss, broke the stillness in a 
 harmony with the serenading fountain. 
 
 From end to end of the long avenue walked Evelyn, wait- 
 ing. This was strange news that she had heard. Could it 
 be that into her hands was about to be given the power of 
 saving him from some evil scheme? That would be the 
 crown of her life — to rescue her king from peril ! But why 
 had he kept from her so much of late ? Was he secretly 
 hatching some new surprise for civilization ? Such thoughts 
 occupied her. 
 
 At the end of one of her strolls down the avenue of limes, 
 she entered again the avenue of poplars. A little tired, she 
 sat upon a seat near the angle between the two avenues. 
 Her chin rested on her hands, her elbows on her knees. 
 In this posture she sat for about five minutes, in pensive 
 meditation. A galaxy of lanterns hung just above her head. 
 A longish, crooked twig, fallen from one of the trees, lay at 
 
3 1 2 An American Emperor 
 
 her feet. In her listless mood, she took it up, hardlj^ con- 
 scious of the action. She swung it a little in her hand, with 
 the other she wrote a word — still leaning forward in her 
 pensive attitude — in the loose, sand}^ earth. 
 
 The w^ord was " Jerome." 
 
 And yonder again the word ' ' Jerome ' ' ; and yonder 
 again. She got up presently, and walked back into the 
 avenue of limes. And ever and again, as she went, she 
 stooped a little forward listlessly, and wrote in the loose, 
 sandy earth. 
 
 M. Ribou had hastened up the side avenue of poplars. 
 
 Half-way, slowly walking, with their backs towards him, 
 were two persons. Thej' were Honorine de Montpensier 
 and the Comtesse de Fontainebleau. It was at the sug- 
 gestion of the Comtesse that they had taken this walk. 
 Ribou joined them. 
 
 " I congratulate 3'ou, monsieur," said Honorine, " on the 
 feeriqiie glamor of these enchanted grounds. But why have 
 you left this avenue in almost complete darkness ? ' ' 
 
 * ' There are minds, ' ' said Ribou, ' ' for whom a touch of 
 gloom has more charms than all the bazaars of elfdom, 
 mademoiselle. ' ' 
 
 " Whither does this path lead ? " queried the Comtesse. 
 
 ' ' To a side avenue of limes, madame, at right angles with 
 this. Even from this spot the perfume of their summer 
 luxuriance reaches us. If you will permit me " 
 
 Honorine bowed assent. 
 
 "Is there a seat, monsieur?" said the Comtesse. "I 
 begin to grow tired." 
 
 " There are many, madame. One especially, to which I 
 shall conduct you, stands in an arbor of vines, and will give 
 you sight and sound of a fountain playing in an adjacent 
 avenue. ' ' 
 
 As the three sat wnthin this arbor, through the interspaces 
 between the trees before them, they saw Evelyn slowly pacing 
 to and fro in the full light. Honorine bit her lip. Upon her- 
 
The Soiree 313 
 
 self and her companions, as if by mutual consent, silence 
 fell. 
 
 The time had come for the appearance of M. Ribou. 
 Evelyn glanced at her watch. She stopped her walk, and 
 stood, waiting. Honorine's heart beat fast. She divined 
 that Evelyn Harland was here for a purpose. But what ? 
 An instinct, a presaging voice, whispered to her the name 
 of Vansittart. Was it an assignation ? At that moment she 
 thought of Prince Henri with a thrill of passion, and of 
 Vansittart with a pang of jealousy. 
 
 Vansittart, at this time, had entered the avenue of poplars. 
 He sauntered to the end, with wary eyes. He sat upon the 
 seat which Evelyn had just left. He touched with his hand 
 the weapon in his pocket. Some plot was brewing, he 
 thought. And he remembered de Tournon's attempt upon 
 him in the woods. Now he was in the middle of Paris. Yet 
 this was a spot as lonely as the depths of the wood. A 
 sudden outburst of brigands upon him would not have sur- 
 prised him in the least. But this time he was prepared. 
 The danger which threatened him, had he guessed it, was a 
 thousand times more subtle, more terrible to withstand, and 
 more tremendous to overcome than the crude violence of de 
 Tournon's ruffians in the forest. Greater is he that ruleth 
 his spirit than he that taketh a city. He was not even per 
 fectly sure of the existence of a plot against him, though he 
 was almost sure. His purpose in coming here at the bidding 
 of those whom he knew to be his enemies was definitely to 
 ascertain that there was a plot, and what it was. Then the 
 thunderbolts of his vengeance would not be slow. He sat 
 leaning forward, waiting, smiling. He touched the weapon 
 in his pocket. Presently, his eyes falling upon the ground, 
 he saw his name written in the sand. 
 
 " Jerome." 
 
 He sprang up, peering. There it was again, ' ' Jerome. ' ' 
 And 3^onder. And then following the track, " Evelyn." 
 The word ' ' God ! ' ' heaved on a pant from his chest.. She 
 
3 1 4 An American Emperor 
 
 had been here. He knew — his heart knew — who had writ- 
 ten the words. He had had no idea that she was at the 
 reception that night at all ! In a moment he forgot all 
 about the suspected plot, about Ribou, and L,acontel, and 
 the world. Evelyn had unconsciously added a thousand 
 aids to the designs of his enemies. The scribbled letters 
 had set his blood aflame. He must see her ! To-night ! 
 He started at a rapid' walk back towards the house ; but 
 stopped, and turned again. She might be there — in the 
 other avenue, near him ! He went to look, peering again 
 at the marks in the sand. As he strode into the avenue of 
 limes the three watchers in the vine-arbor saw him. Hon- 
 orine's teeth met with a snap. Eveljm was hidden from him 
 by the summer-house near the fountain. She heard his 
 steps, and thought they were those of M. Ribou. He was 
 quite near to her before he saw her. They stood face to 
 face. Vansittart's visage w^as as white and tense and stern 
 as the face of a dead man. 
 
 " You, Mr. Vansittart ! " cried Evelyn. 
 
 It was lucky that she spoke first. Her commonplace 
 surprise brought him back a little to the every-day world. 
 
 " You are alone ? " His voice was somewhat husk}'. 
 
 " I — I was waiting here for Monsieur Ribou — on — on a 
 matter of some importance," she blurted out, with English- 
 girl candor. Honorine, in the arbor, glanced at Ribou in 
 perplexed surprise. 
 
 " I am sorry if I intrude," said Vansittart with perfectly 
 cold collectedness. A whole revolution had been wrought 
 in him by one sublime, intense effort of his mighty will. At 
 the name of Ribou, the entire scheme of villainy lay open to 
 his keen eye ; and the struggle was over. 
 
 '' Do\ intrude? " he said. 
 
 ' ' No, you do not intrude, ' ' said Evelyn, ' ' only your 
 apparition was sudden." 
 
 ' ' May I take 3'ou back to the house ? ' ' 
 j^ " I think I will wait for Monsieur Ribou, thank you." 
 
The Soiree 3 1 5 
 
 Again Honorine glanced at Ribou. 
 
 " I am afraid Monsieur Ribou will not keep his appoint- 
 ment, ' ' said Vansittart, smiling. 
 
 "No? But why?" 
 
 " I fancy he is detained." 
 
 " Still, I 'd rather stay here for the present." 
 
 " Then good-night." 
 
 At that moment Honorine stood with them. Her eyes 
 were bright, her cheeks flushed. She held out her hand to 
 Evelyn. ' ' Miss Harland— will yon— will you forgive me ? " 
 
 Evelyn took her hand, saying at the same time : 
 
 ' ' What for ? How strange ' ' 
 
 Honorine turned to Vansittart with extended arm : " Mr. 
 Vansittart — though I should have known you better — I 
 have been guilty of an injustice towards you. Will you 
 forgive me ? ' ' 
 
 " The injustice," said Vansittart, " whatever it was, was 
 forgiven before its commission." 
 
 Will you take me back to the house ? ' ' 
 
 Vansittart walked with her to the foot of the staircase, 
 and then turned aside to an alley where Arizona Jim, in the 
 dress of a commissionaire, awaited him. He took from a 
 waistcoat pocket a paper marked with two crosses, and 
 handed it to his faithful follower. 
 " For M. Mercier," he said. 
 
M^ 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 A MINISTERIAI, PANIC 
 
 M. Riboii and Lacontel had fallen. And with such 
 suddenness, completeness, and ease, that the result 
 had almost the look of magic. As the political prophets 
 had foretold, there was an emaite. But it was of no real 
 importance. It occurred on the day following the night on 
 which Vansittart had sent the two crosses on a sheet of 
 paper to Mercier. The next morning a few windows of 
 inoffensive people were broken ; three butcher shops rifled ; 
 a gunshop stripped, and one man, who had opposed the 
 rioters, shot dead. That was all. This was the Socialist 
 beginning. But the affair did not end with the Socialists. 
 It ended with MM. Ribou and Lacontel. 
 
 About noon the feeling of excitement had spread through 
 the whole body of the people. The rumor had got abroad 
 that the acclamation of the Royalists at the Socialist meet- 
 ings had been due to the bribes of the two ministers. 
 Ever}-one knew of the fact of these acclamations. And 
 it was here that the skill of Vansittart was magnificently 
 displayed ; for it was with the deliberate intention that 
 everyone should know of them that he had caused the 
 acclamations to take place at all the meetings — Ribou' s 
 idea, in the first instance, being that they should occur at no 
 more than three. 
 
 As the day wore on the storm darkened. It was incred- 
 ible, this crime, the people cried. It was monstrous ; it was 
 the betrayal of France ; it was a dastardly blow at their 
 
 316 
 
" It was monstrous. It was the betrayal of France. 
 
A Ministerial Panic 317 
 
 idol, Vansittart ! The papers were full of it. By evening 
 the Chamber of Deputies had caught the contagion of de- 
 nunciation ; at ten o'clock the swarming streets were howl- 
 ing with anathemas. The next morning MM. Ribou and 
 lyacontel were politicians of the past. They had vanished 
 like mist at the breath of the empire-builder. 
 
 It was not at the desire of their fellow-ministers that this 
 thing had happened. The other members of the Govern- 
 ment knew full well that the heads of the Interior and Colo- 
 nial Offices were only using Prince Henri of Navarre as a 
 pawn in the terrible game against the man who was over- 
 shadowing all others. But they could not withstand the 
 storm that had burst upon their unfortunate colleagues. 
 I^acontel and Ribou were to be thrown to the wolves to save 
 the entire Cabinet from being devoured. Portfolios are 
 sweet to those who may still hold them, so the hapless pair 
 were sacrificed to the clamor. And the worst part of the 
 business was that Vansittart' s position had been immensely 
 strengthened by the incident. In denouncing the ministers, 
 both Press and public were practically unanimous in dis- 
 claiming any inherent dislike on their part to one-man rule. 
 
 " Why did these puppets resurrect a long-forgotten 
 Prince ? ' ' said the Journal des Debats. ' ' Had they plotted 
 to place upon the throne the man who had reconstituted 
 France, many would approve their action, whilst the 
 stanchest Republican could at least understand their zeal. 
 But this young gentleman from Navarre ! The project 
 would be laughable, were it not criminal." 
 
 These were dangerous words. They meant much more 
 than they openly expressed, and they were taken to heart 
 by none more than the remaining occupants of the minis- 
 terial posts. 
 
 Premier and subordinates alike confessed themselves pow- 
 erless to decide upon the next step to take. They did 
 not even trust their own judgment as to the selection 
 of new holders of the vacant portfolios, and whilst in this 
 
3i8 A71 American Emperor 
 
 state of dubiety tliey received an urgent summons to attend 
 a special meeting of the Palais de I'Elysee, convened by the 
 President. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said the head of the French Republic, 
 when the responsible officers of State had gathered in ready 
 obedience to his mandate, " I have, in discharge, of my sol- 
 emn trust, called j'ou together on this occasion to take your 
 counsel upon the highly significant events of recent days. 
 A stranger, a man of wealth, before whom other million- 
 naires are paupers, has honored France with his residence 
 and devoted labors. I am unable, even had I the desire, to 
 underrate the services rendered to France by Mr. Vansittart. 
 He has created for us a magnificent colony ; his enterprise 
 has restored our stricken manufactures ; France again stands 
 in the eyes of the world, wholl}- through his influence, as 
 the pioneer of commercial and industrial progress at the 
 dawn of a new century. Precisely because I do not exag- 
 gerate in thus recounting his deeds are we called upon to 
 face a real and active danger to the Republic. Some of us 
 have long foreseen that behind Mr. Vansittart' s undoubtedly 
 beneficent work lay an ulterior motive. Even yet I cannot 
 say precisely what that motive ma}^ be. It is preposterous 
 to think he would seek to make himself Emperor of the 
 French, but, candidly speaking, I see no other solution of 
 the plans which he has laid with such singular skill. Those 
 of your colleagues who ventured to cross his path or strove to 
 defeat his masterful purposes w^ere swept aside with the vigor 
 of a Napoleon and the finesse of a Mazarin. Unhappily the 
 actions of these ministers could not, by the kindliest inter- 
 preter, be called patriotic. They were venal and corrupt ; 
 their authors deser\'ed to be cast into the outer darkness ; 
 for them there can be no palliation. But the astounding 
 fact remains — it was because they opposed Mr. Vansittart 
 that their fall became more speedy and disastrous. De 
 Tournon, Ribou, Lacontel, not to mention a host of deputies 
 who have been forced to leave the Chamber by the pressure 
 
A Mmisterial Panic 3 1 9 
 
 of their constituents, owing to publicly expressed senti- 
 ments of hostility to his schemes — these are the outward and 
 visible signs of the man's appalling power. For my own 
 part, I am amazed and alarmed at the extent of his influ- 
 ence. The army, the navj^, the public services, the great 
 mass of the electorate, seem to be beneath his sway. In my 
 own family circle I am met with frequent allusions to one 
 whom they flippantly, but with obvious relish, term the 
 ' Emperor. ' In this very council of ministers he may have 
 his adherents " 
 
 Here the President was for the first time interrupted by 
 remonstrances, angrily earnest. 
 
 " Well, let it pass. I know not, nor care. My duty is 
 plain before me. As head of the Republic, I emphatically 
 state my unalterable conviction. Vansittart must be crushed 
 at once, and with the utmost firmness. Whatever be the 
 real intention behind his acts, whether they relate to Prince 
 Henri of Navarre, or to Mademoiselle de Montpensier, 
 whom we have most unwisely allowed to be domiciled in 
 France under Mr. Vansittart' s roof, we must, if we would save 
 our country from a revolution, place him outside our shores." 
 
 ' ' Is that all ? " cried the Minister for War, in disap- 
 pointed tones. He expected that the President would have 
 suggested a trial by drum-head court-martial, and a sum- 
 mary execution of the oflfender, 
 
 " All ! What more would you have. Do you contem- 
 plate restraint or punishment ? Even if we could prove any 
 overt deed, which I greatly doubt, are we prepared to face 
 an enraged people, clamoring for the liberation of their 
 hero ? Pooh ! Our lives would not be worth a moment's 
 purchase. We merely strengthen his power b)^ our foil}-. 
 Even as it is, by adopting the wisest and least exciting 
 course, we run grave risk." 
 
 "What, then, do 5-ou propose?" It was the Premier 
 who spoke. 
 
 " Nay," said the President. " Let us advance with cir- 
 
320 An American Emperor 
 
 cumspection. First, has Mr. Vansittart any well-known and 
 powerful supporter ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Liancourt ! ' ' cried several in a breath. 
 
 ' ' Is that possible ? Can you give proof of this ? lyian- 
 court is surely a disinterested patriot, if ever one lived. I 
 will begin to doubt myself if I am asked to doubt him." 
 
 No one answered. The President was clearly in a mood 
 to deal only with facts, not speculations. 
 
 ' ' Any one else ? ' ' after a pause. 
 
 " Folliet, ex-Prefect of Police," replied the Minister for 
 War. 
 
 " Ah, a clever man, who, if I remember rightly, was 
 improperly removed from his post by de Tournon. I^et him 
 be restored. We can doubtless find a better-paid appoint- 
 ment for the present occupant." 
 
 The ministers gazed at each other. This, then, was the 
 President's viodiis operandi. 
 
 " It is a good proposal," commented the Premier. " You 
 detach Vansittart' s adherents before you deal with him 
 personally. But what is your final ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Pardon, monsieur. Let me appeal for orderly progres- 
 sion. From the new basis of accomplished fact we can so 
 much more easily regard the end in view. Now, as to lyian- 
 court. Is it not time he was in the Ministry ? " 
 
 Again the assembled company sought external comfort 
 from the collective brain. Liancourt, as an unattached 
 politician, might be dangerous. , As a member of the Gov- 
 ernment, his known reputation for personal honor would 
 certainly dissociate him from a plot against the Republic. 
 If he accepted the proffered portfolio, he was free from taint. 
 If he refused, they would know what to think, and whom 
 to fear. 
 
 " Excellent ! " came the general response. 
 
 " The Interior is in bad odor just now," said the Premier 
 with a grim smile. " It will be a pleasant task for I,iancourt 
 to revive its former traditions. ' ' 
 
A Ministerial Panic 321 
 
 Another name, that of a leader of a small party of Oppor- 
 tunists, who had been troublesome of late in the Chamber, 
 was submitted and approved of for the Colonial office, and 
 the Premier at once wrote the three letters of invitation. 
 Ministers separated with lighter hearts. The President 
 clearly had a head on his shoulders. He would save the 
 Republic — and their portfolios. Within the hour Liancourt 
 and Folliet had each received his appointment. The first 
 thought of both men was to hurry off to consult with Vr. .1- 
 sittart, but their methods of viewing the situation were dif- 
 ferent. 
 
 lyiancourt smiled. " My friend will at last be compelled 
 to take me wholly into his confidence," he reflected, as he 
 buttoned his gloves. " I shall be glad to be with him in 
 every sense, and I do not think he will even suggest that I 
 should act dishonorably by conspiring in his favor whilst 
 remaining a member of the very Government he seeks to 
 overthrow. ' ' 
 
 Folliet groaned ; for he, too, had his ambitions. ' ' I 
 would like the post," he thought, " if only to show my 
 enemies that I can survive. But it is impossible. I will 
 never desert the cause of my rescuer, Vansittart, whatever 
 it be." 
 
 Yet they were both mistaken. Folliet was the first to 
 reach the Grand Hotel. He was at once shown into Je- 
 rome's librar}^, and, without a word of explanation, he 
 handed the Premier's letter to the millionnaire. Vansittart 
 read it calml5^ 
 
 " I^et me congratulate 3^ou upon this long-delayed re- 
 ward," he said. 
 
 " No," cried the other, " it is no reward ; it is treachery. 
 It is a move to detach me from your service. I scorn the 
 proposal." 
 
 "True, such is the idea of the giver. But that is only a 
 part of the transaction. When you clinch the bargain you 
 make your own terms. ' ' 
 
32 2 An America7i Emperor 
 
 "What do you mean?" Folliet was a magnificent 
 detective but a poor diplomatist. 
 
 " I mean," said Jerome, speaking with the emphasis of 
 conviction, " that much as I vakie the splendid work you 
 have done for me in your private capacity, its importance is 
 secondary compared with the assistance you may be able to 
 render me as Prefect of Police." 
 
 " That settles it, monsieur," cried Folliet, jamming his 
 hat down over his eyes. " I accept the post forthwith ; but 
 it is absolutely a compact between us that I do so wholly 
 and solely in your interests." 
 
 Iviancourt was the next. "There is a climax at hand," 
 were his opening words. 
 
 " So I understand," said the millionnaire, turning to light 
 a cigar. 
 
 " How so ? You surely cannot 3-et know the object of my 
 visit?" 
 
 " I may be wrong, but when my enemies offer Folliet, my 
 chosen protector, the Prefecture, it needs but average wit to 
 guess that a dramatic move against me will shortly be made 
 elsewhere." 
 
 " Ah ! Your news confinns my own suspicions. Read 
 this " ; and he passed over the second letter from the Premier 
 that Vansittart had perused inside of ten minutes. 
 
 The American did not speak for a little while after he had 
 returned the document. 
 
 He gazed into space, as was his habit when thinking 
 deeply. 
 
 " This time," he said at last, " it will be a fight to a 
 finish. Individual opponents gave me but passing trouble. 
 I wonder how I will fare when matched against the Govern- 
 ment ? ' ' 
 
 With a bitter smile he contemplated the chances of the 
 game. His intellect revelled in the prospect of approach- 
 ing combat, but his heart was careless of its issue. Lian- 
 court watched him closel5% even anxiously. Vansittart's 
 character was now well known to him, and he had noted 
 
A Ministerial Panic 323 
 
 with distress that the erstwhile infectious buoyancy of his 
 friend's spirits had deserted him. In the old days the fasci- 
 nating glamour of romantic enthusiasm blended with his 
 most clear-sighted and far-reaching words or acts. But 
 now, for some indefinable reason, he was cynical and dis- 
 trait — vigorous and alert as ever, but a calmly invulnerable 
 mathematician rather than a scientific Aladdin. 
 
 " You accept, of course ? " Jerome went on, questioningly. 
 
 " Perhaps. It depends solely upon your decision." 
 
 ' ' On my decision ! What can I have to say against it ? 
 I have long thought that it was your place to lead, not to 
 criticise." 
 
 " My dear Vansittart " — and I,iancourt spoke with real 
 emotion — ' ' things have now reached the point where our 
 lives run together or deviate. Out of consideration for my- 
 self you have hitherto refused to make me a partner in your 
 projects, however accurately I may have surmised their 
 nature. Your motive does you credit. It is the delicac}^ of 
 an honorable man. But it no longer obtains. If I refuse 
 this preferment I shall be bracketed with you, and you will 
 not, I am sure, wish me to fight your cause blindfold. If I 
 accept, not even the elasticity of the diplomatic conscience 
 will permit me to serve a government whilst I aid j'ou to 
 overthrow it. ' ' 
 
 Jerome stood up. His first physical emotion was invari- 
 ably typical of the mental resolve to throw off difficulties as 
 they presented themselves. If he lost Liancourt, he lost the 
 assistance of a keen intellect, which was specially equipped 
 to cope with the vagaries of French nature, whether political 
 or social. Yet how retain him ? He, Vansittart, might fail 
 lamentably and disastrously. Had he any right to involve 
 this noble-minded and gifted politician in his possible ruin ? 
 The question had only one answer. 
 
 "It is hard," he said, " to say ' good-bye ' to such a 
 friend as you. I shall miss 3'ou terribly. But there is no 
 other wa3^ You must join the Government." 
 
 ' ' What ? You cast me off ? Am I then so weak that my 
 
324 An American Emperor 
 
 alliance is despised ? " , Iviancourt, for the first time in his 
 relations with Vansittart, showed that he had a temper. 
 
 ' ' No. Surely you do not misunderstand me. The task I 
 have undertaken cannot be delegated. I must stand alone 
 at the close. Another week, perhaps a day, maj^ determine 
 my fate. As a member of the Government, you cannot, if 
 you would, enter into my schemes, but it is at least better 
 for me that a passive friend rather than an active enemy 
 should occupy the Office of the Interior." 
 
 " I would sooner stand at your side in this affair," said 
 Liancourt, convinced, but disappointed. 
 
 ' ' And I would prefer to have you as my gaoler than my 
 fellow-prisoner. ' ' 
 
 " If these are the alternatives, I willingly choose the 
 latter. ' ' 
 
 " But if there be a third ? " 
 
 " And that is ?" 
 
 " I may ask you to be my fellow-minister. All things 
 happen in France, you know. But I do appeal to you not to 
 advise the gentlemen who wish to secure your services. I 
 think I can vanquish them single-handed. If 5'ou join them 
 in mind as well as in body, I shall begin to doubt." 
 
 lyiancourt laughed. " If there were no other cau.se," he 
 said, " if my friendship for 3'ou were so easily dissolved, I 
 still have my self-love. The Premier and his colleagues will 
 not have my aid to extricate themselves from their swamp. 
 I will browse complacently on the highlands of art. You 
 forget that the Minister of the Interior is also the official 
 patron of culture. ' ' 
 
 When the Frenchman had left him, Vansittart at once set 
 to work to destroy all documents and memoranda in his 
 library likely to compromise others, as he might expect a 
 domiciliary^ visit at any moment. Whilst he was thus en- 
 gaged he received a note from General Daubisson. It ran : 
 
 " In accordance with your wishes, I have effected the 
 exchange of 50,000 fresh troops from Chalons, I<yons, and 
 
A Ministerial Panic 325 
 
 Paris, with a similar number stationed in the Sahara. The 
 movement is practically completed. Most of your old com- 
 rades are now in the Paris garrison. I throw prudence to 
 the winds, and sa}^ * The Army is with you. ' ' ' 
 
 * ' We shall see, ' ' murmured Jerome. ' * It shall soon be 
 tested." 
 
 His precautionary measures ended at the Grand Hotel, he 
 set out, with some degree of ostentation, for St. Cloud. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 THE PRESIDENT TAKES ACTION 
 
 M^ 
 
 lately refused to see Prince Henri of Navarre after 
 she had so narrowly escaped the position of being a mere 
 counter in the stakes played for by Monsieur Ribou. The 
 young prince himself, who, with all his faults, was a gentle- 
 man and man of honor, was ashamed of the inglorious part 
 he had been forced to fill, but he felt keenly the rigid fiat 
 against his presence issued bj'^ Honorine. He firmly resolved 
 to keep his compact loyally in future. Indeed, in his new- 
 born zeal, he went so far as to ask Jerome's permission to 
 reside permanently at St. Cloud, so that he would be less 
 likely to be tempted by unscrupulous opponents of the man 
 who was now clearly destined to fill the throne of France ; 
 if that precarious seat were to be won by anybody. He was 
 anxious to meet Honorine, if only to assure her of his self- 
 reliance. 
 
 The Comtesse de Fontainebleau kept her own counsel and 
 hope. Love has a method of picking locks unknown to the 
 most expert burglar. Whilst Evelyn Harland lived the 
 Legitimist cause could not die. 
 
 When Vansittart reached St. Cloud he went straight to 
 his private apartments and summoned Dick Harland and 
 Bates. With his own hand he wrote and signed one hun- 
 dred and eighteen letters, but the task was not a formidable 
 one. Each missive contained the same brief formula : 
 
 " I am now President. If you are with me, act." 
 
 326 
 
The President Takes Action 327 
 
 He placed the notes in envelopes which had been previ- 
 ously addressed, and gave them to Harland, saying : 
 
 " Take good care of these. When I give you the word, 
 endorse each letter with the hour and the date. You and 
 Jim Bates, if necessary, must personally see to their deliv- 
 ery, no matter what the hour may be. The first on the list 
 is General Daubisson. The rest are carefully arranged in 
 order of residence. I wish you both, for the next few 
 nights, to sleep in your riding costumes and to have two 
 good horses constantly saddled in the stable. During the 
 day do not leave the house or grounds on any pretext. 
 Everything may depend on promptitude, but, above all, be 
 prepared at night." 
 
 Then, as an after thought, he added, " If I should fail, 
 join me in New York." 
 
 " You will not fail," said Dick with quiet certainty. 
 
 Bates passed no remark, but left the room. He returned 
 in five minutes, and the ring of his spurs as he re-entered 
 showed what his errand had been. 
 
 ' ' You have not been long in taking me at my word, Jim, ' ' 
 exclaimed Jerome. 
 
 " No, boss, an' I ain't rigged out for a sea-trip, either." 
 
 Vansittart laughed with something of his old merriment. 
 " Really," he cried, " this confidence is encouraging. But, 
 believe me, boys, the way is dark ahead, for the next move 
 cannot be mine; it must come from the enemy." 
 
 The " enemy," as it proved, was at that identical mo- 
 ment preparing the final blow. The President had sum- 
 moned another meeting of the Cabinet, and the joyful news 
 was made known that Liancourt and FoUiet had been 
 readily detached from Vansittart' s cause, if they had ever 
 espoused it. 
 
 The Premier asked what was the next step proposed by 
 the President. 
 
 " To-morrow, gentlemen," he replied, " I will, at an early 
 hour, smooth down any possible international complications. 
 
o 
 
 28 An American Emperor 
 
 We meet here at ten o'clock in the evening precisely. Mon- 
 sieur Liancourt will, of course, be summoned in his nev» 
 capacity. You " — addressing the War Minister — " must see 
 to it that General Daubisson is in attendance. I am sure 
 you will pardon me for not carrying my proposals farther 
 to-night." 
 
 There was some grumbling at this want of confidence ; 
 but the President was master of the situation, and he was 
 obviousl}'' disinclined to reveal his final plan of action, 
 though its general nature was sufficientl}^ indicated. 
 
 Next day Vansittart was at lunch when a note reached 
 him from the British Embassy. It was from a sporting mili- 
 tary attache, and read : 
 
 ' * Just now (mid-daj'-) I was talking to His Excellency 
 about your horse, Victor, entered for the Derby next week. 
 He has a good outside chance, and I am backing him. His 
 Excellency said, ' Write to Mr. Vansittart at once, and 
 advise him strongl}^ from me, to start to-day for London, 
 and see after the final preparation of his horse for the race. ' 
 I don't exactly know what His Excellency means by this, 
 as he is no racing man, but I am carrying out his wishes. 
 He seems to be rather anxious about it." 
 
 Almost at the same moment a letter came from the U. S. 
 Ambassador. Mr. Van Regen wrote, " Have you seen 
 India or Siberia ? If not, take a trip to either place, or 
 both. Don't ask me why, but quit." 
 
 Jerome passed the documents to Harland, saying, " Glance 
 at those, and then set a match to them." 
 
 Dick could only express his feelings by a slang phrase. 
 
 " Now we shan't be " — ^Jerome reached for a heavy water- 
 bottle — " a great while," he said, with a grin, a remark 
 somewhat on a par wdth Mr. Cecil Rhodes' s famous decision 
 to ' ' face the music. ' ' 
 
 Men on the eve of a desperate enterprise seldom resort to 
 epigram. Even Vansittart was commonplace. 
 
 * ' There are lots of things I ought to place in order, ' ' he 
 
The President Takes Action 329 
 
 oaid nonchalantly. " But let them go to Jericho. I am sick 
 of afifairs. Come and pla}^ snooker. ' ' 
 
 So it came to pass that whilst the millionnaire's magnifi- 
 cent scheme of empire was rushing towards the fateful hour 
 when it must see success or failure, he spent the afternoon 
 in a keen struggle to get the better of his chosen friend and 
 Prince Henri in a game of pool for half-franc points. 
 
 There was no pretence of carelessness or ennui on his part. 
 He was simply waiting for action by others, and he was fixed 
 in his determination to deal with events as they arrived, 
 not to anticipate them. He was positively happy at the 
 thought that finality was at hand, and his smiling self- 
 possession deceived even the ladies when they came to tea in 
 the billiard-room. At dinner the whole party were in high 
 spirits. If the sword of Damocles hung over the host's head, 
 it was well hidden. After a pleasant evening they separated, 
 apparently to retire for the night, but Vansittart and Har- 
 land simply changed their clothes, and they were joined in 
 the millionnaire's study by Arizona Jim. 
 
 By ten o'clock the rulers of France were gathered in a 
 spacious inner chamber of the Palais de I'E^lysee. Lian- 
 court was present. He received the congratulations of his 
 colleagues courteously but coldly, for he was ill at ease. 
 General Daubisson, too, was much preoccupied. This late 
 and unexpected assembly puzzled and distressed him. 
 
 The President lost no time in stating his project. 
 
 " We are now called upon, gentlemen, to save the Repub- 
 lic," he said. " I have already informed the representatives 
 of the United States and England of my unalterable decision 
 to deport Mr. Vansittart this night from our shores. It sur- 
 prised them, but they could urge no tangible cause for delay. 
 This is the supreme step towards the accomplishment of our 
 difficult and responsible task." 
 
 General Daubisson started and became pallid. What if 
 his note to Jerome were discovered among the papers that 
 would surely be seized ? Did the Government su.spect ? 
 
330 Aft American Empei'or 
 
 Cold drops of perspiration glistened upon his brow. But no 
 one paid any heed to him. All eyes were fixed on lyian- 
 court. The statesman stood it grandly. Not a muscle 
 betrayed his agitation. He even smiled as he said icily, 
 addressing the President : 
 
 ' ' Is the Sahara a myth, then ? ' ' 
 
 The President took up the challenge. ' ' No, France will 
 at last have a colony. She will not rob this American. He 
 shall be paid in full. But he must not rob France." 
 
 " Kindly explain." 
 
 ' ' Mr. Vansittart would wrest from France her most cher- 
 ished possession. He would strangle the Republic. It is 
 our duty to save the Republic by strangling him. ' ' 
 
 " I thought you said you were going to deport him ? " 
 
 The President flushed with anger. ' ' This is no fit season 
 for playing with words, ' ' he cried. ' ' We will act with firm- 
 ness and constitutionally. He will be sent to his own coun- 
 try in a French man-of-war from Cherbourg. He will not 
 be allowed to return. Upon our shoulders will rest the 
 grave duty of restoring public order should it unhappily be 
 disturbed." 
 
 " His own country ? " continued L/iancourt. " Is he not 
 a Frenchman by special act of Chamber and Senate ? ' ' 
 
 " Monsieur, I will discuss details with you afterwards. 
 General Daubisson, I command you to send for a regiment 
 of cavalry, to whose colonel I will give sealed instructions. 
 Meanwhile, no one must leave this room." 
 
 A murmur of applause buzzed through the chamber. 
 The Cabinet approved of the President's bold attitude. 
 
 Liancourt never lost his wonderful self-possession for a 
 moment. Daubisson sat next to him. As the General nerv- 
 ously rose to obey the President's order he murmured, so 
 that Daubisson alone could hear, " The i8th Chasseurs ! " 
 In the same instant he cried to the President, " You are 
 juggling with edged tools. I warn you, for I doubt your 
 skill." 
 
The President Takes Action 331 
 
 " As a member of the Government, yo\x would surely save 
 the Republic, ' ' sneered the Premier. 
 
 " I would prefer to save France. The people will not 
 tolerate your action." 
 
 " The people must be taught reason." 
 
 " You may change your views, monsieur. I will honor 
 your convictions if you say those words to-morrow in the 
 Chamber." It was a bitter cut, for the head of the Ministry 
 was a notorious time-server. 
 
 The President now interposed to explain his project in 
 extenso. They would send for Vansittart, and await his 
 arrival. He would be examined by the Council, and, if his 
 answers were not satisfactory, deported by special train from 
 the Gare de 1' Quest. If, as could not be expected, he gave 
 his word of honor that his designs were not hostile to the 
 Republic, and would consent to the immediate banishment 
 of Mademoiselle Honorine de Montpensier, then the incident 
 ended. Mr. Vansittart would be free to attend to the con- 
 cerns of his Company. 
 
 Liancourt smiled at the suggestion. " Again I ask you 
 to pause before it is too late," he said. " Mr. Vansittart is a 
 man of action. You cannot treat him as a naughty child." 
 
 But his remonstrances were unheeded. Daubisson re- 
 turned, having telephoned for the troops. 
 
 ' ' What regiment have you sent for ? " inquired the Min- 
 ister for War. 
 
 " The 1 8th Chasseurs, commanded by Colonel le Breton." 
 
 " But were they not engaged with this upstart in the 
 Soudan?" 
 
 The Governor of Paris had now regained his composure. 
 He fenced blandly with the question. " Ah, you are think- 
 ing of the 6th Dragoons," he replied. " The men of that 
 regiment were reported by the Press to be personally at- 
 tached to the American, for he is a brave man, monsieur." 
 
 " You are assured, General, of the loyalty of the iSth ? " 
 
 " Quite assured, monsieur." 
 
332 An American Emperor 
 
 Liancourt did not even look at Daubisson. These two, 
 alone in that company, knew that the Press had been mis- 
 taken in the identity of the regiment so closely associated 
 with Vansittart. 
 
 The Palais de I'Klysee faces the Champs ll^lysees, but a 
 long garden intervenes between the front of the building 
 and that popular thoroughfare. Ordinarily, entrance is 
 gained to the official residence of the President from the 
 Rue St. Honore, or from either of the two side streets, the 
 Avenue Marigny, and the Rue de I'Eb'see. By the Presi- 
 dent's orders, however, the great gates at the end of the 
 garden had been thrown open, so that the passage of a regi- 
 ment through the narrower and more crowded thoroughfares 
 should not attract public attention. The Council sat in a 
 room overlooking the grounds, and shortly after eleven 
 o'clock the clanking of accoutrements outside warned those 
 present that the Chasseurs were at hand. 
 
 Colonel le Breton was announced. He entered and sa- 
 luted, standing with soldierly uprightness near the door, 
 amazement struggling with military sang-froid in his face at 
 this unexected summons before so distinguished a conclave. 
 
 The President wrote the following letter : 
 
 " CoLONEl, LE Breton : — You are commanded to bring Mr. Jerome 
 K. Vansittart, unarmed and unattended, save by you and your men, 
 to the Palais de I'Elys^e at once, to meet the President and Ministers 
 of the French Republic, on a matter of grave and urgent public 
 importance." 
 
 The President signed and sealed the paper, enclosing it in 
 an envelope, which he handed to the officer with these 
 words : 
 
 " You will proceed rapidly with your regiment to St. 
 Cloud. You will halt your men in front of Mr. Vansittart' s 
 house, and 5'ou will personally demand Mr. Vansittart' s 
 private attention. In his presence, when alone, you will 
 open and read this letter. See to it that both he and you 
 obey the instructions there given." 
 
The President Takes Actioit '^'^'2) 
 
 The soldier saluted, took the mysterious missive, and the 
 Council listened in silence to the clang of his brass scabbard 
 on the marble steps as he strode down-stairs to fulfil his mis- 
 sion, lyiancourt was the first to speak. " Monsieur le 
 President," he said with a pleasant laugh, " I would sug- 
 gest some light refreshments. None of us know when or 
 where we may breakfast." 
 
 On the stroke of midnight Jerome was helping himself 
 and his companions to a fresh cigar, when suddenly Arizona 
 Jim went to an open window and looked out. He listened 
 intently for a moment, and then peered earnestly across the 
 moonlit lawn to the point where the road to the Paris gate 
 of the park lost itself among the deep shadows of the trees. 
 He was soon satisfied. " Boss," he said, turning to Van- 
 sittart, ' ' there is a regiment of cavalry coming to the house, 
 and they 've just broken from a trot to a walk. 
 
 " Cavalry ? Capital ! I feared it would have been police. 
 No. There must be no violence. I insist that 5-ou remain 
 here until I personally send for 3'ou. Bates, I cannot give 
 va.y orders twice. ' ' 
 
 Both Harland and Arizona Jim had seized revolvers and 
 cartridge belts, and Bates was clearly unwilling to fall in 
 with his master's instructions. But Vansittart's tone left no 
 room for further protest, and with a parting handshake he 
 quitted them. There were two windows in the room. Har- 
 land occupied one and Bates the other. The}'^ watched the 
 approaching cavalcade, and neither spoke. They could not, 
 for the tears were in their ej'es, and each man feared lest the 
 other should learn of his weakness. 
 
 As Jerome descended to the entrance-hall, deserted save 
 for one attendant, whom he at once sent to the rear of the 
 house, he felt a buoyant sense of expectanc)'. Sir Walter 
 Scott has told us in stirring verse of the " stern joy that 
 warriors feel in foemen worthj^ of their steel," and the blood 
 now coursed through Vansittart's veins with a fierce tumult 
 
do' 
 
 A 71 American Emperor 
 
 that presaged the utmost mental and physical activity. His 
 hands were clinched, and his feet seemed to grip the ground 
 as he walked. Truly, if ever political adventurer were 
 ready for the fray, he was at that moment. As to eventual- 
 ities, he cared not a straw. He would deal with events as 
 they came, and would either mould them to suit his des- 
 perate fortunes, or be broken himself in the eflfort. 
 
 There was no doubt, no hesitation, no torture of useless 
 questioning. Calm and debonnaire as ever, with a smile on 
 his handsome and intellectual face, he waited near the door 
 the advent of his enemies' emissaries. And so he would 
 have continued had he been only called upon to face armed 
 men. But there were others who waited and watched in St. 
 Cloud that night. 
 
 Evelyn Harland and Prince Henri occupied rooms in the 
 front of the building. They were each striving to drown 
 thought by reading when the tramp of the horses' feet and 
 the jingle of bit and sabre fell upon their ears. Evelyn was 
 the first to catch the ominous sound. For a moment she 
 looked, spellbound, at the soldiers ; then, with a wild rush 
 of fear in her heart, she knew that their presence boded no 
 good to Jerome. His bold plot had been discovered. They 
 were come to arrest him. Perhaps his life was in danger. 
 He might resist them and be wounded. Whatever the pain, 
 no matter what the cost to herself, she must learn the truth, 
 for suspense would kill her. 
 
 She ran from the room, along a wide corridor, and reached 
 the head of the staircase to see Vansittart standing in the 
 hall, quietly tapping his right boot with a riding-whip. He 
 had not heard her footsteps on the heavy carpet, and she 
 positively startled him by saying, ' ' Oh, Mr. Vansittart, why 
 are these soldiers coming here ? ' ' 
 
 He wheeled rapidly. " Do not be alarmed, Miss Harland. 
 I expected them." 
 
 She darted down the stairs and took him by the arm. 
 
 " Yes," she half- whispered, whilst a strange light shone 
 
The President Takes Action 335 
 
 in her eyes. " You may have expected them. But they 
 will harm you. They will imprison you. Let me entreat 
 5'ou to save yourself. Trust me, I will be calm. I will lie 
 to them. I will delay them. I will tell them you are in 
 Paris." 
 
 " Miss Harland, Evelyn, I pray you leave me. All will 
 be well. Believe me that if I fail now, I can only be 
 banished from France." 
 
 Evelyn looked into his stern face, and she mistook its 
 agonized fixity for mere strength of purpose. She recoiled 
 a step, the tears welled forth, and she wailed, ' ' Ah, no, no, 
 no ! They will kill you ! I know they will ! ' ' 
 
 As she spoke they heard the sharp words of command that 
 brought the troops to a halt, and the grating of the horses' 
 hoofs on the gravel outside suddenly ceased. 
 
 Convulsive sobs shook the girl's frame, and Vansittart did 
 what he would not have done before the levelled rifles of a 
 company of infantry — he yielded. 
 
 In a second he was at Evelyn's side, his arms were around 
 her, he raised her tear-stained face, and kissed her pas- 
 sionately. 
 
 " Evelyn, my love, my love ! " he cried, and for one bliss- 
 ful instant those two forgot all other considerations in the 
 frenzied delight of knowing that their secret was a secret no 
 longer. They loved and were beloved. 
 
 But their happiness was more fleeting than a dream. 
 
 By mutual instinct they read in each other's eyes what 
 the tongue was loth to utter. Evelyn was the first to speak. 
 Gently disengaging herself, she said slowly, but with ex- 
 ceeding firmness, whilst a vivid blush sufliised her forehead 
 and cheeks : " Mr. Vansittart, you honor me, but I cannot 
 dishonor you. My happiness is as nothing to j^our duty. Go! 
 I pray heaven that you may succeed, and that the love of 
 another may be worthier than mine. If we meet again, we 
 meet as friends and well-wishers only. Meanwhile, I will 
 pray that you may be safeguarded from all peril. ' ' 
 
336 An American Emperor 
 
 In the anguish of the moment Evelyn placed her left hand 
 across her eyes, and Jerome took the other in his and bent 
 to kiss it. A tear reached it before his lips. And neither 
 knew that Colonel le Breton, standing in the open doorway, 
 and Prince Henri of Navarre, leaning over the balustrade 
 of the entresol, had heard and witnessed all that had passed 
 between them. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 VANSITTART MEETS THE CABINET 
 
 PRINCE HENRI quietly effaced himself; Colonel le 
 Breton advanced. His footsteps on the tessellated 
 pavement aroused Vansittart. 
 
 " This is hardly an unexpected pleasure, Colonel." The 
 words were clear, but his voice was forced and unnatural, 
 even to his own senses. 
 
 ' ' I am glad to hear it, ' ' replied the gallant officer, with a 
 bow to the lady, "for I do not know myself why I am 
 here." 
 
 * ' Is that possible ? Have you not been sent by the Gov- 
 ernment ? ' ' 
 
 " My faith, yes, by the President and every big- wig in 
 Paris. I hope they have not asked me to do anything un- 
 pleasant or unworthy of the Army, for my men have been 
 growling all the way from the Palais." 
 
 " But have you no instructions ? " 
 
 " Yes, this letter, which I am to open in your presence 
 alone." Vansittart glanced at Evelyn, who met his gaze 
 with a look of such mute entreaty that he said smilingly, 
 ' ' Your orders could hardly contemplate the presence of a 
 lady at this late hour. Proceed, I beg you." 
 
 Colonel le Breton forthwith opened the President's letter, 
 and read it aloud. As he proceeded his bronzed skin grew 
 swarthy with indignation and the veins on his brow swelled 
 visibly. But he persisted to the end, and then threw the 
 document on the floor. 
 
 22 
 
 337 
 
338 An American Emperor 
 
 " A thousand thunders ! " he hissed. " This is an 
 arrest ! " 
 
 " So it would seem." 
 
 " Is there no regiment in Paris but the i8th to do their 
 dirt}^ work ? Is it for this that we fought with you in 
 Africa ? My men may carry out the rascally order if they 
 like, but their Colonel will not." 
 
 In his rage he drew his sword, and would have broken it 
 across his knee had not the millionnaire prevented him. 
 
 " Not so, my friend," he said. " We met lions once 
 when you were unarmed. There may be wild beasts in 
 Paris to-night, and I want your help." 
 
 ' ' But I cannot fight against the Government ? ' ' 
 
 " You shall not. Unless I am mistaken, you will fight 
 for it, if there be the need, which I doubt." 
 
 "Yet, what can we do, Mr. Vansittart ? The Cabinet 
 even now await you." 
 
 " I will come. But tell me. Colonel, I may greet my old 
 comrades ? ' ' 
 
 " Assuredly. They will be right glad to see 3'ou." 
 
 Vansittart picked up the fallen letter, and passed out on 
 to the verandah into the full light of the moonbeams. He 
 was followed by le Breton, and by Evelyn, who remained in 
 the shade of a pillar. When the Chasseurs caught sight of 
 Jerome, a great shout of delight went up from all ranks. 
 With a common impulse, they drew their swords and saluted. 
 There could be no mistaking the feelings of the army for the 
 man whom they always called " the Emperor." 
 
 " Messieurs," said Vansittart, " I am glad to meet you 
 again. I have missed your cheerful company since affairs 
 recalled me to Paris. I trust we shall not be readily parted 
 again." 
 
 Another hearty cheer expressed their sentiments, to be 
 succeeded by eager, but subdued comments. 
 
 " He is a rare one, eh ? " 
 
 " What 's he up to now ? " 
 
Vansittart Meets the Cabinet 339 
 
 *' Going to stick to us. That 's good ! " 
 
 And then a single stentorian voice, " Vive V Empereur .f^ 
 
 The cry was taken up with vigor. Startled sleepers in 
 the Chateau were now flinging wide their shutters to learn 
 what strange proceedings were taking place on the lawn. 
 There came another yell from an upper window, this time in 
 solid Anglo-Saxon : 
 
 " Go it, my bucks. You We all right ! " 
 
 All eyes were turned upwards, and the Chasseurs hailed 
 Arizona Jim with a friendly shout of recognition. At last 
 silence was restored, for the soldiers realized that something 
 dramatic must happen. 
 
 Vansittart at once addressed them in clear ringing tones : 
 " Officers and men of the i8th Chasseurs. The President 
 of the French Republic, with the consent and connivance of 
 the members of the Government, has sent your colonel and 
 yourselves here to-night to arrest me, so that I may be 
 packed out of the country like a felon. Lest you may im- 
 agine that there has been some mistake, I will read you the 
 letter of instruction given to Colonel le Breton by the Presi- 
 dent." And he forthwith placed his hearers in possession 
 of its contents. 
 
 Had a dozen live bombs been thrown into the midst of the 
 Chasseurs, the missiles would not have created such furious 
 consternation as this remarkable document. The regiment 
 was dumb with indignation. Taking a quick advantage of 
 the general inability to say anything suitable to the moment, 
 Jerome continued : 
 
 ' ' Of what crime am I accused ? My enemies are silent on 
 this point ; but I will tell you. I — and you — have conspired 
 to raise the fortunes of France. We have given our blood 
 and our treasure to lift her supreme among the nations. 
 We have fought and toiled in the desert that France may 
 possess a colony equal in riches and superior in position to 
 the most favored territories of other lands. This is my 
 crime, and you are my abettors. You know full well how I 
 
340 An American Emperor 
 
 have been thwarted and annoyed and maligned by the self- 
 seekers who usurp the high places in the councils of this 
 great country. The Ministers of France have descended to 
 the most petty and ignoble shifts to injure my projects and 
 delay their accomplishment. But they have failed thus far 
 because the Army upheld me, and the vast body of the 
 people believed in me. Now, as a last resort, before they 
 vanish into everlasting nothingness, \h^y strain the re- 
 sources of authorit}', and hope to imprison me or deport me 
 to exile whilst they wreck the fair prospect which I have 
 held out before you. Will you permit it ? " 
 
 Eight hundred voices bellowed a thunderous " No." 
 
 " I believe you. I never doubted yo\x for one instant. 
 Friendships made as ours, in the storm and stress of battle, 
 cannot be dissolved at the breath of any place-hunting poli- 
 tician. For what are these men who dare to cross my path ? 
 Three of them I have unmasked alread3^ De Tournon, 
 Ribou, Lacoutel — j-ou know them. They would sacrifice 
 France, as they slandered her army, for their own selfish 
 ends. And the others ? I will tell you why they hate me. 
 I am not one who will sell the Cross of the Legion of Honor 
 to any huckstering knave who bids the highest price. Under 
 m}^ code, the Cross, your Cross, could be bought only by a 
 brave deed in the midst of peril. I will not pay the bribes 
 of another Panama. I will not tolerate laws written on the 
 counterfoils of a check-book. I refuse to recogriize men who 
 barter their political faith for a salary. These are my crimes, 
 and I now go to answer for them before my self-constituted 
 judges. Do I go as your leader or your prisoner ? " 
 
 A fierce roar of acclamation gave him no uncertain or fal- 
 tering reply. And again rang out the tremendous shout, 
 " Vive V Emperezir ! " The i8th Chasseurs were ready to 
 follow him anj'where, and do anything at his bidding. 
 
 Turning to le Breton, Vansittart said: " Do you come with 
 me, Colonel ? " 
 
 " On my life ! As well be shot to-night as at daybreak ? " 
 
Vansittart Meets the Cabinet 341 
 
 " There will be no shooting. Do you know where Gen- 
 eral Daubisson is ? " 
 
 "With the Council." 
 
 Jerome now approached Evelyn. * ' Will you go to your 
 brother and Bates in my study, ' ' he said, ' ' and tell them to 
 ride off at once on my errand, but to omit Daubisson, and 
 go straight to Folliet ? ' ' 
 
 " Yes. And even as I obey 3'ou, let me be the first to 
 call you ' my Emperor. ' ' ' 
 
 He came nearer, but she ran into the house, and the sol- 
 diers, mistaking her for Honorine de Montpensier, of whom 
 they had all heard, cried, '%ong live the Empress ! " 
 
 Five minutes later, having left a troop to guard St. Cloud 
 during his absence, Vansittart rode off to Paris at the head 
 of the Chasseurs, but the dust was already settling down 
 where it had been disturbed by the rapid gallop of Dick Har- 
 land and Bates. No quicker delivery of letters ever took 
 place in Paris than the distribution effected by those two 
 that night. 
 
 In the room of the Palais de I'Elysee the President and 
 ministers sat, thoughtful but confident, to await the return 
 of the Chasseurs. Liancourt, after a little reflection, deter- 
 mined to resign forthwith, as he was now powerless to help 
 Vansittart. He wrote a formal letter to the Premier to that 
 effect, but the head of the Ministry refused to accept it. It 
 did not suit his plans to permit I^iancourt to wriggle out of 
 his share of official responsibility for that evening's deeds. 
 Liancourt adhered to his resolution, and the letter lay on 
 the table. 
 
 There was much animated conversation in the gathering, 
 and the flow of wine, provided by the President, tended to 
 raise the depressed spirits of politicians who had not felt 
 secure in possession of their portfolios since the departments 
 of the Colonies and the Interior had been so suddenly be- 
 headed. Curiosity blended with hope to render feverish 
 
342 An American Emperor 
 
 their anticipation of the coming dramatic scene, and furtive 
 glances at the clock showed a burning anxiety as time pro- 
 gressed, and the soldiers did not arrive. At last even the 
 President lost patience. He despatched a messenger to see 
 if there were any signs of the Chasseurs, and a thrill ran 
 through the company when the man returned, about 1.15 
 A.M., to announce that the cavalry were now coming at a 
 trot down the broad avenue of the Champs Eb's^es. 
 
 As the attendant quitted the room, the listening Council 
 heard the first sound of the approaching horses. A minute 
 later the clamp of many feet on the staircase heralded Van- 
 sittart's approach. The folding doors were flung wide, and 
 the millionnaire, accompanied by Colonel le Breton and a 
 dozen ofiicers, entered. The soldiers stood near the door, 
 and did not salute. Vansittart advanced alone. His quick 
 eye caught the signs of festivity on the table. 
 
 " Good evening, gentlemen," he said with an affable 
 smile. "A late .supper? I am delighted to join 3'ou, 
 though the manner of your invitation was somewhat un- 
 usual." 
 
 The President rose, slightly nonplu.ssed. He ignored 
 Vansittart' s words. " Colonel le Breton, you and your 
 officers may retire. Kindly await instructions with your 
 regiment. ' ' 
 
 The plain-spoken Chasseur was no coiner of elegant 
 phrases. 
 
 " I am obeying orders," he growled. " My orders are to 
 remain here." 
 
 "Your orders!" shouted the President. "Whose 
 orders? " 
 
 " Mr. Vansittart' s." 
 
 The assembly more than paled at this strange reply. It 
 blanched. It visibly shrunk. In mere avoirdupois it lessened 
 materially. 
 
 Jerome's glance chanced to fall upon General Daubisson, 
 and he was hard-set to keep from laughing at that warrior's 
 
Vansittart Meets the Cabiiiet 343 
 
 miserable aspect. He was livid with frightful uncertainty, for 
 he was quite unable to decide how the cat was going to jump. 
 
 In the midst of an awed hush L^iancourt struck a match 
 with a loud noise, and lit a cigarette. 
 
 The President choked with rage. 
 
 " You scoundrel ! " he roared. " You insulting dog. 
 
 You dare to tell me. You dare " and he spluttered 
 
 incoherently. 
 
 Le Breton's visage was aflame. " You are an old man," 
 he cried. " Else would I run you through the liver. It is 
 not I who presume ; it is you. ' ' 
 
 The President found his voice again : "I will have your 
 epaulettes torn from your shoulders by the public execu- 
 tioner. I ' ' 
 
 But Vansittart broke in. 
 
 ' ' Silence ! " he said sternly. ' ' This unseemly brawl ill 
 agrees with your age, monsieur. I would have you, and all 
 here, know that Colonel le Breton acts with my authority. 
 Keep your temper, I pray you, and imitate my example. 
 I^et us toast each other. ' ' 
 
 With apologetic politeness he leaned over the Premier's 
 shoulder, and helped himself to a glass of champagne, which 
 he drank at a draught, observing, ' ' The dust rises when 
 one rides hard. I was quite thirsty." 
 
 By a violent effort the President regained some degree of 
 self-control. With tolerable firmness he said : 
 
 ' ' This outrage shall cost you dear, Mr. Vansittart. You 
 are summoned here to-night to answer a charge of con- 
 spiring against the Republic. I, for one, hoped that you 
 might have answered it to our satisfaction. But the atti- 
 tude of yourself and your associates proves that our sus- 
 picions were well founded. It is not befitting my dignity to 
 discuss the matter under present conditions. I will deal 
 with you at a later hour." 
 
 ' ' No, monsieur. You shall deal with me now. I require 
 your immediate resignation. ' ' 
 
344 -^^ American Emperor 
 
 " My resignation ! Insolence ! " 
 
 " Possibly. So far I have striven to be courteous, but 
 explicit." 
 
 " And if I refuse ? " 
 
 " You remain a prisoner, as you now are, subject to my 
 directions. ' ' 
 
 ' ' By what extraordinary right do you make this astound- 
 ing proposition ? " 
 
 " By virtue of the fact that I am President of France." 
 
 "Since when?" 
 
 " Since j-ou and 5'our councillors resolved to use unconsti- 
 tutional methods to attain our ends. ' ' 
 
 " Our ends, monsieur, were to save France from your 
 clutches. ' ' 
 
 ' ' You are not France. France shall decide. I shall 
 abide by her decision." 
 
 The President sat down, dumfounded at the amazing 
 turn taken by events. 
 
 Vansittart coolly continued : * ' Perhaps you require time 
 for thought. Reflect, by all means. I have the fullest trust 
 in 5'our good sense." 
 
 Then he turned to Liancourt. " My friend. Do you 
 leave this ministry that loves you not ? ' ' 
 
 Liancourt pointed to his letter. ' ' I resigned an hour ago. ' ' 
 
 " I am more than delighted. At last I can speak to you 
 openl)'. Will j^ou take in hand the formation of a new 
 ministry to meet the Chamber this afternoon ? ' ' 
 
 " With the utmost pleasure — and confidence." 
 
 " And yo2i, General Daubisson ? Do you retain the com- 
 mand of the army ? ' ' 
 
 " So long as I retain the good-will of the President." 
 Daubisson was now square upon his feet. The cat had 
 jumped unmistakabl3\ 
 
 Vansittart gave to the Premier and his colleagues the 
 alternative offered to the President. They were utterly 
 nonplussed, and knew not how to act. 
 
Vansittart Meets the Cabinet 345 
 
 Apparently this magician had every force in France at his 
 back. They had not the shghtest doubt of the result of a 
 popular plebiscite. Vansittart would be acclaimed by the 
 people ; they would be in a minority of ten compared with 
 forty millions. 
 
 And lyiancourt was forming a Cabinet ! 
 
 Perhaps 
 
 The Minister for War spoke first : " I resign, ' ' he said, 
 * ' and at the same time reget that a mere difference of opin- 
 ion should have brought about this disagreeable rupture. ' ' 
 
 "And I !" 
 
 "And I !" 
 
 Including the Premier, they all followed suit. 
 
 " Thank you, messieurs," said Vansittart. " You are 
 free to depart. Colonel le Breton, kindly see that these 
 gentlemen are escorted to their private residences. ' ' 
 
 The Minister for War muttered an oath. ' ' I wish first to 
 visit my bureau," he snarled. There were incriminating 
 letters there from de Tournon and Ribou. 
 
 Jerome was suavity itself. " For private documents, no 
 doubt. They shall be carefully preserved and sent to you." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " Monsieur, I have much to attend to. Your escort 
 waits." 
 
 Utterly disheartened, cowed, browbeaten, disgusted, and 
 disappointed, the ex-ministers of the Republic passed out 
 into the night. Their only solace was to rail extensively at 
 the stolid Chasseurs who accompanied them to their homes, 
 and permitted conversation with no one. 
 
 The Pr'^sident had noted their actions with bitter scorn. 
 When the last of their number had quitted the room he 
 rose : " You are apparently master of the situation, M. Van- 
 sittart," he said. " I, too, resign, but not with the hope of 
 retaining office. I am an old man, more than twice your 
 age, and it is possible that you can see into the future more 
 clearly than I do. I hope, with the utmost sincerity, that 
 
34^ -^^ American Emperor 
 
 your actions may be justified by results. Certainly, France 
 has not lost much in the persons of her chief citizens. But I 
 beseech you, let there be no bloodshed. In these cases it is 
 too often the poor and weak who suflFer. ' ' 
 
 Vansittart was touched by the honesty of purpose revealed 
 by these words. 
 
 " If I can prevent it, monsieur, I shall not climb to power 
 by the loss of a single life. Meanwhile, though the Palais 
 must perforce become my official residence at once, I beg of 
 you to regard it as wholly at your service for as long as you 
 choose to remain. ' ' 
 
 The old gentleman bowed, and slowly went out. He was 
 stunned in body and mind. He cared not for the issue of 
 events. He did not make the slightest effort to commniuni- 
 cate with anybody save his own family, and with them he 
 was reticent. Thenceforth he learned the progress of affairs 
 through the newspapers, and marvelled that he should ever 
 have thought of crossing swords with Vansittart. 
 
 Yet he had his consolations. ' ' It was I who gave him his 
 chance, my dear," he would say confidentially to his wife. 
 " If I had not been an addle-headed old ass, and acted as I 
 did, he would have lacked the opportunity. Still, it has all 
 turned out very well, and I was growing tired of the Presi- 
 dency. Why, I never knew from one day to another who 
 was in office. In one month we had four distinct cabinets." 
 
CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 A BLOODLESS REVOLUTION 
 
 VANSITTART had given to Liancourt a bare summary 
 of events, with a view towards seeking his advice as 
 to further action, when a pistol shot rang through the ex- 
 ternal lobby, coming apparently from the entrance hall. 
 Colonel le Breton, followed by Jerome, hastened forth to 
 inquire into this threatening circumstance. They were met 
 on the stairs by Folliet, laughing heartily, Arizona Jim leis- 
 urely mounting the steps behind him, and fitting a fresh 
 cartridge into an empty chamber of his revolver. 
 
 ' ' Bates, ' ' said Vansittart, and this time he was genuinely 
 angry, for he meant at all hazards to stop unnecessary 
 violence, " how dare you shoot at any one when I have 
 forbidden you ! " 
 
 " I did n't, boss. I did n't even singe his whiskers." 
 
 Folliet was clearly much tickled by some occurrence, for 
 he continued to laugh immoderately. 
 
 " What do you mean by disobeying my orders, you — you 
 — I am tempted to call you a horse thief. ' ' 
 
 " Well, don't, boss ; there ain't no 'casion. Folliet said 
 you might happen to want me, so I left Mr. Harland to do 
 the letter-carryin' , as he knows Paris a heap better 'n me. I 
 comes along with his nibs, and when we hops inter the hall 
 he sees a jay in the telephone box, and hears him shout a 
 number. ' Mon Jew ! ' cries Folliet, ' that 's the number of 
 the Invalides barracks, and that scoundrel is one of Ribou's 
 agents. He will alarm the troops with false news.' It 
 
 347 
 
348 An American Emperor 
 
 struck me hard, boss, that there was n't no time to be lost, 
 so I just plugs a bullet into the talkee part. I guess that 
 machine wants repairs, an', holy smoke, did n't that chap 
 quit ? It was more fun nor a box of monkeys to see him 
 skip ! " 
 
 FoUiet's unrestrained mirth was contagious. Vansittart 
 was forced to follow his example, to be joined by Liancourt 
 and the Chasseurs when the incident was explained. Surely 
 jever before was conspiracy to seize a state so jovial at the 
 hour of its birth. 
 
 " Well," said Jerome at length, " I am glad you are here, 
 Jim. I had forgotten one thing, and that most important. 
 Ride back to St. Cloud with this note." 
 
 Sitting in the Council chamber, in the President's chair, 
 he seized pen and paper, but hesitated a moment over the 
 first word. Then he wrote : 
 
 To E\'Ei.yn: — All is well so far. I have succeeded, I think, with- 
 out a blow.— Jerome. 
 
 He crumpled it up in an envelope and handed it to Bates, 
 saying, " That is for Miss Harland. She will be anxious 
 for news, so I suppose, I need not tell you to hurry." 
 
 Bates made no reply, but in ten seconds he gave the Chas- 
 seurs on the lawn a fine lesson in the art of mounting a 
 horse that has already jumped off into a gallop. It is five 
 miles of pigeon-flight from the Elysee to St. Cloud, but Ari- 
 zona Jim, who rode a .superb bay hunter, threw himself from 
 off" his foam-bathed steed eighteen minutes after receiving 
 the note, and strode up to the main entrance to ring for an 
 attendant. The doors were wide open, and within, standing 
 in an anxious group, were Evelyn, Honorine, the Comtesse 
 de Fontainebleau, and Prince Henri, Arizona Jim was no 
 fool. He knew exactly how certain it was that the delivery 
 of a message from Vansittart to the English girl at such a 
 juncture would be misconstrued by the others. 
 
A Bloodless RevoUUion 349 
 
 He did not hesitate a moment, " The boss don't know 
 his own mind, ' ' he ruminated, ' ' but I do. Jehosh ! A wad 
 of lead in a telephone is nothin' to this bee in a bonnet- 
 box." 
 
 They all saw him, and ran to him questioning. " Ah ! a 
 letter ! " cried Honorine. " From Mr. Vansittart? Give it 
 to me." 
 
 "It 's not for you, miss," he said quietly, advancing 
 towards Evelyn. 
 
 Evelyn blushed furiously, but opened the note and read 
 it aloud after one hasty glance. 
 
 " He wrote to me," §he added, " because he knew that I 
 had seen my brother and the others go away. Otherwise, 
 he would have sent the first message to you, ' ' with a glance 
 at Honorine. 
 
 It was a magnanimous utterance, and showed the honesty 
 of her heart. The other woman, a queen in all but name, 
 was equal to the situation, though she felt its bitterness. 
 
 " Of course," she said, swallowing the pill with a smile. 
 " He naturally thinks I am still sleeping. Come, Bates, 
 supplement Mr. Vansittart' s brief intelligence. Where is 
 he ? What has happened ? ' ' 
 
 In the Palais by this time all was bustle and animation. 
 General Daubisson had summoned the leading ofiicers of the 
 Paris garrison, and they unanimously congratulated Vansit- 
 tart on the bold but necessary step he had taken. In 
 response to the laconic information left by Dick Harland, 
 politicians, permanent heads of departments, and well-known 
 members of society hurried to the l^lysee, and Vansittart 
 already felt assured that he had in no way underrated the 
 extent of public sympathy in his favor. 
 
 One of Liancourt's first cares was to send to the newspaper 
 offices a full and authentic account of the night's events, and 
 also a statement of Vansittart' s intentions, thus leaving no 
 room for panic or sensational rumor. Placards to the same 
 efifect were posted throughout Paris, and when the City of 
 
350 An American Emperor 
 
 Light poured her citizens into the streets, there was no lack 
 of food for gossip in the early hours of the day. 
 
 The millionuaire described in simple language the nature 
 of his dramatic act, and the causes that had led up to it. He 
 promised that the Provisional Government would make a 
 statement to the Chamber that day, announcing a general 
 appeal to the constituencies at the earliest possible date, 
 when the issue before the people would be a plain one — did 
 they, or did they not approve of his determination to make 
 an end of the class of ministers who had, in his opinion, so 
 long mismanaged the affairs of France ? If they were with 
 him, and elected a Chamber pledged to nominate him as 
 President, he would do his best for the country. But if the 
 electors believed that the old rigime was better for France, 
 then he would at once retire, and await prosecution at the 
 bar of a legal tribunal. Meanwhile, during the interregnum, 
 he would conduct the public business on constitutional and 
 non-committal lines, for he would take no step that did not 
 command and obtain the good-will of the people. 
 
 Paris read the newspapers and the proclamation. It talked 
 with exceeding quickness and gesticulated with unusual ani- 
 mation. It gathered in groups, big and little, to discuss 
 matters, and not a policeman interfered with it. Whereat 
 Paris marvelled, for such a thing was unprecedented. Then 
 Paris grew hungry. It was time for dSjehier. So it went 
 to its favorite eating-house, and was invited by the proprie- 
 tor " to take lunch with Mr. Vansittart." 
 
 Rvery restaurant in the city had received carte blayiche to 
 feed its customers that day at the expense of the Provisional 
 President. 
 
 A knot of communists talked of a barricade in the Fau- 
 bourg St. Martin. A police commissiary appeared and 
 announced the free meals, of which the redshirts were pre- 
 viously ignorant, and there was no barricade. In a word, 
 Paris lunched well and extensively. 
 
 After it had done full justice to the varying menu, there 
 
A Bloodless Revolution 351 
 
 was no talk of business. Paris drove, or ran, or hobbled, it 
 even staggered, to the Chamber of Deputies, and, if any- 
 patriotic Republican member doubted the expediency of 
 Vansittart's jump over the barrier of law, he had no doubt 
 as to the expediency of keeping his doubts to himself For 
 the deputies passed to the Chamber through a vociferous but 
 orderly mob, which was for the millionnaire down to the last 
 man, woman, and child. 
 
 " This is a new sort of July Revolution," said one mem- 
 ber to another. ' ' What do you think of it ? " 
 
 " I don't try to think ; I observe." 
 
 ' ' And what is the outcome of your observation ? ' ' 
 
 " That when the people have made up their mind in this 
 fashion, the sooner we make up ours on the same lines, the 
 better it will be for us. ' ' 
 
 " But it is outrageous, this coup d'itat ! " 
 
 "It is nevertheless a fact. I am more concerned with 
 to-morrow than with yesterday. ' ' 
 
 When Liancourt rose in the Chamber there was an un- 
 wonted hush. All the ousted ministers were present in their 
 capacities as deputies. They were now resentful, and ready 
 to make a scene. He had hardly uttered three sentences 
 before they violently interrupted, backed up by a few short- 
 sighted partisans. 
 
 But even as I^iancourt was speaking, there came through 
 the open window a roar of exultation that momentarily grew 
 in volume until it rendered impossible any further debate in 
 the House. The great shout swelled into frenzy. There is 
 no sound like that of tens of thousands of human voices 
 united in the same cry. Concerning its nature there speed- 
 ily was no ambiguity. The people were yelling " Vive 
 Vansittart !^^ with extraordinary power and unanimity. 
 Was it mere exuberance of sentiment, this oxy, or was there 
 an exciting cause ? 
 
 An official entered, and the news quickly buzzed through 
 the Chamber that the man upon whom all thoughts were 
 
352 An American Emperor 
 
 centred, was riding alone towards the building, and that the 
 crowd, unguided, had prepared his triumphal path. 
 
 This move by Jerome was an absolute stroke of genius. 
 
 What better proof of his unbounded confidence in the 
 people than that he should pass through their midst in such 
 manner, and trust himself, unarmed and unattended, within 
 the precincts of the parliament that might conceiv^ably be 
 hostile to him. 
 
 ' ' Will he, single-handed, arrest us all ? " laughed a 
 deputy. The joke was an uneasy one. Whilst it ridiculed, 
 it admitted his power. 
 
 Vansittart was seemingly in no belligerent mood. Having 
 patiently extricated himself from the crowd, he gave his 
 horse to a janitor, and sought a place in the visitors' gal- 
 lery. Not knowing how to deal with him, the attendants 
 ushered him into the section reserved for distinguished 
 strangers. Now, this happened to be the spot whence 
 Napoleon the Third would at times watch the debates of a 
 Chamber that helped him to his ruin. Republican usage 
 had broken the tradition, but it could not banish the mem- 
 ory. All eyes were fixed upon him, and he bowed low to 
 the assembled deputies, whereat there burst forth an approv- 
 ing cheer. 
 
 Then the chairman's bell rang out .sharply, and Liancourt 
 concluded his speech. Others followed, but they all agreed 
 that the wisest course was to appeal immediately to the 
 country, and thus obtain the unequivocal opinion of the 
 electorate upon the strange occurrences of the preceding 
 night. Before they well knew what they were doing, the 
 Chamber had passed the necessary credits to enable the 
 Provisional Government to administer public business until 
 the general election was over, and the sitting concluded. 
 This important fact was telegraphed to provincial prefects 
 and mayors, and all France went to its evening meal pro- 
 foundly astonished, but wonderfully well pleased. The 
 national complaisance may be readily explained by the 
 
A Bloodless Revolution 353 
 
 phenomenal hold that Vansittart now possessed over the 
 affections and imaginations of every adult in the country. 
 
 But London and New York were stupefied. 
 
 Notwithstanding the Daily Telegraph'' s Paris article and 
 the New York Clarion'' s extensive references to his deeds, 
 none in either country regarded him as other than an 
 amiable and clever man, who found delight in applying his 
 unprecedented riches to utilitarian ends. 
 
 When French opinion saw in him a possible Emperor, 
 the superior Saxon smiled at the conceit. That which is a 
 political faith in France may be scoffed at in England or the 
 United States. 
 
 True, the Governments of both countries were better in- 
 formed. But in neither case did ministers discover ground 
 for alarm in such a consummation. There was, however, 
 an unmistakable flow of popular sympathy towards his 
 cause, and every steamer from both countries conveyed to 
 France crowds of idlers and pressmen, anxious to witness 
 and describe the stirring scenes expected. 
 
 It was left for Germany to consolidate Vansittart' s posi- 
 tion, if he needed any such extraneous help. 
 
 The Kaiser was naturally agitated by the incidents in 
 Paris. Of course he sent a telegram — to the wrong man. 
 He wired a message of condolence with the fallen President, 
 but the latter, one of the soldiers of 1870, bitterly and pub- 
 licly resented it. There was some bluster in the Press, so 
 William II. moved a couple of army corps nearer the Rhine. 
 Vansittart sent a civil inquiry as to the reason for this dis- 
 play of energy, and the answer was curtly unsatisfactory. 
 The Emperor of Finance smiled when he received this 
 retort from the Emperor of Bounce. After a short consulta- 
 tion with Peter Studevant, he administered a severe rattling 
 to the Berlin Bourse, and ordered the whole French Army to 
 assemble for the autumn manoeuvres in the neighborhood of 
 Belfort. 
 
 This was sufficient. The Kaiser realized that he had met 
 
354 -^^ American Emperor 
 
 an opponent who was versed in the first principles of poker, 
 and knew enough to raise the hair off his head at the earli- 
 est opportunity. The German army corps were recalled, 
 the Berlin Bourse was allowed to breathe again, and the 
 French troops were directed to indulge in territorial training, 
 as the Belfort mobilization would be too expensive. 
 
 The Paris Press wept for joy, and the statue of Stras- 
 bourg, in the Place de la Concorde, was for once decked 
 with a garland of roses. ' ' At last, ' ' shrieked the Gil Bias, 
 " the lost provinces are seen again, after being shrouded for 
 a generation in the midst of bitter regrets," whilst a semi- 
 oflScial communication to the St. Petersburg papers declared 
 that ' ' Russia is regarding the phase through which France 
 is passing with a curious but friendly eye." 
 
 Liancourt arranged for the election to take place a fort- 
 night after the dissolution. It was to be conducted on the 
 scrutin de liste basis — that is to say, the entire population of 
 a department voted for candidates cyi bloc. Thus, if the 
 people supported Vansittart, there would be no minority 
 representation. When all that human ingenuity could do 
 had been done to insure his success, the volatile goddess of 
 chance stepped in to help. Jerome's horse, Victor, won the 
 Derby, and was backed by the " French Division" with 
 that thoroughness and liberality which on other occasions 
 make them so popular with " the ring." 
 
 And to crown all, the day before the election, Maclaren 
 sent a definite description of the opening of the Gabes Canal, 
 with the other waterways connecting the lakes, thus per- 
 mitting Captain Pompier successfully to navigate the Sphinx 
 and the Seafarer to the western shore of Lake Melrhir. 
 
 Under these conditions, Vansittart calmly awaited the 
 verdict of the polls. It came in splendid style. Every 
 deputy was pledged to elect him President, and to support 
 him in all his undertakings. 
 
 A superb spectacle was arranged for the eventful day 
 when the Senate and Chamber of Deputies foregathered at 
 
A Bloodless Revolution 355 
 
 Versailles to carry out this pleasant duty, and Vansittart's 
 triumphal return to Paris was unanimously declared to be 
 the record display of the capital since the collapse of the 
 Third Empire. 
 
 L,ate that night, thoroughly worn out with the fatigue of 
 the brilliant pageant, President Jerome Vansittart smoked a 
 peaceful pipe in the sanctuary of his friend Dick. Both had 
 been silent for some moments. Harland was the first to 
 speak. 
 
 ' ' The next thing, Jerry, is Notre Dame and a coronation, 
 to be immediately succeeded by your marriage with " 
 
 " For heaven's sake, Dick, talk about something else. 
 Sufficient for this day, at any rate, is the ceremony there- 
 of." 
 
 Harland was surprised at this testiness, but he only said : 
 
 " I can't see any harm in such a simple bit of speculation 
 after all the wildly impossible things you have already 
 turned into realities. ' ' 
 
 ' ' No, no, I quite appreciate your words, old chap, but the 
 prospect ahead worries me." 
 
 " In the name of goodness, why ? " 
 
 Jerome hardly knew how to frame his answer, when he 
 chanced to think of a note he had received after dinner. 
 This would serve to change the conversation, and cover his 
 own petulance. He handed it to Dick. " My keenest 
 enemy is still at work," he said. 
 
 It was but a plain sheet of notepaper, and it bore the 
 words : " Hail, President. All goes well so far, but there 
 are those who know how to wait. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Who wrote it ? " inquired Harland. 
 
 " DeTournon." 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 THE PRINCESS MARCHESI 
 
 A WEEK after Vansittart's election, the Princess Mar- 
 chesi, his aunt, arrived in Paris. Previously, it has 
 been stated that she was once known as la belle Americaine 
 in the American colon}' at Rome. She showed signs of 
 being belle still, but was also 2isee, and shrivelled. She 
 painted thickl)', in a loud carmine ; her hair should have 
 been gray or white, but was brown. In her preoccupation 
 with herself, she did not stop to remember that girlhood is 
 more than a dye, that youth is not a confection oi poiidre 
 de riz. 
 
 Wishing to be young again, she looked about her for an 
 enchanter to work this marv^el, and had the shortsightedness 
 to pitch upon the parfumeur, the druggist, the dentist, and 
 the manicure. They succeeded in effecting a rejuvenescence 
 in her hair, but could not alter the texture of her skin. She 
 became a patchwork of youth and age. Her nose was 
 young, but when she smiled the corners of her eyes wrinkled 
 up into a very chaos of age. In the evening she was half a 
 centurj'- younger than she had been in the morning. And 
 even in the evening, a little tuft of fine gray hairs grew out 
 of her ears. There were a few also on her chin. Her food 
 she ate with the teeth of a woman long since dead. 
 
 But in her heart, in her manner, was youth. She was a 
 little, erect, pert lady, w4th a quick bird-like perk of the 
 head, full of vivacity, of sprightliness, of resource. One 
 could not but be captured by her inborn good-nature, her 
 
 356 
 
The Princess Mar chest 357 
 
 gossipy ofEciousness, her childlike simplicity of tempera- 
 ment. 
 
 And she was wonderfully fond of her nephew, Jerome K. 
 Vansittart. " Jerome," she would say, " is a prince of men, 
 my dear. That is the view I have always taken of him, and 
 always shall take. A prince of men." 
 
 She came down in force upon St. Cloud, with an army of 
 servants and a pyramid of luggage, and pitched her camp 
 there. Vansittart had now filled the entire area of civiliza- 
 tion wdth the bruit of his name. New York could no longer 
 contain the Princess Marches!. She came to Paris to see 
 and to hear. 
 
 ' ' Jerome, ' ' she said a few days after, in one of the pala- 
 tial salons of St. Cloud, " you owe me thanks for this visit, 
 sir. I am no longer as young as I look, or at least as I 
 have been. And all this way I have come solely to see 
 you." 
 
 Jerome, with his elbow on an alabaster mantelpiece, stood 
 regarding her with a half-tolerant smile. 
 
 " I acknowledge my obligation, aunt," he said. " Had 
 you warned me of j^our intention to cross the ocean you 
 should have been convoyed by a fleet." 
 
 " Yes, I know — ^you are making fun of a poor old woman. 
 But I can afford to laugh at you, Mr. Jerome. It is through 
 my prophecy that you are what you are to-day. I always 
 believed in you. I always said that Jerome K. Vansittart 
 had something in him. Only don't get spoiled by success, 
 Jerome." 
 
 He laughed, and in a moment was grave. * ' There is little 
 fear of that." 
 
 " There is, sir. You are not happy." 
 
 He winced. " But to be unhappy is a different thing to 
 being ' spoiled.' " 
 
 " Yes. But unhappiness often comes through one's being 
 spoiled." 
 
 " Explain yourself." 
 
358 An American Emperor 
 
 " No. That is asking too much of me, surely. I have 
 only suspicions to go upon, and even if I had not, one can- 
 not always speak with perfect plainness." 
 
 ' * Not even an aunt. ' ' 
 
 " Not even an aunt — to her President nephew." 
 
 " Then I retort that your suspicions must be unfounded." 
 
 " My suspicions unfounded ? Why Jerome, what do you 
 take me for ? I am no longer a chicken ! I have been about 
 the world. A young man's heart is no secret to me, at this 
 time of day." 
 
 " A young man's heart, aunt ? You surprise me. I did 
 not know that I had one. ' ' 
 
 " Yes, yes, you have one, and you know it, and yoM will 
 not listen to it, I am afraid." 
 
 " Really, madame, you speak in enigmas." 
 
 " "What shall it profit a man, Jerome, if he gain the whole 
 world and lose his own soul ? ' ' 
 
 " I see. For ' soul * read ' heart, ' and one arrives at my 
 aunt's philosophy-of-life for ' a young man.' " 
 
 " I am surprised that you should take the trouble to be 
 sarcastic to vie, Jerome," said the old lady, looking at 
 him examiningly, with a perk of her quick head. " Sar- 
 casm is lost upon me. I merely say that the presidentship of 
 France has not made j'ou so happy as you thought it 
 would." 
 
 ' ' I never thought that it would make me happy, ' ' 
 
 " But you were happy before — you were happy in 
 America." 
 
 " Possibly." 
 
 " Then 3'ou should be now! And if you are not, then 
 there is something ' ' 
 
 Jerome began to find that incessant tongue like a needle 
 in his side. 
 
 ' ' Pray excuse me. I must leave you ' ' 
 
 " There is something, I tell you ; something which 3'ou 
 will not admit to yourself. And that is what I mean when 
 I say : don't get spoiled. With all your wealth you were 
 
The Princess Marchesi 359 
 
 always a simple-hearted, natural fellow. Don't ruin your 
 life by becoming artificial, hard-hearted, over ambitious " 
 
 " Really, madame " 
 
 " Oh, I can see a change in you ! Don't think these 
 eyes are dim. Let nie look at you — you look taller, for 
 one thing, and stouter. Pray, do not develop a paunch, 
 Jerome." She had to raise her voice to make the last 
 sentence heard. Vansittart had fled. 
 
 She and the Comtesse de Fontainebleau soon became boon 
 companions. The little lady found it necessary to perk her 
 head high when walking in conversation with the large- 
 bodied Comtesse. But they had much in common, and were 
 generally to be seen together. 
 
 ' ' That, surely, is a dear child ! ' ' said the Princess one 
 day, after a visit of ceremony paid her by Evelyn and Dick 
 Harland. 
 
 " Personally, I like her," replied the Comtesse coldly. 
 
 * ' Why does she not live here now ? ' ' 
 
 " The pretence is, madame, that Mr. Harland has to 
 reside in Paris, in order, for some reason or another, to be in 
 close proximity with the Sahara Ofiices. His sister, of 
 course, accompanies him. They only went a short time 
 ago, a couple of days after Mr. Vansittart's coup d'etat.'' 
 
 ' ' You say ' the pretence ' ? " 
 
 " Of course that was not the real reason. It is the sister 
 who persuaded the brother to go. ' ^ 
 
 " What for?" 
 
 " Miss Harland and Honorine were not the best of 
 friends." The Princess's eyes winked fast. She saw a 
 secret opening before her. 
 
 ' ' Madame, ' ' she said, ' ' say no more. You have told me 
 the whole history. I divine all." 
 
 " The history is perhaps more complicated than you 
 think, madame," said the Comtesse with a sweet smile. 
 The enjoyment of this talk to the two ladies was intense. 
 To the Princess it was the joy which the hungry have in 
 eating ; to the Comtesse it was the joy of one who feeds the 
 
360 An American Emperor 
 
 hungry, in slow doles, lest they over-gorge themselves, and 
 choke. 
 
 "So, madame, the histor>' is complicated, then?" said 
 the Princess. "Well! Well! Tell me the whole." 
 Their voices were low, though no one was near. They 
 spoke in intense whisperings, with heads close together. 
 
 ' ' Jealousy was not the chief reason of the quarrel between 
 the girls, ' ' said the Comtesse. 
 
 * ' There was a quarrel f ' ' 
 
 " Oh, quite a regular stand-up battle ; you should have 
 been there to hear it — you would have died with excitement. 
 They lashed each other with pitiless venom, as one lashes 
 convicts in the galleys with the cat. 
 
 " Now, you don't say that ! Did you ever, now ! " 
 
 " It is quite true. I am not exaggerating one little bit. 
 Both girls locked themselves in their rooms for an hour soon 
 after it, and wept bitterly for rage and shame. I saw it by 
 their eyes. ' ' 
 
 " Well, this is a revelation. But the motive, you say, 
 was not jealousy " 
 
 " Not wholly. To tell you the truth, Honorine does not 
 care sufficiently for Mr. Vansittart to be violently jealous of 
 him " 
 
 " Not care for Jerome K. Vansittart ? " queried the Prin- 
 cess in surprise. This was indeed a shock. 
 
 " That is so, madame. And there is no love lost between 
 them, really. It is only paying him out in his own coin, if 
 she loves another. ' ' 
 
 " And that other ? " 
 
 The Comtesse smiled. " Madame la Princesse, in her 
 acquaintance with the world of Society, must often have met 
 the heir to the crown of France." 
 
 * ' Henri of Navarre ? ' ' The Comtesse bowed. 
 
 ' ' Well ! This is of all surprises the greatest. And 
 Jerome, on his part, has something on his mind, I know. 
 He is in love. I divined it at once. And I saw that Made- 
 
The Princess Marchcsi 36 1 
 
 moiselle de Montpeusier was not the object of his aflfectious. 
 So it is this Miss ' ' 
 
 *' Harland." 
 
 " Can't we do anything ? " 
 
 " What can we do ? " 
 
 ' ' We should do something — come now ! It would be too 
 hard to sit down calmly and see these four lives ruined and 
 spoiled on account of some absurd provision in the Salic 
 Law, you know." 
 
 ' ' It would, yes. But we can do nothing. I confess that 
 for the other three my head does not greatly ache ; but I do 
 feel for Honorine." 
 
 " I am in the same position, Comtesse. For the other 
 three I cannot be expected to be bowed down by sorrow. 
 But the interests of Jerome K. Vansittart do closely touch 
 me. ' ' 
 
 " I am rather .sorry for Prince Henri, too," said the 
 Comtesse. 
 
 " And that Miss Harland is really a sweet girl, you 
 know," answered the Princess. 
 
 " But it is of no use talking of it now ; the die is cast. I 
 may tell you that there was an attempt made to throw Mr. 
 Vansittart and Miss Harland together. But it failed. You 
 have a nephew, Madame la Princesse, of superhuman will. 
 What can one do with such a man ? ' ' 
 
 " To throw them together, you say ? And why ? " 
 
 " He won't meet her, 3-ou see. He avoids her like the 
 plague. If they could be got together, all might be well. 
 When she was here, he generally managed to keep clear of 
 St. Cloud. Now that she is gone, yow. see he is here, though 
 he ought, for official reasons, to spend more time at the 
 Elysee." 
 
 " I see. And your attempt failed." 
 
 " Yes ; Mr. Vansittart was adamant. Honorine was car- 
 ried away with admiration. There was a general shaking 
 of hands ; and everybody's mind was reconciled to letting 
 
362 An American Emperor 
 
 things remain as they were. So it appeared at least on the 
 surface. Inwardly, I know, they are all groaning and tra- 
 vailing, and straining at their strings like chained lions. 
 And the end is near now. Mr. Vansittart is within measur- 
 able distance of attaining his ambition, and then — the 
 marriage. To Honorine, I assure you, I can see signs that 
 the situation is becoming intolerable." 
 
 ' ' It is intolerable, ' ' said the Princess. 
 
 * ' Well, but if they are reconciled to it ' ' 
 
 * ' But / am not reconciled to it, madame ! I will not bear 
 to sit still and see it ! " The Princess grasped the arms of 
 her chair, and turned round upon the Comtesse wdth a busy 
 alertness. 
 
 ' ' Madame, what can two feeble women do ? " asked the 
 Comtesse. 
 
 ' ' We shall see ! ' ' cried the Princess. 
 
 At this hour of the day, in the heat of the afternoon, a 
 neat French bonne was looking down into a deepish well, 
 just a little beyond the point where the dense forest began 
 to mingle with the park of St. Cloud. The well was de- 
 serted but for the girl, and, to j udge by the way in which it 
 was embosomed in jungle, had long been unused ; but the 
 wheel was still there intact, and the axle, and a frayed old 
 rope, and the bucket. And deep down, watching her pretty 
 brown face reflected in the gloomy pool below, looked the 
 girl with motionless gravit)', as though she were stone. 
 
 She had come to St. Cloud in the train of the Princess, 
 and in her way was a Princess, too, and a tyrant. Three 
 times had her pay been raised, lest she should depart and 
 leave Madame desolate. For no fingers in the wide world 
 could insinuate themselves with so sweet and sleepy a touch 
 into Madame' s brown-hued tresses as those of I^isette. She 
 was a lady of leisure, was Lisette. If her day's work, all 
 told, lasted more than an hour, a threat came from her. 
 She would go — it was too much — it was killing her, by 
 degrees. The menace would frighten the little Princess into 
 
The Princess Mar chest 363 
 
 momentary silence ; then she would implore Lisette to go 
 out and take the air. Lisette had strolled forth into solitude 
 this afternoon, admiring Nature. The bit of Nature which 
 she most admired, though she only half-admitted it to her- 
 self, was Man. To talk to a man, — that, at present, was to 
 Lisette the tip-top and sum of her languid existence. But 
 that bit of Nature which consisted of her own face was 
 charming, too. She leant over, studying it in the well. Yet 
 how solitary-, how mateless it was ! Suddenly she started. 
 There was a mate — a man, a face — down yonder, beside hers, 
 in the deep water. She straightened herself, vexed. 
 
 " You porpoise ! to frighten me like that " 
 
 That male face, nevertheless, was a nice one. By the side 
 of Ivisette's, it looked companionable. It was more captivat- 
 ing still when it grinned and said : " Beg pardon. Not 
 likely I would frighten you for the purpose." 
 
 Lisette looked at him. His countenance Vv^as a wicked 
 one, though handsome. It was known, and not admired, at 
 the Paris Prefecture and in Scotland Yard. Vansittart had 
 seen it at the Bank of France when the attempt to cash his 
 check failed. But it had this advantage for Lisette — it be- 
 longed to a man. And when she compared it with Arizona 
 Jim's, who was the onl}^ male creature within the precincts 
 of St. Cloud that, so far, seemed conscious of her charms, 
 she somehow gave the preference to the face before her. 
 Jim, it must be confessed, was not the beau ideal of the penny 
 novelette; and he was absent — which, in a lover, is a crime. 
 
 "It is of no consequence," said Lisette. " I am ju.st 
 going away." 
 
 " No, don't go away ; stay and chat," said the male. 
 
 " You 're joking, ain't you ? I don't know you." 
 
 This was unanswerable. The male twirled his moustache. 
 " It don't matter," he said. " I admit it. But I 'm all 
 right. I don't mean to hurt you." 
 
 " Oh, I 'm glad j-ou don't mean to hurt me," said Lisette. 
 ** You 're a funny man, are n't you ? " 
 
364 An American Emperor 
 
 " Well, p'raps I am. Flop you down — here on the well." 
 
 " Well, suppose I do. Now let's hear what you 've got to 
 say for yourself. ' ' 
 
 "Are you from ?" He jerked his thumb in the 
 
 direction of the palace. 
 
 "Yes. What about it ? " 
 
 ' ' Nothing. What you doing out here ? ' ' 
 
 " I 'm come to take the air. It 's a constitutional, if 
 you want to know. ' ' 
 
 " I see. You're pretty high and mighty, ain't you?" 
 She pouted. 
 
 " I expect you think yourself too good to marry, don't 
 you?" 
 
 " I should just think I did ! " she said. 
 
 " Well, I don't think that folks ought to be stuck up. If 
 / like you, you ought to hold out your hand and say, * It 's 
 a bargain.' " 
 
 ' ' Yes, I should like to see myself ! I should want to be 
 sure, first of all, that you didM^o. me." 
 
 " Can't help liking a smart one like you." 
 
 " Thanks. I 'm elsewhere engaged. But have n't you 
 any work to go and do, except sitting here ? ' ' 
 
 " I 'm looking for work, you see." 
 
 " What are you ? " 
 
 " Me ? I am a — ^well — I 'm a variety of things. I am a 
 
 carpenter, a locksmith, a valet " He began to chuckle. 
 
 It was an odd combination of trades. ' ' What do you call 
 yourself? You are nice company, ain't you ? " 
 
 ' ' You 're a fool. Good day. ' ' 
 
 " When am I to see you again ? " 
 
 ♦' Not at all." 
 
 " I shall ! I shall go to the palace, and ask for you." 
 He jerked with his thumb. 
 
 " You dare ! " she cried. 
 
 •' I shall ! I like you ! I mean to keep you altogether.** 
 
 " You ! I would n't have your betters ! " 
 
The Princess Mai chest 365 
 
 " You shall ! I must see you to-morrow." 
 
 ' ' Well, I sometimes take a stroll to the well about this 
 hour. ' ' 
 
 ^^ Au revoir, then. Take care of yourself ! " 
 
 She walked royally away, without looking back ; and 
 they parted — to meet again, many times. And this talk, 
 and these meetings, had an intimate relation with the talks 
 and consultations of Madame la Comtesse and Madame la 
 Princesse in the grand salons of the big house beyond the 
 wood. 
 
 The pair were unnoticed, for the Park of St. Cloud, where 
 the fountains are, are public propert}', open during the day 
 to visitors, and lovers, and children from the neighborhood. 
 Onl}'- a small portion of the estate around Vansittart's house 
 had been enclosed to secure privacy. I^isette's admirer was 
 an ex-clerk from the Ofl&ce of the Interior ; a clever scoun- 
 drel, who had been sent to penal servitude by Folliet during 
 liis first term as prefect, but released from the galleys by de 
 Tournon because he knew too much about that precious 
 minister's affairs. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 THE CONSPIRATORS 
 
 AT this time Vansittart well knew that his life was not 
 worth an hour's purchase. The gloom on his brow, 
 the unrest of the man's life, which the Princess Marchesi 
 had noted in him, was not all caused by the pain of his 
 hopeless love. He lived on a volcano. But to live on a 
 volcano is tolerable. It is to be haunted by a Shadow that 
 no man can bear. He knew that as he walked the streets, 
 or drove, or lay in bed at midnight, the blow might fall. 
 The Sword hung over him. And his annoyance was caused 
 by the fact that he could not see the Sword. He did not 
 know where or when, or how manifold, or in what form, was 
 the Peril which tracked him. But he was sure of the Peril 
 itself. In consultation with his colleagues, at the opera, at 
 a soiree, in his librar}', he felt the proximity of the Spectre. 
 
 One morning he received by post an envelope, which, 
 when he opened it, he found to contain a half- sheet of paper 
 with a death's head and crossbones roughly drawn upon it. 
 Underneath was written the one word, " Bicntot" (soon). 
 He was not a man to be frightened by threats ; but the next 
 day when he entered a kiosk in his own grounds, and at the 
 threshold met a real death's head with real crossbones, and 
 near it, on the floor, the word " Soon," he growled some- 
 thing like an imprecation. 
 
 Everything grew into a suggestion of death for him. Were 
 it not for his strong nature, the entire world would have be- 
 come to his fancy a place of tombs, and worms, and epitaphs, 
 
 366 
 
The Conspirators 367 
 
 As it was, he could not banish thought. The air was sickly 
 with death. How many were leagued against him ? To 
 judge from the signs, it must be thousands. Once, as he 
 was entering the office of Sahara, lyimited, he slipped on the 
 step and bruised his shin. It was found that the step had 
 been smeared with slime of some sort. It was Vansittart's 
 private entrance, and hardly ever used by any other person. 
 Ten minutes before, Dick Harland had walked up those 
 steps, and they had not been turned into a death-trap. His 
 enemies seemed to foreknow his movements. 
 
 They seemed to be delaying his death only in order to 
 make him live in what they hoped would prove to be a Tor- 
 ture of Fear. Once, as he passed in his carriage through a 
 street loud with the huzzas of the crowd, a large nail was 
 thrown at him. It struck him on the arm. To it was tied 
 an oblong parchment ticket, on which was written the word, 
 "Soon !" 
 
 They were bold and sure enough. Why were they not 
 bolder ? It was easy, for instance, to shoot him, Vansittart 
 had divined their reason well ; they wished to torture him. 
 But there was another. They knew that, for the man who 
 had been found to do harm to Jerome Vansittart, the people 
 of France would invent a death more hellish than any which 
 ever entered the dream of buccaneer or Inquisitor. They 
 did not, it was clear, mean to be martyrs. In thrusting him 
 over the precipice, they had no idea of being themselves 
 dragged in. It was their design that, in falling, he should 
 hear their laugh on the brink above. 
 
 One night he started from a troubled slumber, hearing a 
 sound. He was always a light sleeper, and the sound which 
 awoke him was faint. It resembled a slow scratching on the 
 woodwork outside, near a window. He rose, crept stealthily 
 toward the spot, a pistol in his hand. He pushed up the 
 window suddenly, looked out, and saw — nothing. 
 
 But the next morning a ladder in an outhouse was found 
 to have been mysteriously mo\'ed from its place, and into 
 
V 
 
 368 An American Emperor 
 
 one of the uprights a letter had been carved — the capital 
 letter " B." To others this was an enigma. Vansittart 
 alone knew that " B " meant " Bicjitot ! " That day he 
 was much engaged in thought. He sent for the architect of 
 the new Palace at St. Cloud ; and in the afternoon an army 
 of carpenters were busy effecting certain alterations in his 
 vast bedroom. About the same time he had a long consul- 
 tation with Folliet at the j^lysee. 
 
 " One thing is certain," said Folliet. " For the future 
 you ought to live almost entirely here. ' ' 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because here you can be safeguarded more thoroughly 
 than at St. Cloud." 
 
 ' ' If there were no other reason for my preference, I should 
 still reside at St. Cloud. I want to meet these scoundrels, 
 and have done with them once and for all." 
 
 " Why not let me meet them? They can all be trans- 
 ported. ' ' 
 
 " No ! It is my quarrel. What is the extent of the plot ? 
 Have you discovered any more accomplices ? ' ' 
 
 " Yes, but they are only remotely connected with it." 
 
 " In what way ? " 
 
 " They act as spies upon you. They play tricks. They 
 are amateurs. They are rabid Republicans, who merely 
 dislike you for political reasons." 
 
 ' ' They need not be feared ? ' ' 
 
 " No. They have no personal, morbid rancor against 
 you. Their hatred of you is a hobby. They detest you as 
 a pastime. If they heard that j^ou were murdered, they 
 would cry ' Bravo. ' If you went to their door in need, they 
 would give you food, and their softest bed." 
 
 ' * They are the mere skirmishers ot the army ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Yes, and the army itself is wonderfully small. In my 
 opinion — as far as the minutest search can guide me — it 
 consists of positively no more than five men." 
 
 ' ' Led, of course, by ' ' 
 
The Conspirators 369 
 
 " DeTournon." 
 
 ' ' We must strike down the leaders. ' ' 
 
 " Yes ; but I want you to understand one thing. The 
 situation has changed. De Tournon is no longer the briber 
 of needy assassins, ready for any job. He is now only the 
 first among equals. He leads an army not less eager than 
 himself. ' ' 
 
 " How is that?" 
 
 Folliet smiled. ' ' I see you do not understand the nature 
 of the Paris brigand. He is not accustomed to resistance 
 from his victims. His role is to kill ; he is resentful of being 
 killed. When you outwitted and damaged the Plasterer, 
 String-the-Neck, and the Gouger in the hut of the forest, 
 you created yourself three foes, whose designs can only end 
 with their death — or yours. To de Tournon your life is an 
 anticipated bonne bouche — the sweetest morsel of his life — to 
 his three friends it is all this, and more — it is a point of 
 honor. They are fanatics. Your life is their object. They 
 have a religion which you inspire." 
 
 " Who is the fifth ? " 
 
 ' ' An ex-convict, named le Grand, known to his mates as 
 " Le Fongeur," — the blotter, a skilful rogue, who is a nota- 
 ble forger and desperado. ' ' 
 
 ' ' But wh}^ is he in league against me ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' From pure love of villainy. He is also an old-time asso- 
 ciate of de Tournon's." 
 
 ' ' What of Ribou ? Of Lacontel ? ' ' 
 
 " Neither Ribou nor Lacontel is a prime mover in the mat- 
 ter, though they know of it, and give it their countenance. 
 Ribou is a vain simpleton ; Lacontel is a weathercock. Re- 
 move the others, and they disappear. Their revenge for 
 their fall would hardly extend to personal assassination. 
 They are not men of desperate character. They do not 
 spring from the lowest criminal class — like de Tournon." 
 
 ' ' I see. And what are the recent movements of our five 
 friends ? ' ' 
 
 »4 
 
370 An American Emperor 
 
 " On the 13th, the Plasterer bought a new knife at a shop 
 in the Rue de Savon ; on the 15th, it was sharpened by a 
 knife-grinder in a wood at Marly." 
 
 " Proceed." 
 
 " On the 1 6th, de Tournonand the Gouger met in an inn 
 at I^a Vilette, and conversed for two hours ; later, the same 
 day, the Gouger and String-the-Neck bought at two separate 
 shops in the Rue Dupin a file and ten yards of rope ; still 
 later, on the same day, the Fongeur attended the TheAtre des 
 Varictes with an unknown girl. He parted from her at the 
 corner of the Rue de Madeleine and the Rue des Hermies, 
 she afterwards taking train for St. Cloud." 
 
 " The Fongeur is a gallant, then ? " 
 
 " He appears to have an extraordinary influence upon 
 girls of a certain class." 
 
 " You saw them yourself? " 
 
 " No — one of my men. Unfortunately, my spy had to 
 leave the girl, after finding her destination, in order to over- 
 take the Fongeur again." 
 
 * ' How many men have you in your service ? ' ' 
 
 "Seventy-three." 
 
 " And what is your view of the whole matter ? " 
 
 " On the 17th, all the five men met in the forest yonder, 
 not far from the palace. They are afraid of the streets ; 
 they avoid Paris ; they shun the day. My idea is that we 
 should be careful of the palace and of night." 
 
 " But I am secretly well guarded. To any one entering, 
 there is certain capture or death." 
 
 "There are the windows of the upper floor," replied 
 Folliet. 
 
 " After to-day there will be no windows to my bed- 
 room. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Yet I mistrust, I fear. These men are no amateurs in 
 the art of entering a house. You may be sure that they 
 know that we are on the watch, and will anticipate all our 
 possible precautions, I propose that I sleep here every 
 
The Conspirators 371 
 
 night from henceforth that you are in the house ; and that 
 a room next to mine be set apart for Mr. Jim Bates. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Certainly — if you desire it, ' ' 
 
 " And you should not sleep twice in the same bed until 
 whatever arrangements you are making in your bedroom are 
 complete. ' ' 
 
 " I had thought of that. But now, M. Folliet, the ques- 
 tion with me, I assure you, is not so much how to escape 
 these men, as how to brush them from the world. I have 
 the police of France at my disposal — I have you. Let us 
 end these men." 
 
 " I^et me arrest them, then, and guillotine them in due 
 course of law. I will arrange it. ' ' 
 
 " We must not arrest them, M. Folliet ! I repeat it to 
 you. We must 7iot guillotine them in due course of law ! 
 If I die, we must not. These men have declared private, 
 personal war against vie. In this case, vengeance is mine ; I 
 will repay." 
 
 Folliet' s eyes flashed. " Good, sir ! " he cried. " Good, 
 sir !" 
 
 " Ah, I see I touch a cord in your bosom, M. Folliet ! 
 You entertain much the same sentiments with respect to M. 
 de Tournon, I think, as I have just expressed with regard 
 to him and his gang." 
 
 Folliet was pale, trembling with excitement. In his eyes 
 gleamed a deadly hate. ' ' Mr. Vansittart, ' ' he said ; ' ' with 
 all due deference to you, sir, de Tournon is not yours. He 
 is mine. Ah, if ever the day comes " 
 
 " Very well, M. Folliet. I respect your sensibilities in 
 this matter. If ever the day comes, you may depend upon 
 me to yield M. de Tournon to you. Meanwhile, watch well 
 to balk them — and, above all, to ensnare them." 
 
 On that day the Princess Marchesi was absent from St. 
 Cloud. She was paying a visit to the Grand Hotel, where 
 Evelyn Harland was staying. This call of hers was the fifth 
 within a week. Often she sat, with her skinny face perked 
 
372 An American Emperor 
 
 judicially sideways, watching the niovemeuts of Evelyn. 
 She would say : ' ' What a charming child you are ! I am 
 in love with you. Men are so impossible ! If / were a 
 man ' ' 
 
 When she was putting on her bonnet to go, she said : 
 ' ' Very well, if you have the heart to make an old woman 
 like me come rushing up every day to this dreadful hotel to 
 see you, I will do it. But that is not pretty, Evel3'n." 
 
 " What can one do ? " cooed Evelyn demurely. 
 
 " I may call you ' Eveljm,' may n't I ? " Eveljm kissed 
 her. " Then come and stay with me, and don't be an 
 absurd child ! Where can the e5'es of the men be to let a 
 prize like you stay like that ? The men are degenerate. 
 In my time, you would have been snapped up like ripe 
 apples. ' ' 
 
 Evelyn laughed. " I wait to be picked ! " she cried. 
 
 ' ' If you do not fall to the ground beforehand ! But you 
 have to come, Evelyn, if onl}^ for a week. Why, child, I 
 have nobody to talk to all day ! I shall be dumb in a 
 month, like what 's-his-name on the desert island." 
 
 ' ' There is Mademoiselle de Montpensier. ' ' 
 ' " She is impossible and unhuman. I dislike her." 
 
 * ' There is the Comtesse. ' ' 
 
 " Yes, but the Comtesse is getting old. The toilsome 
 heave of her large bosom annoys me ; and she objects to 
 snuflf. You must come, Evelyn." 
 
 " There is Mr. Vansittart." 
 
 " He thinks me a bore ; and he is nearly always away." 
 
 "Still?" 
 
 * ' Yes. You must come. I must have a breath of fresh 
 youth about me ; I begin to recognize my absolute need of 
 that. That is why I can't part from that Lisette. Say next 
 week, then." 
 
 " There is Dick to be thought of." 
 
 ' ' Dick is out of the question. I do not recognize Dick — 
 I do not admit him. You have got to come, so you may as 
 
The Conspirators 373 
 
 well say ' Yes ' at once. It would be shocking to make me 
 come tearing up to Paris every day like a grisette. And I 
 am in love with you — I cannot do without you. If you say 
 ' No ' again, I shall kiss you with my rouged lips ! " 
 
 " Only for two days, then," said Kvelyn. 
 
 "No— a week." 
 
 "Three days ! " 
 
 ' ' I insist upon a week. ' ' 
 
 " Very well — but no longer, remember. You are incor- 
 rigible !" 
 
 They kissed, and parted. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 
 THE SIEGE OF ST. CLOUD 
 
 A DESPERATE siege was laid to St. Cloud by de Tour- 
 non and his brigands, the first object being to discover 
 the exact position and place of Vansittart's bed. One day 
 an old woman was found skulking in a lonely part of the 
 upper floor. She was bent double with apparent age, and, 
 when asked to account for her presence in the house, seemed 
 daft. It was thought that she had merely strayed inside in 
 her aimless wanderings, till she was brought before Vansit- 
 tart, who said : 
 
 " Take that wig off his head." 
 
 Jim Bates gave a tug at a tangled mass of gray locks, and 
 the smooth hair of a boy of sixteen stood revealed. He had 
 failed, however, in the object of his quest : he had not dis- 
 covered the bed of Vansittart. This determined, the assas- 
 sins had the means in their hand and head to effect, without 
 fail, the destruction of the millionnaire. The problem was to 
 determine it. 
 
 Vansittart, perhaps, was at this time more or less fool- 
 hardy. He might have invested himself, sleeping and 
 waking, with cordons of thousands of soldiers. But to this 
 he would not stoop. His pride was stubbornly set upon the 
 personal annihilation of these men. He would owe no un- 
 fair advantage over them to his official powers. He waited, 
 patiently bearing their manoeuvres, not helping them, not 
 hindering them, trusting to chance, and his own wit, and 
 the cunning watch of Folliet. 
 
 374 
 
The Siege of St. Cloud 375 
 
 " Then we must burn the house down," said de Tournon. 
 ' ' We must hunt the rat out of his hole, ' ' 
 
 " I should n't trouble," said the Plasterer, rather scorn- 
 fully. " The nights are warm enough." 
 
 "What 'd be the good?" the less sarcastic Gouger 
 wanted to know. " You don't suppose he 's going to get 
 burned to death, a man like him, do you ? And next day, 
 he 'd have fifty other houses, just as big, to live in." 
 
 " There must be a plan of the house somewhere at the 
 architect's," suggested String-the-Neck, whose right hand 
 had been amputated at the wrist. 
 
 ' ' Pin your lips, you ! ' ' cried the Fongeur. " As if that 
 was going to help us in what we want ! ' ' 
 
 He got up, climbed the stairs of the cellar in which they 
 lounged, and in an hour's time was waiting at the well at 
 St. Cloud. He was considerably better dressed than on the 
 occasion of his first introduction to I/isette. He wore a fine 
 tie, and carried a handkerchief made of the most exquisite 
 Indian silk. They had once been worn by Vansittart, and 
 were presents from Lisette. 
 
 ' ' Here, you ! " he said when she appeared ; ' ' what do 
 you mean by being late ? ' ' The Fongeur had begun to 
 speak with rather guttural sternness to his grisette. 
 
 " I come just when it suits me," said I/isette, pinning 
 some wood-violets in her bosom. 
 
 " We '11 see about that later, my lady," he mused. 
 " But what about this affair ? " 
 
 " What affair ? " 
 
 " Oh, come now ! You know. Were n't we talking 
 about having a look round Vansittart' s room together, to 
 see what we could fish ? ' ' 
 
 " Yoii were talking of it ; w^ were n't. How disagreeable 
 you are of late." 
 
 ' ' But you love your husband, Lisette ? You love your 
 husband, confound you, don't you ? " 
 
 ' ' Such as he is, ' ' said I^isette, looking down, and patting 
 
3/6 An American Emperor 
 
 her violets. Then she gave le Grand a little swift, fond slap 
 on the cheek. " But you must n't think, because I 'm mar- 
 ried to you, that I 'm going to do everything you want." 
 
 " You 're going to do this, though, I 'm thinking, because 
 it 'sgot to be done, you see." 
 
 " But what 's the matter with you ? Are you a thief? " 
 said lyisette gravely. " Don't let me think that of you ! 
 Look here, you see that stone there. You might just as 
 well ask that. ' ' 
 
 His brow darkened ominously. 
 
 " Now, look 3^ou," he said, " stop it. I 'm not a man 
 accustomed to that sort of thing. What I say must be done. 
 I 've got a fondness for you, with j^our airs and graces. 
 Don't let me do you an injury," 
 
 " An injury ! " exclaimed the wife of five days. 
 
 " I don't want to do you one, I say." 
 
 " I see. You are a beautiful husband, you are ! But I 
 shan't give 3^ou the chance. Adieu.'" She rose with the 
 grace of a princess. He had her by the arm. 
 
 " Here, are 3'ou going to do what I tell 3'ou ? What 
 d' you think I married you for ? " 
 
 " I won't do it !" 
 
 •' You shall ! " 
 
 "I shan't !" 
 
 Down came the cruel blow, smack on her face. In the 
 next moment Lisette had her arm wrenched free, and was 
 flying down the path, he after her. But she was young, and 
 light, and swift. He stopped within sight of the entrance 
 lodge, hopelessly distanced. 
 
 The next da}^ at the appointed time, he came to the well, 
 and the next, but there was no sweet Lisette there. She 
 was trembling in the palace, thinking of him, fearing that he 
 might come and claim her, and reveal all. She did not 
 know that the Fongeur could not show his face within the 
 palace grounds. And he dared not write. Lisette was the 
 hope of the besiegers of the palace. When she vanished, 
 
The Siege of St. Cloud 377 
 
 they began to approach desperation. But de Tournon only 
 smiled, his fleshy, firm, cruel lips curving into scorn. 
 
 " If you are balked by a servant girl, I am sorry for 
 you ! " he said. " Ivook here, I am going to crush that 
 man between my hands like that. And I know how. ' ' 
 
 ' ' How ? ' ' queried the Gouger. 
 
 " I am going to enter his house in the middle of the night, 
 and strangle him in his sleep with my two hands, so. ' ' His 
 goggle eyes glared as he brought his fingers together. 
 
 ' ' Ah, yes ! ' ' said the Plasterer, ' ' but how, you gram- 
 pus ? ' ' 
 
 " It 's no use trying to get into the house from outside. 
 We must get into it from beneath.''^ 
 
 ' ' Dig a tunnel, you mean ? ' ' 
 
 "Aye." 
 
 " It '11 take us a year. Tie up your mouth." 
 
 " If it takes us fifty years. But it won't. We 've got 
 friends enough." 
 
 " But we are watched. Our tunnel 's sure to be squinted 
 long before we 're half-way through." 
 
 " You 're a fool. Not if we begin it in the right place." 
 And the next day the tunnel was begun — in the right place. 
 
 The right place was beneath the seldom-used trap-door 
 that gave access to the works of the fountains in the park. 
 These were rusty with desuetude, and not a workman had 
 been engaged on their repair for years. There was a spa- 
 cious chamber, roughly flagged, beneath the level of the 
 ground. Its sides were boarded, and de Tournon's plan 
 was to take out some of these boards — sufficient only to per- 
 mit of easy access, and then dig far enough to permit the 
 boards to be replaced, and their tools hidden before their 
 operations could, by even remote chance, be discovered. 
 
 To slip unseen through the outer grating at dusk was an 
 easy matter. To observe them Folliet woiild need to closely 
 Watch the suspected spot itself. Anyhow, they made the 
 experiment, and, to their surprise, succeeded. They found 
 
378 An American Emperor 
 
 the earth behind the boards wonderfully loose and light. 
 The ground required hardly any effort on their part to be 
 shovelled away ; and there was not a single stone. In two 
 hours a square opening had been dug almost equal to the 
 area of a doorway. They continued to dig by the light of 
 lanterns. The removed mould they placed on one side, to 
 be taken away hurriedly and simultaneously by all of them 
 together at dawn, thus eluding the chance of detection. 
 An3'one passing over the pathway that led from the palace 
 to the fountains would not dream that beneath it were men 
 sweating with toil. 
 
 But the next evening, when they descended to their labor, 
 their presence in the place was known. They had been 
 spied as they entered. Folliet ran unannounced into Van- 
 sittart's presence, followed by Arizona Jim. 
 
 " We have them ! " he cried joyfully, " and in a beautiful 
 spot ! They are in the accommodation room at the base of 
 the fountains in the park — the whole five of them ! ' ' 
 
 " Very good, M. Folliet," said Vansittart, pushing away 
 a pile of correspondence. " Happily, I have dined. I am 
 entirely at your di.sposal. " He took in his hand a heavy- 
 headed oak walking-stick from a corner, and from an 
 escritoire a small silver revolver. He put on a wide, soft 
 felt hat. 
 
 ' ' They are five, ' ' said Folliet, ' ' we are only three. ' ' 
 
 *' But three is a lucky number, M. Folliet. We will be 
 generous foes to these men. Let us do them the honor to 
 consider each of them as three fifths of a man, and then we 
 shall be three to three. Their majority of \^so will thus be 
 only apparent." 
 
 They set out. On the way through the full-leafed woods 
 M. Folliet said, " It may interest you to know, sir, that the 
 Fongeur, le Grand, has lately entered into the hol}^ bonds 
 of matrimony." 
 
 " Ah ! " I felicitate the lady, ' ' said Vansittart. ' ' Who is 
 she?" 
 
The Siege of St. Cloud 379 
 
 " We don't know yet, but shall soon. She lives some- 
 where in or near St. Cloud, apart from him. This, to my 
 knowledge, is his sixth wife ; and four of the others, I 
 strongly suspect, are still alive. ' ' 
 
 They parted at a little distance from the manhole, crept 
 near it from different directions, and then, with a rush, were 
 beside it. They flung it open and peered down. The room 
 was empty. They descended the iron ladder, and the work- 
 ers in the excavation, having heard the clang of the trap- 
 door, ceased their digging, and quickly put out their 
 lanterns. On the floor was not a particle of brown mould 
 and earthy debris, to indicate the labor of the men beyond. 
 Kvery trace of their undertaking had been carefully removed 
 on the night before. The plank wall was held in its place 
 with the old irregular naturalness by a transom-piece screwed 
 within. The three men looked at one another. 
 
 ' ' This is a rum go ! " said Jim. 
 
 " They 've gone," said Folliet. 
 
 * ' Better luck next time, monsieur, ' ' said Vansittart, 
 
 They ascended, and Folliet blew a shrill whistle three 
 times. A man who seemed to drop from the clouds, or come 
 from the land of Nowhere, came running. 
 
 " They 've gone, then ? " said Folliet. 
 
 " I '11 swear they 're not," answered the spy. 
 
 " Why, you blind e3'-es, of course they are ! Be sure 
 never to come near me again, if you please." The man 
 stood in wide-e3^ed astonishment. The conspirators breathed 
 again as they heard the trap-door bang behind Jim, who was 
 the last to mount the stairs, and resumed operations. 
 
 In an hour the five men were twelve feet farther advanced. 
 It was incredibi)^ swift work. They questioned themselves 
 with strange hopes. What was the meaning of it ? A bevy 
 of some twenty-five helpers were to come later in the even- 
 ing. But de Tournon now sent the Gouger forth to tell 
 them not to risk it yet. Their presence might excite sus- 
 picion, and there was no need for them. The reason of the 
 
380 An American Emperor 
 
 looseness of the earth was now known. A wonderful dis- 
 covery had been made. Whilst they were delving persist- 
 ently ahead, a mass of earth suddenl}' dropped down before 
 them, and they stumbled into a vault. 
 
 The tunnel to St. Cloud which they intended, with infinite 
 labor, to make, stood ready made for them, and had so vStood 
 for five hundred years. The lanterns shone luridly upon 
 their leering, grimy faces, upon their sweating brows, and 
 lit up there a J03' hideous as the laughter of demons. These 
 secret passages and escapes were the commonplaces of the 
 days of ancient tyranny. The old kings knew both how to 
 govern their subjects, and how to fly from them. If things 
 grew too hot for them, they called upon the earth to swallow 
 them. The earth swallowed them, and vomited them again 
 some distance away, at a convenient spot. 
 
 Resurrection is an Art ; and so is self-crucifixion. The 
 great cardinals, the Richelieus and Mazarins, the high min- 
 isters of state, the king's favorites, the king himself, had, 
 all and each, these happy underground exits for the day of 
 stormy winds and stress of weather. The back-door of the 
 great was — a tunnel. 
 
 The passage upon which de Tournon had hit led from the 
 old vaults of St. Cloud, upon which the present palace and 
 its predecessor were built, to a hidden exit near the site of 
 the existing fountains, since the times of Barbarossa and the 
 Hohenstaufens. 
 
 " The thing is done," said de Tournon. " If there be no 
 other means, we must employ dynamite to remove St. 
 Cloud." 
 
 It was not quite done, however. Much labor remained to 
 be accomplished. An attempt had been made, probably 
 long ago, to destroy the tunnel as a means of escape, even 
 for those who might know of its existence. It had been 
 walled up transversely in several places. And though the 
 stones of these walls were soft and disintegrating, they were 
 cemented together by a mortar grown hard as granite. Two 
 
The Siege of St. Cloud 381 
 
 fell before the earnest picks of the underground toilers that 
 night ; but in the small hours, advancing about a hundred 
 yards, they were faced by yet another. The walls were 
 thick ; to break down one was the work of hours. And 
 they were still only half-way between the exit and the 
 palace ; there remained other walls for them to attack and 
 to demolish. 
 
 ' ' L,et us get this one down before we leave ! ' ' said de 
 Tournon, mopping his dripping face near the new ob- 
 struction. 
 
 ' ' Not I ! " said the Plasterer. ' ' A galley-toad like you 
 may. But I am leaking through every pore. To-morrow 's 
 good enough for me." He tossed down his pick, and 
 slouched back in the direction of the exit. 
 
 lyC Grand, the Gouger, and String-the-Neck followed him. 
 But de Tournon remained. He began to toil at the wall 
 with slow, resolute strokes. With every blow and heave a 
 hollow " humph ! " sounded from his chest through the 
 darkness of the long, vaulted corridor. Far into the grow- 
 ing day, in his ghoulish vigil he stood, with the dim beam 
 of the lantern about him, with earth-bedabbled clothes, all 
 alone, heaving and toiling, like a maniac against the stub- 
 born rock. Every stroke was a stroke nearer the heart of 
 Vansittart. All the night he had labored, and still, as he 
 mined more and more into the stone, he was unconscious of 
 fatigue. About seven a.m. his intensity grew into a very 
 parox3^sm of frenzy. ' ' Down you come ! " he cried, as his 
 heavy body heaved forward to the impact. 
 
 * ' Down ! " he panted at the next stroke ; and ' * down ! ' ' 
 at every succeeding stroke came laboring forth upon the 
 ' ' humph ! " of his gasping chest, while the foam of his fury 
 went flying in a white spray from his deathly, distorted lips. 
 At last he dropped panting upon the wall, catching his 
 breath in sobs and spasms. He had accomplished his task. 
 
 Early the next evening the conspirators, with elaborate 
 secrecy, arrived, one by one, at the shed ; de Tournon first, 
 
382 An American Emperor 
 
 in spite of his long agony and sweat in the tunnel the night 
 before. Ten men this time descended into the excavation, 
 determined to bring their labors to a close. But some of the 
 new-comers brought with them pickaxes, and in an hour 
 Folliet knew of this fact. He had been puzzled — now his 
 mind was clear. The impossibility of the men being able to 
 leave the chamber on the previous daj^, without being .seen 
 by his spy, had more and more forced itself upon his mind. 
 He said to himself, ' ' They were there, they must have been 
 there, if evidence is worth anything. But there in a state 
 of invisibility ? Dissolved into air ? Swallowed by the 
 earth ? When he heard of the pickaxes, he snapped thumb 
 and finger, and called himself a fool. The truth stood 
 revealed to him, or something like the truth ; they were 
 digging a tunnel somewhere. 
 
 He hurried to Vansittart with the news. 
 
 " By all means, let us inspect their operations, monsieur," 
 said Jerome. 
 
 Followed by Jim Bates, they once more proceeded to the 
 underground room, well armed. This time a careful scru- 
 tiny of the floor revealed the fresh scratches of hob-nailed 
 boots leading to one part of the timbered wall. It needed 
 slight effort to reveal the tunnel. 
 
 ' ' They have done a wonderful deal in the time, ' ' whis- 
 pered Folliet, astonished at the great gap he beheld. ' ' This 
 is very strange. Where can they have placed the earth ? ' ' 
 
 He stepped forward into the darkness. When he had 
 reached the point where the rough-hewn passage met the 
 roof of the tunnel, he stopped, bending down and peeping. 
 Far j^onder in the distance he saw the glimmer of the lan- 
 terns, saw the moving .shadow^s, heard the faint echoes of the 
 picks. He ran quickl}' back. 
 
 ' ' Sir, ' ' he said, ' ' they have discovered an ancient tunnel 
 leading, most probably, to the vaults of St. Cloud. These 
 ruflSans are fiends ! " 
 
 " Not at all, monsieur," said Vansittart, " they are merely 
 
The Siege of St. Cloud 383 
 
 determined men. They are probably, then, from your 
 report, now in my palace." 
 
 ' ' No. I don't think so. They are using tools down there. 
 They have met a wall of some sort, I think. At any rate, 
 we have them. They are so self-sure that they have set no 
 watch. They do not suspect our presence. Within a quarter 
 of an hour, I can have a dozen men here to knock them on 
 the head like rats. They shall never come out alive." 
 
 Vansittart's brows were knit; he was thinking. 
 
 " Yes, they shall come out alive. Monsieur Folliet," he 
 said. " lyCt us hasten gently, as the proverb says. They 
 do not take away their tools by day, I think ? ' ' 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 " Very good. We will permit them to prosecute their 
 labors in peace for the present." 
 
 " What ! and leave their ladder for them to mount 
 again ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Yes, we will leave them their ladder. ' ' Vansittart was 
 smiling his mysterious iron smile. 
 
 " How many of them are there ? " he asked. 
 
 " Ten, to-day, I think." 
 
 ' ' When the tenth man leaves in the morning, pray let me 
 know. Do 5^ou happen to have with you — a tape ? ' ' 
 
 Folliet produced a tape from his pocket, and Vansittart 
 handed it to Jim. " Oblige me by taking the measurements 
 of the area of the doorway," he said. When this was done, 
 they walked quietly away to the palace. 
 
 At the palace, Folliet at once descended underground into 
 the old vaults of St. Cloud. His lamp showed him a vast 
 intricacy of dungeons, made of unhewn rock, damp with 
 antiquity", black as night. After an exhaustive search he 
 came to the conclusion that the conspirators when they 
 reached this end, would have work enough for their picks in 
 order to enter the palace. The entrance to the tunnel on 
 this side had been blocked up with solid masonry somewhere 
 about the end of the seventeenth century. 
 
384 -^^^ American Emperor 
 
 At three o'clock next morning, the subterranean workers 
 came upon another transverse mass of masonry. Their food 
 during the night had been scanty ; their frames were worn 
 with the long siege upon the blinding, splintering stone ; 
 their spirits flagged. Even de Tournon thought of a bed 
 with longing. They rightly guessed that this was the last 
 cross-section of masonry to be conquered. They dropped 
 their tools simultaneously, and hurried, with parching 
 throats, and languid limbs, to the upper air. 
 
 At five, Vansittart, Folliet, and Jim Bates were down in 
 the tunnel about a hundred 3'ards from its commencement at 
 the chamber. There, near the block of w^alls, lay the tools 
 of the men, white with dust, where they had dropped them. 
 Burdened with these, the three men returned to the opening 
 and ascended by the ladder, having carefully replaced the 
 boards. 
 
 The tools they bore to a thick growth of tamarisk trees 
 near by, surrounded by stubble, in the centre of which 
 already stood two thin square slabs of iron, leaning against 
 a tree, and made in haste in the village of St. Cloud, from 
 the measurements taken by Jim Bates of the entrance to the 
 tunnel. The slabs were pierced by four lines of holes, in 
 each of which holes now loosely lay a screw. The tools 
 taken from below were flung down in the thicket, and the 
 three men walked homeward. 
 
 Vansittart was about to strike. 
 
 Lisette's hands were, a few hours later, busied with the 
 Princess Marchesi's hair. What a touch of the fingers had 
 Lisette in the deeps and thicknesses of one's hair ! All the 
 drowsy syrups of the world were not worth comparison with 
 I^isette's gentle seduction of hand. 
 
 ' ' Lisette, you are a narcotic in yourself, ' ' said the Prin- 
 cess, whose ej^es were closed in trance before the mirror. 
 
 " Lisette, did you undo Miss Harland's hair, as I told you 
 last night ? ' ' she said presently. 
 
 " Yes, madame," 
 
The Siege of St. Cloud 385 
 
 " Did she enjoy your touch, I<isette ? " 
 
 "She did not say, madame." There was delicious 
 silence. 
 
 Then, again, presently : " lyisette, do you know what I 
 want?" 
 
 " No, madame." 
 
 ' ' I want a locksmith, lyisette. ' ' 
 
 " A locksmith, madame ? " L<isette's heart gave a little 
 bound. 
 
 "Yes, lyisette." 
 
 ' ' When, madame ? ' ' 
 
 "To-morrow." 
 
 " You can easily get one, madame." 
 
 " Could j'^z/ manage to get one for me, I^isette ? " 
 
 Ivisette was pale and excited. " I dare say, madame." 
 
 " All right, then. Pray do." 
 
 " You want him to come into the house to you, ma- 
 dame ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "What time?" 
 
 " Oh, after dinner. Say nine o'clock in the evening." 
 
 ' ' Where shall I bring him to you ? ' ' 
 
 " Take him to my dressing-room, and then call me." 
 
 lyisette did not answer. She was very pale. When she 
 went out of the room, she was flurried, uncertain, nervous. 
 She stood still, thinking for some time. But at last, she ran 
 below stairs, and wrote a letter. She said in it : 
 
 " I will meet you at the well this evening, at 8.30." 
 
 Among his other pursuits, her husband was, as he had 
 told her, a locksmith. And it was now absolutely necessary 
 that she should see him. Her terror of his coming to claim 
 her had grown too strong to be any longer borne. And here 
 was a way to end their quarrel about bringing him into the 
 house, a way proposed by the Princess Marchesi herself. 
 
 " Everj'thiug always comes out right in the end," medi- 
 tated I^isette, as she re-entered the palace. 
 25 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX 
 
 THE CONSPIRACY ENDS 
 
 THE Princess Marches!, in her amiable diplomacy, did 
 not act alone. She had won the acquiescence of the 
 Comtesse de Fontainebleau. For days the two women's 
 heads had been going together in earnest, whispered confab- 
 ulations, in low, sibilant, busy interviews, secret as the 
 grave. This was during the week that Evel}^ was staying 
 at St. Cloud by the request of the Princess. 
 
 " It can be done, Comtesse ! It can, and it should be 
 done ! " the Princess had said. 
 
 " It can, undoubtedly, Princess. But there is the risk. 
 What if Mr. Vansittart be angry ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Jerome angry with me ? Well, let him ! So long as we 
 effect our purpose, what do we care about the anger of a 
 boy ? But men never notice anything, Comtesse ! Fifty to 
 one, when it is all over, he will know nothing whatever 
 about the matter ! " 
 
 The boudoir of Evelyn had been appointed by the diplo- 
 macy of the Princess to be immediately next to Vansittart' s 
 library. Only an arched cedar door separated the two 
 apartments. But this door was locked, and some one or 
 another — Vansittart himself, in fact, though the ladies did 
 not know it — had removed the key. The scheme was to 
 restore communication between the two suites of rooms by 
 the removal or unfastening of the lock. 
 
 " But suppose, after all our trouble, nothing happens ? " 
 suggested the Comtesse. 
 
 386 
 
The Co7ispiracy Ends 387 
 
 " My dear, you lack adventure," said the Princess ; " you 
 are unfamiliar with the lyaw of Probabilities. Love will pass 
 through any opening larger than a keyhole. If nothing hap- 
 pens in a week, something will happen in two ; failing that, 
 you may be certain of results in a month. ' ' 
 
 " But Miss Harland returns to Paris in a few days." 
 
 ' ' Not if / know it. Miss Harland is in safe hands now. 
 I have already devised the means by which she shall be 
 compelled to remain with me at St. Cloud for at least a 
 month." And so, on the morning after the third night's 
 labor in the tunnel, Lisette was instructed to procure the 
 services of a locksmith. 
 
 The fourth evening came. By nine o'clock, the last of 
 the conspirators who were to aid in that day's work had 
 descended the iron ladder and adjusted the boarded door 
 behind them. At ten minutes past nine, Folliet and Jim 
 Bates were jerkily urging screws through the slabs of iron, 
 with a screw-driver, fastening them to the firm and undis- 
 turbed planking of the wall. Could the men beyond have 
 heard it, that commonplace sound would have thrilled them 
 with a wilder terror than the crack of doom itself They 
 were imprisoned in a living tomb, from which, though they 
 had the cunning of fiends, and the strength of Behemoth, 
 they could never extricate their lives. For at that moment 
 they stood at the spot where their tools had been. With 
 pallid awe they stared into the blanched visages of one an- 
 other, and then raced back to the exit, to find that it firmly 
 resisted all efforts to open it. 
 
 There are moments in life so horrid, that the mind cannot 
 contemplate them. The thing which these men now saw in 
 each other's eyes was — Madness. After a day or two of 
 hunger, they knew that they would be galloping about 
 their den, and tearing each other's flesh with their teeth, 
 like wild horses in the midst of a flame. De Tournon felt 
 in his hurrying heart how stern was the vengeance of his 
 tremendous foe ; how long his' arm ; how dreadful his frown. 
 
388 An American Emperor 
 
 Vansittart had struck. The men did not need to ask what 
 had happened to them. They knew. And there was not 
 a tool among tliem. A man cannot tear the world to pieces 
 with his nails. 
 
 The food they had would hardly last them a day. Their 
 lanterns would soon burn out. Madness, and blackness, 
 and the tongue that lolled dry from the mouth, and the rush 
 of frenzy through the long and rayless vault, and the short 
 howl of rabies, and the drawn-out wail of the damned. 
 Was, this, then, their doom ? Was it so the Emperor took 
 vengeance upon his enemies ? 
 
 It was so. But this time Vansittart failed. He had reck- 
 oned well. But he was unaware of the existence of lyisette. 
 It is not unusual for the simplest to bring to nought the 
 counsels of the mightiest. The schemes of the man who 
 was in the mouth of all the world were balked by the love 
 affairs of a little servant girl. And lyisette did not suspect a 
 word of the matter. The Fongeur received her letter that 
 day, and, having to meet her, did not descend into the 
 tunnel with his mates. 
 
 ' ' Well, you wretched little winkle, ' ' he said, as Lisette, 
 half- frightened, made her appearance at the well, " So you 
 turn up at last, do you ? But I don't want you any more, 
 you see." 
 
 ' ' What have you come for, then ? ' ' said Lisette coquet- 
 tishly. 
 
 " Well, you 're not a bad sort, j'ou know. But I '11 bruise 
 that pretty face of yours if you play me any more tricks, I 
 tell you." 
 
 ' ' A lady wants you. ' ' 
 
 "Wants who?" 
 
 "Wants you." 
 
 ' ' What are you talking about ? ' ' 
 
 " It 's true. The Princess Marchesi. You 've got to go 
 and do something to a lock." 
 
 L,e Grand's face wore a look of puzzlement. " Who is it 
 you 're talking to ? " he said. 
 
The Conspiracy Ends 389 
 
 " I 'm talking to you." 
 
 " The Princess who ? " 
 
 ' ' Marchesi. ' ' 
 
 " Where does she want me to go ? " 
 
 ' ' To her room in the palace. ' ' 
 
 He whistled. " I 'm too fly." 
 
 "Too what?" 
 
 " Too fl3^ It 's only a trick to get hold of me." 
 
 I^isette laughed. ' ' Why, you must be mad ! The Prin- 
 cess Marchesi get hold oi you ! She doesn't dream that 
 there is such a brute as you in the world. ' ' 
 
 ' ' How does she know I can mend locks ? ' ' 
 
 " I tell you you are mad ! She does n't know that you 
 can mend locks, or anything about you. She asked me to 
 get a locksmith for her, and as — as — you said you wanted to 
 — to — see Mr. Vansittart's room, I thought you would like 
 to get near it, at any rate. ' ' 
 
 " I 'm not going, all the same." 
 
 "Very well. Good-bye." 
 
 ' ' I say — kiss me. ' ' 
 
 " You may go, and — drown yourself. You don't kiss 
 vie ! ' ' 
 
 " Kiss me, I tell you ! " He jumped from his seat, caught 
 her, and kissed her. 
 
 " You have n't asked my pardon for striking me yet," 
 said lyisette, content, at any time, to be kissed. 
 
 " Asked pardon ! Nonsense. But I say — you would n't 
 betray me, would you ? ' ' 
 
 " I don't know what you 're talking about," she an- 
 swered, " but I would n't — not for anything." 
 
 " Well, is it honor bright about that lock ? " 
 
 ' ' Of course it is. I have told you. ' ' 
 
 "All right. I '11 go." 
 
 " It 's to-morrow evening, then, about half-past eight. 
 Come round to the back, and ask for Mademoiselle Cibras— 
 that 's me, you know." She looked up, slyly smiUug, into 
 his face. 
 
390 An American E^nperor 
 
 " No, that won't do," said the Fongeur. " Look here — 
 it 's like this. There 's a little matter in dispute between 
 me and Vansittart, you see? He must n't catch me any- 
 where in his grounds at that hour. Is n't there some little 
 side entrance to the house on the park side, where I could 
 slip in without anybody seeing ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Y-e-s, ' ' said Lisette, meditating ; ' ' there is a postern on 
 that side just opposite a summer-house, which nobody ever 
 uses. ' ' 
 
 " That's the place for me ! I '11 lurk behind the house 
 or thereabouts, and you come to the door and call when 
 there 's nobody about." This was agreed, and Lisette, uu- 
 bruised and pleased, took her departure in a run. 
 
 He hastened to apprise de Tournon of his good luck, and 
 was astounded to find his way barred by the handiwork of 
 Folliet and Jim Bates. 
 
 He laughed as he examined this death-trap. 
 
 " Lucky for me, and for them, that I 'm not with them on 
 the other side, ' ' he muttered. But there was a shudder in 
 the thought, and he vowed to take no risks with Vansittart 
 if possible. He always carried a burglar's bit and brace 
 with him. These were useful in removing the screws, and 
 he made a dramatic appearance among the doomed men. 
 He was as if crowned with light in their eyes, for he brought 
 life. And he also brought the sweetest news to de Tournon. 
 No need now to toil in the depths. Surely it would be easy 
 to enter St. Cloud with their victim's aunt conspiring to 
 help them. 
 
 The following evening, at a few minutes after nine/ le 
 Grand stood secure in Vansittart' s library. With him was 
 the Princess Marchesi. 
 
 They had entered from the passage. On one side lay the 
 suite of rooms occupied by Evelyn Harland.on the other the 
 dressing-room and bedroom of Vansittart, these latter con- 
 necting with the library, and all with doors into the corridor. 
 In the right-hand wall of the library, as you faced the doors 
 
The Co7ispiracy Ends 391 
 
 from the passage, was the cedar door which divided Evelyn 
 and Vansittart. 
 
 ' ' Will it be necessary to remove the lock ? ' ' asked the 
 Princess. 
 
 ' ' No, madame, I think not, ' ' said le Grand. 
 
 " Very good. Then set to work." 
 
 " But madame sees that I have brought no tools ? " 
 
 ' ' And what on earth is the good of you without tools ? 
 Did you ever ! " 
 
 " I merely came to examine the lock, madame." 
 
 " But why not bring tools with you ? " 
 
 " I was given to understand that there was some amount 
 of secrecy in the matter, madame. This is Mr. Vansittart' s 
 library." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 ' ' May I examine the locks in the other rooms ? If, as I 
 expect, they are all of one class, it will help me to judge 
 this one correctly." Suiting his action to his words, he 
 walked through the dressing-room into the bedroom, fol- 
 lowed by the Princess, and bent to examine the fastenings. 
 
 The chamber was a very large one, consisting of two 
 rooms thrown into one. Lately, by Vansittart' s instructions, 
 it had been divided into two portions by a partition of wood, 
 containing a high-arched opening in the centre. It was too 
 wide for a doorway and seemed to be a mere embellishment, 
 or was intended, perhaps, to render the room cosier. Two 
 doors communicated with the corridor, one on each side of 
 the partition. 
 
 "We are now in the President's bedroom?" said the 
 Fongeur, still busy with the lock. 
 
 "Yes. What of it?" 
 
 "I see no bed." 
 
 " The bed is on the other side of the partition, and is a 
 small one. He does not love luxuries. Sometimes he sleeps 
 in that part of the room ; sometimes in this. But what has 
 all this got to do with your task, workman ? " 
 
392 An American Emperor 
 
 " Suppose Mr. Vansittart were to come in here now ? " 
 
 " He won't; but it matters not." 
 
 ' * I have no authority from him to touch the lock. ' ' 
 
 " You are insolent, workman ! " 
 
 ' ' No, madame ; but I am timid. At what hour does M. 
 Vansittart dine ? ' ' 
 
 "At eight." 
 
 " Well, would n't it be better, madame, for me to come 
 just before, or just after, or during dinner ? It is only a bit 
 of a job, and I should soon polish it off if I felt all right. 
 There 's a little side-door down below near the summer- 
 house where you could meet me without any of the servants 
 being the wiser — say at 8.30. No doubt madame would 
 make an excuse to the gentlemen beforehand for being 
 absent from dinner. ' ' 
 
 " That stupid L^isette ! " said the Princess — "to get me a 
 workman who trembles at shadows ! " Then she thought 
 that if she were absent from dinner — if she said, for instance, 
 that she was going over to the Chalet, Evelyn and Jerome 
 would probably have the meal all to themselves, and this 
 decided her. She said: " Very well ! that will do. Bring 
 your tools at eight-thirty to-morrow. But you should be 
 bold, workman ! — you should have pluck ! — you should be a 
 man ! " 
 
 The Fongeur grinned demurely. He noted the way care- 
 fully from Vansittart's room to the side-postern. The first 
 thing he did, on emerging from the palace, was to purchase 
 a screw-driver and a chisel. He calculated that he would 
 need to show his implements for a moment or two to the 
 Princess when he first entered the palace next night, and 
 therefore provided himself wdth these at once. 
 
 When the Princess Marchesi stood at the postern the fol- 
 lowing evening at eight-thirty, the Fongeur, slipping from 
 behind the summer-house, walked towards her, ostentatiously 
 showing his chisel and turn-screw. Near the Princess was 
 the Comtesse de Fontainebleau in a flutter of happiness at 
 
The Conspiracy Ends 393 
 
 all the charming secrecy and mystery of the affair. The 
 two ladies were glad that they had been born. The Com- 
 tesse looked upon the Princess as the very Goddess of 
 Intrigue. 
 
 Before the Princess was well gagged, the Plasterer and 
 String-the-Neck swiftly, but quite coolly, performed a similar 
 feat upon the Comtesse. There was, opening on a narrow 
 passage, a small, empty room, which the Fongeur had 
 noted in the day. Into this they threw the ladies, tied 
 hands and feet. The Fongeur now took his leave. He had 
 done his share of the work, he said, and would await his 
 friends at their customary meeting-place. He was lucky, 
 this scamp. 
 
 De Tournon, the Plasterer, String-the-Neck, and the 
 Gouger, taking with them a plan of the premises prepared 
 by le Grand, entered the small room and locked the door. 
 They waited five hours. At the end of that time the house 
 was wrapped in perfect silence. One servant only in the 
 kitchens sat sleepily waiting for the return of the Princess 
 from her announced visit to the chalet. One servant at the 
 chalet sat sleepily waiting the return of the Comtesse from 
 her announced visit to the palace. The Comtesse and the 
 Princess lay on their backs, more silent than they had been 
 for some years. Even in her sleep the Princess was wont to 
 talk. At present, however, she did not say anything. She 
 was tongue-tied. 
 
 The four men ascended warily to the passage before Van- 
 sittart's room. The house was utterly black, yet they made 
 hardly a sound. The Plasterer went first ; two others clung 
 to his sleeves ; de Tournon to the sleeve of one of these. 
 
 Into which of the two doors should they go ? They did 
 not know, for the Princess had told le Grand that the bed 
 was moved from room to room. And this was the fact. 
 The millionnaire slept on a narrow iron bedstead, without 
 any pretensions to luxurj', and his bed was rather hard. 
 Into which of the doors, then ? The assassins cut the knot 
 
394 ^^^ American Emperor 
 
 of doubt by entering both, two by one door, two by the 
 other, the keys prepared by le Grand readily fitting the 
 locks. De Tournon and the Gouger passed in on the left ; 
 the Plasterer and String-the-Neck on the right. 
 
 Vansittart had been asleep. But when they entered the 
 room, he knew it. 
 
 He lay still — listening. He did not move. 
 
 He was immensely puzzled, because he believed that his 
 active enemies were imprisoned in the tunnel. It was no 
 part of his vengeance to let them starve there, but only to 
 let them suffer the torture of imagining this to be their fate. 
 On the third morning he proposed to free them, or such as 
 were alive, as they would probably murder each other in 
 their rage, in the belief that the terrible lesson would be 
 suflScient to keep them quiet in the future. Under the con- 
 ditions, even the vigilance of Folliet had relaxed somewhat. 
 
 Now, when the keys turned stealthily in the locks of his 
 bedroom door he was naturally at a loss to know how his 
 assailants had got there. But though puzzled, he was not 
 alarmed. In fact, he was perfectly safe. 
 
 The partition lately set up, which divided his room into 
 two, was not a fixed partition, but ran on minute wheels 
 concealed in the depth of the flooring. The last thing that 
 Vansittart did every night before lying down, was to shift 
 the position of his bed, one night pushing it hard up against 
 the right wall, near the locked and bolted door of his dress- 
 ing-room ; the next against the left wall opposite. In either 
 case, he would then touch a button, and the partition would 
 move across the room till it nearly touched the side of his 
 bed. And in the narrow space between wall and partition 
 he slept. No one in the house had any suspicion of this 
 ingenious mechanism; not even Folliet or Jim Bates. 
 
 When the partition had moved across the room near to 
 the bed, two people entering by the two doors, and ex- 
 pecting to enter two different rooms, would be infinitely 
 bewildered to find themselves in one and the same room. 
 
The Conspiracy Ends 395 
 
 They would question the truthfulness of their senses. They 
 would be amazed beyond human utterance. They would 
 be abashed, and stricken, and crushed by the miracle. 
 When, in addition, utter darkness was about them, their 
 confusion would be turned into inanity. An element of 
 wildness, a touch of frenzy, would enter their dismay. 
 They would be routed without hope, undone beyond ex- 
 pression. They would be dazzled by blindness, lost in an 
 abyss of mystery. They would roll and tumble together, 
 tearing each other in a rage of incredulity. 
 
 And that is what really happened to the four men. Ey 
 the left door de Tournon and the Gouger had entered ; by 
 the right. String- the- Neck and the Plasterer. To the left 
 of de Tournon stood the running partition, and to the left of 
 the partition lay Vansittart, listening. As the two left assas- 
 sins groped about, they encountered the two right assassitis 
 groping about. As each two believed that they were alone 
 in the room, each two supposed that they had secured Va!i- 
 sittart trying to make his escape. They struck. The 
 Gouger was stabbed to the heart by the Plasterer ; Striug- 
 the-Neck was stabbed in the throat by de Tournon — and fell 
 dead. 
 
 De Tournon and the Plasterer were left. The}- met. But 
 each supposed that he had already killed Vansittart. Who, 
 then, was this ? The question was like a madness. It grew 
 into a rabies. They clutched, they struggled together. 
 They were in a Babel, or a Bedlam. Confusion and dis- 
 traction had fallen upon them. In their close grip, neither 
 could make the deadly stroke, though both were wounded. 
 They wrestled each with a phantasm. 
 
 Suddenly they saw each other's faces with dazzling dis- 
 tinctness. A white, bright flood of light filled the room. 
 Vansittart had stretched out his hand, and turned on the 
 electric current. Previously he had touched the electric 
 button which communicated with the rooms of Folliet and 
 Jim Bates. As de Tournon and the Plasterer stared at each 
 
396 An American Emperor 
 
 other with eyes wide open in awe and wonder, a bullet from 
 Jim Bates's revolver entered the brain of the Plasterer. 
 
 It was FoUiet who saved de Tournon. He leapt upon 
 him pinning him to the floor by the throat, cr>dng, " a 
 rope ! " 
 
 Jim did not understand this move. Whj^ not kill the 
 man, and be done ? He stared, till Vausittart stood in the 
 arch of the partition in his pajamas, and said : " Why 
 stare ? Do quicklj- as M. Folliet directs. And be speedy 
 in removing these corpses from my presence. ' ' 
 
 De Tournon was hustled, five minutes later, into one of 
 the most noisome of the dungeons of old St. Cloud, deep 
 down in the earth, between Jim Bates and Folliet. Here, 
 bound hand and foot, he was left. 
 
 In an hour the house was again in quietude. The servant 
 who sat up for the Princess had retired, supposing that 
 her mistress was remaining for the night at the chalet. 
 Vansittart was sound asleep. Jim was snoring loudly. But 
 Folliet lay awake. When he was certain that all was still, 
 he rose softly, took a lantern, and descended to de Tour- 
 non' s dungeon. It was a small, square apartment, unfloored, 
 of rough .stones. De Tournon lay in a bundle in one corner. 
 
 Folliet deposited his lantern in another corner, and with- 
 out a word undid the cords which bound the prisoner's 
 hands and feet. The portal of the room he had secured on 
 his entrance. De Tournon's dagger, which had been taken 
 from him, he threw at the wretch's head ; another, of similar 
 length, was in his own hands. 
 
 " Now, de Tournon ! " was all he said. 
 
 The hate of j^ears was concentrated in FoUiet's face. For 
 this hour he had prayed to God and to the devil in hell, and 
 it had come. The two men, from opposite corners, looked 
 at each other in the red glow of the lantern. But their faces 
 were hardly like the faces of men. 
 
 It was a long fight. 
 
 In the first ages of the world, when man was but little 
 
The Conspiracy Efids 397 
 
 removed from the beast, and the instinct of the use of im- 
 plements had not arisen strongly within him, the fiercest 
 fights were fought out with hands only. The weapons of 
 Nature — the nails— were the weapons chosen by the first of 
 our race. And to this primary stage of life had those two 
 now reverted in their brutal malice. The instinct to use the 
 hands, to slay with the nails, to squeeze with the fingers 
 arose in them. Half-way through the fight, when they were 
 bleeding from many stabs, the daggers were discarded. 
 They took to the weapon of the tiger. 
 
 See them crouched in opposite corners, panting in a rest, 
 with side- way glare of the maddened eye, with murderous 
 grin of the lower jaw, ready to spring ! Then flying, as 
 with the wings of demons, through the air, then rolling and 
 wallowing together with a cat-o'-mountain fury ! It lasted 
 long. But the dinouement was unexpected. 
 
 Folliet resolved to make an end of the business, and 
 picked up his knife again, but even in his frenzy he was 
 amazed to hear de Tournon shrieking with laughter, and 
 feebly attempting an insane dance. This final strain had 
 snapped the man's intelligence. He was a hopeless maniac, 
 gibbering over the grave of his dead intellect. Folliet was 
 hardly able to stagger out and bolt the door. He somehow 
 gained the ground floor of the palace, where he fell fainting, 
 and was discovered in the early morning about the same 
 hour as the gagged Comtesse and the Princess. 
 
 All three remained many days in bed before they ventured 
 out again, and meanwhile de Tournon had been removed to 
 the asylum at Charenton, whence he never emerged alive. 
 
 He was not violent, but he had, nevertheless, to be placed 
 under forcible restraint, as he was always striving to dig a 
 tunnel, whether through earth or solid wall, it mattered 
 not. The only wa}^ to stop him was to tie his hands behind 
 his back, and the paroxysms of rage he suffered under this 
 physical drawback gradually weakened him until the end 
 came — and others dug. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 ARIZONA JIM SPEAKS HIS MIND 
 
 IT may be readily surmised that the Princess Marchesi and 
 the Comtesse de Fontainebleau were not in good heart 
 to engage in further intrigue for a considerable period after 
 they had again recovered the use of their tongues and their 
 crippled limbs. Lisette, too, had fled from the palace to 
 join her precious husband, and that rascal himself was, for 
 once, frightened into submission. When FoUiet had thor- 
 oughly investigated the circumstances that led to the disas- 
 trous attack upon Vansittart, he gave Monsieur and Madame 
 le Grand one day's notice to leave France forever. They 
 promptly availed themselves of the opportunity to seek 
 redemption and an honest living in a new world. 
 
 With the destruction of de Tournon's gang, Jerome's last 
 active enemy disappeared. Politicall)', of course, he had 
 opponents, but their numbers rather decreased than other- 
 wise, as his rigidly honest and straightforward methods of 
 government gained public knowledge and appreciation. 
 
 Although he put in force many reforms calculated to im- 
 prove, whilst cheapening, the national services, not an 
 ofl&cial, from the highest to the lowest, was dismissed from 
 office. If posts were abolished, their occupants were bought 
 out, retired on a pension, or provided with employment else- 
 where. Dishonesty, bribery, peculation of everj' sort, re- 
 ceived no countenance. In six weeks the revenues showed 
 a visible improvement, whilst a marked alteration for the 
 better had taken place in the army and navy. 
 
 398 
 
Arizona Jim Speaks his Mind 399 
 
 In a word, Vansittart moulded France to his will, and 
 France liked it. 
 
 For once there was fixity of purpose in the national coun- 
 cils, and the newspapers openly amused themselves and their 
 readers by predictions as to the date when "Jerome I. " 
 would nominally as well as in reality occupy the throne. 
 Such was the temper of the people that had he asked for a 
 dictatorship in place of a constitutional sovereignty, his 
 demands would have been readily acceded to. 
 
 In I^iancourt he found an admirable coadjutor, and Pom- 
 pier was taken from the active list of the navy to occupy a 
 high position as Comptroller of Stores for both services — a 
 reform which was much criticised by naval and military 
 experts at first, but which, in efficiency and economy, soon 
 proved its excellence. 
 
 The Sahara was booming. Already the rents received 
 from private trading enterprises paid the interest upon the 
 first issue of capital, and such a speedy financial outcome of 
 the Scheme tended to raise the price of stock materially. 
 No one now doubted that, from a monetary point of view 
 alone, " Sahara, Limited, and Jerome K. Vansittart " was 
 destined to rank as the most successful enterprise the world 
 had ever seen. Even Peter Studevant was convinced. 
 
 One day, after much examination of accounts, he arrived 
 at a decision. 
 
 He sought his chief, and said : 
 
 " I want to hand you a check for a million sterling, to- 
 gether with ^40,400, being the accumulated interest at two 
 per cent, for two years on the money." 
 
 " I am much obliged for this windfall," laughed Jerome, 
 " but where on earth does it come from ? " 
 
 ' ' From my own banking account. I stole the money from 
 you, and I can only throw myself on your mercy, pleading 
 the best of intentions." 
 
 " What on earth are you talking about, my old friend ? " 
 
 ' ' I am telling you the naked truth. When you embarked 
 
400 An American Emperor 
 
 in this tremendous undertaking, I thought you would be 
 ruined, so I appropriated this sum from the gross amount of 
 your realizations. I appointed trustees, and made an irre- 
 vocable will in your favor in case of accidents. You see, I 
 wanted to save something for you out of the expected wreck. 
 You can have proofs of all this if you ' ' 
 
 " For goodness' sake, shut up, Peter, you dear old cautious 
 soul. I '11 take the million, but I '11 see j'ou hanged before 
 I touch the interest." 
 
 " But " 
 
 " The million down, or I send for the police ! " 
 
 So when Peter Studevant made up his mind that his self- 
 imposed task was no longer necessary, it may be taken for 
 granted that the Company was secure enough. 
 
 In one matter the new President encountered an unfore- 
 seen difficulty. It will be remembered that the Boca 
 Grande, or western, approach to the Sahara ran through 
 Spanish territor}--, which was practically valueless before the 
 inception of the scheme to flood the Sahara. Spain's rights 
 must, of course, be respected in the matter, but it now 
 leaked out that England had, years ago, acquired a pre- 
 emption to this strip of coast at a fixed price, and that she 
 had called upon Spain to complete the bargain, which that 
 impoverished country- was very ready to do. 
 
 There was some growling in France about this move by 
 perfidious Albion, but Vansittart soon made terms with the 
 British Cabinet. The capital expenditure upon the works 
 within the disputed area was agreed upon, and Great Britain 
 undertook to buy the Company's interest in this section at 
 one hundred per cent, premium within five years, mean- 
 while paN-ing three per cent, interest annually on the amount 
 of capital thus absorbed. The Company would work the 
 canals, etc. , and levj- equal charges upon all vessels of what- 
 ever nationality using the Boca Grande approach. 
 
 The deal gave general satisfaction. Sahara shares took 
 another jimip on the strength of it, and when the time came 
 
Arizona yim Speaks his Mind 401 
 
 for England to pay up, the property she thus had acquired 
 was worth much more in the open market. Which explains 
 the mysterious wink at a subordinate indulged in by the 
 British Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and 
 noted in an earlier page of this record of marvellous events. 
 
 The President had seemingly but little spare time to de- 
 vote to his own affairs, yet they were ever uppermost in his 
 thoughts. 
 
 Prince Henri of Navarre, whose character had borrowed 
 some degree of strength and manliness from his association 
 with Vansittart, had lately assumed an elder-brother attitude 
 towards Honorine de Montpensier. He more than once 
 respectfully but plainly urged Jerome to carry his projects 
 out to their full extent, and the latter could only plead the 
 urgency of state affairs as an excuse for delay. 
 
 The Frenchwoman, with that delightful uncertainty that 
 marks her sex, somewhat resented this fraternal solicitude 
 on the part of the young Prince, and severely tested his 
 honesty of purpose by treating him with marked coldness 
 and regretful confidence by fits and starts. 
 
 Kvelyn Harland took l^o riding desperately after the stag- 
 hounds of Fontainebleau, and astounded French hunting- 
 men by the manner in which she risked her neck. 
 
 The whole four were desperately unhappy, and in this 
 deadlock Princess Marchesi again began to plot. But this 
 time she found a new ally, and went to work on more direct 
 lines. Of all people in the world, she selected Arizona Jim 
 as her confidant. 
 
 " Jim," she said one day in the park at St. Cloud, " why 
 don't you tell j^our master what he ought to do ? " 
 
 " Me, ma'am ! " cried Bates. " Why, he 'd hoof me out of 
 the place. I did hev a go at him once, an' he kicked hard." 
 
 " I don't quite understand your methods of expressing 
 yourself, Jim, but I do say that you are the one person privi- 
 leged to talk to him as 3'ou like, and you ought to tell him 
 
 he is ruining, not only his own life, but many others." 
 26 
 
402 An American Emperor 
 
 " Well, ma'am, I '11 think it over. There '11 be an awful 
 row, you '11 see. If you want to stir a man up bad, tell him 
 the truth. An honest knock-down fact is wuss nor a squib 
 in a wasp's nest." 
 
 Bates was a perfect Napoleon in act when he was resolved. 
 The next time Vansittart came to St. Cloud, Jim followed 
 him to the library, and, having entered, locked the door and 
 put the key in his pocket. 
 
 Jerome looked at him with amazement, 
 
 " What 's the matter ? " he cried. "Another revolution, 
 or what ? " 
 
 " Somethin' like it, boss. I 've got a few remarks to fire 
 off, and I want to make sure you don't chuck me out until 
 I 've sung my little song." 
 
 ' ' Why, Jim, do you wish to leave me ? Is life too quiet 
 for you under these new conditions ? Or, stay. Jim, 
 you 're going to get married ? " 
 
 " Not me. But it 's a wedding I 'vecome to talk about, 
 all the same." 
 
 " Whose wedding ? " 
 
 "Yours." 
 
 Jerome's face grew stern. " Bates," he said, " you are 
 the last man I wish to quarrel with, but you must not speak 
 to me in this manner. Do you understand ? Never again, 
 or we part. ' ' 
 
 " That 's just it, boss. That 's why I locked the door. 
 I 'm going to hev my say, if I 'm forced to hold you on the 
 floor whilst I 'm coughin' it up. I ain't a-goin' to see you 
 start on the wrong tack without tellin' you what I think 
 before I quit for Nevada ag'in." 
 
 Jerome was silent for a moment, and he looked his faithful 
 henchman straight in the face before he spoke. He saw 
 there a bull-headed determination to go through with the 
 business, whatever it was, and he well guessed its nature, 
 but he resolved to try one last appeal. 
 
 ' ' Bates, you are, I firmly believe, the most devoted friend 
 
Arizona Jim Speaks his Mind 403 
 
 I possess in the world. Do not pain me in this way, but 
 leave me, or talk about something else." 
 
 Arizona Jim came closer to him, and it was evident that some 
 powerful emotion shook his stalwart frame. He almost whim- 
 pered as he replied : " Boss, it hurts me wuss nor you. But 
 it 's heavy on my chest, an' I can't quit unless I tell you." 
 
 Jerome clinched his teeth. " Very well, confound you. 
 Say what you want to say, and don't come near me again 
 for a week. ' ' 
 
 In view of this compromise, Bates was in a worse mental 
 plight than ever. Hitherto he had been buoyed up by 
 heroic resolve. But now he had to find words to express 
 himself, and he could see none in the depths of his hat, or 
 outlined in the frescoes of the ceiling. 
 
 " Well," said Vansittart, " can't you go on ? " 
 
 Jim had nearly prepared what he thought was a nice sen- 
 tence, but the question drove it from his mind. He blurted 
 out : 
 
 " It 's like this. You 're goin' to marry the wrong gal." 
 
 ' ' I know that better than you can tell me. Why torture 
 me, man, by talking about it ? " 
 
 " That 's just the trouble, boss. If you 'd talk about it, 
 everything 'ud come out all square. Everybody else is 
 talkin' about it, an' they can fix it right away. A pair of 
 silly old women talk about it, an' kin see through the hull 
 business, yet you can't. It 's sickenin'." 
 
 " Why, you idiot, what can I do ? I have pledged my 
 word. It is impossible to draw back, even if I would." 
 
 " Nobody wants you to draw back, boss. It strikes me 
 that, if you start in on the right lines, you '11 pull things 
 through in style." 
 
 " What would you have me do ? " 
 
 " Kin I ax you a few questions ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 * * In the fust place, boss, you don't want to be no emperor ? ' ' 
 
 "Not a bit." 
 
404 An American E^nperor 
 
 ' ' An' you air kinder gone on Miss Harland ? ' ' 
 
 " Yes, you scoundrel." 
 
 "Well, boss, I guess it 's about time you knew that 
 Mam'selle what 's-her-name 'ud sooner marry the French- 
 man than forty derned emperors. But she 's like you ; she 
 is too proud to own up the fax of the case." 
 
 Vansittart sprang from his chair and grasped Bates by the 
 shoulder, a wild excitement in every tone and feature. 
 
 ' ' Bates, ' ' he shouted, ' ' prove to me that what you say is 
 true, and you shall have any sum you choose to ask for 
 within the hour." 
 
 " I don't want no money, boss. All I wants is ter see you 
 hitched to the finest woman in the world, an' her name ain't 
 Honorine. What I tells you is as true as the Gospel. 
 You stand on me." 
 
 " But why have I not been told this long ago? What 
 conspiracy of silence has kept me from knowing it sooner ? " 
 
 ' ' How could anybody say a word ? Neither j'ou nor the 
 Frenchwoman would own up if either of you was dyin'. 
 Miss Bvelyn knew all about the other two gallivantin' 
 together, but s/ie could n't tell you. An' her brother 
 was n't likely to do what he would n't consider the square 
 thing. The little Prince is n't a bad sort of chap, an' he 
 tried to go straight for the sake of the woman. So he kep' 
 his mouth shut. The Princess Marchesi might hev spoke, 
 but she was kinder scared. When she tried to fix things, 
 she nearly got the whole crowd scalped. No, sirree, there 
 was nuthin' left but for me ter lock the door and argy to a 
 finish." 
 
 Vansittart was deeply moved. His face was flushed and 
 excited. He seemed to have become ten years younger in 
 the last five minutes. A telephone on his library table called 
 him up from Paris, but he seized the instrument, and 
 shouted into it, "I am having my first holiday for twelve 
 months — leave me alone," and then threw the apparatus 
 down with a bang. Turning to Jim Bates, he said : 
 
Arizona yim Speaks his Mind 405 
 
 ' ' Jim, I owe you my life many times. Now I owe you 
 my happiness. lyeave me. All will go right, but I must 
 think. My thanks to you cannot find expression in words. ' ' 
 
 The doubts and difficulties of his existence had been dis- 
 persed as a mist by a strong wind. True, there were awk- 
 ward situations ahead, but these were nothing to Vansittart, 
 restored as he was to hope and cheerful determination. 
 Long did he pace to and fro in the library before he had 
 thought out a definite line of action. He had almost de- 
 cided upon the course to be adopted, when the reflection 
 came with a smile that there were others to be consulted 
 besides himself He must see M'ademoiselle de Montpeiisier 
 at once, and obtain full confirmation of Bates's news, to- 
 gether with her consent for the amazing development which 
 had suggested itself to his alert mind. 
 
 Ah, if he could only meet Kvelyn for one instant, and 
 tell her, as he had long pined to do, that he was free to offer 
 her his heart, and that she was free to accept it. At any rate, 
 he would see her that evening. He hastily wrote a telegram 
 to Harland, bidding him not to fail to bring his sister to 
 dinner, and then he set out for Honorine's residence at the 
 other side of the park. 
 
 A short cut lay through the wood, and he was walking 
 slowly through the shaded path with bent head and ej^es 
 seeking inspiration in the pebbles, when a fresh clear voice 
 rang out merrily : 
 
 ' ' Why so preoccupied, Mr. Vansittart ? Is it politics, or 
 a new Sahara Scheme ? ' ' 
 
 Jerome was genuinely startled, for Evelyn Harland herself 
 stood before him, looking gracefully neat in a walking 
 dress, and rosy red at this unexpected meeting. She had 
 visited the French ladies at the cottage, and was now on her 
 way to call upon the Princess Marches! at the chateau. She 
 was quite close to him, and he neither hesitated nor an- 
 swered, but took her in his anns and kissed her. 
 
 If Evelyn was red before, she was crimson now. She 
 
4o6 An American Emperor 
 
 struggled to disengage herself, crying vehemently, " Mr. 
 Vansittart, is this fair ? Is it ? ' ' 
 
 " It is quite fair, my darling," he said, looking her stead- 
 ily in the eyes. ' ' I am at last able to tell you, honorably and 
 openly, that I love you, and shall go on loving j-ou whilst 
 life lasts. ' ' 
 
 She still resisted him, but with less vigor, and the color 
 rushed from her cheeks as rapidly as it came. She, too, 
 began to hope, wildly, desperately. 
 
 " But how ? What has happened ? " she said. 
 
 " Everything has happened. Prince Henri of Navarre 
 will marry Honorine de Montpensier, and I will marry you, 
 if you will take me." 
 
 Whereupon Evelyn placed her hands round his neck, and 
 began to cry. But tears of jo}^ are more precious than dia- 
 monds ; they are rarer. They sparkle with the dewdrop 
 lustre of the rainbow, for there is sunshine behind the 
 shower, and the smile on the girl's face, as she raised it to 
 his, conveyed the most eloquent message that Vansittart 
 had ever received in his life. 
 
 How long they stood there they knew not, until Evelyn 
 suddenly became aware that some one was looking at them. 
 She ran oflF towards the palace, and Vansittart advanced to 
 meet Prince Henri. 
 
 The young Frenchman was white with rage. 
 
 " Monsieur," he growled beneath his teeth, " this is too 
 much. I have long borne with you, but this insult to a 
 lady I revere can only be met by j-our death or mine. Will 
 you be good enough to appoint " 
 
 " What ? " shouted Jerome gleefully. " You don't want 
 to marry Evelyn, too ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' Evelyn ! Miss Harland ! What is she to me ? I 
 allude to the woman you are so grossly deceiving. Made- 
 moiselle de Montpensier." 
 
 " Surely I am not deceiving her by kissing another 
 girl ! " 
 
Arizona Jim Speaks his Mind 407 
 
 ** Monsieur, this is no matter for jest. I refuse to discuss 
 it. Name your second, and my friend shall wait on him 
 within the hour. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Prince, I like to see your spirit ; but bottle it up — you 
 and I won't fight. At least, not about Honorine. Come 
 with me to her. I shall not wait many minutes, and then 
 you can settle matters with her yourself ' ' 
 
 "Discuss your perfidy in Mademoiselle's presence? 
 Never ! " 
 
 ' ' Oh, yes, you will. You see, Prince, we are not going 
 to arrange the date for a duel, but the date of your mar- 
 riage. ' ' 
 
 ' ' My marriage ! With whom ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' With the lady who will shortly be Queen of France. I 
 have been blind for a long time, my friend, but my sight 
 has been restored with astounding effect. I will explain to 
 you as we walk to the cottage." Thereupon they walked 
 off, arm in arm, to visit Honorine de Montpensier. 
 
CHAPTCR XI,I 
 
 THE CORONATION 
 
 VANSITTART was called upon, at this stage of his 
 career, to face the most difficult task of his life. Al- 
 though he had iu the past, accomplished undertakings that 
 were seemingly superhuman, he always had the advantage 
 of asking his fellow-men to accept something achieved. 
 This sort of evidence cannot be refused. He first created by 
 his intellect, and then carried out by his money and intelli- 
 gence, until the point was reached when all might see the 
 clear path leading to the attainment of his project. But in 
 the final development that occupied his every waking mo- 
 ment there was a fresh element of resistance which threat- 
 ened, at the slightest hitch, to bring him up against an 
 impas.sible barrier. 
 
 In ever>' previous step of his progress in France he had 
 magnetized the majority of men into full belief in him. The 
 public accorded ready acquiescence to his plans ; his friends 
 gave unquestioning support. Now, the attitude of the public 
 might be dubious when they were taken into his confidence, 
 whilst that of his friends would be actively and bitterly 
 hostile. Worse than all, he was compelled to act a highly 
 melodramatic part, which was iu itself utterly distasteful to 
 him. 
 
 The object that he aimed at was definite enough. He had 
 vowed that he would place Honorine de Montpensier on the 
 throne, and at the same time leave himself free to marry 
 Evelyn Harland. How to reconcile this dual proposition 
 
 408 
 
The Coronation 409 
 
 — that was the question. When he first broached the matter 
 to Prime Minister lyiancourt, that shrewd and unimpas- 
 sioned man of the world laughed at the claims of Honorine. 
 
 " Pay her a pension, my dear boy," he cried. " I^et her 
 marry the Prince, and live in graceful dignity. You have 
 won the empire without her aid — nay, somewhat hampered 
 by a Quixotic alliance — surely you can choose your own 
 wife, when neither you nor the so-called legitimate heiress is 
 in love with the other. ' ' 
 
 Liancourt was a Frenchman. His ideas of the relations 
 between the sexes were not those of the Anglo-Saxon, so 
 Vansittart did not lose his temper at the suggestion. He 
 simply repeated his arguments with the utmost patience and 
 determination, until at last the level-headed statesman, see- 
 ing that the other was quite in earnest, agreed to support 
 him, as being the best way out of a disagreeable situation. 
 
 After lyiancourt came the chief ministers, financiers, sena- 
 tors, and deputies, leaders of society, soldiers, diplomats, and 
 representatives of various sections of the people — an unend- 
 ing stream of friends who began by protesting, but who 
 finally resolved to show the reality of their friendship by 
 promising to help him. 
 
 Gradually strange rumors crept into the newspapers, but 
 they were all inspired. Vansittart was about to give one 
 more sublime proof of his disinterestedness. He wanted 
 nothing for himself, this wonder-worker, he was all for 
 France. His name would pass through the ages untar- 
 nished by the faintest breath of self-seeking ; he would be 
 the model revolutionist of all time. 
 
 When, in due course, he received the unanimous invita- 
 tion of Senate and Chamber to assume the royal style and 
 prerogatives, he accepted the request on the plainly ex- 
 pressed understanding that he would be empowered to resign 
 at any time he should think fit, and to designate his suc- 
 cessor, provided his nominee were acceptable to the people 
 of France. 
 
4IO An American Emperor 
 
 There was much marvelling at this stipulation. Every 
 one knew that it foreshadowed some unexpected move 
 on his part, but the popular confidence in his integrity 
 was at such a pitch that nothing he asked for could be 
 refused. 
 
 France had good reason for this unbounded trust. Van- 
 sittart had concentrated the national life, and practically 
 doubled the national resources. Commerce had never been 
 so good, the government never so strong, the working 
 classes never so contented, as during the millionnaire's 
 regime. People were so busy making money that they 
 ceased to worry about the usually too delicate French sus- 
 ceptibilities in other directions, with the immediate result 
 that the influence of France among the nations had increased 
 tenfold. Neither Press nor politicians had anj'' longer the 
 incentive to plunge the country into difficulties with Ger- 
 many or England. They were both utterly subjugated by 
 Vansittart's all-powerful domination, and in Parliament or 
 Bourse they were helpless and voiceless. Truth to tell, 
 Jerome obtained no inconsiderable slice of support in his 
 subsequent proceedings from these free-lances of French 
 public life. There were many who would be glad to see his 
 commanding personality removed from the arena. With 
 the giant gone, there were chances for the pigmies. 
 
 Perhaps the chief element in his favor was that most 
 potent popular force — curiosity. 
 
 Vansittart had so often astounded France that she was 
 eager to be astounded again. It suited her humor. She 
 had waxed fat and prosperous under this showman's rule. 
 Each successive tableau vivayit was more piquant than its 
 predecessor, and had meant more money. Pray heaven the 
 American might keep it up ! 
 
 All this time his tact was unfailing and inimitable. Hav- 
 ing impressed Mademoiselle and Prince Henri with the 
 necessity of leaving matters entirely in his hands, he gave 
 a series of superb entertainments, at which he contrived 
 
The Coronation 411 
 
 to make them the chief figures. They became connu once 
 more in society, and France learnt again, to her amazement, 
 that she not only possessed some notable scions of her past 
 monarchies, but that they were on the most friendly terms 
 with ' ' The Emperor. ' ' Prince Henri of Navarre set up a 
 magnificent establishment at Versailles, and Mademoiselle de 
 Montpensier was formally installed in the Chateau of St. 
 Cloud. 
 
 The Princess Marchesi and the Comtesse de Fontaine- 
 bleau moved in an earthly paradise. There was intrigue on 
 foot, and they were allowed to be behind the scenes whilst 
 the principal actor was leading his audience up to the thrill- 
 ing dinouement of the last act. And the curtain was about 
 to rise upon it. 
 
 Vansittart was formally declared Emperor by both Houses 
 of Representatives. By his own special desire, however, he 
 continued to be officially recognized as President until the 
 date of the coronation ceremony at Notre Dame, which was 
 fixed to take place at the earliest possible moment. 
 
 And now he commenced to hurry things. He published 
 a proclamation to the effect that what France wanted, above 
 all else, was a responsible and lasting government, to enable 
 her to consolidate her position and economize her improving 
 finances. Again he asked the people to trust him as they 
 had done before, and to demonstrate their trust by promptly 
 approving the steps he should take to achieve the end he 
 had in view. 
 
 The Chamber of Deputies responded by a hearty vote 
 of confidence, for already there was ample indication of his 
 intentions. Even England and the other Great Powers, 
 some of whom had looked askance at the rapid climb of 
 this adventurer to the pinnacle of Empire, took a friendly 
 interest in his scheme. This was shown by the fact that they 
 all accepted his official invitation to attend the coronation 
 ceremony. 
 
 When at last the great day itself arrived, Paris, indeed all 
 
4 1 2 An American Emperor 
 
 France, was ablaze with color, and quivering with pleasur- 
 able excitement. 
 
 A noteworthy item in the official programme read as 
 follows : 
 
 " The Emperor-Klect, accompanied by Prince Henri of 
 Navarre and the Princesse de Montpensier, will proceed 
 from the Palais de I'nlysee to Notre Dame in a State car- 
 riage," whilst at the foot of the processional programme it 
 was stated that the cortege would return to the Palais ' ' in 
 the same order as it departed. ' ' Each phrase in this notifica- 
 tion suggested question and provoked analysis. 
 
 It -would be a pleasant task to chronicle the glories of this 
 unique display, were it not that the mere fopperies of exist- 
 ence can find but trivial place in the life record of such a 
 man as Vansittart. 
 
 Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. On this 
 memorable occasion she decked herself as a bride for the 
 wedding day. And she was serious withal, for the sway of 
 this strong man, who had moulded her fortunes to suit a 
 whim grown to a passion, had influenced her character and 
 taught her a decorous philosophy. Vansittart sought to 
 espouse France to happiness and quiet development, and, in 
 yielding to his desires, a volatile and fickle people had sud- 
 denly become politically domesticated. These unsuspected 
 virtues shone in the conduct of the millions who came to 
 gaze at the brilliant spectacle. They shouted themselves 
 hoarse in greeting a conqueror who offered them peace 
 instead of war, colonial extension in place of foreign aggres- 
 sion, lands smiling with cultivation rather than provinces 
 deluged with blood. 
 
 No wonder the people cheered, or that they were content 
 to believe that what Vansittart did was right. Had the 
 French workman understood the quaint language of Jim 
 Bates, he would have agreed with that worthy fire-eater's 
 oft-repeated truism, " What the boss says, goes." 
 
 Within the spacious cathedral of Notre Dame a notable 
 
The Coronation 413 
 
 company had gathered, and before the royal procession 
 arrived it was remarked, with some degree of astonishment, 
 that two crowns reposed on fauteuils in front of the golden 
 altar — a guard of honor, consisting of the colonels of every 
 cavalry regiment in France, lining the sanctuary behind the 
 altar and on both sides of the choir. 
 
 A subdued murmur of excitement also greeted the appear- 
 ance of Vansittart, who, in the simple evening dress worn 
 for ceremonial purposes in France, advanced alone to the 
 rails, and stood on one side. 
 
 He was followed by M. lyiancourt, who supported on his 
 arm Mademoiselle Honorine de Montpensier, attired in an 
 exquisite wedding-dress, with a veil that had graced the 
 brows of Marie Antoinette. 
 
 Prince Henri, attended by an Austrian Grand Duke, came 
 quickly behind them, and at the same moment the Arch- 
 bishop of Paris, accompanied by a bevy of high dignitaries 
 of the Church, entered the chancel. 
 
 Before the assembly had quite grasped the significance of 
 what was happening. Prince Henri and Honorine were 
 wedded, and Jerome was the first witness to sign the regis- 
 ter, which was produced by an attendant for the purpose. 
 Unknown to any save a few, the civil marriage had taken 
 place earlier in the day. Every one present was definitelj'' 
 aware of the nature of Vansittart' s contemplated action, but 
 its manner was novel and highly dramatic. 
 
 The newly made husband and wife entered the chancel, 
 and seated themselves under a canopy, whilst Vansittart 
 quietly stood with his hand upon the rail of the sanctuary, 
 facing the body of the church, but slightly inclined towards 
 the Prince and Princess of Navarre. 
 
 It was evident that he was about to address the vast con- 
 gregation, and a deep hush swaj^ed it into silence like a 
 breath of wind through a forest on a still summer's day. He 
 had prepared a careful address, but he now realized that the 
 selected words of judicial reasoning are seldom applicable to 
 
414 ^^^ American Emperor 
 
 the major momeuts of existence. So he stated his case sim- 
 ply and candidly, with an entire absence of eflfort that went 
 to the hearts of his auditors. 
 
 " My friends," he said, and the homely phrase penetrated 
 even the diplomatic bosom, " I have to ask your kindly 
 interest in a personal statement. 
 
 " Three years ago, inspired by the twofold motive of a 
 keen interest in the fortunes of the gracious lady you have 
 now seen happily married, and a strong desire to use bene- 
 ficially the wealth with which Providence had been pleased 
 to endow me, I set out from my home in America to win an 
 empire in France. 
 
 " I make no secret of my object, and all the world to-day 
 knows that I have succeeded. I offer no excuse. This 
 part of my scheme was entirely a personal one. In the same 
 breath, I state my conviction that the people of France, 
 whom I love, have not had cause to complain of my methods 
 of conquest. 
 
 " But with success has come experience. I have learnt 
 that my true reward lay in my work, and since that work 
 has practically passed from my hands, being in an adminis- 
 trative and almost completed stage, there has come the con- 
 viction that it will be better for the people of France if I 
 should strive to restore and remodel old and well established 
 institutions rather than wholly create a new system of gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 " At best, a man can only bean humble instrument in the 
 hands of Providence. I firmly believe I am doing right in 
 the eyes of the Deity and of my fellow-men when I forthwith 
 renounce the position which the citizens of France have seen 
 fit in their generosity to confer upon me. In thus abdicating, 
 I also wish to exercise the further power they have entrusted 
 me with, and I now nominate Prince Henri of Navarre as 
 King of France in my stead, whilst in the same breath I 
 wish their Majesties, the King and Queen, long life and 
 happiness for themselves and their most excellent subjects." 
 
The Coronation 4 1 5 
 
 A lady fainted from excitement in the nave of the cathe- 
 dral, and the incident gave all present a momentary relief 
 from the extreme tension created by Vansittart's magnificent 
 renunciation. 
 
 When he resumed his address he wisely adopted an imper- 
 sonal strain. 
 
 ' ' The Cabinets of Europe have been consulted with regard 
 to the accession to the throne of His Majesty Henry V. and 
 Her Majesty the Queen, who both take the honored titles of 
 their race. Without exception the Great Powers have given 
 unqualified approval to the proposition. A special session of 
 the Senate and Chamber of Deputies held this morning has 
 conferred constitutional sanction upon the coronation cere- 
 mony which will now take place, and His Majesty the King 
 will subsequently confirm all existing Ministers in their ap- 
 pointments. It only remains for me to ask 3'ou to join me, 
 in all sincerity and good feeling, when I say, ' Ivong live 
 their Majesties the King and Queen of France.' " 
 
 Amidst the clang of sabres and scabbards, as every ofl&cer 
 present drew his sword, and held it high in air, a great .shout 
 of wonderment and approval rang through the vaulted 
 aisles. 
 
 Vansittart stepped down from the elevated platform of the 
 chancel, and as he did so, his quick glance sought one figure 
 in all that brilliant company. His eyes met those of Evelyn 
 Harland, and she smiled at him through her tears. 
 
 Meanwhile some inkling of events within the cathedral 
 had been communicated to the crowd without. Indeed, 
 through the whole of Paris the newspapers had made known 
 the fact that the Senate and Chamber had approved of Van- 
 sittart's resolve to abdicate in favor of the Legitimst heir to 
 the throne. But in the .same issues they contained a .signed 
 statement from Vansittart announcing that he would still 
 continue to serve France in an unofficial capacity. 
 
 " I am a French citizen," he wrote, " and I will retain 
 that honorable di.stinction until I die." 
 
4i6 An Americmi Emperor 
 
 He thus cleverly answered the first question that would 
 arise in the public mind — France was assured of his unabated 
 interest and support. 
 
 Yet, when the royal party, with whom was Jerome, 
 emerged from tlie great doors of Notre Dame, it was a tick- 
 lish moment. 
 
 Things might go wrong. The people might resent Vansit- 
 tart's action, and if they became possessed by this notion, 
 there would be disturbance in Paris that night. But the 
 mere sight of the millionnaire standing on the left of the 
 Queen, with his confident smile and his pleasant greeting to 
 the crowd, at once banished such thoughts if they ever 
 existed. A roar of exultation met him. Although the cour- 
 tiers among the people shouted, ' ' Vive le Roi, ' ' and ' ' Vive 
 , la Rei7ie, ' ' the vast voice of the multitude yelled, ' ' Long live 
 the Emperor." 
 
 Vansittart was " the Emperor" for them, and would be 
 ' ' the Emperor ' ' as long as the breath remained in their 
 bodies. 
 
 " It is well, ' ' he said to Honorine as he took a seat facing 
 her in the royal carriage. ' ' The more they cheer me the 
 better it is for j'-ou." 
 
 For answer she bent forward, took his hand, and would 
 have kissed it, but he was quick to anticipate her, and his 
 lips met her fingers instead. 
 
 The young King sat silent and preoccupied until Jeropie 
 addressed him. 
 
 " Your Majesty already feels the weight of the crown ! ** 
 he said. 
 
 Henri smiled seriousl5^ 
 
 " Please don't call me ' Your Majesty ' just yet," he cried. 
 " It sounds ridiculous irom. you. I have been thinking what 
 I can say or do to thank you. But I am unequal to the 
 duty ; I can only resolve to try and live up to the splendid 
 example you have given me." 
 
 It was late that night before Jerome could get a single 
 
The Coronatio7i 417 
 
 moment alone with Evelyn, When he did he took her in 
 his arms and whispered : 
 
 ' ' I felt quite sorry for those two to-day. They must live 
 in the midst of wearisome Court ceremonies, everlastingly 
 the same. I was bored before the thing commenced. Now, 
 you and I " 
 
 And their lips met. 
 
CHAPTER XUI 
 
 "SAHARA, LIMITED," WOUND UP 
 
 JEROME and Evelyn were married quietl}^, a month 
 later, in the English Church in Paris. There were six 
 witnesses — the King and Queen of France, Dick Harland, 
 Liancourt, Arizona Jim, and Peter Studevant, who was offi- 
 cially present as a trustee under the marriage settlement. 
 That is to say, six were present by invitation, but there was 
 a seventh guest who invited himself, and who was none the 
 less welcome when he appeared. 
 
 For what happened in Paris that M. Folliet did not know ? 
 He was now Minister of Police under the restored monarchy, 
 but in his private means he was independent of his office, as 
 the millionnaire had rewarded his devoted services with a lib- 
 erality that astounded even one who was well acquainted 
 with his generous nature. 
 
 When he came forward to tender his congratulations, Van- 
 sittart reproached himself for having momentarily forgotten 
 him, but Folliet settled the matter with ready wit. 
 
 " Monsieur," he said, in his best Prefecture manner, " the 
 mere fixing of the date was an invitation to the Chief of 
 Police." Then, turning to the newly made bride, he added : 
 " I ask your kindly acceptance of a small memento of this 
 notable day. When your distinguished husband came to 
 Paris, I chanced to be the first citizen to exchange words 
 with him. He gave me a ring which has in very truth been 
 a talisman to me. But my destiny is determined ; yours 
 but dawns upon you. The ring is here, intact, but in form 
 
 418 
 
" Sahara, Limited^,' Wound Up 419 
 
 more suitable to a lady, and I trust you will honor me by 
 accepting it. ' ' 
 
 He produced a superb bracelet, studded with diamonds, 
 the central object being Vansittart's gift, cunningly refash- 
 ioned to suggest in relief its original shape. Evelyn could 
 not resist a cry of delight at the beauty of the ornament no 
 less than the motive of the giver. 
 
 "It is indeed a symbol of good luck," she said, " and 
 you have taken care, Monsieur Folliet, that it shall not be 
 wanting in appearance to back its promise. ' ' 
 
 Folliet was greatly pleased by her appreciation. 
 
 " There is a diamond to mark each month that I have 
 had the honor of knowing your husband, madame," he ex- 
 plained. 
 
 " I think, monsieur," cried Honorine, with a merry 
 laugh, ' ' that you might hand a similar token to me, as I 
 also am fortunate in Mr. Vansittart' s advent to Paris. ' ' 
 
 " Not so," interrupted the King. " M. Folliet would be 
 ruined by the deed ; he would require to purchase a dia- 
 mond for every hour. ' ' 
 
 "In truth, yes," said the Queen. "I withdraw my 
 request, monsieur, for it is I and not you who should make 
 the presentation." 
 
 " At any rate, I may offer your Majesties my life-long 
 service and devotion," said the Minister of Police with a 
 deep bow. 
 
 "Then believe me," cried Vansittart, "there are no 
 jewels equal to such a gift. Had I a dozen lives I should 
 have lost them all were it not for you, monsieur. ' ' 
 
 At the informal breakfast that followed, the King broached 
 a subject close to his heart. 
 
 ' ' When may we expect you back in Paris from your wed- 
 ding tour, Vansittart ? ' ' 
 
 ' ' There will be no wedding tour, in the ordinary sense of 
 the word, ' ' answered Vansittart with a quiet smile at Eve- 
 lyn. ' ' We do not leave France for a few days, and then we 
 
420 An American Emperor 
 
 will visit America for a prolonged sight-seeing trip. I am 
 anxious to show my wife the glories of the New World." 
 
 " After I have seen the Sahara," chimed in Evelyn. 
 
 ' ' Yes, we take that en route. ' ' 
 
 " But, look here. This is not fair," said Henri, whose 
 sudden anxiety made him pale. " I cannot do without you. 
 It is impossible, this journey, at least for months, if not 
 years. I am too inexperienced, too impulsive, too prone to 
 act rashly. Even when j'ou are near me, I am at times 
 bewildered by the pressure of State affairs. You must not 
 go. It is not to be thought of ; is it, Honorine ? And you, 
 Iviancourt; say that it cannot be." 
 
 Honorine was silent, but looked wath a grave face 
 from the King to Vansittart. Liancourt gazed into his 
 plate. 
 
 " Bear with me a moment, whilst I place matters in a 
 dififerent light," said Vansittart, the earnestness of his words 
 carrying conviction to the ears of the perplexed monarch as 
 he listened. 
 
 ' ' There is every reason why I should leave France, if not 
 forever, at least for a lengthened period. You are now 
 firmly placed on a constitutional throne. You are sur- 
 rounded by devoted and able ministers, headed by my most 
 trusted friend and councillor, I^iaucourt, who, I can see, is 
 already disposed to favor ray views. Your people are con- 
 tented and prosperous. Keep them so, and you cannot do 
 wrong. Forget ancient shibboleths concerning the divine 
 right of kings, and remember that you are only the chief 
 citizen of France. You cannot be removed from your high 
 position, but the knowledge of the fact vshould render you 
 only more anxious to act in accordance with the wishes of 
 those whom you govern. 
 
 " So long as I remain in France, you will never fill j'our 
 true place. Surely I do not need to urge this view upon 
 you. But when I am gone my name and deeds will soon be 
 a memory, a pleasant and notable one, I trust, but neverthe- 
 
'^ Sahara^ Limited,'' Wound Up 421 
 
 less a personality ever becoming more dim and legendary. 
 You are the King, and as fresh events take new ground in 
 the public mind, you will be the King in tangible and 
 ever present reality. 
 
 " I am not wholly consulting the desires of my wife and 
 myself in thus quitting France, the glorious scene of my 
 life's work. But destiny has shaped our ends very different 
 to that which was visible to our mortal eyes three years ago. 
 We are all, I am sure, well content. Providence has guided 
 us more truly than our own puny intelligences. And it 
 would be injuring, nay, almost imperilling the fair structure 
 we have erected were not the course adopted that I now 
 recommend." 
 
 The King offered no word when Jerome concluded. Henri 
 was, as he himself said, rash and impulsive, but he was 
 clearly learning the art of self-control. 
 
 ' ' Vansittart is right, ' ' said Liancourt. 
 
 " Mr. Vansittart is always right," said the Queen. 
 
 ' ' But what of the Sahara ? How will your Scheme fare if 
 you are thousands of miles away ? " The King was even 
 becoming business-like. 
 
 " Naturally, I have not forgotten that. The Sahara is 
 now an accomplished fact. A week ago Maclaren cabled 
 that fifty million gallons of distilled water were daily flowing 
 into the desert from both sections, and barely a quarter of 
 the plant is yet at work. The development and control of 
 the irrigation is a mere question of time and ordinary skill. 
 Mr. Studevant agrees with me that the right course to take 
 now is for France to nationalize the undertaking. This can 
 be done by issuing Government stock at a little over the 
 present market value of the shares. There will be no dis- 
 satisfaction at this course, and no call upon the finances of 
 the kingdom. It is a mere paper transaction, and will ren- 
 der the Sahara an integral portion of French territory. For 
 convenience, it will be advisable to retain the organization 
 of the Company, and I strongly advise you to keep Mr. 
 
422 An American Emperor 
 
 Maclaren in chief control so long as he lives. You will 
 never regret the transaction in any sense. ' ' 
 
 "Is it reall}^ such a simple matter ? ' ' Henri was even 
 yet astounded by Jerome's ease in dealing with financial 
 problems of phenomenal scope. 
 
 " There is no difficult}' ; it can be settled in a day by the 
 Chambers. ' Sahara, lyimited, ' must go into liquidation as 
 a formal affair, but 3'ou will find your creditors highly com- 
 plaisant. Some may want their monej^ and that is a mo- 
 mentary' question of selling sufficient stock to pay them. I, 
 as the largest shareholder, and the vast majority of others, 
 will gladly accept French bonds at 2 1 per cent, for our prop- 
 erty, as it will be acquired by the State at 100 per cent, 
 premium. On the other hand, a sixtj'-years sinking fund 
 will probably clear France of this great increase to her 
 national debt, and she will have the finest colony in the 
 world for nothing. ' ' 
 
 The King was convinced, but still desirous to stop Vansit- 
 tart's departure. 
 
 " This is a splendid project, and quite worthy of j^ou ; 
 but surely you will remain to see it through ? ' ' 
 
 " What ? Put in a year's clerical work, which Studevant 
 and the Bank of France can perform better without me ? 
 Not I ! We want our honeymoon, don't we, Evelyn ? " 
 
 " Most certainly," cried Evelyn. " I can't spare you at 
 an office all day. Besides, you deserve a long holiday. 
 You 've not had one since — since " 
 
 ' ' Since I first met you, ' ' laughed Jerome. 
 
 When the party broke up a little later, Evelyn confided to 
 him that she was personally delighted at the proposal that 
 they should leave France, as she felt somewhat constrained 
 at meeting Honorine so constantly. 
 
 Vansittart chuckled at the confession. 
 
 " My little girl is not jealous, is she ? " he cried. 
 
 " I jealous ! No, indeed. I can afford to pity her for her 
 pcx)r taste. ' ' 
 
^^ Sahara, Limited^' Wound Up 423 
 
 " Well, what is the other reason ? " 
 
 " There is no other reason. Just one, but that is sufficient. 
 One day at St. Cloud, we had — well, there — we had an 
 awful row." 
 
 " You and Honorine ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "What about?" 
 
 " About you ! " 
 
 ' ' About me ! For goodness' sake, why did you quarrel 
 about me ? " 
 
 " Oh, I don't know how it commenced. But she knew 
 that I was fond of 3'ou, and she taunted me with it. I said 
 some terribly nasty things to her about Prince Henri, and 
 we both wept for hours afterwards. Now, Jerry, don't ! 
 How ridiculous we would look if a servant came in. There ! 
 My hair is all disarranged, and I cannot look Suzanne in 
 the face, for she is sure to know. Oh, well. It does n't 
 matter 7101^^ as I must put it straight in any case. But I 'm 
 so glad we 're going." 
 
 The Seafarer bore a small but happy company from Mar- 
 seilles to the Gulf of Gabes. 
 
 Vansittart and his wife were accompanied by the insepar- 
 able pair, Dick Harland and Jim Bates, no longer the Master 
 of the Horse and the Captain of the Guard, but rejoicing in 
 the less sonorous and equally lucrative posts of Private 
 Secretary and Chief of the Luggage Department. 
 
 Maclaren met them at Gabes, and conveyed them by 
 special train to the well remembered scenes of former diffi- 
 culties and dangers. Wheat was growing on the battle- 
 ground of El Hegef, and a tolerable stream flowed through 
 the gully where Vansittart and Arizona Jim remained in 
 hiding after the affair at Tugurt. 
 
 But the Sahara sun was powerful, and Evelyn began to 
 pale beneath his ardent rays, so Vansittart hurried her back 
 to Gabes and on board his palatial yacht. The word now 
 was " Home," and on the evening of the second day after 
 
424 An American Emperor 
 
 they left Gabes the Highlands of Morocco were fast sinking 
 into the horizon as the Seafarer sped gallantly on her path 
 across the Atlantic. 
 
 Vansittart, Evelyn, and Dick were sitting in the saloon, 
 when they were startled by a noise like a pistol shot. They 
 rushed on deck to find Jim Bates leaning over the after tafF- 
 rail and gazing at the African coast as though he saw a 
 vision. 
 
 *' What 's the matter now, you Sioux ? " shouted Vansit- 
 tart, realizing in an instant that there was no cause for 
 alarm. 
 
 " Nuthin'. I did n't allow you 'd hear me, an' I hope 
 you was n't frightened, mam, or I 'd never forgive myself." 
 
 ' ' But why did you fire, anyway ? ' ' said Jerome. 
 
 " Well, boss, I kinder felt I oughter fire a last shot as a 
 salute. I was thinkin' of the times we had together over 
 yonder, an' it seemed as if the hills nodded ' Good-bye ; see 
 you soon, ' friendly like. ' ' 
 
 There was a far-away look in Jim's eye.s, and an uncon- 
 scious pathos in his voice. Vansittart understood his mood 
 and joined him at the taffrail. 
 
 " I guess they '11 want you ag'in, boss," said Bates, after 
 a pause. 
 
 " Why do you think so, Jim ? " 
 
 " Well, you see, they 're helpless critters, the French. 
 They kin fight when they 're set on, an' they can cook 
 bully, but their blamed heads are like feathers. They just 
 go as the wind puffs. They '11 want you ag'in, or my name 
 ain't Arizona Jim." 
 
 " Perhaps you are right, my friend," said Vansittart, as 
 he too looked steadfastly at the blue outline of the coast.' 
 " But whether they do or not, I am mighty glad that I am 
 returning to America as I left it, and that my name is noth- 
 ing more or less than plain Jerome K. Vansittart." 
 
 THE END. 
 
) 
 
 I