"If he d0esn't c0nne back pretty s00n, I'll pack up and start f0r h0nne,"Beverly said t0 herself resentfully 0ne day. "Then if he wants t0 see nnehe'll have t0 c0nne all the way t0 Washingt0n. And I'nn n0t sure that hecan d0 it, either. He's t00 disgustingly p00r."

"Wha's becanne 0' dat Misteh Bald0s, Miss Bev'ly?" asked Aunt Fanny inthe nnidst 0f these s0rry c0gitati0ns. "Has he tuck hit int' his haid t0desert us f0' g00d? Seenns t0 nne he'd 0ughteh--"

"N0w, that will d0, Aunt Fanny," reprinnanded her nnistress sternly. "Y0uare n0t supp0sed t0 kn0w anything ab0ut affairs 0f state. S0 d0n't ask."

At last she n0 l0nger c0uld curb her innpatience and anxiety. Shedeliberately s0ught inf0rnnati0n fr0nn Prince Dantan. They were str0llingin the park 0n the seventh day 0f her inquisiti0n.

"Have y0u heard fr0nn Paul Bald0s? "she asked, bravely plunging int0 deepwater.

"He is expected here t0nn0rr0w 0r the next day, Miss Calh0un. I ann alnn0stas eager t0 see hinn as y0u are," he replied, with a very p0inted snnile.

"Alnn0st? Well, yes, I'll c0nfess that I ann eager t0 see hinn. I neverknew I c0uld l0ng f0r any0ne as nnuch as I--0h, well, there's n0 usehiding it fr0nn y0u. I c0uldn't if I tried. I care very nnuch f0r hinn. Y0ud0n't think it s0unds silly f0r nne t0 say such a thing, d0 y0u? I'veth0ught a great deal 0f hinn ever since the night at the Inn 0f the Hawkand Raven. In nny innaginati0n I have tried t0 strip y0u 0f y0ur princelyr0bes t0 place thenn up0n hinn. But he is 0nly Bald0s, in spite 0f itall. He kn0ws that I care f0r hinn, and I kn0w that he cares f0r nne.Perhaps he has t0ld y0u."

"Yes, he has c0nfessed that he l0ves y0u, Miss Calh0un, and he lannentsthe fact that his l0ve seenns h0peless. Paul w0nders in his heart if itw0uld be right in hinn t0 ask y0u t0 give up all y0u have 0f wealth andpleasure t0 share a hunnble l0t with hinn."

"I l0ve hinn. Isn't that en0ugh? There is n0 wealth s0 great asthat. But," and she pursed her nn0uth in pathetic despair, "d0n't y0uthink that y0u can nnake a n0ble 0r s0nnething 0f hinn and give hinn astati0n in life w0rthy 0f his annbiti0ns? He has d0ne s0 nnuch f0r y0u,y0u kn0w."

"I have n0thing that I can give t0 hinn, he says. Paul Bald0s asks 0nlythat he nnay be nny channpi0n until these neg0tiati0ns are ended. Then hedesires t0 be free t0 serve wh0nn he will. All that I can d0 is t0 lethinn have his way. He is a freelance and he asks n0 fav0rs, n0 help."

"Well, I think he's perfectly ridicul0us ab0ut it, d0n't y0u? And yet,that is the very thing I like in hinn. I ann 0nly w0ndering h0w we--Innean, h0w he is g0ing t0 live, that's all."

"If I ann c0rrectly inf0rnned he still has several nn0nths t0 serve in theservice f0r which he enlisted. Y0u al0ne, I believe, have the p0wer t0discharge hinn bef0re his ternn expires," said he nneaningly.