The evening world., 1915-01-29

cneStr ABOVE all Things, were they
smiling at the corpulent part Of him
that preceded the rest OF his body.
clad In an immaculate waistcoat?
He never had felt 30 conspicuous In
his life, nor 80 certain that he was out
Of place.
Coming In due time-and with q
grateful heart-to q small antecham-
Der. he was told to sit down and wait.
He sat down very promptly. In any
other house he would have sauntered
around. looking at the em mblems, crests
and shields that hung upon the walls
But now he sat and wondered. He
wondered whether this could be WILL
lam w. Blithers. Was this one of tho
richest men In the world-this fellow
sitting here with his hands folded
tightly across his waistcoat7 He was
forced to admit that 1t was and at the
same time 1t wasn't.
Tho attendant returned and he was
ushered into second chamber. at the
opposite end of which was u large,
imposing door-closed. Beside this
door stood a slim, erect figure in the
red. blue and gold uniform Of an Of
ficer of the Castle guard. As Mr..
Blithers approached this rigid figure.
he recognized friend and a warm
glow pervaded his heart. There could
be no mistaking the smart mustache
and supercilious eyebrows. II was
Lieutenant Dank.
"How do you dor said Mr.. Blithcrs.
"Glad to see you again" His voice
sounded unnatural. He extended his
hand.
Dank gave him ceremonious
salute. bowed slightly but without a
smile, and then threw open the door.
IA n
nounced. and stood aside to let the
stranger in strange land pass
within.
A number of men were seated about
O long table in the centre of this i'm
posing chamber. No one arose as Mr..
Blithers entered the room and stopped
Just inside the door. He heard II close
gently behind him. lie was at a loss
for the first timo in his life. He
didn't know whether he was to stop
Just inside the door lingering his hat
like a messenger boy, or 20 forward
and join the group. His gaze fell
upon huge oaken chair at the far
end OF the table. 1t was the only
unoccupied seat that came within the
scope Of his rather limited vision.
He could not see anything beyond
the table and the impassive group
that surrounded II. Was II possible
that the big chair was intended for
him? II so. how small and insig-
nificant he would look upon IL. He
had a CHASTITY notion that his feet
would not touch the floor. and he
went so FAR as to venture the hope
that there would be a substantial
round somewhere about midway from
the bottom.
He had appeared before the inquisi
torial committees In the United states
Senate and had not been oppressed
by the ponderous gravity OF the in
vestigation. He had faced the Sem
ators without a tremor of awe. He
had even regarded them with a con-
hdence equal II not superior to their
own But now he faced a calm, i'm
passive group of men who seemed
to strip him down to the flesh with
cool. piercing interest. and who
were in no sense impressed by what
they saw.
Despite his nervousness he respond
ed to the life long habit OF calcula-
tion. He counted the units in tho
group in a single, rapid glance. and
found that there were eleven. Eleven
lords o: the realm! Eleven stern.
dignlfied. unsmiling strangers TO the
arrogance Of William w. Blithers!
Something told him at once that he
could not spend an Informal half hour
with them. Grim. striking. serious
visages. all OF them! The last hope
for his well fed American humor
flickered and died. He knew that II
would not do to regala them In an
informal off-hand way-as he had
planned-with examples OF native wit.
Reverting to the precise moment OF
his entrance TO tho Castle. We find
Mr.. Biithers saying TO himself that
there wasn't the slightest uss In oven
hoping that he. might be invited TO
transfer his lodgings from the Regen-
gets 10 the royal bed chambers. The