with the proper stamps and seal of office. His uncle compassionately
informed him beforehand that his service in Thorberg would be brief and
certainly would lead up to something much better.

At the end of five months he was devoutly, even pathetically, hoping
that his uncle was no false prophet. He loathed Thorberg; he hated the
inhabitants; he smarted under the sting of royal disdain; he had no real
friends, no boon companions and he was obliged to be good! What wonder,
then, that the bored, suffering, vivacious Mr. Chase seized the first
opportunity to leap headforemost into the very thick of a most appalling
indiscretion!

When he first arrived in Thorberg to assume his sluggish duties he was
not aware of the fact that the Grand Duke had an unmarried daughter, the
Princess Genevra. Nor, upon learning that the young lady existed, was he
particularly impressed; the royal princesses he had been privileged to
look upon were not remarkable for their personal attractiveness: he
forthwith established Genevra in what he considered to be her proper
sphere.

She was visiting in St. Petersburg or Berlin or some other place--he
gave it no thought at the time--when he reached his post of duty, and it
was toward the end of his fifth month before she returned to her
father's palace in Thorberg. He awoke to the importance of the occasion,
and took some slight interest in the return of the royal young
lady--even going so far as to follow the crowd to the railway station on
the sunny June afternoon. His companions were two young fellows from the
English bank and a rather agreeable attaché of the French Government.

He saw the Princess for the first time that afternoon, and he was bowled