able to twist my tongue around the other. He'd get out of hearing before
I could call him and that would never do at all! But 'Monsieur,' you
say? Why 'Monsieur'? He certainly doesn't look at all like a Frenchman!"

"No one knows what he is, Opal; nor who. That is, no one but the
Verdaynes. He has always made a mystery of himself."

Opal clapped her small hands childishly.

"Charming! My ideal knight in the flesh! But how shall I attract him?"

She knitted her brows and pondered as seriously as though the fate of
nations depended upon her decision.

"Shall I send him my card, Alice, and ask him to call? Or would it be
better to make an appointment with him for the Park? Perhaps a
'personal' in the _News_ would answer my purpose--do you think he reads
the _News_, or would the _Times_ be better? Come, cousins, what do you
think? I am so young, you know! Please advise me."

She clasped her hands in a charming gesture of helpless appeal and the
ladies looked at one another in horrified silence. What unheard of thing
would this impossible girl propose next! They would be thankful when
they saw her once more safely embarked for the "land of the free," and
out from under their chaperonage, they hoped, forever. They realized
that she was quite beyond their restraining powers. Had she no sense of
decency at all?

The door opened, callers were announced, and the day was saved.