interest of the tall and gracious English girl whom he had met by chance
that other morn, who had left no way open for a further meeting; how to
gain access to the presence of that fair one--these were the questions
which to John Law seemed of greater importance, and of greater
difficulty in the answering.

The chair drew up at the somber quarters where the meeting had been set.
Law knew the place by instinct, even without seeing the double row of
heavy-visaged London constabulary which guarded the entrance. Here and
there along the street were carriages and chairs, and multiplied
conveyances of persons of consequence. Upon the narrow pavement, and
within the little entrance-way that led to the inner room, there bustled
about important-looking men, some with hooked noses, most with florid
faces and well-fed bodies, but all with a certain dignity and sobriety
of expression.

Montague himself, young, smooth-faced, dark-eyed, of active frame, of
mobile and pleasing features, sat at the head of a long table. The
high-strung quality of his nervous system was evidenced in his restless
hands, his attitude frequently changed.

At the left of Montague sat Somers, lord keeper; older, of more steady
demeanor, of fuller figure, of bold face and full light eye, a
politician, not a ponderer. At the right of Montague, grave, silent,
impassive, now and again turning a contemplative eye about him, sat that
great man. Sir Isaac Newton, known then to every nobleman, and now to
every schoolboy, of the world. A gem-like mind, keen, clear, hard and
brilliant, exact in every facet, and forsooth held in the setting of an
iron body. Gentle, unmoved, self-assured, Sir Issac Newton was calm as
morn itself as he sat in readiness to give England the benefit of his