match, and started. He was stopped by Baron, whose thoughts being much
with the little vices of man, anticipated his wishes and offered him a
light. In despair Hagar took it, and asked if he chanced to know who the
stranger was. Baron did know, assuring Hagar that he sat on the
gentleman's right at the same table in his hotel, and was qualified to
introduce him. Before they started he told the artist of the occurrence of
the evening before, and further assured him of the graces of Miss Mildred
Margrave. "A pearl," he said, "not to be reckoned by loads of ivory, nor
jolly bricks of gold, nor caravans of Arab steeds, nor--come and have
dinner with me to-night, and you shall see. There, what do you say?"

Hagar, who loved the man's unique and spontaneous character as only an
artist can love a subject in which he sees royal possibilities, consented
gladly, and dropped a cordial hand on the other's shoulder. The hand was
dragged down and wrenched back and forth with a sturdy clasp, in time to a
roll of round, unctuous laughter. Then Baron took him up hurriedly, and
introduced him to Telford with the words: "You two ought to know each
other. Telford, traveler, officer of the Hudson's Bay company, et cetera;
Hagar, artist, good fellow, et cetera."

Then he drew back and smiled as the two men, not shaking hands as he
expected, bowed, and said they were happy to meet. The talk began with the
remark by Hagar on the panorama below them, "that the thing was amusing if
not seen too often, but the eternal paddling round the band stand was too
much like marionettes."

"You prefer a Punch and Judy to marionettes?" asked Telford.

"Yes, you get a human element in a Punch and Judy tragedy. Besides, it
has surprises, according to the idiosyncrasy of the man in the greenroom."