He rushed into the smoking-room, and there, instead
of any bald notability or spectacled statesman, there
advanced to meet him a merely private English gentleman,
tolerably young, undeniably good-looking, and graced
with the most debonair of smiles.

"My dear Bonker!" cried the Baron, crimsoning with
joy. "Ach, how pleased I am!"

"Baron!" replied his visitor gaily. "You cannot
deceive me--that waistcoat was made in Germany! Let
me lead you to a respectable tailor!"

Yet, despite his bantering tone, it was easy to see that
he took an equal pleasure in the meeting.

"Ha, ha!" laughed the Baron, "vot a fonny zing to
say! Droll as ever, eh?"

"Five years less droll than when we first met," said
the late Bunker and present Essington. "You meet a
dullish dog, Baron--a sobered reveller."

"Ach, no! Not surely? Do not disappoint me, dear
Bonker!"

The Baron's plaintive note seemed to amuse his friend.

"You don't mean to say you actually wish a boon
companion? You, Baron, the modern Talleyrand, the