cultivation, in so far that he is all-powerful in our little
establishment. M. Platzoff never interferes in the management of
Bon Repos. Everything is left to Cleon; and whatever the mulatto
may be in other respects, so far as I can judge he is quite worthy
of the trust reposed in him. I believe him to be thoroughly
attached to his master.

"Of M. Platzoff I have very little to tell you. Even in his own
house and among his own people he is a recluse. He has his own
special rooms, and three-fourths of his time is spent in them.
Above all things he dislikes to see strange faces about him, and I
have been instructed by Cleon to keep out of his way as much as
possible. Even the old servants, people who have been under his
roof for years, let themselves be seen by him as seldom as need be.
In person he is a little, withered-up, yellow-skinned man, as dry
as a last year's pippin, but very keen, bright and vivacious. He
speaks such excellent English that he must have lived in this
country for many years. One thing I have discovered about him, that
he is a great smoker. He has a room set specially apart for the
practice of the sacred rite to which he retires every day as soon
as dinner is over, and from which he seldom emerges again till it
is time to retire for the night. Cleon alone is privileged to enter
this room. I have never yet been inside it. Equally forbidden
ground is M. Platzoff's bedroom, and a small study beyond, all _en
suite_.

"Those who keep servants keep spies under their roof. It has been
part of my purpose to make myself agreeable to the older domestics
at Bon Repos, and from them I have picked up several little facts
which all Mr. Cleon's shrewdness has not been able entirely to