"No--not every hand," I agreed.

He went over to the door. On the threshold he turned.

"I wonder if this is my laugh, or yours, to-night," he said.

"We will laugh together," I answered.

Then he went out.




IV

THE SALUTE OF A COUSIN

I would have been rather a wooden sort of individual had I felt no stir
in my heart as, for the first time, I entered the Castle of my
ancestors and stood in the ante-chamber waiting to be presented to the
Head of my House. I believe I am as phlegmatic as most men, but I
would give very little for one who, under like conditions, would not
feel a press of emotion. I know it came to me with sharp
intensity,--and I see no shame in the admission; nor will any one else
whose heart is the heart of an honest man. I have no patience with
those creatures who deride sentiment. They are either liars or idiots.
Religion, itself, is sentimental; and so is every refined instinct of
our lives. Destroy the sentimental in man and the brute alone remains.

We waited but a moment and then were ushered into the royal presence.