the plan!"

Sir Roger looked at him; and noting the humorous twinkle in his eyes
smiled, though somewhat gravely.

"I hope, with you, that the experiment may only prove an amusing one,"
he said--"But life is not always a farce!"

"Not always, but often! When it is not a farce it is a tragedy. And
such a tragedy! My God! Horrible--monstrous--cruel beyond conception,
and enough to make one believe in Hell and doubt Heaven!"

He spoke passionately, in a voice vibrating with strong emotion. De
Launay glanced at him wonderingly, but did not speak.

"When you see tender young children tortured by disease," he went on,--
"Fair and gentle women made the victims of outrage and brutality--
strong men killed in their thousands to gain a little additional gold,
an extra slice of empire,--then you see the tragic, the inexplicable,
the crazy cruelty of putting into us this little pulse called Life. But
I try not to think of this--it is no use thinking!"

He paused,--then in his usual quiet tone said:

"To-morrow night, then, my friend?"

"To-morrow night," rejoined De Launay,--"Unless you receive further
instructions from the King."

At that moment the clear call of a trumpet echoing across the