"Now, what?" said John, turning to Mr. Scobell. "Breakfast?"
"I guess you"d better say a few words to them, Your Highness; they"ll expect it."
"But I can"t speak the language, and they can"t understand English. The thing"ll be a stand-off."
"Crump will hand it to "em. Here, Crump."
"Sir?"
"Line up and shoot His Highness"s remarks into "em."
"Yes, sir.
"It"s all very well for you, Crump," said John. "You probably enjoy this sort of thing. I don"t. I haven"t felt such a fool since I sang "The Maiden"s Prayer" on Tremont Street when I was joining the frat.
Are you ready? No, it"s no good. I don"t know what to say."
"Tell "em you"re tickled to death," advised Mr. Scobell anxiously.
John smiled in a friendly manner at the populace. Then he coughed.
"Gentlemen," he said--"and more particularly the sport on my left who has just spoken his piece whose name I can"t remember--I thank you for the warm welcome you have given me. If it is any satisfaction to you to know that it has made me feel like thirty cents, you may have that satisfaction. Thirty is a liberal estimate."
""His Highness is overwhelmed by your loyal welcome. He thanks you warmly,"" translated Mr. Crump, tactfully.
"I feel that we shall get along nicely together," continued John. "If you are chumps enough to turn out of your comfortable beds at this time of the morning simply to see me, you can"t be very hard to please. We shall hit it off fine."
_Mr. Crump:_ "His Highness hopes and believes that he will always continue to command the affection of his people."
"I--" John paused. "That"s the lot," he said. "The flow of inspiration has ceased. The magic fire has gone out. Break it to "em, Crump. For me, breakfast."
During the early portion of the ride Mr. Scobell was silent and thoughtful. John"s speech had impressed him neither as oratory nor as an index to his frame of mind. He had not interrupted him, because he knew that none of those present could understand what was being said, and that Mr. Crump was to be relied on as an editor. But he had not enjoyed it. He did not take the people of Mervo seriously himself, but in the Prince such an att.i.tude struck him as unbecoming. Then he cheered up. After all, John had given evidence of having a certain amount of what he would have called "get-up" in him. For the purposes for which he needed him, a tendency to make light of things was not amiss. It was essentially as a performing prince that he had engaged John. He wanted him to do unusual things, which would make people talk--aeroplaning was one that occurred to him. Perhaps a prince who took a serious view of his position would try to raise the people"s minds and start reforms and generally be a nuisance. John could, at any rate, be relied upon not to do that.
His face cleared.
"Have a good cigar, Prince?" he said, cordially, inserting two fingers in his vest-pocket.
"Sure, Mike," said His Highness affably.
Breakfast over, Mr. Scobell replaced the remains of his cigar between his lips, and turned to business.
"Eh, Prince?" he said.
"Yes!"
"I want you, Prince," said Mr. Scobell, "to help boom this place.
That"s where you come in."
"Sure," said John.
"As to ruling and all that," continued Mr. Scobell, "there isn"t any to do. The place runs itself. Some guy gave it a shove a thousand years ago, and it"s been rolling along ever since. What I want you to do is the picturesque stunts. Get a yacht and catch rare fishes. Whoop it up.
Entertain swell guys when they come here. Have a Court--see what I mean?--same as over in England. Go around in aeroplanes and that style of thing. Don"t worry about money. That"ll be all right. You draw your steady hundred thousand a year and a good chunk more besides, when we begin to get a move on, so the dough proposition doesn"t need to scare you any."
"Do I, by George!" said John. "It seems to me that I"ve fallen into a pretty soft thing here. There"ll be a joker in the deck somewhere, I guess. There always is in these good things. But I don"t see it yet.
You can count me in all right."
"Good boy," said Mr. Scobell. "And now you"ll be wanting to get to the Palace. I"ll have them bring the automobile round."
The council of state broke up.
Having seen John off in the car, the financier proceeded to his sister"s sitting-room. Miss Scobell had breakfasted apart that morning, by request, her brother giving her to understand that matters of state, unsuited to the ear of a third party, must be discussed at the meal.
She was reading her _New York Herald_.
"Well," said Mr. Scobell, "he"s come."
"Yes, dear?"
"And just the sort I want. Saw the idea of the thing right away, and is ready to go the limit. No nonsense about him."
"Is he nice-looking, Bennie?"
"Sure. All these Mervo princes have been good-lookers, I hear, and this one must be near the top of the list. You"ll like him, Marion. All the girls will be crazy about him in a week."
Miss Scobell turned a page.
"Is he married?"
Her brother started.
"Married? I never thought of that. But no, I guess he"s not. He"d have mentioned it. He"s not the sort to hush up a thing like that. I--"
He stopped short. His green eyes gleamed excitedly.
"Marion!" he cried. "_Marion!_"
"Well, dear?"
"Listen. Gee, this thing is going to be the biggest ever. I gotta new idea. It just came to me. Your saying that put it into my head. Do you know what I"m going to do? I"m going to cable over to Betty to come right along here, and I"m going to have her marry this prince guy. Yes, sir!"
For once Miss Scobell showed signs that her brother"s conversation really interested her. She laid down her paper, and stared at him.
"Betty!"
"Sure, Betty. Why not? She"s a pretty girl. Clever too. The Prince"ll be lucky to get such a wife, for all his darned ancestors away back to the flood."
"But suppose Betty does not like him?"
"Like him? She"s gotta like him. Say, can"t you make your mind soar, or won"t you? Can"t you see that a thing like this has gotta be fixed different from a marriage between--between a ribbon-counter clerk and the girl who takes the money at a twenty-five-cent hash restaurant in Flatbush? This is a royal alliance. Do you suppose that when a European princess is introduced to the prince she"s going to marry, they let her say: "Nothing doing. I don"t like the shape of his nose"?"
He gave a spirited imitation of a European princess objecting to the shape of her selected husband"s nose.