“Do you think it possible that you could find a desirable husband for a young woman who has no physical charms and who, on two or three occasions, has scandalized our entire court?”

“I don’t say I can, but I’m willing to take a whirl at it.”

“My dear sir, before we go any further, tell me something about yourself.  You are an Englishman, I presume?”

“Great Scott!  You’re the first one that ever called me that.  I have been called a good many things, but never an Englishman.  I’ll have to begin wearing a flag in my hat.  I’m an American.”

“American!” gasped the Governor-General.  “I am very sorry to hear it.  I have every reason for regarding you and your native country as my natural enemies.”

“You’re dead wrong.  America is all right.  The States size up pretty well alongside of this little patch of country.”

“I do not blame you for being loyal to your own home, sir, but isn’t it rather presumptuous for you, an American, to aspire to the hand of a Princess who could marry any one of a dozen young men of wealth and social position?”

“What’s the matter with my wealth and social position?  I’m willing to stack up my bank-account with any other candidate.  I happen to be worth eighteen million dollars.”

“Dollars?” repeated the Governor-General, puzzled.  “What would that be in piasters?”

“It’s a shame to tell you.  Only about four hundred million piastres, that’s all.”

“What!” exclaimed the Governor-General.  “Surely you are joking.  How could one man be worth four hundred million piasters?”

“Say, if you’ll give me a pencil and a pad of paper and about a half-day’s time, I’ll figure out for you what Henry Frick is worth in piasters and then you would have a fit.  Why, in the land of ready money I’m only a third-rater, but I’ve got the four hundred million, all right.”

“But have you any social position?” asked the Governor-General.  “Any rank?  Any title?  Over here those things count for a great deal.”

“I am Grand Exalted Ruler of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks,” said the visitor calmly.

“Really!”

“I am a Knight Templar.”

“A knight?  That is certainly something.”

“Do you see this badge with all the jewels in it?  That means that I am a Noble of the Mystic Shrine.”

“I can see that it is the insignia of a very distinguished order,” said the Governor-General, as he touched it admiringly.

“What is more, I am King of the Hoo-Hoos.”

“A king?”

“A sure-enough king.  Now, don’t you worry about my wealth or my title.  I’ve got money to burn and I can travel in any company.  The thing for us to do is to get together and find a good husband for the cripple, and fix up this whole marriage deal.  But before we go into it I want to meet your daughter and find out exactly how I stand with her.”