To make a deadly foe
Of Alton’s King, and so
Search throughout, etc.
(Enter King Alton Hilderbrandt.)
HILDERBRANDT—No sign of Gama yet? The regular train from Castle Adamant came in exactly on time, some fifteen minutes since. I will here in parenthesis remark, that all trains on the Alton Road invariably do come in on time. I saw it from my castle window; four sleepers, two drawing-room cars, a dining car, three reclining-chair cars and five coaches.
FLORIAN—Your liege forgets that you placed a “special” at his disposal, but still he should be here.
HILD.—’Tis true, but still it’s very odd. But, if Gama fails to put in an appearance at the Court before the sun sets, accompanied by his daughter, to whom our son was betrothed at the extreme age of one, then there will be war between Gama and ourselves. (Aside.) I dread this greeting. When last I saw Gama, twenty years ago, he was a fretful, twisted monster, with a tongue as bitter as the agents of our rival lines.