There came a gentle rap at the door and then, without further ceremony, the Colonel bowed in a visitor. In the twilight at the door there was no seeing who the new-comer was, but as he stepped forward the full light revealed him. It was Prince Charles.
"Stir not, ladies, on your allegiance!" he said gaily. I rose, bowed him into my chair, and stood behind him.
"Oddsfish, as my great uncle used to say, I've come to save your life, Master Wheatman!"
"You need not trouble, sir," said I, "to save what is freely yours to throw away."
"Very well said, sir," he answered, "and I shall not forget it."
"Good lad, Oliver!" said the Colonel, dipping for his snuff-box.
"Still, I must prove my point!" said Charles, smiling merrily. "My Court consists of precisely seven ladies and an unlimited number of gentlemen, the latter, for the most part, fiery chiefs who slash off men's heads as if they were tops of thistles. Yet here are you, sir, keeping two of them all to yourself. And such a two! Lady Ogilvie, whose charms are without blemish--"
"Nay, sir," said I.
"May I pull his ears, Your Highness?" asked her ladyship tartly.
"You may," said Charles, "unless he proves his point. A Prince must be just, you know!"