“That,” said Governor Osborne, “meets my approval.”
“And I,” Ardmore added, “will give him my private caboose in which to cruise the larger Canadian cities.”
Two more prisoners were now brought in.
“Governor Dangerfield,” continued Ardmore, “here is your state treasurer, who had sought to injure you by defaulting the state bonds due to-day, which is the first of June. And that frowsy person with Mr. Foster is Secretary Billings, of the Bronx Loan and Trust Company, who has treated me at times with the greatest injustice and condescension. Whether Treasurer Foster has the money with which to meet those bonds I do not know; but I do know that I have to-day paid them in full through the Buckhaw National Bank of Raleigh.”
Colonel Daubenspeck leaped to his feet and swung his cap. He proposed three cheers for Jerry Dangerfield; and three more for Barbara Osborne; and then the two governors were cheered three times three; and when the bungalow had ceased to ring, it was seen that Ardmore and Griswold were in each other’s arms.
“Surely, by this time,” said Mrs. Atchison, “you have adjusted enough of these weighty matters for one day, and I beg that you will all dine with us at Ardsley to-night at eight o’clock, where my brother and I will endeavour to mark in appropriate fashion the signing of peace between your neighbouring kingdoms.”
“For Governor Osborne and myself I accept, madam,” replied Governor Dangerfield, “providing the flowing frock-coats, which are the vesture and symbol of our respective offices, are still in the log house on the Raccoon where I became a prisoner.”
CHAPTER XX.
ROSÆ MUNDI.
Mrs. Atchison and Ardmore had given their last touches to the preparations for the dinner. Every window of the great house shone and a myriad of lanterns illuminated the lawns and terraces. The flags of North and South Carolina were everywhere entwined; nor were the stars and stripes neglected. They surveyed the long table in the dining-room, where gold and silver and crystal were bright upon the snowy napery.
“The matter of precedence is serious, Tommy,” urged Mrs. Atchison. “I cannot for the life of me remember what two monarchs do about entering a room at the same time.”