"No; but you are."
"I certainly shall," said I, warmly. "And I'd like to know why you are interfering with what she desires to do."
"I can't tell you why, Michael; but I'll tell her why—if she asks me."
"You may be very sure that Thusis will ask you, Smith," said I, perplexed to the verge of exasperation by his amazing attitude.
"Suppose you tell her," he said, amused. "All you need do is to repeat this couplet to her:
"Grecian gift and Spanish fig
Help the fool his grave to dig!"
"What idiot's jargon is that!" I demanded.
"A jargon that is likely to hold our pretty Thusis for a while. It is a word of warning—a signal of danger used by members of a secret society known as the Ægean League. Also it is likely to start her looking for me. And when she finds me I think she'll listen to reason and renounce this silly and useless attempt to trap royalty wholesale for export purposes. Not," he added gaily, "that I shouldn't expire with laughter to see Raoul and you, for example, take that pair of kings by the slack of the pants and run them Spanish into France. I'd applaud it, old top. I'd give frequent cheers during the process. But Thusis and Clelia mustn't start any such shindy. No! And if they inquire why, just repeat that verse to them and refer them to me."
"Then you are not here to watch these hun conspirators?" I asked in astonishment.
"Only incidentally."