It is needless to observe that the present ruler's duty ended when he repeated (after Count Halfont): "My lords, we are now in session." The school-room, he confessed, was a "picnic" compared to the "Room of Wrangles": a fellow got a recess once in a while there, but here--well, the only recess he got was when he fell asleep.

To-day he was determined to maintain a very dignified mien.

It appears that at the last meeting he had created considerable havoc by upsetting the ink well while trying to fill his fountain pen without an injector.

Moreover, nearly half a pint of the fluid had splashed upon the Duke of Perse's trousers--and they were grey, at that.

Whereupon the Duke announced in open conclave that His Highness needed a rattling good spanking--a remark which distinctly hurt the young ruler's pride and made him wish that there had been enough ink to drown the Duke instead of merely wetting him.
About the table sat the three regents and the other men high in the administration of affairs, among them General Braze of the Army, Baron Pultz of the Mines, Roslon of Agriculture.