They, and they of all men, have the courage, the brains, the money, the enterprise, and--shall I say ?--the honor!'" Having quoted his Czar in these good opinions of Americans, Storri rapidly and in clearest sequence laid out his programmes.

Before he was half finished, Mr.Harley went following every word with all his senses.
Storri was lucid; Storri was hypnotic; Storri had his projects so faultlessly in hand that, as he piled up words, he piled up conviction in the breast of Mr.Harley.
Storri began with China.

Being equipped for the conversation--which had not been so much the result of romantic chance as Mr.Harley might have supposed--he laid upon the table a square of yellow silk.

It was written over with Chinese characters which, for all Mr.Harley knew, might have been inscriptions copied from a tea chest.

As a matter of truth, they were genuine.