"My friend," he said dryly, "you see only the truth! You see what she really is, this peerless Princess of yours.

You see her as she is to-day, and you see her kinship to the bones that have lain for centuries in yonder pyramid.

Yet they were once as fair as this, and this was as fair as they--in effect the same! You that have madly, impiously adored her superficial beauty, the mere dust of tomorrow, let this be a warning to you! You that have no soul to speak of, let that suffice you! Take her and be happy.

Adieu!" Yet, as he passed out of the fitting tomblike gloom of the apartment and descended the stairs, he murmured to himself: "Odd that I should have lent him my camera with the Rontgen-ray attachment still on.

No matter! It is not the first time that the Princess has appeared in two parts the same evening." VII In spite of envy, jealousy, and malice, a certain curiosity greater than all these drew everybody to the Princess Zut-Ski's ball.