"Now look," says Alan Warburton, flinging the discarded domino upon a chair; "look, Daisy, darling. Why, pet, you were afraid of your own uncle Alan." The little one peers at him from behind Millie's skirts and then comes slowly forward. "Why, uncle Alan, how funny you look, and--your face is dirty!" "Oh! Daisy," taking her up in his arms and smiling into her eyes; "you are a sadly uncultivated young person. My face is tattooed, for 'I'm a sailor bold.'" [Illustration: "See all those funny-looking people are your papa's friends."--page 65] While uncle and niece are thus engaged in playful talk, and Millie is intently watching the dancers, they are again approached; this time by two ladies,--one in the flowing, glittering, gorgeous robes of Sunlight, the other in a dainty Carmen costume of scarlet and black and gold. Both ladies are masked, and, as they enter from an alcove in the rear of the room, they, too, approach unperceived. Seeing the group about the archway, one of them makes a signal of silence. They stop, and standing close together, wait. "It just occurs to me, Millie," says Alan Warburton, turning suddenly to the maid; "it just occurs to me to inquire how you came in charge of Miss Daisy here. Where is Miss Daisy's maid?" The girl throws back her head, with a gesture that causes every ribbon upon her cap to flutter, as she replies, with a look of defiance and an indignant sniff: "_Mrs._ Warburton put Miss Daisy in my care, sir, and I don't know _where_ Miss Daisy's maid may be." "Umph! well it seems to me that--" He stops and looks at the child. "That I ain't the properest person to look after Miss Daisy, I 'spose you mean--" "Millie, you are growing impertinent." "Because I'm a poor girl that the _mistress_ of this house took in out of kindness--" "Millie; _will_ you stop!" and he puts little Daisy down with a gesture of impatience. "I'm trying to do my duty," goes on the irate damsel; "and Mrs. Warburton, _my_ mistress, has given me my orders, sir, _consequently_--" "Oh! if Mrs. Warburton has issued such judicious orders," and he takes up his mask and domino, "I retire from the field." "It's time to stop them, Winnie," says the lady in the garments of Sunlight, taking off her mask hastily. "Alan never could get on with a raw servant. I see war in Millie's eyes." Then she comes forward, mask in hand, and followed by the laughing Carmen. "Alan, you are in difficulty, I see," laughing, in spite of her attempt at gravity. "Millie, I fear, is not quite up to your standard of silent perfection." "May I ask, Mrs. Warburton, if she is your ideal of a companion for this child?" The tone is faintly tinged with scorn and sternness, and Leslie Warburton's eyes cease to smile as she replies, with dignity: "She is my servant, Mr. Warburton. We will not discuss her merits in her presence. I will relieve you of any further trouble on her account." "Where, may I ask, is Daisy's own maid?"