Lawrence seemed entirely satisfied with this, and took such interest in seeing that the cover was adjusted to exactly the right position, that he leaned over and took hold of it himself, as if to give his help. As he did so he gave a lurch, and grabbing at the cover as if to save himself, he went down in a heap with it on top of him. The men helped him quickly to his feet and as quickly readjusted the cover, but not before he had seen that the drum-shaped objects were in fact great wooden spools on which were wound thousands and thousands of yards of large copper wire. Having seen all that he wanted, he now turned his attention towards getting back to the Embassy, so taking the Captain’s arm, and seeming either to have lost all interest or to have been overcome by his fall, made his way along. He swung and lurched so that it was with difficulty the officer kept him on his feet. Then when they arrived at the front steps and the Captain was assisting him up, Lawrence, as if suddenly awaking from sleep, stopped. “I am too dirty to go in by the front door,” he protested, “I will go in by the garden. I am much obliged to you, Captain; don’t come any farther.” Then laughing and shaking his finger in the Captain’s face, he said in a tone of exultation: “I got that cover on straight, anyhow--perfectly straight.” Swaying as he rounded the corner of the house, he went in through the side door, where he found Fred waiting for him, who pulled off his boots and gave him his pumps. He took off his busby, and handed it to Fred, unpinned the long military cloak, unbuckled his sword, turned down the collar of his evening coat, and “Richard was himself again.” Stepping into the elevator and letting himself off at the main floor, he went hurriedly into the room where Edestone was still showing his pictures, while Fred, after brushing and cleaning the royal paraphernalia, put them back in their place. Lawrence moved quickly over to the cabinet where Mr. Black was working the machine and stepped inside. “I must speak to Mr. Edestone,” he whispered. “Can’t you stop the machine as if something had gone wrong? Then Mr. Edestone will come back here and see what is the matter.” “Not on your life!” Black shook his head violently. “The Emperor now is in a perfect fury. He and Mr. Edestone have had one or two ‘set-tos,’ and Mr. Edestone is beginning to put it back at him pretty strong, and if anything should happen to the machine I think it would end in a fight. I rather wish we were back in New York. If it is necessary for you to speak to Mr. Edestone before the lights go up, this reel that I am running off now will take just about eight minutes more, so if you will slip quietly back of the screen you can whisper to him from there without attracting much attention. I will make a little extra noise to help you out.” Lawrence worked his way unobtrusively through the room, and standing just to the side of the screen in a dark corner, called in a low voice: