"Whither away? Shall we sail or stay? Whither away," I said, "Into the sunset's glory of gold and passion of rose-red? Over the water changed to wine and into the sky we slip, But never a fairer shore than this shall find our buoyant ship, Not though by shadowy Arcady we drop the anchor at last, And in the dusk our weary sails come rattling down the mast. Into the dark steals off the bark: let us stay in our bridal June: Whither away should lovers stray from the Island of Honeymoon?" "O far away in the dying day, and farther away," she cried, "Ere the glory of gold has faded yet or the passion of rose-red died, O far away from the happier present visit the happy past, Though never shall our ghostly sails die down the shadowy mast: For we will flit by the twilight land and name the places fair, But set no foot on the shore," she cried, "nor drop the anchor there: But under the night with so swift a flight that the keel is singing in tune, Back, haste back on the starry track to the Island of Honeymoon!" A ROYAL ALLY By William Maynadier Browne ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. I. KELLER Like many other energetic and successful men, Mr. Cutting had his enemies. When, as counsel for the East End Land and Traction Company, he discovered that the policy of a majority of the Board of Directors was to slowly but surely "freeze out" the smaller stockholders, he promptly resigned his position, and proceeded to form a coalition among the to-be-frozen. This coalition had for its object the overthrow of the existing management and the subsequent instituting of a new and generous policy. [Illustration: Michael O'Connor.] After a hard, stubborn fight, Mr. Cutting and his followers won; the management was displaced, and Mr. Cutting again became counsel for the company. But he had added to his list of enemies some who, though few in number, were long of memory, relentless, and powerful. Under the new _régime_ the company prospered, and the patient stockholders received their dividends regularly, hitherto withheld or, rather, made to appear non-existing by means of the well-known device of undervaluing the company's lands in converse ratio to its increasing earnings. The annual meeting was but two days off, and Mr. Cutting's sky seemed clear and tranquil; but overnight clouds had gathered black and ominous. The enemy, believing themselves once more superior in strength, or nearly enough so to venture upon the step, at the last moment sounded the note of war. That evening's paper contained insinuations, which were followed in the morning editions by large headlines and by direct though guarded accusations. It was this morning, the morning of the very day before the annual meeting, that I was sitting in the office reading these same accusations. I was indignant and tired out.