hummed Logan, rather to the surprise of Lord Embleton. He went on: 'It is not so much that the Mingrelians object to mixed marriages in the matter of religion, but the Bollachians, being Christians, do object, and have a horror of polygamy. It was a cruel affair. All four girls, and the Jamreal himself, were passionately attached to each other. It was known, too, that, for political reasons, the maidens had received a dispensation from the leading Archimandrite, their metropolitan, to marry the proud Paynim. The Mingrelian Sultan is suzerain of Bollachia; his native subjects are addicted to massacring the Bollachians from religious motives, and the Bollachian Church (Nestorians, as you know) hoped that the four brides would convert the Jamreal to their creed, and so solve the Bollachian question. The end, they said, justified the means.' 'Jesuitical,' said the Earl, shaking his head sadly. 'That is what my friend and partner, Mr. Merton, thought,' said Logan, 'when we were applied to by the Sultan. Merton displayed extraordinary tact and address. All was happily settled, the Sultan and the Jamreal were reconciled, the young ladies met other admirers, and learned that what they had taken for love was but a momentary infatuation.' The Earl sighed, '_Renovare dolorem_! My family,' said he, 'is, and has long been--ever since the Gunpowder Plot--firmly, if not passionately, attached to the Church of England. The Prince of Scalastro is a Catholic.' 'Had we a closer acquaintance with the parties concerned!' murmured Logan. 'You must come and visit us at Rookchester,' said the Earl. 'In any case I am most anxious to know better one whose ancestor was so closely connected with my own. We shall examine my documents under the tuition of the lady you mentioned, Miss Willoughby, if she will accept the hospitality of a kinsman.' Logan murmured acquiescence, and again asked permission to consult Merton, which was granted. The Earl then shook hands and departed, obviously somewhat easier in his mind. This remarkable conversation was duly reported by Logan to Merton. 'What are we to do next?' asked Logan. 'Why you can do nothing but reconnoitre. Go down to Rookchester. It is in Northumberland, on the Coquet--a pretty place, but there is no fishing just now. Then we must ask Lord Embleton to meet Miss Willoughby. The interview can be here: Miss Willoughby will arrive, chaperoned by Miss Blossom, after the Earl makes his appearance.' 'That will do, as far as his bothering old manuscripts are concerned; but how about the real business--the two undesirable marriages?' 'We must first see how the land lies. I do not know any of the lovers. What sort of fellow is Scremerston?' 'Nothing remarkable about him--good, plucky, vain little fellow. I suppose he wants money, like the rest of the world: but his father won't let him be a director of anything, though he is in the House and his name would look well on a list.'