"Sanctum," he thundered, "there is no more laboratory, _sanctum sanctorum_—did they teach you Latin at school, Emma?" "No, sir," she confessed, "that’s the thing you do with compasses, ain’t it?" Mr. Nape shrugged his shoulders and walked slowly to the greenhouse. V As an unprejudiced observer of the fight that was destined to shake Brockley to its very depths, to set the blameless citizens at each other’s throats, to divide families, and in one case (when the engagement of a certain A.M. and B.Y. was broken off in consequence) to alter the very destinies of the human race—an unprejudiced observer, I repeat, of Sir Harry Tanneur’s attempt to purge Brockley of the foreign yoke—I quote the _Lewisham and Lee Mail_—I am free to confess that the honours lay with the ducal party. This _L. & L. Mail_—Hank invariably and wickedly introduced aspirates into the abbreviation—was remarkably outspoken. There will appear nothing extraordinary in this fact, when it is realized that Sir Harry had, on the very day the Duke returned, purchased the paper for a considerable sum in order to further his candidature in the division—and for other purposes. For two weeks the advantage was all with the knight. His phillipics thundered from his hireling press for two consecutive issues, his content bills scarred the faces of nature. Then came the Duke’s turn. One morning Sir Harry, passing through the main road of Lewisham, saw a huge announcement that covered one hoarding: "THE BROCKLEY ARISTOCRAT." No. 1 ready on Saturday. One Penny. "CHANGE FOR A TANNER," BY THE DUC DE MONTVILLIER. Sir Harry grew apoplectic. "The ruffian!" he spluttered, "the vulgar punning ruffian!" In a fury he drove to Kymott Crescent. His car stopped at 64 and he sprang out shaking with rage. His noisy knock brought the sedate servant. "Where’s the Duke," he demanded. The silent servant led the way. Sir Harry burst in upon a council of three. The Duke, Hank and Mr. Nape sat at a table strewn with papers, and his grace saluted his visitor with a smile. "Look here, sir!" bellowed Sir Harry. "This damn foolishness has got to stop—you clear out of my house as soon as ever you can: by heavens, sir, I’ll take you to the courts, I’ll——" The Duke raised his hand. "Sir Harry," he said serenely, "as one aristocrat to another, let me beg of you to remember the restrictions imposed by birth. It ill becomes men of our ancient lineage——" "Confound you, sir! I will not have you pulling my leg! I’m dead serious—— There’s a law in this land——" "There is a law also in America," said the Duke calmly, "I believe there is even a law in China. It is one of the disadvantages of the century that no spot on earth is left where there is no law."