Moving as in a dream, he placed the slippers side by side upon the floor, contemplated them for a moment longer, and then proceeded slowly with his dressing. He found an unaccustomed difficulty in putting his buttons in his cuffs, and then he remembered that it was a tie he had been looking for when he found the slippers. The slippers! He turned and glanced at them. Yes--they were still there--they had not vanished. Very coquettish they appeared, standing there side by side, as though waiting for their owner. And suddenly Stewart smiled a crooked smile. "Only one thing is necessary to complete this pantomime," he told himself, "and that is that the Princess should suddenly appear and claim them. Well, I'm willing! A woman with a foot like that----" There was a knock at the door. "In a moment!" he called. "But it is I!" cried a woman's voice in English--a sweet, high-pitched voice, quivering with excitement. "It is I!" and the door was flung open with a crash. A woman rushed toward him--he saw vaguely her vivid face, her shining eyes; behind her, more vaguely still, he saw the staring eyes of the hang-dog waiter. Then she was upon him. "At last!" she cried, and flung her arms about him and kissed him on the lips--kissed him closely, passionately, as he had never been kissed before. CHAPTER V ONE WAY TO ACQUIRE A WIFE Stewart, standing petrified, collar in hand, thrilling with the warmth of that caress, was conscious that his free arm had dropped about the woman's waist, and that she was cuddling to him, patting him excitedly on the cheek and smiling up into his eyes. Then, over her shoulder, he caught a glimpse of the sardonic smile on the ugly face of the waiter as he withdrew and closed the door. "But how glad I am!" the woman rattled on, at the top of her voice. "And what a journey! I am covered with dirt! I shall need gallons of water!" She walked rapidly to the door, opened it, and looked out. Then she closed and locked it, and, to his amazement, caught up one of his handkerchiefs and hung it over the knob so that it masked the keyhole. "They will not suspect," she said, in a lower tone, noticing his look. "They will suppose it is to conceal our marital endearments! Now we can talk. But we will keep to English, if you do not mind. Someone might pass. Is everything arranged? Is the passport in order?" Her eyes were shining with excitement, her lips were trembling. As he still stood staring, she came close to him and shook his arm. "Can it be that you do not know English?" she demanded. "But that would be too stupid! You understand English, do you not?" "Yes, madam," stammered Stewart. "At least, I have always thought so." "Then why do you not answer? Is anything wrong? You look as though you did not expect me." "Madam," answered Stewart, gravely, "will you kindly pinch me on the arm--here in the tender part? I have been told that is a test." She nipped him with a violence that made him jump.