M'sieu Zhames dallied no longer, but plunged boldly into his narrative. Sometimes the colonel stared at him as if he beheld a species of lunatic absolutely new to him, sometimes he laughed silently, sometimes he frowned. "That's all," said Zhames; and he stood watching the colonel with dread in his eyes. "Well, of all the damn fools!" "Sir?" "Of all the jackasses!" Warburton bit his lip angrily. The colonel swung the rose to and fro. "Yes, sir, a damn fool!" "I dare say that I am, sir. But I have gone too far to back out now. Will you give me back that rose, Colonel?" "What do you mean by her?"--coldly. "I love her with all my heart,"--hotly. "I want her for my comrade, my wife, my companion, my partner in all I have or do. I love her, and I don't care a hang who knows it." "Not so loud, my friend; not so loud." "Oh, I do not care who hears,"--discouragedly. "This beats the very devil! You've got me all balled up. Is Betty Annesley a girl of the kind we read about in the papers as eloping with her groom? What earthly chance had you in this guise, I should like to know?" "I only wanted to be near her; I did not look ahead." "Well, I should say not! How long were you hidden behind that trellis?" "A year, so it seemed to me." "Any lunatics among your ancestors?" Warburton shook his head, smiling wanly. "I can't make it out," declared the colonel. "A graduate of West Point, the fop of Troop A, the hero of a hundred ball-rooms, disguised as a hostler and serving soup!" "Always keep the motive in mind, Colonel; you were young yourself once." The colonel thought of the girl's mother. Yes, he had been young once, but not quite so young as this cub of his. "What chance do you suppose you have against the handsome Russian?" "She has rejected him,"--thoughtlessly. "Ha!"--frowning; "so you were eavesdropping?" "Wait a moment, Colonel. You know that I am very fond of music. I was listening to the music. It had ceased, and I was waiting for it to begin again, when I heard voices." "Why did you not leave then?" "And be observed? I dared not." The colonel chewed the end of his cigar in silence. "And now may I have that rose, sir?"--quietly. The colonel observed him warily. He knew that quiet tone. It said that if he refused to give up the rose he would have to fight for it, and probably get licked into the bargain. "I've a notion you might attempt to take it by force in case I refused." "I surrendered it peacefully enough, sir." "So you did. Here." The colonel tossed the flower across the room and Warburton caught it. "I should like to know, sir, if you are going to expose me. It's no more than I deserve." The colonel studied the lithographs on the walls. "Your selection?"--with a wave of the hand. "No, sir. I should like to know what you are going to do. It would relieve my mind. As a matter of fact, I confess that I am growing weary of the mask." Warburton waited. "You make a very respectable butler, though,"--musingly.