Among our countrymen who came to the Legation, however, were many welcome visitors and not a few whom we had met in far distant parts of the world. There was Governor Pack, of the mountain province in the Philippines. The last time L. had seen him, he was ruling supreme among the head-hunting Igorrotes at Bontoc. With a small handful of brave and resourceful men as lieutenants, he had in a few years brought those extraordinary aborigines into such willing subjection that their loyalty to the American was really devotion. He had been visiting the families of that company of wonderful Belgian priests who were doing so much good in his far-away mountain home--sons of rich parents, who had taken up the work in a spirit of pure self-sacrifice. It is a curious thing that the men of affairs in Belgium--often some of the Ministers of State and the captains of industry--who were broad, up-to-date men, forceful and interesting, one seldom met socially. Even some of the King's _entourage_ could not join the Cercle du Parc, the most exclusive club in Brussels. I had a reception day every Tuesday, beginning in January, besides which there were various times at which we received diplomats and titled Belgians by themselves. One of the most interesting figures was the Papal Nuncio, who came in his robes, with magenta cape and cap and gloves, wearing his ring outside. The concierge and a chauffeur waved his motor under the porte-cochère; two servants opened the doors _à double battant_; and L. met him and escorted him upstairs, where we had tea and cakes. On Washington's birthday we had another reception for Americans. The chancery was closed, the Stars and Stripes waved in all their glory over the door, and flowers were arranged around the bust of Washington in its niche high between the windows on the main landing of the staircase. We received about one hundred and forty guests--men, women, and children of all ages--in the room at the head of the stairs, where some of the tapestries were hung. It was a most democratic assembly--young schoolgirls, teachers, most of the regular "colony," American women who had married Belgians--and they seemed to enjoy the dancing, to American airs. On the table in the dining-room was a splendid cake of many stories, all flag-bedecked--every one of the flags was proudly carried off before the afternoon was over. For a change from the official routine and the formal entertainments, we often started out on a rainy evening and walked the glistening boulevards down into the town, so gay with its brilliantly lighted shops and restaurants. Having been duly advised by our Secretary of Legation of a respectable place to which diplomats "might" go, we sought it out and had happy little dinners together, forgetting our troubles for the time.