There came a gentle rap at the door and then, without further ceremony, the Colonel bowed in a visitor. In the twilight at the door there was no seeing who the new-comer was, but as he stepped forward the full light revealed him. It was Prince Charles. "Stir not, ladies, on your allegiance!" he said gaily. I rose, bowed him into my chair, and stood behind him. "Oddsfish, as my great uncle used to say, I've come to save your life, Master Wheatman!" "You need not trouble, sir," said I, "to save what is freely yours to throw away." "Very well said, sir," he answered, "and I shall not forget it." "Good lad, Oliver!" said the Colonel, dipping for his snuff-box. "Still, I must prove my point!" said Charles, smiling merrily. "My Court consists of precisely seven ladies and an unlimited number of gentlemen, the latter, for the most part, fiery chiefs who slash off men's heads as if they were tops of thistles. Yet here are you, sir, keeping two of them all to yourself. And such a two! Lady Ogilvie, whose charms are without blemish--" "Nay, sir," said I. "May I pull his ears, Your Highness?" asked her ladyship tartly. "You may," said Charles, "unless he proves his point. A Prince must be just, you know!" "That's fair," said Margaret. "Of course," retorted Lady Ogilvie. "He'll be right if he says I've an eye like an ox and a mouth like a frog." "Save your ears, Master Wheatman!" said Charles, grinning at me. "What's the blemish?" "Davie!" said I. The Prince rocked with laughter, and her ladyship enjoyed it quite as fully. "It's the smartest hit I've heard since I left Paris," said the Prince. "Sir," said I, "be good enough to explain. Who is Davie?" "Her ladyship's husband," he replied. "Damme!" I ejaculated. "I thought he was only an ordinary Scotchman." Whereat everybody laughed. "A most delightful interlude in a heavy day's work," said the Prince. "I am unfeignedly vexed, ladies, at having to rob you of so agreeable a cavalier, but I need Master Wheatman myself." * * * * * Half an hour later the Colonel stood with me at the town's end to give me my final instructions. I was on Sultan, with urgent letters in my pocket and important work on hand. We took a pinch of snuff together very solemnly. Then he snapped his box, rubbed Sultan's velvet nose, shook my hand, said good-bye gruffly, and strode back townward. I cantered on into the open road and the night. CHAPTER XVII MY NEW HAT