"I believe I _did_ discern a sort of royal command in your eye," assented Susie, feeling suddenly at ease with him. He was evidently a mere man, even though he were a prince. "Yes," he continued, "I felt that I owed you and your sister a more complete apology than it was possible for me to make yesterday without impertinence. You see I am unaccompanied to-day." "Poor Jax!" laughed Susie. "I suspect," the Prince continued, "that I somehow offended you when I offered you the dog." "Oh, you perceived it, did you?" and she flashed an ironic glance upon him. "Yes--though I could not in the least guess in what the offence consisted." "My dear sir," said Sue, tartly, "American girls are not in the habit of accepting gifts from utter strangers." "Not even from--from--" He stopped, at a loss for a word which would express his meaning without absurdity. "No, not even from Royal Highnesses," she added, interpreting his thought. "Besides, you know, in America we haven't any." The Prince walked on in silence for a moment, his brow knit in meditation. "Your last sentence explains it," he said, at last. "You have in America no class whose prerogative it is to bestow gifts, and, in consequence, you do not accept them as a matter of course. With us a gift is a conventional thing, like shaking hands." "I wasn't trying to explain it," said Susie, with a little sigh of despair, "or to defend it--but let it go." Then, with a flash of mischief,--"Are you frequently called upon?" "There are occasions almost every day which demand them of us," answered the Prince, soberly, missing the glance. "Poor man! And the affair of yesterday was one of them? Forgive me if I am rude; but it is all so new and interesting!" "It seemed only right," explained the Prince, "that I should compensate you in some way for the annoyance I had caused you." The words were said so candidly and simply that the ironical smile faded from Susie's lips and she was silent for a moment. "I think the American way the nicer," she said at last, decisively. "An American would have considered an apology ample reparation. With us a gift means something--it has a sentimental value. Besides, girls are never permitted to accept gifts of value. Flowers are the only things which may be given them." "Flowers!" repeated the Prince, eagerly, looking at her. "And only by their nearest, dearest friends," added Susie, hastily. "Well, it is a very different point of view," said the Prince, the light fading from his face. "I have even heard that in America there are workmen who consider a tip an insult." "It's unthinkable, isn't it? And yet, I'm proud to say, it's true. I may add that many Americans feel humiliated when they offer a tip to a man--it's like branding him with a badge of servility." "I must confess," said the Prince, "that such an attitude seems to me absurd. What other badge than that of servility shall the servant wear?"