Page:Roy Norton--The unknown Mr Kent.djvu/142

 stood in the doorway with his eyes fixed on Kent's lips.

"Ivan, did yon serve the Baron Provarsk in person, this morning?" the financier asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Ah! How did the baron appear? Resigned? Cheerful? Or grumpy and discomfited?"

Ivan grinned widely.

"I am not certain, sir, but I think that when I entered he was whistling. Resigned? Perhaps. Discomfited? Not at all. Certainly he did not seem out of spirits. Indeed, he was rather gay. He asked me if I had ever seen a blindfolded dog with a wooden leg playing football with a one-eyed pig, and when I said 'No,' declared that he was rather astonished, because he understood one could see almost anything in America.

"Good! He'll do, all right!" Kent exclaimed. His lips opened as if to give a command, and then, observing Captain Paulo, he turned toward the king respectfully and said, "If it meets with your approval, sir, can we not have the insurgent brought here?"

The king, appreciating Kent's constant care to avoid humiliating him in the presence of any of his people, gave Captain Paulo the order, and the latter disappeared with alacrity. The chancellor, who, plainly ill at ease, had shifted and rolled himself restlessly from one side to the [138]