Page:Roy Norton--The unknown Mr Kent.djvu/40

 had not the means of studying him very closely, and therefore may be mistaken; yet I can not help but regard him, until he proves otherwise, as what is termed a Slacker.'"

He paused and looked up at the king, who bit his lip, frowned thoughtfully, and said, quietly, "It is the truth!"

The princess gazed at her brother angrily, and urged him to speak in his own defence.

"Karl! Karl!" she demanded indignantly. "Are you going to sit here and let a stranger dare to criticise you in this manner?"

"If the princess will but listen," Kent began politely, and with an air of deference; but was interrupted by the chancellor, who again blustered until he was silenced. And that, too, without politeness or deference.

"Suppose, Baron, you keep out of this!" Kent's voice was stern albeit satirical. "No, no; wait a moment, and I'll give you an excuse to talk. The best part of this report deals with you, and no doubt an outside appraisal of your character might prove interesting."

He flipped the pages over rapidly, paying no heed to the chancellor's angry protests, until he interrupted with a dry, "Here we are!" and again read aloud: Chancellor Von Glutz is in person a large, pot-bellied man with a bulbous red nose, eyes like a golliwog's, given to boasting, [36]