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He laughed outright at Baggin's frowning, mistrustful face, crossed one leg over the other, and clasped his silk-clad ankle with a shapely hand.

Baggin noted the boyish action. It at once irritated him and determined his course.

"Unfortunately," he replied drily, "we have already chosen our president and voted upon the immediate use of the fund. The map of Europe, I fear, must for the present remain unaltered——" He glanced up and added hurriedly, "I—regret this—— Perhaps at our next meeting—— The membership, as you perhaps know, is—er—limited."

The young man sprang to his feet. His face was bronze.

"It is of no consequence, my friend." He laughed softly. "Simply, the scheme appealed to me. It fired my imagination. I am, as you know, a dreamer.

"'If you can dream, and not make dreams your master,'" he murmured.

He walked over to the corner of the room, picked up his Inverness, and stood looking composedly down upon the figure which it had concealed.

"Salve, my friend! You go down the river tonight, wiser than all the kings of earth."