The Honorable Peter Stirling | Page 9

for any amount of
ducats."
Which explanation solves the mystery of Peter's presence at the
Shrubberies. To understand his face we must trace the period between
his arrival and the moment this story begins.

CHAPTER IV.
BEGINNINGS.
How far Watts was confining himself to facts in the foregoing dialogue
is of no concern, for the only point of value was that Peter was invited,
without regard to whether Watts first asked Mr. Pierce, or Mr. Pierce
first asked Watts. A letter which the latter wrote to Miss Pierce, as soon
as it was settled that Peter should go, is of more importance, and
deserves quotation in full:
JUNE 7TH.
MY DEAR HELEN--
Between your Pater and my Peter, it has taken an amount of diplomacy
to achieve the scheme we planned last summer, which would be
creditable to Palmerston at his palmiest and have made Bismarck even
more marked than he is. But the deed, the mighty deed is done, and
June twenty-ninth will see chum and me at the Shrubberies "if it kills
every cow in the barn," which is merely another way of saying that in
the bright lexicon of youth, there's no such word as fail.
Now a word as to the fellow you are so anxious to meet. I have talked
to you so much about him, that you will probably laugh at my
attempting to tell you anything new. I'm not going to try, and you are to
consider all I say as merely a sort of underlining to what you already
know. Please remember that he will never take a prize for his

beauty--nor even for his grace. He has a pleasing way with girls, not
only of not talking himself, but of making it nearly impossible for them
to talk. For instance, if a girl asks me if I play croquet, which by the
way, is becoming very _passé_ (three last lines verge on poetry) being
replaced by a new game called tennis, I probably say, "No. Do you?" In
this way I make croquet good for a ten minutes' chat, which in the end
leads up to some other subject. Peter, however, doesn't. He says "No,"
and so the girl can't go on with croquet, but must begin a new subject.
It is safest to take the subject-headings from an encyclopædia, and
introduce them in alphabetical order. Allow about ninety to the hour,
unless you are brave enough to bear an occasional silence. If you are,
you can reduce this number considerably, and chum doesn't mind a
pause in the least, if the girl will only look contented. If she looks
worried, however, Peter gets worried, too. Just put the old chap
between you and your mamma at meals, and pull him over any rough
spots that come along. You, I know, will be able to make it easy for
him. Neglect me to any extent. I shan't be jealous, and shall use that
apparent neglect as an excuse for staying on for a week after he goes,
so as to have my innings. I want the dear old blunderbuss to see how
nice a really nice girl can be, so do your prettiest to him, for the sake of
WATTS CLARKSON D'ALLOI.
When Watts and Peter saved the "cows in the barn" by stepping off the
train on June 29th, the effect of this letter was manifest. Watts was
promptly bestowed on the front seat of the trap with Mr. Pierce, while
Peter was quickly sitting beside a girl on the back seat. Of course an
introduction had been made, but Peter had acquired a habit of not
looking at girls, and as a consequence had yet to discover how far Miss
Pierce came up to the pleasant word-sketch Watts had drawn of her.
Indeed, Peter had looked longingly at the seat beside Mr. Pierce, and
had attempted, in a very obvious manner, though one which seemed to
him the essence of tact and most un-apparent, to have it assigned to him.
But two people, far his superior in natural finesse and experience, had
decided beforehand that he was to sit with Helen, and he could not
resist their skilful manoeuvres. So he climbed into place, hoping that
she wouldn't talk, or if that was too much to expect, that at least Watts

would half turn and help him through.
Neither of these fitted, however, with Miss Pierce's plans. She gave
Peter a moment to fit comfortably into his seat, knowing that if she
forced the running before he had done that, he would probably sit awry
for the whole drive. Then: "I can't tell you how pleased we all are over
Watts's success. We knew, of course, he could do it if he cared to, but
he seemed to think the