The Prince looked
disdainful.
"Well, what is it?" asked Von Walden. "Speak quickly. Has your
scribbling friend run away with Her Highness?"
"My remarks, most noble and puissant Count," said Hillars, bowing,
satirically, to the neck of his horse, "I shall confine to the still
more noble and puissant Prince of Wortumborg."
"This is an unappreciated honor," sneered the Prince.
"So it is," replied Hillars, lightly. "When an honest man speaks to
you he is conferring an honor upon you which you, as you say, cannot
appreciate. It appears to me that Your Highness has what we in America
call malaria. I propose to put a hole through you and let out this bad
substance. Lead, properly used, is a great curative. Sir, your
presence on this beautiful world is an eyesore to me."
"One excuse is as good as another," said the Prince. "Did Her Highness
delegate you to put me out of the way?"
"Oh, no; but since you have brought her name into it, I confess that it
is on her account. Well, sir, no man has ever insulted a woman in my
presence and gone unscathed. In English speaking lands we knock him
down.
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