island, or a tribe which he has not visited. He has servants from the farthest East. One of his attendants is an African King; and what is the strangest to me, Sergius, his domestics are all deaf and dumb." "Impossible!" "Nothing appears impossible to him." "How does he communicate with them?" "They catch his meaning from the motion of his lips. He says signs are too slow and uncertain for close explanations." "Still he must resort to some language." "Oh, yes, the Greek." "But if they have somewhat to impart to him?" "It is theirs to obey, and pantomime seems sufficient to convey the little they have to return to him, for it is seldom more than, 'My Lord, I have done the thing you gave me to do.' If the matter be complex, he too resorts to the lip-speech, which he could not teach without first being proficient in it himself. Thus, for instance, to Nilo"— "The black giant who defended you against the Greek?" "Yes—a wonderful man—an ally, not a servant. On the journey to Constantinople, the Prince turned aside into an African Kingdom called Kash-Cush. I cannot tell where it is. Nilo was the King, and a mighty hunter and warrior. His trappings hang in his room now—shields, spears, knives, bows and arrows, and among them a net of linen threads. When he took the field for lions, his favorite game, the net and a short sword were all he cared for. His throne room, I have heard my father the Prince say, was carpeted with skins taken by him in single combats." "What could he do with the net, little Princess?" "I will give you his account; perhaps you can see it clearly—I cannot. When the monster makes his leap, the corners of the net are tossed up in the air, and he is in some way caught and tangled... Well, as I was saying, Nilo, though deaf and dumb, of choice left his people and throne to follow the Prince, he knew not where." "Oh, little friend! Do you know you are talking the incredible to me? Who ever heard of such thing before?" Sergius' blue eyes were astare with wonder. "I only
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