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Why, the man can't
eat a mutton-chop without there being a paragraph in the papers headed,
'Diet of the Prince of Wales.' His life is made an infinite bore to him,
I'm positive!"
Gueldmar looked thoughtful. "I know little about kings or princes," he
said, "but it seems to me, from what I _do_ know, that they have but
small power. They are mere puppets. In olden times they possessed
supremacy, but now--"
"I will tell you," interrupted Duprez excitedly, "who it is that rules
the people in these times,--it is the _Pen_--_Madame La Plume_. A little
black, sharp, scratching devil she is,--empress of all nations! No crown
but a point,--no royal robe save ink! It is certain that as long as
_Madame la Plume_ gambols freely over her realms of paper, so long must
kings and autocrats shake in their shoes and be uncertain of their
thrones. Mon Dieu! if I had but the gift of writing, I would conquer the
world!"
"There are an immense number of people writing just now, Pierre,"
remarked Lorimer, with a smile, "yet they don't do much in the
conquering line.


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