"They get accustomed to it, and it is not at all cold to-day,
fortunately," Countess Olga said. "They would have their furs on if it
were. Don't you think they are splendid men? I love to see them in
their scarlet; they only wear it on special occasions and when they are
with the Emperor, or at Court balls or birthdays. I am so glad you see
Gritzko in his."

Tamara did not say she had already seen the Prince in the scarlet coat;
none of her new friends were aware that they had met before in Egypt.

All this time the guns were firing, and soon the ceremony of dipping
the cross in the water was over, and the procession started back again.

It was the same as when it came, only the priests were wiping the cross
in a napkin, and presently all passed out of sight toward the palace,
and the three ladies walked quickly back to the waiting sleigh,
half-frozen with cold.

About ten minutes after they had finished lunch, and were sitting at
coffee in Princess Sonia's cosy salon--so fresh and charming and like
an English country house--they heard a good deal of noise in the
passage, and the Prince came in. He was followed by a sturdy boy of
eight, and carried in his arms a tiny girl, whose poor small body
looked wizened, while in her little arms she held a crutch.

"We met in the hall--my friend Marie and I," he said, as he bent to
kiss Princess Sonia's hand, and then the other two ladies', "and we
have a great deal to say to one another."

"These are my children, Mrs. Loraine," Princess Sonia said. "They were