"
"My dear sir, before we go any further, tell me something about
yourself. You are an Englishman, I presume?"
"Great Scott! You're the first one that ever called me that. I have been
called a good many things, but never an Englishman. I'll have to begin
wearing a flag in my hat. I'm an American."
"American!" gasped the Governor-General. "I am very sorry to hear it. I
have every reason for regarding you and your native country as my
natural enemies."
"You're dead wrong. America is all right. The States size up pretty well
alongside of this little patch of country."
"I do not blame you for being loyal to your own home, sir, but isn't it
rather presumptuous for you, an American, to aspire to the hand of a
Princess who could marry any one of a dozen young men of wealth and
social position?"
"What's the matter with my wealth and social position? I'm willing to
stack up my bank-account with any other candidate. I happen to be worth
eighteen million dollars."
"Dollars?" repeated the Governor-General, puzzled. "What would that be
in piasters?"
"It's a shame to tell you. Only about four hundred million piastres,
that's all."
"What!" exclaimed the Governor-General. "Surely you are joking. How
could one man be worth four hundred million piasters?"
"Say, if you'll give me a pencil and a pad of paper and about a
half-day's time, I'll figure out for you what Henry Frick is worth in
piasters and then you _would_ have a fit.
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