days by some visitor.

From the Captain, Morton obtained his information about Count Rondell, who had once been the Captain’s superior officer some years back, when the latter had been in the service of Roumelia as a nautical instructor.

He heard from Sir Balingbroke how, during the memorable days of the Congress of Berlin, Count Rondell, then at the head of the diplomatic corps of his little country, fought hard and unremittingly for admission to the inner chambers of the historic conference, and how, in spite of the weighty opposition of Giers and the fact that he could not get official admission as a delegate, he had so won the esteem of all the statesmen there present that he had secured full independence, autonomy and great economic advantages for his country, and, then and there, had laid the foundation of the kingdom of Roumelia.