Jim is aboard a wagon and it pulls up to a spa. He goes inside and says that he's there to inspect the Royal Prince of the Coral Seas' suite. The clerk has put him in the suite adjacent to the Prince and gives Jim directions. As Jim goes out, he bumps into a woman, Lady Beatrice Marquand-Gaynesford, and knocks her platter out of her hands. He continues on, and Vittorio Pellagrini comes over and looks briefly at Beatrice. He then returns a magazine to Claude Duchamps, who supposedly loaned him a magazine. They both note who Jim is and that he appears formidable.
Jim enters The Prince's suite and looks around for any intruders.
Vittorio tells Claude that neither one of them will have to bother with Jim if their plan goes as intended. They go to admire the sunset.
Jim notices a wooden South Seas statue and examines it briefly, and continues checking the suite for traps. Satisfied, he sits down in a chair, and a bolt shoots from the statue into the chair next to Jim's head. Jim checks the mechanism and reloads the bolt, and then leaves. He uses the telegraph wire in his cane to send a message, just as the clock chimes 2.
Claude approaches Beatrice and invites her to join him in an aperitif. She declines and Claude goes over to Vittorio and makes the same offer. They step aside and figure that Jim inspected the suite and set off the trap. Vittorio figures that Beatrice should discover Jim's body while taking flowers to The Prince. Once Jim is out of the way, they'll capture The Prince and make $1 million.
Jim communicates with Artie aboard the Wanderer, telling him not to alarm The Prince. However, Artie is not to come to the spa. The Prince comes in and sits down to breakfast even though it's 2 in the afternoon. He enjoys the American food while his staff went on with his native food and costumes. The Prince is wearing a great deal of jewelry, and explains that they're a sign of vanity in his native land so he only wears them when he's abroad. He asks why Jim went on ahead and is using a cover identity, and Artie says that Jim just wants to be alone with the lovely girls.
Artie says that he's been to the spa and it's dull, and offers to take The Prince to a restaurant in San Francisco. The Prince refuses, explaining that he's already reserved a mountain lodge and plans to do some hunting. Artie persists and The Prince angrily insists that he can make up his own mind. He says that he didn't want to come on the trip because he finds most Americans vulgar and common. If Artie doesn't let him do what he wants, he'll refuse to sign the treaty between his country and the U.S. Artie agrees and The Prince goes off to take a bath before his buffalo hunt. Artie wires to Jim that The Prince is coming.
Jim hears someone approaching and hides in the suite. It's Beatrice with flowers, and Jim offers her wine. She says that she brought flowers for The Prince and management gave her the key. Jim says that he's a friend of The Prince, and warns that he's a rascal with the ladies. The agent explains that The Prince has dozens of wives, and Beatrice quickly leaves. She goes to another suite where Claude and Vittorio are waiting, and snaps at them that they're bunglers. Beatrice puts a knife to Claude's throat and tells him to get rid of Jim or she'll cut out his throat.
On the Wanderer, The Prince plays checkers against Artie with diamonds and rubies. The train stops and two bandits burst in. When Artie goes for one man's gun, the leader knocks him out and leaves, taking The Prince with them.
Later, Jim rides up and confirms that Artie is all right. Artie explains what happened and says that The Prince has to be at the spa. If word gets out that The Prince has been kidnapped, there'll be no treaty. Jim points out that it's too dark to track the bandits, and Artie tells him that The Prince will show up at the spa as planned. He warns that the king is still a savage and will revert if anything happens to his son, massacring over a hundred Americans on his island. Jim points out that assassins are waiting but agrees, and Artie realizes that Jim didn't argue against his plan and set him up to volunteer.
At the spa, Beatrice, Claude, and Vittorio wait for The Prince to arrive. Jim comes in and announces The Prince: Artie in disguise. He immediately says that Artie has to retire to his quarters, and once alone says that they shouldn't stick around for champagne and roulette.
Beatrice has realized that Artie is an imposter, informs Claude and Vittorio, and storms off.
Once they're in the suite, Jim gives Artie a gun and leaves. Claude sees him coming and stages a fight with Beatrice. When she objects, Jim comes over and knocks Claude down. Beatrice asks Jim to see her to her suite and he agrees. They go inside and Beatrice invites him to have some whiskey. She demurs, saying that she doesn't take strong spirits. Jim secretly pours himself a drink from a hidden flask and then drinks it. Beatrice says that she has no wealth, and Jim feigns passing out into her lap.
Vittorio and Claude arrive and Beatrice says that Jim will be unconscious for hours. Claude asks to take care of Jim, but Beatrice tells them to take The Prince to the lodge for a little talk while Vittorio disposes of Jim. The two men haul Jim out while Beatrice pours herself a drink from a different decanter.
The two killers take Jim to the spa's mud bath and relieve him of his weaponry. Vittorio removes his clothes and puts on a towel, and tells Claude that he can handle it. Claude departs for the lodge and Vittorio drags Jim to the mud bath. Jim throws Vittorio in and the two men fight. Jim finally holds Vittorio under until he passes out, and then rinses himself off in the nearby spring.
In The Prince's suite, Artie is checking the alcohol when there's a knock at his door. He sits down and Beatrice comes in. She introduces herself and warns Artie that she heard men talking in the garden and they mean him harm. Beatrice claims that they were going to send a lady to distract Artie, and Artie shows her the gun that Jim gave him. He sets it down, and Beatrice picks up the gun and threatens to shoot him. Artie holds up the bullets that he removed, but Beatrice has a derringer in her bouquet of flowers.
Once Jim dresses, he goes to The Prince's suite and spots Artie's discarded native headdress. Satisfied that Artie isn't there, Jim leaves.
At the hunting lodge, Beatrice sets a crossbow up to shoot at Artie and puts a candle beneath the thong holding the trigger back. Claude wonders how they'll find The Prince if both Artie and Jim are dead, but Beatrice figures that Artie will soon break. A horse neighs outside and the killers realize that it's Vittorio. They tell Artie that Jim is dead, and Jim comes in behind Vittorio holding a gun. Beatrice threatens to cut the thong if Jim doesn't drop his gun, but Jim shoots the thong and orders them to face the wall.
The two bandits come in behind Jim along with The Prince. Jim tells Artie that he had The Prince kidnapped off the train, much to Artie's disgust. Once the fake bandits leave, Jim tells The Prince that someone close to the king wants The Prince dead so the treaty isn't signed. The Prince puts a gun to Jim's head and explains that he's the traitor. When he returns home, he'll claim that the agents tried to save him from bandits but died, and Beatrice and the others saved him.
The killers lock Jim and Artie up, and then Vittorio orders them outside. The Prince offers a toast to the hunt, and chuckles when Jim says that he'll drink after the hunt. He says that his father will kill the missionaries, and then he'll have the king killed and can do what he wants. The Prince and Beatrice go to check out his new lance, and Vittorio locks Jim and Artie back up. the agents realize that The Prince plans to hunt them, and Jim removes an explosive pellet from a false boot hill.
Later, Claude and Vittorio takes Jim and Artie to a nearby corral. The Prince rides up with his lance and says that he'll start with Jim. The killers cut his hands free, and Jim takes out the pellet and a small blade and slips them to Artie. He tells Artie that he'll try to draw them together, and Artie starts cutting himself free.
Vittorio forces Jim into the corral and The Prince charges at him. Jim easily dodges his first attack, and The Prince charges again and again. Jim snaps the lance with a blow and the Prince tries to club him. The agent tackles him off of the horse but Beatrice fires a warning shot at him. When the killers run over, Artie throws the pellet and knocks out Claude and Vittorio. Beatrice threatens to kill The Prince if they don't surrender, and orders him to go over with the agents. Jim explains that Beatrice always planned to kill The Prince, and Beatrice says that she wanted the jewels.
Jim bursts out laughing and says that the jewels are fake. Artie plays along, and Beatrice asks The Prince if it's true. he plays along and says that they're fake, and Beatrice clubs him in frustration. Jim grabs her and she says that she hates him.
Later on the Wanderer, The Prince enjoys pate and points out that he couldn't sign a treaty in jail. The agents tell him to sign the treaty, and The Prince agrees. He says that he's only a savage and they shouldn't expect anything better. The Prince invites them to come and visit him with he becomes king, and says that he'll have a surprise hunt for them.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 16, 2017