Show U i + STORY c I The Princess Elopes By HAROLD McGRATH Authorf The Man on the Box Hearts and Masks Etc Onprrlghl 1KB liobljvlIcrrlUCo SYNOPSIS Arthur WnrrlriKlon American consul to nursolielt tollH how rdgnlng Ornml Duke nttcinpla to force Ids nclcc 1rln civn IlllileKiirdi to liinrrv Irlnco Dopplo Jdnn nn old widower Wnrrlncton tines not know the prlmowi even liy sight While horseback rlilliiR In tin country right ovcrtiiltis him and ho seeks accommodations accom-modations In u illliiplilutiMl ensUe Here lio Uriel two women anil nn old man flervant Olin vomnn In 1rlncpnn llllilo Knrdo and flu olhcr a friend lion Unity Moore of KriKlnml They detain him to wltricHn u mock mnrrltiKe between lute princess and n illRcraciC nrmy onicer iHcInbotk clone for tho imrposu of foiling t the grants duko StclnbocU nttcmpto to Ides the prince m and nlla In rescued by WnrrhiRton Btolnbnclc disappear for good Mnx Bcharfonstelti un old American Ameri-can true i Ktonsrtrcncltea llnr can friend of WiirrltiKtonH rcnchpf Bill achclt Wnrrlnstop tells him of tho prier t vena Bchnrfenntcln BIOVH WarrliiRtan w a locket with a picture oC n woman hr aide It wag on Ills nock when he ns n boy UIH picked up and adopted hy hlA foster father whoso name hn was given Un ticllavtm It to ho a picture of MR mother Tho grand duko announces to tho princess that elio Is to marry Dapple Iclnn tho fallowing wick CHAPTER VII VI-I Tho princess rose at dawn tho following 1 fol-lowing day Sho routed out Hans tho bead groom and told him to saddle Artemis tho sllmllmbcd sealbrown fllly which nn English nobleman had given her Ten minutes later she was in tho onddle nnd the heaviness on her heart seemed to rise nnd vanish like tin opal mists on the bosom of tho motionless lake I A pale star I blinked at her and tho day flushed like the check of a waking infant began be-gan drowsily to creep over the rolling mountains I u How silent all the city was Only t hero abut there above tho chimneys rose ft languid Him of smoke Thor Tho-r gates of tho park shut behind with a clang nid so for a time she was alone and free Sho touched Artemis with a spur and tho filly broke into a cantor toward the lake road The girls nostrils nos-trils dilated Every flower the thousand s thou-sand resinous saps of the forest tho earth Itself yielded up a cool sweet perfume that was to tho mind what t a glass of wine is to the blood exhilaration exhil-aration Sho would never marry Doppclklnn t never That horrible Stelnbockl 4 She was glad glad that she had struck him again and again across his lying eyes and evil mouth She had believed a that sho know the world it was all yet a mystery tho older she grew tho loss she understood Wasnt anybody good Was everybody to bo distrust od Which way should sho turn now Tho world was beautiful enough it was tho people In It Poor Hetty Sho had her troubles too but somehow she refused to confldo thom She acted vary much as If sho were In love Sho would never marry Doppelklnn + But how should sho escape how On Wednesday night sho would be L PI given her quarterly allowance of a thousand crowns and on Thursday she must act Yes yes that was Itl c S How simple Sho would slip over Into Doppelklnn whoro > they never would j think to search for her Sho knew a t i place In which to hide From Doppel Ulnn she would go straight to Dresden and seek tho protection of her old governess gov-erness who would hide her till the duko como to his senses If only sho had nn Independent fortune how nhe would snap her lingers at them all Sho was distracted by the sound of Jangling steel Artemis had runt n shoe Hotv annoying It would take ton minutes to reach old Bauers smithy and ten minutes more to put on a shoe She brought tho tllly down to a walk If only she veto Betty free to do what she pleased to go and como at will She wasnt born to be a princess prin-cess she wasnt commonplace enough she enjoyed life too well Ah It only she might live and act like those English cousins of hers with whom she went to school They could lido man fasldon hunt manfashion shoot play cards and bet at tho races man fasbion and nobody threatened them wlth Oappelklnns They might dance too till the sun came Into tho windows nnd the rouge on their faces cracked But she I I uso tho emphasis em-phasis to Illustrativtho decided nods of her pretty head Vfby ovary sweet had to be stolen t Presently tho smithy came into view emerging from a cluster of poplars Sho rode up to tho doors dismounted and entered Old Bauer himself was at the hollows and the weird blue light hissing up from tho blown coals discovered another customer She turned and met his frank glance of admiration ad-miration If sho hadnt turned If his admiration hadnt been entirely frank Instantly shn sent Bauer a warning glance which that old worthy seemed Immediately to understand Tho stranger was tall wellmade I handsome with yellow hair and eyes as blue as tho sky Is when the Wwt wind blows lie raised his cap and tho heart of tho girl fluttered Wherever had this i seemly fellow como from Good morning said tho stranger courteously I lice that you havo had I the samo misfortune as myself You have lost a shoe Ilathor annoying an-noying when one doesnt want a single sin-gle break in the going Sho uttered the words carelessly as If sho wasnt at all Interested Tho stranger stuffed his cap Into a pocket Sho was glad that nhe had chosen the now saddle rile crest and coat of arms had not yet been burned upon the leather nor engraved upon the silver sil-ver ornaments nnd there was no blanket under the English saddle There might be an adventure ono could not always tell She must hldo her Identity If the stranger knew that sho belonged to the House of Barschelt possibly ho would bo frightened and take to his heels But the Princess IHldcgardo did not know that this stranger never took tIlls o t-Ills heels ho wasnt that kind Princess Prin-cess or peasant it would have boon all the same to him Only his tone might have lost half a key Bauer called to his assistant and the girl stepped out Into the road Tho stranger followed as sho know ho would It will bo seen that she know something of men If only that they possess curiosity What a bQautlful < < place this Isl the stranger ventured waving his hand toward to-ward tho still lake and the silent misty mountains There la no place quite like it she admitted You are a stranger in Bar I schelt politely lie was young and certainly tho bestlooking man sic had f eye was roving lie bttamo auspicious auspic-ious Sho might bo simple and then again sho mightnt She was worth studying anyhow I was a cavalryman with nothing to do hut obey orders and when ordered fight I am visiting the American con sot here ho was a schoolmate of mlno mlnoAhi Alt I thought I recognized the horse You know hlmqulekl Oheasuallyovery ono hereabout here-about has seen the consul on his mornIng morn-Ing rides lie rides like a centaur they say but I have never seen a ecu tourTho Tho stranger laughed Sho war charming He ought to ride well I taught him But tho gay smllo which followed fol-lowed this statement robbed It of Its air of conceit You see I havo ridden part of my life on the great plains ol the west nnd have mounted everything every-thing from a wild Jndlan pony to nc English thoroughbred My name II Max Scharfcnsteln and I am here at a medical student though In my owe country I have the right to hang out a physicians shingle She drew aimless figures In tho dusl with her ridingcrop There was nc sense In her giving any name Probably Prob-ably they would never meet again And yetI yet-I am Hlldegardo vonvon Hold aloft giving her mothers name H6 was too nice to frighten away The hesitance over tho von did not strike his usually keen ear He was too Intent on noting the variant expressions on her exquisite face It was a pity she was dark What a figure fig-ure and how proudly tho head rested upon the slender but firm white throat I 4i 9 I r t i L J r r I T1I 1111111 r stJ iv SOn 07 Im Hlldegarde vonvon Heldeloff seen in a month of moons If Doppel klnnn now wore only more after this pattern Yes this is my first trip to Dar schelt He had a very engaging smile You are from Vienna NoAh No-Ah from Berlin I was not quite suro of tho accent I am a GormanAmerican frankly frank-ly I have also spoken tho language as If It were my own which doubtless it Is America sho cried her interest genuinely aroused That Is tho country coun-try where every one does Just as he pleases Sometimes What beautiful teeth she had white as skimmed milk1 They aro free Nearly always They tell me that women thero are i all queens Wo are there or hero always your humble servants Ho was evidently a gentleman there was something In his bow that was courtly And do the women attend the theaters alone at night It they deslro to Tell me does tho daughter of the president have Just as much liberty asher as-her subjects Even more Only there are no subjects sub-jects In America No subjects What do they call thorn then Voters And do the women vote Only at the womens clubs Sho did not qulto get this not that It was too subtle rather that it was not within her comprehension It Is a big country Ever so big Do you like It I love every Inch of It I have oven fought for it In tift Spanish war visibly excited ex-cited Yes Wero you a major or a colonel Neither only n private I thought every soldier there was either a colonel or a major lIe looked at hor sharply but her j After all black eyes such as these were might easily rival any blue eyes jio had over seen Which goes to prove that a mans Ideals aro not built as solidly as might be Do you speak English she asked abruptly in that tongue with a full glance to note the effect English is spoken to some extent In the United States he answered gravely He did not evlnco the least surprise at her fluency Do you write to the humorous papers pa-pers In your country Only to subscribe for them said ho And again they laughed which was a very good sign that things wore go Ing forward tolerably well And then the miserable fellow of n smith hud to come out and announce that the strangers horse was ready Ill warrant tho shoe said Bauer You havent lost any time said Max his regret evident to every one The girl smiled approvingly She loved humor in a man and this one with the yellow hair and blue eyes seemed to possess a fund of the dry sort All this was very wrong sho know but sho wasnt going to be the princess this morning she was going to cast off the shell of artificiality of etiquette How much will this shoe cost me Max asked Halt a crown said Bauer with a sly glance at the girl to see how she would accept so exorbitant a sum The princess frowned But sometimes some-times added Bauer hurriedly I do II for nothing Bauer your grandfather was a robber rob-ber tho girl laughed Take heed that you do not follow in his footsteps foot-steps I am a poor man onrmmFrau loin he stammered flares a crown said Max tossing n coin which was neatly caught by the grimy hand of the smith Are you very rich asked the girl curiously Why counterquestioned Max TO UB CONTINUED |