Show l I eJ L e l el STORY the Princess Elopes I By HAROLD McGRATH Author of The Man on the DOH Heart and Masks Etc ICuprrlthu 1WC BobttMerrlll Co CuSYNOPSIS SYNOPSIS The American consul to nnrsclielt a prlncpiillty of Europe tolls how the relKiilns and iluke hail tried to llnd a husband for his rebellious nlcce tho Princess IllldeKmU ilnvlly dvcreiHni that she must wld tale Irlnco of Doiipi1 kinD an ugly old widower and ruler of that rtu eti itdint Doppclklnn Though no hiul been In the country nix months the American consul had never seen the princess and when fit last they met It was very much of a surprise to both CHAPTER IContinued I The one picture of her which I was lucky enough to see had been taken when she was six and meant nothing to mo In the way of Identification For all I knew I might have passed her on the road She became to mo tho Princess In the Invisible Cloak passing pass-Ing me often and doubtless deriding my efforts lo discern her My curiosity curi-osity became alarming I couldnt sleep for the thought of her Finally we met but the meeting was a great surprise to us both This meeting happened during the great hubbub of which I have just written and at tho same time I met another who had great weight In my future affairs The princess and I became rather well acquainted I was not a gentleman gentle-man according to her code but In the historic words of the drug clerk I was something just as good She honored hon-ored me with a frank disinterested friendship which still exists I have yet among my fading souvenirs of diplomatic service half a dozen notes commanding me to get up at dawn and ride around the lakes something like 16 miles She was almost as reckless a rider as myself She was truly a fa mous rider and a woman who sits well on a horse can never bo aught but graceful She was In fact youthful youth-ful and charming with the most magnificent mag-nificent black eyes I over beheld In a Teutonic head witty besides anda songstress of no ordinary talent If I had been In love with herwhich I solemnly vow I was notI should have called her beautiful and exhausted exhaust-ed my store of complimentary adjectives adjec-tives The basic cause of all this turmoil about which I am to spin my narrative narra-tive lay In her education I hold that a German princess should never be educated save as a German By this I mean to convey that her education should notgo beyond German literature litera-ture German history German veneration venera-tion of laws German manners and German passivity and docility The Princess Hlldegarde had been educated edu-cated In England and France which simplifies everything or I should say to be exact complicates everything She possessed a healthy contempt for that whatdyecalllt that hedges In a king Having mingled with Eng Ilsh speaking people she returned to her native land her brain filled with the Importance of feminine liberty of thought and action Hencs she became be-came tho bramble that prodded the grand duke whichever way he turned Ills days were filled with horrors his nights with mares which did not have boxstalls In his stables Never could he anticipate her In anything On that day he placed guards around the palace she wrote verses or read modern fiction the moment mo-ment he relaxed his vigilance she was I I away on some heartrending escapade Didnt she scandalize the nobility by her dressing up a hussar and riding famous black Mecklenburg cross country coun-try Hadnt she flirted outrageously with the French attache and deliberately deliber-ately turned her back on the Russian minister at the very moment too when negotiations were going on between be-tween Russia and Barschelt relative to a small piece of land In the Balkans Bal-kans And most terrible of all to relate re-late hadnt she ridden a shining bicycle bicy-cle up the Konlgsstrasse In broad daylight day-light and In bifurcated skirts besides be-sides I shall never forget the indignation Indig-nation of the press at the time of this last escapade the stroke of apoplexy which threatenec the duke and tho room with the barred window which occupied one whole week the princess They burned the offensive bicycle In ceremo the courtyard of the palace niously too and the princess had witnessed wit-nessed this solemn auto da fe from her barred window It Is no strain upon the Imagination to conjure up her threat the picture of her fine rage ening hands her compressed lips her tearless flashing eyes as she saw her and twist beautiful now wheel writhe on the blazing fagots But what the duke to do with a deuce was a poor niece like this For a time I feared that the United States and the Grand Duchy of Bar scholt would sever diplomatic relations rela-tions Tho bicycle was unfortunately of American make and the manufac urers wrote to me personally that hey considered themselves Insulted In-sulted over tho action of the duke Diplomatic notes were exchanged and I finally prevailed upon tho duke to tale that he held the wheel harmless and that his anger had been directed solely against his niece This letter was duly forwarded to tho manufacturers manufac-turers who after tho manner of their kind carefully altered the phrasing and used It In their magazine ndvor tlsemcnts They were so far appeased that they offered me my selection from tho private stock Happily tho duke never read anything but the Fllegcndo I Blatter and Jugend and thus war was averted Later an automobile agent visited the townat the secret bidding of her highnessbut ho was so unceremoniously unceremo-niously hustled over tho frontier that I his teeth must havo rattled like a dancers castanets It was a great country for expcdttlousncss as you will find If you do mo the honor to follow me to tho end So the grand duke swore that his niece should wed Doppelklnn and the princess vowed that she would not The man who had charge of my horses said that one of the palace maids had recounted to him a dialogue which had taken place between tho duko and his niece As I was anxious to bo oft on the road I was compelled to listen to his gossip Tho Grand Duke In two months time you shall wed the Prince of Dop pelklnh Tho Princess What that old red nose Never I shall marry only where I love The Grand Duko Only where you lovol Sneers One would think to hear you talk that you were = capable of loving something The PrincessYou have yet to learn I warn you not to force me I promise to do something scandalous 1 will marry one of the people a man Tho Grand DukeDahl Swears softly on his way to the stables But tho princess had In her mind a plan which had It gono through safely would have added many gray hairs to the dukes scanty collection It was a mighty Ingenious plan too for a woman to figure out In his attitude toward the girl tho duke stood alone Behind his back his ministers wore out their shoes In waiting wait-Ing on the caprices of the girl while the grand duchess halfblind and half deaf openly worshiped her willful but wholly adorable niece and abetted her In all her escapades So far as the populace was concerned she was the daughter of the favorite son dead these 18 years and that was enough for them Whatever she did was right and proper But the hardheaded duke had the power to say what should be what and he willed It that the Princess Prin-cess Hlldegarde should marry his old comrade In arms tho Prince of Dop pelklnn CHAPTER II As I have already remarked I used frequently to take long rides Into the I country and sometimes I did not return re-turn till the following day My clerk was always on duty and the work never appeared to make him round I shouldered I had ridden horses for years but to throw a leg over a good mount was to me one of the greatest pleasures In tho world I delighted In stopping at tho old feudal Inns of studying the stolid German peasant of drinking from steins uncracked these hundred years of Inspecting ancient armor and gathering trifling romances attacked at-tacked thereto And often I have had the courage to stop at some quaint crumbling Schloss or castle and ask for a nights lodging for myself and horse Seldom If ever did I meet with a refusal I possessed the whimsical habit of picking out strange roads and riding on till night swooped down from the snowcapped mountains I had a bit of poetry In my system that had never I been completely worked out and I wai I always Imagining that at the very next Schloss or Inn T was to hit upon somo delectnWe adventure 1 war only 2S nnd Inordinately fond of mj Dumas I redo In gray whlivord breeches lan boots a blue sergo coat white stock and never a hut or cap till the snow blow 1 lined to latish when the leasunts asked leave to lend mo a can or to run back and find the one 1 had presumably lost One night the delectable adventure for which I was always seeking came my way and I was wholly unprepared for It I had taken the south highway that which seeks tho valley beyond tho lake Tho moonfllm lay misty upon everything on the tar off lake on the great upheavals of stone nnd glacier above me on tho long white road that stretched out before mo ribbonwise High up tho snow on the mountains resembled huge opals set In amethyst I was easily 25 miles from the city that Is to say I had been In the saddle some six hours Nobody but a kings messenger will ride a horse more than llvo miles an hour I cast about for a place to spend tho night There was no tavern In sight and the hovels I had passed during tho last hour offered offer-ed no shelter for my horse Suddenly Sudden-ly I around n bend In tho road I saw tho haven I wits seeking It was a rambling tottering old castle standing stand-ing In the center of a cluster of firs and tho tiles of the roots and the Ivy of tile towers wero shining silver with tile heavy fall of dow Lady Chloe sniffed her kind whinnied whin-nied and broke Into a trot Sho knew sooner than 1 that there was life beyond be-yond the turn Wo rods up to the gate and I dismounted nnd stretched myself I tried tho gate Tho lock hung loose like a paralytic hand Evidently those Inside had nothing to fear from thoso outside I grasped an e I c I rl I Shall Marry Only Where I Love Iron bar and pushed In the gate Chloq following knowingly at my heels I could feel the crumbling rust on mj gloves Chloe whinnied again and there camo an answering whinny frorc somewhere In the rear of the castle Somebody must be Inside I reasoned There were lights In tho left wing but this part of tho castle was surrounded sur-rounded by an empty moat damp and weedy This was not to be entered save by a ladder There was a great central door however which had a modern appearance The approach was a broad graveled walk I tied Lady Chloe to a tree knotted the bridlereins above her neck to prevent her from putting her restless feet Into them and proceeded toward tho door Ot all the nights this was the one on which my usually lively Imagination reposed I was hungry and tired and I dare say my little mare was I wasnt looking for an adventure I didnt want any adventure I wanted nothing in the world but a meal and abed a-bed But for the chill of the night air the breath of the mountain Is cold at night I should have been perfectly perfect-ly willing to sleep In tho open Down drawbridge up portcullis I boldly climbed tho steps and groped around for the knocker It was broken and useless like the lock on the gate And never a bell could I find I swore softly and became Impatient People In Barschelt did not usually live In this slovenly fashion What sort of place was this Suddenly I grew erect every fiber In my body tense and expectant A voice lifted In song A great penetrating yet sllklly mellow voice a soprano heavenly not to say ghostly coming as It did from tho heart of this gloomy ruin of stone and Iron Tho jewel song from Faust too How the voice rose fell soared again with intoxicating In-toxicating waves of sound What permeating per-meating sweetness I stood there a solitary listener as far as I knew bewildered be-wildered my heart beating hard and fast I forgot my hungry TO DB CONTINUED |