Show STORY The I Princess i I Elopes i By HAROLD McGRATII Author of The Man on the Box Hearts and Masks Etc I I Cuprrljlit Mi IlobbdAlerjll Co SYNOPSIS Arthur Warrltieton Amcrlcftn cnnnul to Itnrsrlirlt lolls how iclunlrii Omul Duke nltfmplM tn fnrco lilft nclcn 1r n teen lllldigimlc to marry Printit Uopnle i coos hlnn nn old widower Wurrlrictim noes not know HIP prlncvBM OVolI by night Wlillo rldliiR liornolMCIc In mho country night overtakes him and h locks nciorn inodulJotm In a dilapidated Milo Hero lio finds two onun and nn old innn Bnrvant Ono woman Is 1rtnccas Hilda curdo and tho other u frlond Hon Dotty Mnnra of Kngliiml They detain him to witness a mock marriage between the Princess and a dlHKraccil urnfy placer Htclnlmck Bono for tie purpjso of tolling tlio g Ill 11I1 dlike HtHnbock attompta to kilOS thin princess and nho In rescued hy WnrrliiRton Stctnbock ilUappeum for r Rood Max Bchurfcnstcln an old Amen t can friend of WarrhiKtons rcnchcii Bnr scholl AVnrrltiKton tcllK him of time princess prin-cess Boharfonstcln Bhows Warrlngton u locket with a picture of a woman In Ethic It was on hIs neck when he ita n boy wan plcUril up and adopted by his t foster father whoso name ho was Klvnn Ho believes It to ho a picture of his mother Tim Brand duko announces to the princess that Him Is to marry Dopplo Idnn the following week During a morn t Incit ride sho pinna to escape Him meets Sclmrffliisteln Ho finds n purso nun has dropped but doca not discover her Identity Iden-tity CHAPTER VII Tho ono fnult I have to find with r European Into Is time poor quality of tobacco used It was eight oclock Thursday night tho night of tha dinner at Mnllors I was dressing when Max entered with j a miserable cheroot between his teeth 1 They say ho went on that In Russia they drink tho finest ten In tho world simply because It Is brought overland and not by sea Unfortunately Unfortunate-ly tobacco wo Americans recognize no leaf as tobacco unless it comes from Cuba has to cross tho sea and is In sonic unaccountable manner weakened In tho transit There arc worso cigars In Germany than In Franco and I wouldnt have believed it possible If I had not gone to tho trouble of proving It Fine country For a week Ive been trying to smoke the Gorman quality of tho weed as a preventive but I seo I must give It upon F up-on account of my throat My boy I m I have news for YOIItosslllg tho cheroot che-root Into the grate i Fire away said I struggling with t a collar I have a box of Havanas over at 1 I tho custom house that I forgot to ball out Nol said I Joyfully A Havana and ono of Scharfcnstclnsl Ive nn Idea that they would go well with the dinner So If you dont mind Ill trot over and got em Ho sure and get around to Mullcrs I at halfpast eight then said I 1 Ill bo there Ho know whore to 1 find the place tIJ Mullors rathskeller was the rendezvous r rendez-vous of students olllcers and all those I 41 persons of quality who HUod music with their meat The place was low ceilinged but roomy and the ventilation ventila-tion was excellent considering rime smoke never got so thick that ono couldnt see tho way to tho door when tho students started In to clean upI up-I tho place to use tho happy Idiom oft of-t mine own country There were marble ble tables and floors and arches t and light canebottomed chairs from Kolas It was at once Bohemian and cosmopolitan and once Inside It was f easy to Imagine oneself In Vienna A Hungarian orchostrn occupied an In closed platform and every night the wall of tho violin and tho pompom of tho woot tipped hammers on tho Hungarian Hun-garian piano might bo heard It was essentially a mans place of cutoitatnuiont few women over had the courage or the Inclination to enter i In America It would have been tho fashion but In tho capital of Darschclt tho women ate In tho restaurant above I which was attached to tho hotel and depended upon tho Volksgarten band for tholr evenings diversion You had to order your table hours ahead that Is If you were a civilian If you wcro lucky enough to bo an officer of-ficer you woro privileged to take any vacant chair you saw Hut heaven aid you If you attempted to do this not being be-ing an officer In Darschclt thoro woro also many unwritten laws and you were obliged to observe these with all the fidelity and attention that you gavo to tho enameled signs Only the military II mili-tary had tho right to requost the orchestra or-chestra to repeat a pleco of music Sometimes tho lieutenants seized with that gay humor known only to cubs would forco the orchestra In Mullers to play tho Hungarian war song till tho ears cried out In pain This was always tho case when any Austrians happened to bo presont Hut ordinarily ordinari-ly tho crowds were goodnatured boisterous bois-terous but orderly It was hero then that I had arranged ar-ranged to give my little dinner Tho orchestra had agreed for a liberal tip to play Tho Starspangled Banner I and there vas a case of DoppclUtuua r sparkling Moselle I may aa well state right hero that wo neither heard oar tiatlonal anthem nor drank the vintage You will soon learn why 1 can laugh now I can treat the whole affair with becoming levity but at the time I gained several extra gray hairs If tho princess hadnt turned around and If Max hadnt wanted that box of Immune When I arrived at Mullers I found my boys In a merry mood They woro singing softly from Robin Hood with tine college harmony and an I entered they swarmed about mo like so many young dogs Truth to tell none of them was under 20 and two or three were older than myself But to them I represented official protection for whatever they might do I assumed all the dignity I dared I had kept SclmrfcnstelnH namo back as a surprise sur-prise Ellis for whom I had tin passports Immediately struck mo as being so I nearly like Max that they might easily have been brothers Ellis was slight or that was all the difference I gave him Ills papers and examined his tickets tick-ets All was well barring accidents ho would bo In Dresden tho next day You go through Doppclklnn then 1 said I Yes I have friends In Dresden whom I wish to see before going homeWell Well good luck to you I Then I announced that Max Schar fenstcln an old college comrade would Join us presently This was greeted with hurrahs At that time there wasnt an American student who did not recollect Maxs great run from tho tenyard lino Hut whore tho deuce was Max I took a little lag from my pocket and stuck It Into tho vaso of poppIes and tho boys clapped their hands You never realize how beauti I fill your flag Is till you seo It In a foreign for-eign land I apologized for Maxs ab senco OXIlnlnlllg the cause and ordered or-dered dinner to be served Wo hadnt much time as Ellis train departed at ten It was now a quarter of nine Wo had come to the relishes when a party of four olllcors took tho table nearest us They hung up their sabers on tho wallpegs and sat down orderIng order-Ing a bottlo of light wino Usually there were live chairs to tho table but oven If only two wero being used no ono had tho right to withdraw ono of tho vacant chairs without tho most elaborate apologies This Is the law of courtesy In Barschctt In America It Is different If you seo anything you want take It Presently ono of tho officers knew none of thorn save by sight rose and approached Ho touched tho flag Insolently In-solently and Inquired what right It had In ix public restaurant In Barscholt Ordinarily his question would not havo been put without sonic Justification Hut ho knew very well who I was and what my rights were In this Instance Herr Lieutenant said I coldly though my cheeks were warm enough h represent that flag In this country and 1 am accredited with certain privileges priv-ileges as doubtless you are aware You will do mo tho courtesy of returning return-ing to your own table I bowed Ho glared at mo for a brief period then turned on his heel This was tho first act In the play At tho fellows table sat Lieut von Storer Doppel klnns nophew and heirpresumptive He was to speak plalllly a rake a spendthrift and wholly untrustworthy I Ho was not Illlooking however I My spirits floated between anger and the fear that tho officers might ruin the dinner which they eventually I eventual-ly did Things went on smoothly for a time I rho orchestra was pompommlng the popular airs tram Faust Whoro I tho deuce was that towheaded Dutchman Dutch-man Laughter rose and Ml thu I cllnklo of glass was held voices called And then MI auo in IOOL I Ins as cool as you p j s = cp though I crld read by his hoavlni chest that ha had been sprinting up back streets 11 j boys crowded around him and Ii there wan much ado liver tho laggard Unfortunately tho waiter had forgotten forgot-ten to bring a chair for his plate With a genial smile on his face Max Innocently Inno-cently stepped over to the officers table and plucked lath tho vacant i chair For a wonder1 tho officers appeared ap-peared to give tbls actlonno heed and I was secretly gratified It was something to bo a consul after all But I counted my chickens too early Where are tho cigars I naked as Max sat down complacently Cigars blankly Hang me Ive clean forgotten theml And then ob llvlous of tho probable storm that was at that moment gathering for a downpour down-pour over his luckless head he told us tho reason of his delay There was a crowd around the palace pal-ace ho began it seems that the Princess Hlldcgarde has run away and they believe that oho has ridden toward to-ward the Pass In r closed carriage Tho police are at this very moment scouring tho country In that direction Sho has eloped Eloped 1 wn all cried being more or less f am 111 r with the slate of affairs af-fairs at tho palace Goodby to Doppelkinns frau Good girl I Sue lies been missing since seven oclock when she drove away on the pretense of visiting her fathers old steward who Is 111 went on Max feeling feel-Ing tho Importance of his news The traced her there From tho stewards tho carriage was driven south and thats the last seen of her There wont bo any wedding at tho cathedral next Tuesday laughing Queries and answers wero going crisscross over tho table when I observed ob-served with dread that Lieut von Storer hud risen and was coming our 1 II I I < I y l I I eJ N I He Tranquilly Pulled Out a MurderousLooking Colt and Laid It Besldn His Plate way Ho stopped at Maxs side Max looked up to receive Von Storers glove full on tho cheek It was no gentle gen-tle stroke Von Storer at once returned re-turned to his table and sat down For a moment wo wero all absolutely absolute-ly I without power of motion or of speech Maxs face grew as white as the tablecloth and the print of tho glovo glowed red against tho white I was horrllled for 1 know his tremendous tremen-dous strength It he showed fight Von Storer would calmly saber him It was tho custom But Max surprised mo Ho was the coolest among us but of that quality of coolness which colt not reassure mo Ho took up his dozy where ho had left off and finished It For his remarkable control I could have taken him In my arms and hugged himTho rite officers scowled while Von Storer bit his mustache nervously The American had ignored his insult Presently ho rose again and approached ap-proached He thrust a card under Maxs nose Can you understand that ho asked contemptuously Max took tho card ripped It Into quarters nnd dropped these to tho door Then to my terror and tho terror ter-ror of those with mo ho tranquilly pulled out a murderous looking Colt and laid It beside his plate Ho went on talking but none of us heard a word ho said Wo were fearfully watt bug to seo him kill some ono or be killed No ono was killed Tho officers hurriedly hur-riedly took down their sabers mind made a beeline for tho door of which I havo spoken Max returned tho revolver to his hlp pocket nnd gave vent to an Homeric Hom-eric laugh You towheaded Dutchman 1 cried when I found voice for my words what have you done Roue Why It looks so li wo had all tho downs this half ho replied smartly Oh thn Rim Isnt loaded r ifldontlili Kill fumbled In his pocket and pro du CJ his passports and tickets Thoso ho ihovJ 1 over to Max TO DF CONTINUE |