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Show I ifigST0RY4gy The Princess Elopes By HAROLD McORATH I Author of 9 "The Mar or the Boa." I "Ilearta and Maaka," Elo. I BaWaaWioatGEn-aaR-XS3e''fe' (Cvpyrlnbt. Ivw, Hubba--rtrllll'u.) SYNOPSIS. The American rntiHiil tn Tlnrsrlirtt, n inlnclimllty of Kut'opc. ti'JIn how tin-rt-lun'riK' Kiaml lu). I, ml tried to llml n husband for his ri'liclllouH nlctt tin-I'rliui'EH tin-I'rliui'EH lllldi-Kiirili' llrmlly ilft-rc-i'lna tlllll Hilt IIlUHt Well t llO rillllO (it I)JIII 1 Mini, an ugly uhl ulclnm-r, mill ruler of tlui print limtlty r Dtippi'lklmi. ThuiiKh ln linil lire n lii tin- nmiilry hK inoiitliH the AllllTlrllll ioiiriiI hull IlllVer Kl'l'll till' pilnet'KH, ami wlii'ii ut last lino met H hum uy iniicli nt u HiirprlHu to both. CHAPTER I. Continued. The ono picture of her which I was lucky enough lo boo had been taken when she was six, and meant nothing -- "-- to mo In thu way of Identification. For alt I knew 1 might huvo passed licr on tho road. Sho became to mo the Princess In tho Invlslhlo Cloak, pass-k pass-k lug mo often and doubtless deriding - my efforts to discern her. Sly curl- v- oslty became alarming. I couldn't ' sloop for tho thought of her. Finally wo met, but tho meeting was n groat surprise to us both. This meeting happened during tho Brent hubbub of which I have Just written; mid at tho same time I mot another who had great weight In my ftittiro affairs. Tho princess und I became rather well acquainted. I was not a gentleman, gentle-man, according to her codo, but, In the historic words of tho drug clerk, I i was something Just ns good. Sho lion- t ored mo with n frank, disinterested friendship, which still exists. I havo yet among my fading souvenirs of J diplomatic service half a dozen notes commanding mo to get tip'nt dawn and rldo around tho lakes, something like 1C miles. Sho was almost as rcckleLs a rider as myself. Sho was truly a famous fa-mous rider, and tv woman who sits m well on a horso can never bo might - , but graceful. Sho was, In fact, youth' fill und charming, with tho most mag- I nlllccnt black eyes I over behold In a Teutonic head; witty, besides, and a songstress of no ordinary talent. If I had been In lovo with her which I solemnly vow I was not! I should v havo called her beautiful and exhaust- od my storo of complimentary adjec- tlves. , . Tho bitBlc eauso of nil this turmoil, """' nbout which I nm to spin my narra- ' tlvo, lay In her cduentlon. 1 hold that u German princess should novor ho educated savo ns n German. Hy this I mean to convey that her education I should not go beyond Gorman litera ture, German history, German veneration venera-tion of laws, Geuuan manners anil Gorman passivity and docility. Tho Princess Hlldcgardo had been educated edu-cated In Knglnnd nnd Franco, which iUnpllflcB everything, or, I should say, to bo exact, complicates everything. v V" h Sho possessed a healthy contempt for that what-d'-yo-call-lt thnt hedges In a king. Having mingled with Kng-i Kng-i ' llsh-apcaklng people, sho toturncd to ). hor native land, her brain filled with ' tho Importance of femlnlno liberty of -- thought and action. Hence, sho ho- 'N " enmo tho bramble that prodded tho grand duke whichever wny ho turned. Ills days wero tilled with horrors, his nights with mares which did not havo box-stalls In his stables. Never could ho nntlclpato hor In anything. On that day ho placed gtinrds around the paloce sho wrote orses or read modern fiction; tho mo- Imont ho relaxed his vlgllanco sho was away ou some heartrending oscnpadc. Didn't sho scandalize the nobility by dressing up a hussar and riding her famous black' Mecklenburg crosscountry? crosscoun-try? Hadn't sho lllitod outrageously with tho French attache and deliberately deliber-ately turned hor back on tho Russian minister, nt tho very moment, too, when negotiations wero going on between be-tween Russia nnd llarschelt relative to n small pleco of land In tho Hul-kans? Hul-kans? And, most terrlblo of nil to relate, re-late, hadn't sho ridden n shining bicycle bicy-cle up tho Konlgsstrnbse, In broad daylight, day-light, and In bifurcated Bklrts, besides? be-sides? I shall never forgot tho indignation indig-nation of tho press at tho time of this last escapade, th? stroke of apoplexy which thieatoncc. the duke, and tho loom with tho barred window which tho princess occupied ono wholo week. They nurned tho offensive bicycle In tho courtyard of tho palace, ceremoniously, ceremo-niously, too, and tho princess had wit- ucsseil this solemn auto da fo from her barred window. It Is no strain upon tho imagination to conjure up tho plcturo of her lino rage, her threatening threat-ening hands, tier compressed lips, her tearless, Hashing eyes, as sho saw her beautiful now wheel wrltho and twist 1 on tho blazing fagots. Hut what tho dotico was a poor duko to do with a nleco like this? For ft tlmo I feared that tho United States and tho Grand Duchy of liar-schelt liar-schelt would sover diplomatic relations. rela-tions. Tho bicycle was, unfortunately, ! i of American make, and tho manufac-urers manufac-urers wrote to mo personally that hey considered themselves grossly In-lilted In-lilted oer the nctlon of the duke. Diplomatic notes wore exchanged, nnd I finally prevailed upon the duko to state thnt he held the wheel harmless mil that his anger had boon directed solely ngalnst his niece. This letter was duly forwarded to the mnnufnc- tilers, who, nfter tho manner of their kind, carefully altered the phrasing and used It In their magazlno adver tlsemeht8. They wero so far appeased that they offered mo my selection from tho private stock. Happily tho duko novor read anything but tho Fllegendo lllntter and Jugoud, and thus war was averted, Lator an nutomobllo agent visited the town at tho secret bidding of her Idghncss but ho was so unceremoniously unceremo-niously hustled over tho frontier thnt his tooth must havo rattled like a dancer's castnnots, It was a great country fof oxpodittousness, ns you will find, If you do mo tho honor to follow mo to the end. So tho grand duko sworo that his niece should wed Doppelkliin, and tho princess vowed thnt sho would not. The mnn who had charge of my horses said that one of tho palace maids had recounted to him a dialogue which had taken place between the duko and bis niece. As I was anxious to bo off on the toad I was compelled to listen to his gossip. Tho Grand Duko In two months' time you shall wed fho Prlnco of Doppelkliin. Dop-pelkliin. Tho Princess What! that old red-noso? red-noso? Never! I ' shall marry only wheie I lovo. Tho Grand Duko Only whero you lovo! (.Sneers.) Ono vouhl think, to hoar you talk, that you wero capable of loving something- Tho Pilncess You havo yet to leant. I warn you not to forco me. I promise to do something scntulnlotis. 1 will marry ono of tho people n man. ' - - of pootry In my system thnt had -eve boon completely worked out, nr I wai always Imagining that nt f'-h vorjv next Schlosj or Inn . was to hit upon some delectable adventure. I wai only 2S, nnd Inordinately fond of mj Dumas. I rode In gray whipcord breeches tan boots, n blue forge coat, white stock, and never u hat or cap till the snow blew, t used to laugh when the peasants asked leave to lend me n cap or to run back and find the ono t had presumably lost. Ono night tho delectable adventure for which I was always seeking ennio my way, nnd I wns wholly unprepared for It. I had taken tho south highway: that which Boeks tho valley beyond tho lnke. Tho moonfllm lay misty upon everything: on the far-off lake, on the great upheavals of stone and glacier above me, on the long whtto road that stretched out before me, rlbhou-wlso. High up the snow on tho mountains resembled huge opals set In amethyst. I was easily 23 miles from tho city; that Is to say. I had been in tho snddlo some six hours. Nobody but a king's messenger will rldo n horse moro than tlvo miles an hour. I cast about for a place to spend the night. There wns no tavern in sight, mid the hovels I had passed dining tho last hour offered offer-ed no shelter for my horse. Suddenly, Sudden-ly, uroiind a bend In tho road, I saw tho haven I was seeking It was a rambling, tottering old rastle, standing stand-ing In tho center of a cluster of lira; and tho tiles of tho roofs and tho Ivy of tho towers were shining silver with tho heavy fall of dow. l.ady Chloo sniffed her kind, whinnied, whin-nied, and broke Into n trot. She know sooner than I that there was life beyond be-yond the turn. Wo rodo up to tho gate, and I dismounted nnd Btrotchcd myself. I tried tho gate. Tho lock hung loose, like n paralytic hand. Kvldently those Inside had nothing to fear from thoso outside. I grasped an "I Shall Marry Only Where I Love." Tho Grand Duko I)ah! (Swears softly on his wny to the stables.) Hut tho princess had In hor mind J a plan which, had It gono through I Bnfely, would have added many gray hairs to tho dtiko's scanty collection. It wns n mighty ingenious plan, too, for n woman to ilguro out. In his attitude toward tho girl tho duko stood alone. Ilehlnd his back his ' ministers wore out their shoes In wait , lug on tho caprices of tho girl, whllo tho grand duchess, half-blind nnd half- deaf, openly worshiped hor willful hut 1 wholly adorable niece, nnd abetted hor In nil hor escapades. So far as I lie ; populace was concerned, sho was tho daughter of tho favorite son, dead I these 18 years, and that was enough for them. Whatever she did was light nnd proper. Rut tho hard-headed duko ' had tho power to say what should bo what, and ho willed it that tho Princess Prin-cess Hlldcgnrde should marry his old comrade In nrms, tho Prlnco of Dop-pclklnn. Dop-pclklnn. CHAPTER II. As I hnvo already remnrked, I used frequently to tnko long rides Into tho ' country, nnd boinetlmes I did not return re-turn till the following day. My clerk wns always on duty, and tho work novor appeared to iiniko hlni round-shouldered. round-shouldered. I hail ridden horses for years, hut to throw a leg over u good mount was to mo ono of tho greatest pleasures In tho world. I delighted in stopping nt tho old feudal Inns, of btiidylng the stolid German peasant, of drinking from steins imcrncked these hundred years, of Inspecting ancient armor and gathering trilling romances attached at-tached thoietn. And often I havo had tho courage to stop nt some quaint, crumbling Schloss or cnstlo and ask for n night's lodging for myself and horse. Seldom, If ever, did I moot with a refupttl. I possessed tho whimsical habit of picking out strange roads and riding on till night swooped down from tho snow-cupped mountains. I had a bit Iron bar nnd pushed In tho gate, Chlo following knowingly nt my heels. J could feci tho crumbling rust on no glovoB. Chloo whinnied again, nn thoro enmo an answering whinny froit somewhere In tho renr of tho castlo Somobody must bo Insldo, 1 reasoned There woro lights In the left wing but this part of tho castle was sup rounded by nn empty moat, damp and weedy. Tills wns not to bo entered savo by n ladder. There was n gronl central door, however, which had a modern appearance. Tho approach was it broad graveled walk. I tied l.ndy Chloo to a tree, knotted the brldlo-relns above hor neck to prevent hor from putting her restless foot Into them, nnd proceeded toward tho door. Of nil the nights tills wns the ono on which my UHimlly lively Imagination reposed. I was hungry nnd tired, nnd I dnro say my llttlo maro wns. 1 wasn't looking for nn iidvonturo; I didn't want any adventure; I wnntod nothing In tho world but n meal nnd n bed. Hut for tho chill or tho night air tho breath of the mountnln Is cold at night I should hnvo been perfectly perfect-ly willing to sloop In tho open. Down drawbridge, up portcullis! I boldly climbed the stops nnd groped around for tho 1 norker. It wnsbiokcn nnd useless, like tho lock on the gato. And never n hell could I find. 1 sworo Boftly nnd beenmo Impatient. Peoplo In llnrschelt did not usually live In this slovenly fashion. What sort of plnco wns this? Suddenly I grow erect, every fiber In my body tonne nnd expectant. A voice, lifted In song! A great penetrntlng yet sllktly mellow volco; a soprano; heavenly, not to saj ghostly, coining ns it did from tho heart of this gloomy ruin of mono and Iron. Tho jewel song from Faust, too! How the volco rose, fell, soared again with In-toxlcntlng In-toxlcntlng waves of sound! What permeating per-meating sweetness! I stood there, a solltnry listener, as far ns Z know, bewildered, be-wildered, my heart heating haru and fast. I forgot my hunger. (TO UK Cr'NTINUEtJ.t |