Show sa aj OR y H ML WT H the 0 an 0 e ER 0 by HAROLD mcgrath of the man 0 the 11 t clearts and eto IOA huban CHAPTER I 1 it is rather dilli difficult cult ayi these dais for a man who uha takes such scant sant interest in foreign forel cn trust it a diplomat for that to follow the continual disturbances of european Lur Luro peati surfaces ahus I 1 can not distinctly recall the exact location ot of the grand duchy of Bars ebelt or ot of the ing principality of dop pel kirin it meets my needs and pur poses hoever how ever to say that derlin berlin and vienna were easily accessible and that a three hours journey would bring under the shadow of the carpathian range where in my diplo matte days I 1 used often to hunt the bear that walks like a man darscheid liar Dar w was as known among her sis ter ler states as the meddler the maker maher of trouble and the duke as aa old grumpy to use a familiar yankee expression nai Dai had a finger in every pie whenever there was a political broth making whether in italy germany or austria Bar would snatch up a ladle and start in sh she took care of her own affairs so BO easily that she had plenty of time to conc conceio ein herself with the at falis of her neighbors this is not to advance the opinion that Bar berscheit Barsc beit was mas wholly modern far flora it the fault of darscheid na Dar may be traced back to a certain pillar of salt easily recalled by all those alio iio attended sunday school lubbering Rub bering in a vulgar phrase and I 1 disdain to use it when a woman looks around it is a portent of 0 trouble the man forgets his important engage inerio aik nt and runs 1 nuck nuch knocking over people orlu bples and principalities it if aspasta aspasia had riot not pericles that memorable day if there had bad not been an oblique slant to calypso s eyes eye i as aa ulysses passed her way if the eager dillah delilah had not offered fa arable comment on samson s ringlets ja in fact it if all the w onion in his toi y and romance had gone about their affairs as they should have done what esting reading history would be today to day now this Is a story of a woman who looked wound and of a man i who ibo bo did not leep heep its his appointment on time out of a grain of sand a mountain of course might have been other rait causes ses but with these im I 1 m not famil lar jar this duchy of bauschelt Dar Bar to Is woith looking into imagine a country with ith telegraph and telephone and medieval customs a country ath electric lights railways surface cars hotel elea eleNa tois and ancient laws something of the customs of the duchy must be told in the passing though tor for my part I 1 anil am against explanatory sages bases in is of action bauschelt Bar with militarism the little mar always Irnita imitates tes the big one but lacks the big man is s excuses mill entered into and oer overshadowed shadowed the ci civic ic laws lam s theio were things you might do without offence ou might lathe battle eat and sleep only 3 ott must not bleep bleed out loud 1 ahe I he citizen of Barsc bauschelt Bar beit i was as hemmed in by a set of laws which had their birth in the dark dungeons dunge oua rif ct the inquisition they congealed congeal conge alid Ld the blod of a man bom boin and bred in a connby it if you broke a law iou acio eie relentlessly punished thele was vas no merey mercy in Am ameilia eilea we make laws and then tilde hide them in dull looking volumes which bleb A tile the public have neither the time nor the inclination to i biad gid in this ducho of mine it was different you ran into a law lany on every corner in ili every ever in licay public C building little oblong signs enameled enamel 1 which told you that you could not do 0 something bobeth ing or other Pur forbidden bidden the le beauty of geiman laws Is when sou aou etain all the things that sou can not liot to do you begin to find out that the things vou ou can do are not aith a I 1 ang in the doing As soon as a berbon learned to read he oi 01 she began life by leading those laws it if you could nt na read bo much the worse morse for iou iou had to pay a guide who abo charged ou almost as ciuch as the full cost of the tine fine the opposition political party in the united states Is alv aiwas flis howling mill tarisai tari sni without tle tl sligh bllou est idea of u what militarism really la Is one side alt ase in Barbe helt when fin an orbi pr comes along or tale tahe aces uces it if boj c burati cd into him you were knocked down it if 3 ou ob Jc jated ted aou ou were armsted it if you yell struck back ten to one you a boating beating with the flat ot of a saber caber and levei never nener mi stale the soldiery for the police that Is to sas never ask na 1 officer to direct you to any place ibis la is regal Jerl in the llant ol of an suit the cub lieutenants do more to keep a passable side alk tor for the pas sage eago ox cf said ead cub lieutenants than all the magistrates put together now how they used to swagger up and down the around the flatz in ili and out of the restaurants antal I 1 re member at aber dolop some senna sidestepping side elde stepping my self and 1 was a diplomat supposed to be immune from the rank dia courte ste of the military but that was early la in my career in a year not so BO remote as not to be readily recalled the united states packed me off to darschell Dar belt because I 1 had an uncle who was a senator some papers pali cris wire given me the per ml mission slon to hang bang out a shingle rei reading taing american consul and the promise of my blaid and keep my lity amusements were ere to be paid out of my own pocket straightway ay I 1 purchased pure based three hoists hoisea found a capable japanese valet and selected a cozy house near the barracks which blood west of 0 the on a pretty lake A beau road i tan an around this body 0 of wa va tei let and it rasa t long ei eie e the off officers leers began to pass comments on the riding of that wild american As I 1 detest IN abat hat la is known as park riding you may very will believe that I 1 circled the lake at a clip eiph must have opened the eyes ot of the easygoing easy going officers I 1 grew quite chummy with a few of them and I 1 may speak of occasions when I 1 did not step off the sidewalk as they came along A man does more toward gaining the affection of for eign tris by giving a good dinner now and then than by aby international law I 1 gained considerable fame by my little lettla dinners at under the continental hotel six months passed during which I 1 rode read drove and dined the actual labors of the consulate being cared for by a german clerk who knew more about the business than I 1 did by this ou will observe that diplo rz A F V 41 the princess hildegarde degarde Hll macy has degenerated into the gentle nit of exciting jaded palates and ot of se ones name across pass ports I 1 know of no better definition I 1 forget hat the largess of my office was presently chete were terrible do ings the old reigning grand duke de sired peace ot of mind and moving de dc toward this end he de elated in public that his niece the 3 oung lourio and tender lender pi ancess 1113 degardI should wed the dillice of Dopp ellAnn whose vineyards gave him fill a fitle fine la in come this was A as finality fin allty the lar bail waited long enough tor for his als willful ward to make up iw mind as to the selection of a suitable husband now he determined to take a hand in the mattel and you shall isee cee how will tie fie Inano ged it it Is be beazeel nece sarv for me to state that her highness had bad her on ideas of what ahat a husband should be like no doubt from bl blo translations flout aulda and the gentle miss braddon A gill of 20 11 usually bally has a formidable regard for or tonsure e and the was as fully up to the manner of her kind it if ahe could no not marry romantically she re fused to marry at all I 1 can readily appreciate her uncles perturbation I 1 do not know how many she thrust into utter litter dark ness she would never marty many a man who glasses glas bes abia one was too tall that one too short and when one happened harp ened along who ho was aas without via ible e ti 11 marks or signs of being shop woin her refusal was b inked ased upon just Beca because osel a weapon as aa invincible as the fabled beear of she had spurned the addresses of priece Ml laughed at those of the lount count ot of the short dash indicates the presence of a and general of the th om m geror derors s bod boda guard who abo was I 1 iro W sure sire good enough in his ovan ow n opinion to any woman every train brought tc the capital some suitor with nith a con coil hyphenated name and a peril gree as aa long as a bore B s idea of a funny stora but the princess did not care for ledig itea that were squint tied ced or bowlegged bow legged one and all of them she cast aside as hei consideration then like the ancient worm the duke turned she should marry Doppel kinn who having tio no wife N ife to do the honors tu in hla his castle was has wholly agreeable ag rhe otince of Doppel kinia reigned over the neighboring it iou ou stood in the middle of it and were a baseball blaer you could throw a stout stony arciosa the la in any diorec lion dut cut the vine ards were among the finest in the prince was m as a widower arid among his own people was affectionately styled der rot hot nasli which I 1 behe bellegie e designates an illuminated proboscis henhe fishing for rainbow trout lie he w was a s sl bleed bleep ce p ing in his cellars ile he was often miss ing at the monthly reviews but no body ever worried they knew where to find him and besides he just as m veil ell sleep in his cellars as in his carriage for he never rode a horse it if he be could get out of doing so lie he was really good matui ed a and d aas easi going n bo long as no one crossed him se verel and sou could tell him a joke once and depend upon his understand ing it immediately which Is moie than I 1 can say for or the duke years and oarb cars ago the prince had had a son but at the tender ender age of three the boi had run away from the castle confines and no one ever heard of cf him bini again the enemies of the prince whispered among themselves that the boy had bad run away to escape compulsory military service but the boys age precluded this ac accusation the princa after the fashion of those times ahnes bent out detectives and notified lis lils various brothers bro therB but his trouble went vent for nothing not the slightest trace of the boy could be found so he was mourned for a sea son regretted and then forgotten the prince adopted the grape arbor I 1 baw the prine once I 1 do not blame blaine the Plit icess 1111 degarde for her ic lebel bellion llon the was mas not only old he be was fat and ugly with ith little ittle like eyes that were always nein abbot debtless and full of mige hlf lie he might haie baie made it a good father but I 1 hae nothing to prone proe this those bottles of sparkling moselle which he be failed to dispose of to the american Ameil Amet ican caa trade he gave to his brother in ili Rire Dirse chelt belt or drank himself him sIf ile he x was as 68 yeats old A nephew three times i emited emoted it bag as waiting for the day inen he be should mabble around in ohp princes shops lie ile was a lieutenant in the dulse dukes s bedy bed guard a quick tempered head beadi clap lnell ell he neall babbled around in hia uncle a s shoes for he levei kot got tile ali chance I 1 amda t been in Pam cheit a week before I 1 beaida a great deal about the pil she was a famous horse woman this made rae etre niell aoi toua toils to meet her yet for ne nearly arly m xi months I 1 nei beier er even got so much as aa a of her half of the six s months shew as traveling through austria and the other hilf halt she kept out of my vit way ay not intentionally she knew of my existence elmp lifite vito moved us about blindly blin at court she was in vail ably indisposed and at the alist court ball bile bhe retired before I 1 arrived I 1 got up at all times i il loped over all roads but never did I 1 see eee her she rode alone too part of tile the time I 1 nv W featta and ili |