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Show The I Princess I Elopes I By HAROLD McGRATII I I AufAor of I "The Man on the Bo," "Hearts and Maaka," Eto. (Copjrlnht, 1X& Uubbi-McrrlUCo.) SYNOPSIS. Arthur Warrlncton, American consul to Unrsi-hrlt, teliit how relgnlnK Orand DuUe utU-nii(M to force his lielce. Princess Prin-cess Ulldi-Kitrile. to murry I'rlnce Uopplo-kltin. Uopplo-kltin. an old widower. Warrlncton does Mf.know tho prlnceitH even by slKht. nlle rldlnt; horseback In tho country nlKlit nvertales him nnd hi- seeks nccom-tnodntlons nccom-tnodntlons lit u dilapidated castle. Hero Im nmls two women and an old man servant. Ono woman Is Princess Wide-Kiirilo Wide-Kiirilo and tho other u friend, Hon. Hetty Moore, of KnulanU. They detain hltn to witness a mock marrhiKo between the princess nnd a illscraced army olllcer. Stelnboek, ilono for tlio purposo of rolling tho Rrnnd duko. Stelnboek attempts to kiss tho princess and she Is rescued by Wnrrlncton. Stelnboek disappears for cood. Max .Scharfenstcln, an old American Ameri-can friend of Warrington's roaches Har-schelt. Har-schelt. WnrrlnBton tells him of the princess. prin-cess. Schnrronstoln shows Warrlncton a locket with a picture of a woman Inside. In-side. It wns on his neck when he. as a boy, was picked up nnd adopted by his foster father, whoso natno ho was clven. Ho belloves It to bo a picture of his mother. Tho Rrnnd duko announces to tho princess that she Is to marry Popplo-klnn Popplo-klnn tho following weok. During a morning's morn-ing's rldo sho plans to escape. She meets Schurfcnsteln. Ho llnds a purse she has dropped, but does not discover her Iden-Ity. Iden-Ity. Warrington entertains nt a public, restnurant for 11 number of Amerlcnn medical students,- Max nrrlves late and relates an Interesting bit of gossip to tho efTect thut the princess has run nway from Uarschelt. Ho unwittingly ofTends a native olllcer anil subjects himself to certain arrest. Max Is (H-rsuadcd to take ono of tho Amerlcnn student's passports nnd escape. Tho grand duko discovers tho escape, of the princess. She leaves a note Haying sho has eloped. KITorts nro made to stop tho princess nt tho frontier. Hetty Mooru usks for her passports. CHAPTER VIII. Continued. At 11 I received a telephone call from tho Continental hotel. It was a woman's voice, and my heart beat violently vio-lently as I recognized It. I was requested re-quested to come nt onco to the hotel. I should Tin (I lior In tho ladles' salon. I walked tho dlstnnco In ton minutes. She told mo nil that had happened. "Ily this tlmo It Is all over tho city. Hut It Is all nonsenso about her high-ness' high-ness' eloping with any ono. Sho Is too nobly born to commit such a folly. Sho hns simply run away; and I vory much fear that sho will bo caught. Tho duko Is In a torrlblo temper. I could not remain In tho pulaco, for tho duko suspectB that I know where sho has gone. I hnvo my passports. Tho nrltlsh consul Is nway hunting. You wore tho only Kngllsh-spcnklng person to whom I could como for nld." "I am very glad." "Will It bo asking too much of you to aid mo in leaving Uarschelt tonight? to-night? Thcro Is a train at ono o'clock for Dresden." "I-oavo Ilarschelt?" My heart sank dismally. "Oh," with a smllo, "tho world Is small nnd Kngland Is oven smnllor." "I shall havo to glvo up tho consulate," con-sulate," gravely. Sho laughed. "I shall bo in England for something moro than a year. Truthfully, I hunger for mlno own people. peo-ple. You know whnt that hunger Is." "Yes. I shall go homo as often as possible now. I always stop a fow days In London." "Then I shall expoct to bco you; por-haps por-haps during tho holidays. I am determined deter-mined to leave Ilarscliolt boforo tho duko changes his mind. Heavens, ho may put mo In prison!"' "I doubt that." I saw. to It that she secured u stooping stoop-ing compartment all to hersolf, took clmrgo of her luggago and carefully examined hor papers. Then wo had a small supper. I wanted to aBk a thousand thou-sand questions, hut my courage lacked tho proper key. "Mny I havo tho pleasure of writing to you occasionally?" I llnally ventured. ven-tured. "I am sure that you would llko u bit of Uarschelt gossip from tlmo to tlmo." "Wrlto to mo, by nil means. I shall await thoso letters with great pleasure" pleas-ure" "And nnswor them?" growing bolder "It Is easily booh that you aro a diplomat. Yes, I Bhall unswer them. Hclgh-ho! I shall miss my rldos." What a bravo little woman sho was! Flnnlly wo started for tho station, nnd I saw hor to tho gates. Wo shook hands, nnd I was sure I folt 11 vory friendly prcssuro; nnd then she disappeared. disap-peared. Thoro was altogether a different dif-ferent feeling In my heart as 1 wntch-ed wntch-ed her train draw out. Kh. well, tho world Is small and Knglnnd Is sinullor, even as she hnd said. It's a mighty lino world, when you got the proper nngle of vision. CHAPTER IX. Thero wns vory llttlo light In tho compartment Into which Mnx had so BiicceSBfiilly dived. Some ono hail turned down tho wicks of tho oil lamps whfch hung suspended between tho luggngo racks above, and tho gloom wns notnblo rather than subdued. So far as ho wns concerned ho was perfectly per-fectly contented; his security wns all th greater lie p t?sed his faco against tho window and peered out. Tho lights of tho city Unshed by, and flnnlly grow few and far between, nnd then came the blackness of the country. coun-try. It would take un hour and a half to cross the frontier, nnd there would bo no stop this side, for which ho wns i grateful. He swore, mumbling. To have como all this way to study, and then to leg It In this Ignomlnous fash Ion! It was downright scandalous! Whoever heurd of bucIi laws? Of course ho had been rather Billy In pulling his gun, for oven In the United States whero ho devoutly wlshod himself nt that moment It wns n mis-domennor mis-domennor to carry concealed weapons. Ho felt of his cheek. Ho would return somo dny, nnd If It wns tho last thing ho ovor did, ho would Blnsh that lieutenant's lieu-tenant's cheeks. Tho Insolent beggnrl To be struck and not to strike back! Ho choked. Gradually his eyes became accustomed accus-tomed to tho dim light, and ho enst about. "Tho deuco!" he muttered. Ho wns not nlono. Huddled In tho fnr corner wus u woman heavily veiled. Young or old, ho could not tell. Sho sat motionless, nnd appeared appear-ed to bo looking out of tho opposlto window. Well, so long ns sho did not bother him ho would not bother hor. Hut ho would much rather hnve been nluuc. Ho took out his passport and tried to read It. It wns Impossible. So ho rose, steadied himself, nnd turned up tho wick of one of the lamps. Ho did not hear tho muffled ox-clamatlon ox-clamatlon which cumo from tho othor end. Ho dropped back upon tho cushion and begun to rend. So ho was Ocorgo Hills, an Amerlcnn studont In good standing; ho wns nged 29, had bluo eyes, light hair, was six feet tall, nnd weighed 151 pounds. Ha! ho hnd, then, lost .10 pounds In as mnny minutes? At this rate ho wouldn't enst n shndow when ho struck Dresden. Ho hnd studied threo years at tho collego; but whnt tho deuco had ho studied? If "He Was Not Alone." they were only asleep at tho frontier! Ho returned tho document to his pocket, nnd as ho did so his lingers camo Into cuntnet with tho purso ho had picked up In tho road that morning morn-ing Hlldegnrdo von Heldloff. What moant Fate In crosslng.hor path with his? Ho had been perfectly contentod In mind and heart boforo that first morning rldo; nnd horo ho was, sighing sigh-ing llko n furnace. Sho had beon merely pretty on Monday, on Tuesdny she had been hnndsomo, on Wednesday Wednes-day sho had been adorablo; now sho was tho most boautlful woman that over lived. (Ah, tho progrosslvo adjective, ad-jective, that litany or lovo!) Alas! It was qtilto evident that Bho hnd passod out of his llfo as suddenly nnd mysteriously myste-riously ns sho had entered It. Ho would keep tho purso as a souvenir, and somo day, when ho was an old man, he would open It. Thcro Is something compelling In tho human eye, a magnetism upon which Science has yet to put her cold and unromantlc linger. Havo you nover experienced tho sensation that somo ono was looking at you? Doubtless Doubt-less you have. Woll, Max presently turned his glance toward his silent follow traveler. She had llftod her veil and wns staring nt him with wondering, won-dering, fearing oyes. These eyes were somewhat red, us If tho llttlo bees of grief had stung them. "You!" ho cried, tho blood thumping Into his throat. He tossed his hat to tho floor and Btarted for her end of tho compartment. Sho held up n hand ns If to ward off his approach. "1 can hear perfectly." sho said; "It is not needful that you should como any nearer." Ho sat down confused. Ho could not romombor when his heart had boaon so Irrogulurly. "May I ask how you camo to entor this coinpnrtment?" sho asked coldly. "I jumped In," simply. What wnt to account for this strange attltudo? "So I observe. Whnt I meant was. by what right?" "It happened to bo the only dooi nt hand, and I wo 'n u g, eat h' y"1 Whero was his u& 'ednoss ofi thought? Ho was emb.iassod and angry at tho knowledge "Did you follow mo?" Her nostrils i weie palpitating and the comers of her. mouth weie drawn aggressively. ' "Follow you?" nmnzvd that such nn 1 Idea should enter Into her head. -Why, you nre the last person I ever expected ' to seo again. Indeed, you are only n 1 fairy -story; there Is, I find, no such porson as Hlldegnrdo von Holdoloff." I Clearly he was recovering. j "I know It," candidly. "It wns my j mother's imrno, and 1 saw fit to uso It." Sho really hoped ho hadn't followed hor. '.'You hnd no need to use It, or any nnme, for that matter. When I gavo you my natno It was given in good faith. Tho act did not Imply Hint I do-sired do-sired to know yours." "Hut you did!" Imperiously. "Yos. Curiosity Is tho brain of out mental anatomy." When Max began to utter tall phrases It was a sign ol oven-balanced mentality. "And If I hadn't told you my namo, you would huvo asked for It." "Not tho llrst day." "Well, you would havo on Tuesday." "Not a bit of n doubt." Ho certainly wouldn't show her how much ho enrcd. (Whnt was sho doing In this cnrrlag07 Sho had snld nothing that morning about traveling.) "Woll, you admit that undor tho circumstances cir-cumstances I hnd tho right to glvo any numo It pleased mo to glvo." Ho camo ovor to hor end and sat down. Hor protests (half-hearted) ho Ignored. "I can not sco very well from ovor thoro," ho explained. "It Is not necossury that you should seo; you can hear what I havo to say." "Vory well; I'll go back." And ho did. Ho mndo a lino protenso of looking look-ing out of tho window. Why should this girl cross his path at this unhappy moment? Thoro wns a pause. "You aro not near so nlco ns you wore tills morning," sho said presently. "I can't bo nlco and sit awny ovof hero." "What niado you Jump Into this com: partmont, of nil others?" "I wasn't particular what compartment compart-ment I got Into so long as I got Into ono. As I said, I was In n hurry." "You said nothing this morning about going nway from Uarschelt." "Nelthor did you." Another pauso. (I take It, from tho character of this dialogue that their morning rides must havo been rather Interesting.) "You told mo that you woro In Ilnr-schelt Ilnr-schelt to study norves," wickedly. "So thought I, up to half-past nlno to-night; but It appears that I am not," gloomily. "You nro running nway, too?" with suppressed eagerness. "Kunnlng nway, too!" ho repeated. "Aro you running nway?" "As fast as ovor tho train can carry mo. I am on tho wny to Dresden." "Dresden? It seoms that Fato Is determined de-termined that wo shall travel togothor this day. Dresden Is my destlnutloh also." "hot mo seo your passports." ox-tending ox-tending n firm, whlto hand. Ho oboyed docilely, ns doclloly as though ho was marrlod. Sho gavo tho paper ono angry glanco nnd tossed It back. "Oeorgo Hills; no that Is your nnmo?" scornfully. "You told mo 1 that It was Scharfenstcln. I did not ask you to tell mo your namo; you ' took that aervlco upon yoursolf." Sho j reculled tho duke's declaration that ho should havo hor ovory movement watched. If this American wns watching watch-ing hor, tho duko was vastly more ! nstuto than sho had given him the I credit for being. "Aro you In tho pay of tho duko? Como, confess that you huvo followed me, that you hnvo boon watching mo for thoso four days." How bitter tho cup of romnnco tnstod to hor now! Sho hud beon deceived. 'Well, you shall nover tnko mo from this train snvo by forco. 1 will not no back'" (TO U13 CONTINUED.) |