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Show LONG LIVE THE KING By MARY ROBERTS RINEHART ; ! Copyright, 1917, by the Ridgway Company ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ' Copyright, 1917, by Mary Roberts Rinehart country ami the smaller cities were-comparatlvely were-comparatlvely quiet, so far as demonstrations demon-strations against the government were concerned. But unquestionably they plotted. As for the capital, it was a seething riot of sedition, from the reports. re-ports. A copy of a newspaper, secretly secret-ly printed and more secretly circulated, circu-lated, had brought fire to the king's eyes. It lay on his knees as his daughter entered. "Well, father," she said, looking down at him, "how do you feel?" "Sit down," he said. The question as to his health was too perfunctory to require reply. Annuuciata sat, with a jingling ot chains. She chose a straight chair, and faced him, very erect. "How old is Hedwlg?" demanded the king. "Nineteen." "Hedwig is old enough to marry. Her grandmother was not nineteen when I married her." "It would be better," said Annuuciata, An-nuuciata, "to marry her while she is young, before she knows any better." "Any better than what?" inquired the king testily. "Any better than to marry at all." The king eyed her., She was not, then, even attempting to hide her claws. But he was an old bird, and not to be caught in an argumentative cage. "There are several possibilities for -Hedwig," he said. "I have gone into-- j NIKKY FINDS HIMSELF IN A SERIOUS PREDICAMENT AS A RESULT OF HIS FOOLISHNESS. Synopsis. The crown prince of Livonia, Ferdinand William Otto, ten years old, taken to the opera by his aunt, tires of the singing and slips away to the park, where he makes the acquaintance of Bobby Thorpe, a little American boy. Returning to the palace at night, he finds everything in an uproar as a result of the search which has been made for him. The same night the chancellor calls to consult the boy's grandfather, the old king, who Is very 111. The chancellor suggests sug-gests that to preserve the kingdom, which Is threatened by plots of the terrorists to form a republic, the friendship of the neighboring ! kingdom of Karnla be secured by giving the Princess Hedwig In mar-; mar-; rlage to King Karl of that country. Countess Loschek, lady-in-waiting to Princess Annunciate, Hedwlg's mother, Is In love with King Karl find plots to prevent his marriage to Hedwig. Hedwig, who loves I Nlkky Larisch, Otto's aid de camp, Is dismayed when told of the plans ; for her marriage. Countess Loschek sends a secret message to King 1 Karl. The messenger is attacked by agents of the terrorists and a ' dummy letter substituted. Captain Larisch, unaware of the substitu-! substitu-! tion, holds up Karl's chauffeur and secures the envelope. In the morning you are to carry dispatches dis-patches to the city." Poor Nikky ! With his car facing toward the lodge, and under necessity, in order to escape, to back It out Into the highway! He thought quickly. There was no chance of overpowering his man quickly and silently. And the house was not empty. From beyond the door came the sounds of men's voices, and the thud of drinking mugs on a bare table. "You will take me up to the house, and then put the car away until morning." morn-ing." Nikky breathed again. It was going go-ing to be easy, after all. If only the road went straight to the shooting box itself, the rest was simple. But he prayed that he make no false turning, to betray his Ignorance. "Very, well," he said. His companion opened the door behind be-hind him. "Heady, now," he called. "The car is here." Two men rose from a table where they had been sitting, and put on great coats of fur. The lump light within quivered in the wind from the open door. Nikky was quite calm now. His heart beat its regular seventy-two, and he even reflected, with a sort of grim humor, that the chancellor would find the recital of this escapade much to his taste. In a modest way Nikky felt that he was making history. The man who had received the letter let-ter got into the machine beside him. The other two climbed into the ton-neau. ton-neau. And, as if to make the denouement denoue-ment doubly ridiculous, the road led straight. Nlkky, growing extremely cheerful behind his goggles, wondered how much petrol remained In the car. The men behind talked in low tones. "They are late tonight," grumbled one of them, as the house nppeared, full lighted. "A tardy start tomorrow again !" "The king must have his sleep," commented the other, rather mockingly. mock-ingly. With a masterly sweep, Nikky drew up his machine before the entrance. Let them once alight, let him but start Karl tore the envelope from the agent's hands and inspected It carefully. care-fully. Evidently, as with the agent, the story started a new train of thought. Nikky drew a long breath. After all, there was still hope that the early morning shooting would have another an-other target than himself. Karl sat down, and his face relaxed. It was stern, but no longer horrible. "Tell me this Niburg's story," he commanded. com-manded. "He was walking through the old city," Nikky commenced, "when three men fell on him. One, a large one, knocked him insensible and then went through his pockets. The others " "Strange!" said Karl. "If he was insensible, how does he know all this?" "It was his story, sire," Nlkky explained. ex-plained. But he colored. "A companion, com-panion, who was with him, ran away." "This companion," Karl queried. "A dark, heavy fellow, was it?" "No. Rather a pale man, blond. A " Nlkky checked himself. But Karl was all suavity. "So," he said, "while Niburg was unconscious the large man took the letter, which was sealed, magically opened it, extracted ex-tracted its contents, replaced them with this, and then sealed It again !" The king turned without haste to a drawer in his desk, and opened It. He was smiling. When he faced about again, Nikky saw that he held a revolver re-volver In his hand. Save that the agent had taken a step forward, nothing noth-ing in the room had changed. And yet, for Nikky everything had changed. Nlkky had been a reckless fool, but he was brave enough. He smiled, a better smile than Karl's twisted one. "I have a fancy," said King Karl, "to manage this matter for myself. Keep back. Kaiser. Now, my friend, you will give me the packet of cigarette cigar-ette papers you carry." Resistance would do no good. Nlkky brought them out, and Karl's twisted smile grew broader as he compared them with the ones the envelope had contained. "You see," he said, "you show the hand of the novice. You should have thrown these away. But, of course, all your methods are wrong. Why, for instance, have you come here at all? You have my man but that I shall take up later. We will first have the letter." But here Nlkky stood firm. Let them find the letter. He would not help them. But again he cursed himself. There had been a thousand hiding places along the road but he must bring the incriminating thing with him, and thus condemn himself! Now commenced a curious 6cene, curious because one of the actors was Karl of Karnla himself. He seemed curiously loath to bring in assistance, did Karl. Or perhaps the novelty of the affair appealed to him. And Nik-ky's Nik-ky's resistance to search, with that revolver so close, was short lived. Even while he was struggling, Nlkky was thinking. Let them get the letter, if they must. Things would at least be no worse than before. But he resolved re-solved that no violence would tear from him the place where the messenger messen-ger was hidden. Until they had got that, he had a chance for life. They searched his cap last. Nikky, panting after that strange struggle, saw Kaiser take it from the lining of his cap, and pass It to the king. Karl took it. The smile was gone now, and something ugly and terrible had taken its place. But that, too, faded as he looked at the letter. It was a blank piece of note pnper. Mi CHAPTER VI Continued. 8 The chancellor was in his old smoking smok-ing coat and slippers. He made an effort to don his tunic, but Hedwig, on Mathllde's heels, caught him In the net. And, after a glance at her face, he relinquished the Idea, bowed over her hand, and drew up a chair for her. And that was how the chancellor of the kingdom learned that Captain Larisch, Lar-isch, aide-de-camp to his royal highness high-ness the crown prince, had disappeared. disap-peared. "I am afraid It is serious," she said, watching him with wide, terrified eyes. "I know more than you think I do. I we hear things, even in the palace." Irony here, but unconscious. "1 know that there Is trouble. And It is not like Captain Larisch to desert his post." "A boyish escapade, highness," said the chancellor. But, In the twilight, tie gripped hard at the arms of his chair. "He will turn up, very much 'ashamed of himself, tonight or tomorrow." tomor-row." "That is what you want to believe. Ton know better." He leaned back in his chair and considered con-sidered her from under his heavy iirows. Nlkky gone, perhaps to Join the others who, one by one, had fojt the steel of the terrorists. And this girl, on whom so much hung, sitting there, a figure of young tragedy. "Highness," he said at last, "if the worst has happened and that I do not believe It will be because there Is trouble, as you have said. Sooner or later, we who love our country must make sacrifices for It. Most of fill, those in high places will be called ,trp6n. And among them you may be asked to help." "I? What can I do?" But she knew, and the chancellor saw that she knew. -"It is Karl, then?" "It may be King Karl, Hedwig." Hedwig rose, and the chancellor got heavily to his feet. She was fighting for calmness, and she succeeded very well. After all, if Nikky were gone, what did It matter? Only "There are so many of you," she ald, rather pitifully. "And you are fill so powerful. And against you there Is only me." "Why against us, highness?" "Because," said Hedwig "because I care for some one else, and I shall care for him all the rest of my life, even if he never comes back. You may marry tne to whom you please, but I shall go on caring. I shall never forget. And I shall make Karl the worst wife In the world, because I hate him." She opened the door and went out without ceremony, because she was hard driven and on the edge of tears. That night, the city was searched for (Nlkky Larisch, but without result. sued. The third, however, still holding the letter, ushered Nikky into a small side room, a sort of study, r'nee it contained a desk. For kings must pur sue their clerical occupations even on holidays. Nlkky had reluctantly removed his cap. His goggles, however, he ventured ven-tured to retain. He was conscious that his guide was studying him Intently. In-tently. But not with suspicion, he thought. Rather as one who would gauge the culiber of the man before him. He seemed satisfied, too, for his voice, which had been curt, grew more friendly. "You had no trouble?" he asked. "None, sir." "Did Niburg say anything?" Niburg, then, was the spy of the cathedral. Nikky reflected. Suddenly he saw a way out. It was, he afterward after-ward proclaimed, not his own thought. It came to him like a message. He burned a candle to his patron saint, some time later, for It. "The man Niburg had had an unfortunate unfor-tunate experience, sir. He reported that, during an evening stroll, before he met me, he was attacked by three men, with the evident intention of securing se-curing the letter. He was badly beaten up." His companion started. "Niburg," he said. "Then " He glanced at the letter he held. "We must find some one else," he muttered. "I never trusted the fellow. A clerk, nothing else. For this work It takes wit." Nikky, 'sweating with strain, felt that it did, Indeed. "He was badly used up, sir," he offered. "Could hardly hard-ly walk, and was still trembling with excitement when I met him." The man touched a bell. "Tell his majesty," he said to the servant who appeared, "that his messenger is here." The servant bowed and withdrew. Nikky found the wait that followed trying. He thought of Hedwig, and of the little crown prince. Suddenly he knew that he had no right to attempt this thing. He had given his word, almost his oath, to the king, to protect and watch over the boy. And here he was, knowing now that mischief was afoot, and powerless. Vie cursed himself him-self for his folly. Then Karl came In. He came alone, closing the door behind him. Nlkky and his companion bowed, and Nikky surveyed him through his toggles. The same mocking face he remembered, from Karl's visit to the summer palace, pal-ace, the same easy, graceful carriage, the same small mustache. He was In uniform and apparently In a comparatively compara-tively gracious mood. He had been drink-ing, but he was not intoxicated. intoxi-cated. He was slightly flushed, his eyes were abnormally bright. He looked, for the moment, rather amiable. Nlkky was to learn, later on, how easily his smile hardened to a terrifying grin. He ignored Nlkky's companion. "You brought a letter?" Nikky bowed, and the other man held It out. Karl took It. "The trip was uneventful?" "Yes, sire." "A bad night for It," Karl observed, and glanced at the letter in his hand. "Was there any difficulty at the frontier?" "None, sire." Karl tore the end off the envelope. "You will remain here tonight," he said. "Tomorrow morning I shall send dispntches to the city. I hope you have petrol. These fellows here " He did not complete the sentence. He inserted in-serted two royal fingers Into the envelope en-velope and drew out Nlkky's cigarette cigar-ette papers! For a moment there was complete silence in the room. Karl turned the papers over. It was then thnt his face hardened into n horrible grin. He looked up, raising his head slowly. "What is this?" he demanded, very quietly. "The letter, sire," said Nlkky. "I" "The letter! Do you call- these a letter?" Nlkky drew himself up. "1 have brought the envelope which was given tne." Without a word Karl held out pnpers and envelope to the other man, who took them. Then he turned to Nlkky, and now he raised his voice. "Where dbl you get tills hoax?" he demanded. "At the cathedral, from the man Ni-bMrg." Ni-bMrg." "You lie!" said Karl. Then, for a momcnl, he left Nlkky and turned on Ills compnn!';:: ir. a furv. He let his royai rage bent on that unlucky Individual In-dividual while the agent stood, while and still. Not until It was over, and Karl, spent with passion, was pacing the floor, did Nlkky venture a word. "If this Is not what your majesty expected," he snld, "there Is perhaps an explanation." Kurt wheeled on him. "Expliinn-lion "Expliinn-lion I" "The man Niburg was attacked, early last evening, by three men. They beat hlni badly, and attempted to rob him. Ills story to me, sire. He believed be-lieved that they were after the letter, but that be had preserved It. It Is, of course, a possibility that, while he lay stunned, they substituted another envelope en-velope for the one ho carried." W. goggles, with the low-vlsored cap and fur coat, he looked not unlike his late companion. But he had a jaunty step as he walked toward the car, a bit of swagger that covered, perhaps, Just a trifle of uneasiness. For Nikky now knew his destination, knew that he was bound on perilous work, and that the chances of his returning re-turning were about fifty-fifty, or rather less. He did not know his way. Over the mountains it was plain enough, for there was but one road. After he descended into the plain of Karnla, however, It became difficult. Sign posts were few and not explicit. But at last he found the railroad, which he knew well that railroad without objective, save as it would serve to move troops toward the border. After that Nlkky found It easier. But, with his course assured, other difficulties presented themselves. To take the letter to those who would receive re-ceive it was one thing. But to deliver It, with all that it might contain, was another. He was not brilliant, was Nikky. Only brave and simple of heart, and unversed in the ways of darkness. If, now, he could open the letter and remove It, substituting well, what could he substitute? There were" cigarette papers in his pocket. Trust Nikky for that. But how to make the exchange? The engine was boiling hard, a dull roaring under the hood that threatened threat-ened trouble. He drew up beside the-road the-road and took off the water cap. Then he whistled. Why, of course 1 Had it not been done from time Immemorial, this steaming of letters? He examined It. It bore no Incriminating seal. He held the envelope over the water cap, and was boyishly pleased to feel the flap loosen. After all, things were easy enough if one used one's brains. He rather regretted using almost , all of his cigarette papers, of course. He had, perhaps, never heard of the drop of nicotine on the tongue of a dog. Ab for the letter itself, he put it, without even glancing at it, into his cap, under the lining. Then he sealed the envelope again and dried it against one of the lamps. It looked, he reflected, re-flected, as good as new. He was extremely pleased with himself. him-self. Before he returned to the machine he consulted his watch. It was three o'clock. True, the long early spring night gave him four more hours of darkness. But the messenger was due at three, at the hunting lodge In the mountains which was his destination. He would be, at the best, late by an hour. On what the messenger had told him Nlkky hung his hope of success. This was, briefly, that he should go to the royal shooting box at Wedellug, and should go, not to the house Itself, but to the gate keeper's lodge. Here he was to leave his machine, and tap at the door. On its being opened, he was to say nothing, but to give the letter to him who opened the door. After that he was to take the machine away to the capital, some sixty miles farther on. The message, then, was to the king himself. For Nlkky, as all the world, knew that Karl, with some kindred spirits, was at Wedding, shooting. That is, if the messenger told the truth. Nlkky intended to find out. He was nothing if not thorough. When at last the lights of the lodge at the gate of Wedding gleamed out through the trees, it was half-past three, and a wet spring snow was falling fall-ing softly. In uu open place Nikky looked up. The stars were gone. The lodge now, and the gate keeper's keep-er's house. Nlkky's heart hammered as he left the car hammered with nervousness, not terror. But he went boldly to the door, nnft knocked. So far nil was well. There were footsteps within, and a man stepped out Into the darkness, closing the door behind him. "You have the letter?" he asked. "It Is hero." "I will take it." Nlkky held It out. The man fumbled fum-bled for It. took It. "Orders havo come," said the voice, "that you j-f i mi I n here for the night. "You Show the Hand of the Novice."" the matter pretty thoroughly. As yotf know, I have had this on my mind for some time. It is necessary to arrange things before I go." The king, of course, was neither asking nor expecting sympathy from her, but mentally, and somewhat grimly, grim-ly, he compared her unmoved face with . that of his old friend and chancellor, only a few nights before. "It is a regrettable fact," he went on, "that I must leave, as I shall, a sadly sad-ly troubled country. But for that "" he paused. But for that, he meant, he would gladly go. He needed rest. His spirit, still so alive, chafed daily more and more against its worn body. He believed in another life, did the old king. He wanted the hearty handclasp of his boy again. Even the wife who had married him against her will had grown close to him in later years. He needed her too. A little rest, then, and after that a new life, with those who had gone ahead. "A sadly troubled country," he repented. re-pented. "All countries are troubled. We are no worse than others." "Perhaps not. But things are changing. The old order Is changing. The spirit of unrest I shall not live to see it. You may, Annunciata. But the day Is coming when all thrones will totter. Like this one." Now at last he had pierced her armor. "Like this one!" "That is what I said. Rouse yourself, your-self, Annunciata. Leave that little boudoir of yours, with its accursed clocks and Its heat and its flub-dub-bery, nod see what is about you 1 Discontent Dis-content ! Revolution! We are hardly safe from day to day. Do you think that what happened nine years ago was a flash that died as It came? Nonsense. Non-sense. Read this!" lie held out the paper and she put on her pince-nez and rend its headings, a trifle disdainfully. But the next moment mo-ment she rose, and stood In front of him, almost as pale as he was. "You allow this sort of thing to be published?" pub-lished?" "No. Hut it Is published." "And they dare to say things like-this? like-this? Whv, it It is" "Exactly. It Is, undoubtedly." He was very calm. "1 would not have troubled you with it. But the situation sit-uation is bad. We are rather helpless." help-less." "Not the army, too?" "What can we tell? These things spread like (lies. Nothing may happen hap-pen for years. On the other hand, tomorrow to-morrow I" ft. Hedwig Is offered as a sacrl-fice sacrl-fice to save the tottering kingdom. king-dom. This net Incidentally ex. tricates Nikky from a desperate situation. Read about these developments de-velopments In the next Install-mcnt. Install-mcnt. tt ' (TO l UO CONTINIWCP-I "His Majesty Desires That the Messenger Mes-senger Come In." his car down the road again, and all the devils of the night might follow. He feared nothing. But here again Nlkky planned too fast. The servant who came out to open the doors of the motor had brought a message. "His majesty desires de-sires that the messenger come In," was the bomb-shell which exploded In Nlkky's ears. Nikky hesitated. And then some Imp of recklessness In him prompted him not to run away, but to see the thing through. It was, after all, a chance either way. These men beside the car were doubtless armed one nt least, nearest him, was certainly one of Karl's own secret agents. And, as Nikky paused, he wns not certain, but It seemed to him that the man took a step toward him. "Very well," said Nlkky, grumbling. "But I have bad a long ride, and a cold one. I need sleep." Even then he had a faint hope thtt I lie others would precede him, and Unit It would be possible to leap buck to tin; car. and escape. But, whether by accident or design, the group closed about him. Flight was out of th question. ques-tion. A little high was Nlkky's head as he went in. He hud done a stupid thing now, and he knew It. He should have taken his letter and gMio back with it. But, fool or not, he wns a soldier. Danger made him calm. The lodge was noisy. Loud talking, I lie coming and going of servants with trays, the crackle of wood fires !n which whole logs were burning, and, as Nlkky and his escort entered, the roaring chorus of v hunting song filled the ears. Two of Hie men flung off their heavy eoals, and proceeded without ceremony Into the room whence the sounds 12- With the approach of the anniversary anniver-sary of his son's death, the king grew increasingly restless: Each year he determined de-termined to put away this old grief, and each year, ns his bodily weakness increased, he found it harder to do so. On other years he had had the crown prince with him as much as possible on this dreary day of days. But the crown prince was exiled, in disgrace. Not even for the comfort of his small presence could stern discipline be re-laxed. re-laxed. Annunciata was not much comfort to him. They had always differed, more or less, the truth being, perhaps, that she was too much like the king ever to sympathize fully with him. Both were arrogant, determined, obstinate. And those qualities, which age was beginning be-ginning to soften in the king, were now, in Annunciata, in full strength and blooming. But there was more than fundamental fundamen-tal similarity at fault. Against her father the archduchess held her unhappy un-happy marriage. And now, secretly willing that Hedwig Hed-wig should marry Karl, she was ready to annoy him by objecting to it. On the day after her conversation wllli General Mettllch, she visited the king, it was afternoon. The king had spent tilt! morning in his study, propped prop-ped with pillows as was always the case now, working with a seen tnry. The secretary was gone when she entered, en-tered, and lie silt alone. j lie had passed a trying day. Once having broken down the chancellor's barrier of silence, the king had Insisted In-sisted on full knowledge, with the re-HUll re-HUll that he had sat, nghnst. amid the ruins of Ms former complacency. The j CHAPTER VII. Nikky Does a Reckless Thing. Nlkky Larisch had been having an exciting time. First of nil, he exchanged gnrments with the chauffeur, and cursed his own long legs, which proved difficult to cover adequately. But the chauffeur's . long fur ulster helped considerably. The exchange was rather a ticklish matter, and would have been more so had he not found a revolver In the fur coat pocket. Behold, then, Nikky of the brave heart standing over his prostrate prisoner, pris-oner, and rolling him, mummy fashion, in his own tunic and a rug from the machine. "It Is cold, my friend," ho said briefly; "but I am a kindly soul, and If you have told me the truth, you will not have so much as a snuffle to remind re-mind you of this tomorrow." "I have told the truth." "Ah a soldier, of course," Nikky went on, "I think you have made u mistake You should have chosen the precipice. But as a private gentleman, gentle-man, I thank you." Having examined the knots In the rope, which were very well done, Indeed, In-deed, nun" having gagged the chauffeur mwiivi), iikky prepared to go. In his |