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Show (Cop)tlfhl. ISM, by DaUr Story I'ub Co ) 11 bowed his head and bent bti know Upon tho monarch' silken stool; HUplcidlnc Yolcoaroio: 'O, Lord, Do merciful to me, a foolt'" Behind tho painted mask nonocarrd tq look, tho Jester himself least of all. With It on ho dared to approach th princess. Unmasked and dressed aa humankind, ho consorted only -with tho icrti of tbo show. That la why he liked tho maik beat. Ynco companion com-panion of mock lordi and dukca waa better than Darner Falrlclgh, derelict on tho tldo of life. Blio smiled at Ysco, but looked not toward llarnojr. It made all tho dlffercuco In tho wprld. Of course tho play demanded . tho imllci, but DOTcrtbelcaa the came quite natural, and Incroasod ber beauty. At one place he bowod ao low bo foro hor that alio placed n tiny foot upon hli Impossible, hair, and thta la tho ncoroat ho over camo to touching her. Tho thrill of that contact mado him ber slnvo. Wlillo ho flayed tho footitool, tbo Jester's cyea modestly ought tho floor. Ilia dlamlaial came when tho prlnccta told' "Yaco. away! Hero cornea hla high-ocaal" high-ocaal" Tho heir apparent, all cold and Tel-vet, Tel-vet, wa tail and black-eyed and young. Yaco hatod him with right good will. Tho princess loved him In tho play. In reality, alio did not know. Tho prlnco lorcd hor In tho play and Imagined bo did In reality. Before, tbo footllghta bo had a rival, whom tbo audlcnco saw waa unworthy 1 of her. In natural life the coait waa " .. clear. On tho atago tho prlnco mado , ttmtifip 'Viilve' furlouily. Off of It ho btdod hla time. Juit bcforo tho curtain fell on tho last act tho fool sang n quaint love aong over tbo happy ending of the ro-roanco ro-roanco between tbo prlnco and tho princess. Then ho slouched over to a saloon and took tho tnato of tho aong from hl mouth Ho mistrusted tho i prince off tho atage, but waa bis loyal servant while on It. To an outsider the situation would hate snietl complex. To the fool It was crystal oloar. Tho lady could not love him; she ought not lovo the prints; tho prince did not know hew to love her. All these between the dropping of the laat curtain on ono night and Us ascent tho next night "Wand book, thou fool!" the gallant rrlnr raid when Ik sought to klaa the lady's hand. Ami the fool stood back. lint that was in the piny, and aa the heroine smiled lndulgntly be did not mind. When tbo court of tinsel and painted paint-ed cattle had moved far to tbo westward west-ward thero camo a dreary day. The peoplo who wero expected to pny the customa that tho throne might stsnd became sadly remiss In their obligations, obliga-tions, "and morccnary landlords and shopkeepers, unnwed by royalty, clamored clam-ored for their shekels. The prlnco Advanced toward her. went to tho lady'a room and proposed that they should flee cro morning dawned. "Hut our friends; how will they get back homo!" sho asked. "Walking's good! let 'em foot It." Tho lady recoiled. "And you, who brought thorn away out here, would dese;t thcmT" He laughed after the stylo of the villain, which ho was off the stnge. "Why, my dear." he said, "tho show's hutted, and It's every man for tlniself. To savo J on from discomfort. discom-fort. I thought I'd take you with me." Ill not go a tpl" ids said, prowpllr '"eldedlj. Sho sn he wutn't a hero after the curtain fell "Then " He ad ancm! toward her, his sinister sinis-ter dark uoa telling of a darker purpose. pur-pose. Ilefuro he grnsped her tho fool entered, unprompted Tho lady sprang to his side, and thli time ho did not bend hla hend for her tiny foot, but looked squarely Into tho bitter eyes of the prince who nought to destroy his mistress. "Tho fooll" sneered the prlnco. "Ay! And ct a man. Now, on jour knees, my lord, and beg this lady'a pardon!" Thero was nothing llko It In the llrca ho recited nightly and yet 'twas delivered with slrnngo drnmatlo pow "Yaco, thou art the real prince." er. As tho princess looked at tbo fool, who waa a man, and at tho courtier, who was not, ber color camo and went and tbo Ono blue eyes glowed wltb something akin to prldo. "Dct out of hero!" roarod tho nobleman. no-bleman. The fool had meekly obeyed far less lurty tones, and It seemed odd this menace did not move him now. "You will not kneel' Thon seo Down to this hour tho prlnco could not give )ou a veracious account of haw It all happened, but ho recalls that when hla ojes opened he waa lying ly-ing In the corner of tho room and thnt thero seemed to be funny little specks dancing mockingly In front of him. lie did not want to die in tho presence pres-ence of the lady, so he told her bo was truly rientant that builneaa troubles had so engrosewl him for tho Instant he had failed to roallio bo was of high degree, and had acted tho knavo; with her kind permission bo would now withdraw and worry her no fur ther. That waa the abdication of tbe prlnco When he was gono Yaco told tho prlnceaa that out of bis savings ho had paid the bills of tho rcttnuo of tho footllghl kingdom and had furnished them tickets for their homeward Jour ney Would she deign to suffer a llko consideration at his pleblan hand? "Yaco," said tho prlnccmt, aa she walked toward him and gave him a grateful llttlo hand, "thou art tho real prlnco" "I would 'twere so, lady," said the Jester, "for then I might daro to tell thee a long cherished secret of mlno" Sho ran to her trunk and took out a gilt paper crown, which sho placed upon his head. "Now tell It, your highness " Tho dancing bluo oyes Invited disclosures. dis-closures. "Why why In truth I've hoard thorn say It oft enough, but Just now my dull head falls to servo me, and I cannot rightly choose my words but but " Sho looked up Into tho honest face and understood. "I know," she raid, simply, "and I lovo you too, Yaco. my king." |