OCR Text |
Show . . - yy It was the habit of the Honorable 7ohn Ruffin to chant, in his bath what Pollyoo!y believed to be poetry: and It Bis Improbable that an observant child Bof twelve, who had passed the seven Bttandrds at Muttle Deeping school, could have been mistaken In a matter Bof that kind. The habit may have borne witness to the goodness of his conscience. or may not; it may Bmerely have been a by product of an Excellent digestion, but that morning Hit seemed to her that he chanted more loudly and with a finer gusto than I usual. She was not surprised, therefore, Jirben she brought in his carefully BgrJIIed bacon, at bis saying In a very B cheerful tone: fl "I have had a windfall. Miss Bride u a windfall of thirty-five pounds It M fell out of an auction-bridge tree a P same you do not understand and it I has made the heat-wave, which ought ! to be called the heat flood, more un-. un-. bearable than eer Therefore I have I resolved lo go away to the B a " "Yes, sir." said Pollyooly in a tone r of amiable congratulation ft But her face fell a little; for i though the departure of the Honorable John Ruffin meant that she would hae J less work. It also meant that she would have to spend more on food for jji herself and her little brother the I Lump, since the Honorable John Ruf-I Ruf-I fin did not eat all his bread or drink , J All his milk; and there was often half N ncke with which he refused to con-l con-l tlnue his afternoon tea on the ground V that it was stale II "But the thing that has kept me so long In London submerged In the heat-flood heat-flood has not been 60 much the want of money (I hae had enough for my own escape), as the great bacon difficulty." diffi-culty." he said and paused. r "Yes, sir, ' said Pollyooly I, "But thanks to this windfall, I can get over that difficulty hy taking ou to the fc-T to grill my bacon for me, .land your little brother to keep you il occupied while- oii are not grilling It, kf thst Satan may not find some mUchief V still for Idle hands to do." r Pollyooh s large blue eyes opened Bry wide, and her mouth opened, too. fl "Oh, sir me and the Lump Roger, fflslr."' she said In a hushed, breathless Trolce of incredulous rapture S "You and Roger Roger and the sea i were marie for one another. 1 look lo 'tee him an admiral one of these days. J It is time that England had a redheaded red-headed admiral I'm tired of these : drab-haired ones It Is my patriotic i doty to ghe him a taste for the sea rly " "Oh, thank you. sir'" said Pollyooly fn a tone of profound gratitude. "We will go to Pyechurch. There's an old famlly servant of ours at Pye-- Pye-- church. I made her life a burden to her when I was young, and consc-3 consc-3 fluently, with true womanliness, she has alwavs entertained the strongest affection for me It would be no use taking you to any other lodgings, be cause you wouldn't be allowed to grill my bacon for me But Mrs. Wilson j knows that I must be humored , and I humored I shall be. Also she will look J after you while I am playing golf at a LIttleatone not that I have ever known you to need looking after." "Oh, sir, It irifl be nice!' said Polly-r Polly-r ooly. still somewhat breathless, f? The Honorable John Ruffin smiled at her amiably "This morning we will pack; this D afternoon we will go " he eald Pollyooly had to slip up to their at-I at-I tic at once to tell the Lump, who was playing there peacefully, the splendid i news, though he was too young to un Iderstand It. She moved about on very J light, dancing feet; and as soon as she had washed np the breakfast things 1 she packed their small wardrobes in a j little portmanteau, a relic of the days i when the great-aunt who had brought !i them up had been housekeeper at Fl Deeping Hall Then the Honorable John Ruffin, 1 having finished bis cigar and Mor-rung TPor summoned her to help him pack. ? and for a w hile she observed his i fashion of doing so with pain and dls-1 dls-1 may He put his clothes iD the port- manteau anyhow and crushed them llrmly down. Standing painfully now on one leg i and now on the other, she endured the sight for several minutes: then she j said. "Oh, please, sir; you'd Letter let fl m rln tt " "Why? What s wrong with my way of doing itT said the Honorable John 'Ruffin in some surprise. I. "Look how you're crumpling your shirts, sir." said Pollyooly. "Have It your own way Deal with lit yourself," said the Honorable John Rutfln airily. : He lighted a cigar and watched Pollyooly take the clothes out of the Iportmanteau and replace them neatly jwlth a due regard to space, finding iroom for a dozeu things which be had Ibeen forced to leave out. Then be Eairi I "Always fresh accomplishments. iMIss Bride. If you go on at this rate, you will certainly go down to posterity as the Admirable Pollyooly." He sent down to the Inner Temple I kitchen for his lunch, and Pollyooly gave the Lump his dinner. She ate J little herself; she was too excited They drove proudly, in a taxlcab to Cannon Street Station, and ' hey f traveled proudlv. first-class. ; The Honorable John Ruffin had bought picture papers for the two children and a novel for himself, and Bnov and again he paused in his reari-pBlng reari-pBlng to observe them. It was always a pleasure to a man of his esthetic Bfcenslbllltv to gaze at the angel face of Pollyooly and at that red-headed but Hjuthentlc cherub, the Lump. As they Han through London, curiously curled a round the Lump, she was buuy show ing him the pictures In the papers and receiving his monosyllabic comments on them with the ecstatic delight with which his disciples receive the utterances utter-ances of a genius. When they came into the country 6he was busy pointing point-ing out to him, with an even more ex cited delight, the common rail side objects ob-jects It was more than a year since he had been in the country and he had to be told that a cow was a cow and a sheep a baa-lamb, for he was Inclined to class them nil In the genus gee-gee When at last he did hail a sheep as a baa-lamb, the triumphant pleasure of Pollyooly passed all bounds. The Honorable John Ruffin read, and observed the children, and observed the children and read But when the were nearing their journey's end, he shut tip his book and said: "I think it will be well for you to cease to be my housekeeper at Pyechurch, Pye-church, Miss Bride People will ask you about our relations, of course, because be-cause by the sea there Is so much time for idle curiosity; and you would better bet-ter tell them that you are a distant connection of mine. That is nothing but the truth, for you are undoubtedly undoubt-edly a red Deeping: and all the Deep-ings, Deep-ings, red or neutral-tinted, are connections connec-tions of mine " "Yes. sir," said Pollyooly gravely. "Also I think that you had better ghe yourself a few airs. You will have a better time that way; you will be welcomed in the best circles. Be a red Deeping not too truculent, you know, but firm." Polloolys eyes sparkled a little; and she said. "Yes, sir; 1 should like to I like being a red Deeping, sir, rather. I liked it when I was at Rlcksborough Court " "Good Yon have the right spirit. One of these days you will become what the newspapers call a society leader I foresee it There's only the matter of your hands They need cultivation cul-tivation But a week's idleness will let your nails grow; and a nail-brush will do the rest " "Yes sir," said Pollyooly. She had never considered her hands; and she considered them now, ruefully rue-fully It Is impossible to do the work of two sets of chambers in the Temple without the hands showing It Her nails were short, a thumb-nail was broken and her knuckles were red. The Honorable John Rutin considered them too. "I think for the future you'd better work in gloves," he said "Yes. sir, I will." said Pollvooly "A lady and all rod Deeplnus are of course born ladies gentlewomen must have good hands. Also at Pve-church Pve-church I shall call you Pollyool) ; and yon will call me Cousin John." "Ill try to remember, sir," said Pollyooly. flushing with pride. "You'll soon get into it." said the Honorable John RufRn cheerfully "I shall like having a cousin always to hand." Pollyooly flushed again, and her eyes rested on him with an expression of something like adoration. From Hythe Station they drove, proudlv. In a wagonette to Pyechurch, along the edge of Romney Marvh. with the shining sea on their left hand Pollyooly gazed out over it. pointing out ships to the Lump. Presently the Honorable John Ruffin asked her what she thought of it "It looks very large, 6ir," said Pollyooly, Polly-ooly, cautiously. They found Mrs Wilson awaiting them eagerly, their tea ready. Her heart went out to the Lump on the instant in-stant They had their tea. and after it the Honorable John Ruffin started to take them down to the sands But as they came out of the house, two little girls, bare-legged and wearing sandals, passed them. He looked at Pollyooly's black stockings stock-ings and stout shoes: and said, "We must change all this." He turned into the village shop and houebt them sandals and bathing-dresses, bathing-dresses, blue linen frocks, a sunbonnet for Pollyooly. a linen hat for the Lump, and buckets and spades. "Hurry up and change Into these clothes," he said. "First Impression are everything and you mu.tt look all right." They changed quicklv. and then they went on to the sands They were hoon at the height of happiness building build-ing a castle, paddling, and picking up shells. Ho left them to It, and went for a stroll down the sea wall. At seven he fetched them to bathe; and since he let them bathe in their own timid way. the timid way of children bathing for the first time, they enjoyed it exceedingly. The Lump found eight Inches of water deep enough for him. Pollyooly eighteen. The next morning they bathed again at seven o'clock. The Honorable John Ruffin returned firmly to bed for an hour and so gao Pollyooly time td make a leisurely and complete breakfast break-fast before grilling the bacon Mrs. Wilson observed the process with Interest In-terest but not with approval. "All that time spent over cooking a few slices of bacon! " she said with the womanly air of one sniffing Pollyooly's brow puckered In a thoughtful frown; and she said gravely, grave-ly, "But that's the only way to get It i ight." Mrs Wilson sniffed outright. After his breakfast the Honorable John Ruffin departed to Littlestone to golf; and Pollyooly and the Lump went dow n on to the sands. There are no niggers, Pierrots, or bands at Pyo-church, Pyo-church, only a few donkeys and a co-coanut-shy. But at low tide there are a thousand acres of firm sand, a children's chil-dren's DAradise. Pollyooly enjoyed it beyond words, not only the sands and the sea, but also the freedom from care. Food, excellent food and plenty of It. awaited them, paid for, at Mr;. Wilson's. The Lump was the cause of Pollyooly's Polly-ooly's first introduction to fellow-sojourners fellow-sojourners in this delectable land. A little girl of four, with very large brown eyes, who was playing near them, was quite suddenly attracted by him. and without further ado tooK possession of him. Pollvooly was pleased that he should have n plar-mate plar-mate of his own age; the Utile girl's nurse, observing that they were dressed as other children and that Pollyooly spoke ' prettily," and was Inclined In-clined to be haughty with her. assented to the acquaintance. The little brown-eyed brown-eyed girl's blueeed sister. Kathleen, joined them, and the four children played happily tocetber. While Pollyooly Polly-ooly mothered tho Lump. Kathleen, who was seven, mothered her little sister, whose name was Mary Also now and again she mothered the Lump; but Pollyooly was not jealous. At first the Lump was somewhat taken aback by this sudden acquisition of a female friend: but his remarkable remark-able placidity stood him in good stead, and he endured it with an even mind. Presently indeed he seemed to be taking tak-ing pleasure In It, for he began to bully her in the manliest fashion Then the mother of the little girls joined them, and was at once charmed by the Lump Pollvooly found no need lo display the airs of a ted Deeping, with which she had been treating the nurse, to her; and presently they were chatting in the friendliest way The lady seemed as taken with Pollyooly s serious outlook on life as with the charm of the Lump; and presently she asked her If her mother would let them come to tea with Kathleen and .Mary and to games on the sands after It that afternoon Pollyooly explained that they were staying with their cousin John, who had gone to golf at Littlestone, and accepted the Invitation Invita-tion The lady seemed surprised that be should have left them to themselves for the day; but Pollyooly assured her that she was used to looking after the Lump, and that It was quite safe They enjoyed the party exceed ingly; there were a dozen children, fellow-guests, fellow-guests, and at tea the manners of the l ump, under Pollyooly's anxious eye, were beyond reproach. Her hands indeed in-deed troubled her a little she kept them out of 6igbt as much as she couid After tea the younger children played In the charge of nurses, tho elder children, to tho extreme delight of Pollyooly who loved to run fleetly, disported themselves In more swift and violent game? She had much to tell the Honorable John on his return from Littlestone. The next day she found herself well launched in tho society of the sands, with many playmates, and entered upon the fullest and most delightful life But there is always a fly In the finer ointments and the Pyechurch fly wag Prince Adalbert of Llppe-Schweid-nitz. That morning Pollyooly had herfir3t sight of him She and the Lump were playing with Kathleen and Mary, when Kathleen cried in a tone of dismay, dis-may, "Here's the Prince'" picked up Mary and staggered off towards their nurse with her. Pollyooly picked up the Lump and ame with her, though she could gee no reason for Kathleen's dismay, for the Prince was but a fat little boy of i en small-eyed, thick-lipped, and snub-nosed. snub-nosed. His white sailor suit seemed to glve his ugliness its full values. I'nder the wing of their nirrso Kathleen Kath-leen and Mary surveyed him with alarmed eyes; and Kathleen told Pollyooly Polly-ooly of the dreadful things he had done how he had pushed a little boy over the edge of the sea wall, kicked another, hit a little girl with a spade, pulled the hair of three others hard, and how he always kicked over the castles other children had built and threw their spades and buckets into the sea. Even as she spoke he fell upon the castle they themselves had been building build-ing and kicked down one wall of it. "If only you weren't a Prinze. I'd teach you. my fine gentleman," said tho nurse softly. "You mind tho Lump! I'll go and smack him'" cried Pollyooly eagerly. "No! No! He's a Prince.' You mustn't touch a Prince. Miss!" cried the nurse In a tone of the last horror, gripping Pollyooly's wrist tightly. "Besides, he'd hurt you. He's a very nasty, spiteful little boy!" "LOOK UOW YOfRE CRfMDLIN'G YOUR SHIltTS -lit" "I don't mind!" said Pollyooly fiercely, and she tugged at the restraining re-straining grip, hard but in vain, eying the pest with vengeful eyes. I would r.'t let my children play with him like some people do just because be-cause he's a Prince, not was It ever so I should be frightened all the time." said the nurse. if over he touches the Lump. I'll teach him!" said Pollyooly fiercely. "If ever he touches on'- of us, Papa will spank him hard. Papa doesn't like Princes. He says they're so useless.' use-less.' said Kathleen. "So they are if they're like that " said Pollyool with conviction. They watched the devastating royal progress with indignant eyes. The back view of ihe Prince was nearly as unpleasant as the front He slouched along with his fat little figure hunched forward In a very ugh fashion Tho children fled before him as he came, and from the shelter of their nurses, or their mothers, angrily watched him destroy the castles they had built But most of their mothers regarded him wish a gloating admiration, they felt that the beach was more glorious for his royal presence About fortv yarde behind hlra came a companion figure his equerry the Baron Yon Habelschwert. a stout, pig-eyed pig-eyed snub-nosed man of forty-five who walked with the stiffness of a ramrod of the thickness of a barrel. His legs were, unfortunately, rather shor'. and since the lower part of his body was of a fine protuberant rotundity which the breadth of his shoulders and the thickness of his chest failed dismally to equal, he presented the quite uncommon un-common appearance of a perambulating perambulat-ing pear He had a rich expanse of fat cheek and a small but dimpled chin but a fierce mustache, upturned in the Imperial fashion, gave him the ferocious air required by bis military profession and his sentiments of a superman of the latest Prussian brand Happiness sat enthroned upon his brow A passion for blacking is a distinguishing dis-tinguishing characteristic of his military mili-tary caste; and his natural love of licking the boots of member of the many royal families of the Fatherland was finding Its full expression In Prince Adalbert he had a perpetual boot, to lick Sometimes indeed tho boot licked him. that very morning the Prince had kicked hifl shm in i masterly fashion, on being Invited io wash hla face for the day The Baron's clothes fitted blm with extreme military tightness. Tr-.c w-ere of an unpleasant greenish Hut which did not match the gr. en Hom-burg Hom-burg hat he wore. In his right hand he carried a short cane and yellow-gloves. yellow-gloves. The morning was hot. his boots were patent leather Diffusing an agreeable odor of pomatum on the breee. he walked with the air of one taking his ea6e In a conquered count rv. for he looked forward with ton. bing certainty to the day when 'he mailed fist of his Imperial master Hhould sweep England with fire and sword from sea to sea. He often talked In a gloating fashion of that gieat day to his young charge. Possibly that was one of the reasons which Induced Prince Adalbert of Lippe -Sehweldnlt . to make so free with the castles and peraoni of the children of the so-soon-to-be-subjugated English Tho ogres of the sands having disappeared dis-appeared down the beach, the children repaired the damage to their castle and once more played In peace. That aftprnoon there was auother royal progress of the same devastating kind, but more complete, since the Prince surprised a little girl and pulled her hair. The fond English mothers still observed him with a gloating air, happy to be on the same stretch of rand with him. They said Indulgently to one another. "Boys will be boya This time the Baron Von Habel-chweii Habel-chweii walked only fifteen yards behind be-hind his charge He smiled benignly on the destruction of the castles; plainly he felt that his young charge was treating the so-soon-to-be-subjugated English in the right spirit. There was only one check to the royal progress The sand-castle on which Pollyooly and Kathleen had worked so hard stood directly In tho line of It. Kathleen fled to her nurse at the approach of the Prince; Pollyooly Polly-ooly stepped out of the castle, and, spade In hand, awaited his coming. II When h was five yards from her, she said. "You keep away." The Prince advanced two steps and stopped There was that In Pollyooly's Polly-ooly's deep blue eyes which gave him pause He took a step towards her. and stopped again Then he called her "pig-dog.'' In German, but. with conviction, stepped aside, and pursued his way As he went he kept gazing back at her. scowling malevolently. The Baron Von Habelschwert. absorbed ab-sorbed in his beatitude, missed the in cident. The nurse came down to the castle and said in a tone of respectful awe ' However you dare, Miss! And him a Prince, too'" "I don't care a pin for him," said Pollyooly with a considerable lack of respect of persons; and she continued the work of construction. The roal progress was the event of the morning and af'ernoon for several days before It occurred to Pollyooly to tll the Honorable John Ruffin about It. Then one evening, on their waj to I-athe. she told him The Honorable John Ruffin stood still on the edge of the sea. looked at her thoughtfully and said, "This Is inieresting Indeed I had no idea that iermau aggression had extended to this retired spot." nd Q i such an ugly little boy," said Pollyooly "And he Is all alone?" "Oh. no; there's a Har.on with him to look after him with a large mustache. mus-tache. He's very ugly, too." said Pollyooly This grows more Interesting still. I think I should enjoj looking Into this matter Prussian Barons always need a firm hand But I'm too full up with golf to deal with it for the next day or two. I must bear It in mind." Plainly he did bear it In mind, for on the afternoon of the third day, to Pollyooly's delight he joined them on the sands. She introduced him to Mrs. Gibson, the mother of Kathleen, and he thanked her for having had his two little cousins to tea, and chatted chat-ted to her In his cheerful and engaging engag-ing fashion till Prince Adalbert of Llppe Schweldnitz came slouching along on his devastating course. The Honorable John Ruffin observed him with every appearance of the liveliest interest, but the Baron You Habol-Bchwerl Habol-Bchwerl seemed to give him the greater pleasure, and he gazed upon him with a fascinated, loving eye. I have rarely seen a more perfect pair ' he said to Mrs. Gibson In a tone of deep content. "Detestable creatures! said Mrs Gibson with some heat. "Perhaps but how perfectly Prussian!" Prus-sian!" said the Honorable John Ruf fin with warm appreciation. "And you let these unpleasant ones terrorize your children?" Well what can I do? said Mrs Gibson ' "My husband would have ... : ! If he bad I" fl"v' '' hf ' ' but he Isn't I ivc spoken to one or two m n acquaintances about it. But they seem afraid to interfere." The English are getting too highly eivlllz.ed " said the Honorable John RuftU "The fine old English spirit Is dying out; and they re afraid of getting get-ting into the papers. But evidently wha. is needed is the giving of tea ions au.l the proper person to give them is a fierce small boy-Irish for choice-one who is always and I nobly .polling for fu,n. forTo hare OOl I fierce small boy to hum but. thank goodness' there are .till red Deeplugs left in England. ' What Is a red Deeping?" said aCrfts Gibson "The red Deeplngs are an old Eng llsh race very fierce and cantanKT ous My little cousin Pollyooly here is a red Deeping " "Oh. do you think she could?" said Mrs Gibson eagerly. Yes. I think she could." said the Honorable John Ruffin. "Come here, Pollyooly." Pollyooh came; and he felt her bleeps bl-eeps carefully. Then he said: ' Didn't Mr. Vance tell me a story of a toy called Henry Wiggins whom you found disrespectful and taught manners?" man-ners?" Pollyooly flushed faintly, but she said bravely. In an explanatory tone. ' Oh. Henry Wiggins Is ouite easy, if vou get him by the hair first" "I should think that Henry Wiggins was a far more active and difficult boy In a fight than this fat little Prince, ' said the Honorable John Ruffin. "The Prlnc? has very short hair," said Pollyooh In the grave tones of one weighing the chances of battle. Ho is cropped. The Prussians have no esthetic sense' said the Hon orable John Ruffin In a disparaging tone. "But I should think that you could get over the difficulty of the hair." "Oh, yes; I'm sure I could." said Pollyooh'; and her deep blue eyes began be-gan to shine "May I smack him if he interferes with us?" "Not on any account unless I am it hand." said the Honorable John Ruffin Quickly, 'i have a deep, patriotic distrust dis-trust of the chivalry of Prussian Barons Bar-ons I do not think that this one could be trusted to see fair play You might have a Baron on your hands as well as a Prince, and it might be too much for a red Deeping of your size. A Prince at a time should be your motto " "It would be very amusing." said Mrs Gibson, and her eyes danced "You shall see it," said the Honorable Honor-able John RufCn amiably "Unbiased spectators of a scene are always desirable, desir-able, and It won't be difficult to arrange ar-range vour presence, for the business will need a little stage-managing. You watch the Prince, Pollyooly, and see how far he goes down the beach, so that we can arrange the exact place for his Instruction." The next day Pollyooly followed tho Prince to the end of his royal progress prog-ress twice; and she was hopeful of provoking the fight for which she yearned without difficulty, for he never saw her without scowling upon her darkly. On the second day the Honorable John Ruffin returned from his golf In time to lunch with them, and Informed In-formed Pollyooly that he proposed to go down to the sands with them They found Mrs. Gibson with her children: and she accompanied them to the ipot at which the Prin-e usually turned in his course. Twentj yardl beyond it tho Honorable John Ruffin bade Pollyooly Polly-ooly build a castle; and then be and Mrs Gibson went and sat down under the seawall forty y?rds away, and fell into polite conversation As they left her. the Honorable John Rutin's last words to Pollyooly were "I don't forbid you to scratch him. Scratching Is harmonius with the female fe-male nature ' The statement afforded Mr filbson grounds for the beginning of their polite po-lite conversation Pollyooly and the Lump worked steadily away at the building of the castle. Pollyooly did the digging; now and again the Lump would pat the walls placidly. They had been at work for rather more than half an hour, and the castle was already beginning be-ginning to wear the rotund air so dear to the eye of the builder when the progressive Prince came in sight. Pollyooly'l joyful heart beat high He was slouching along nearly fifty yards In front of the frajtraut Baron; and since there were children to annoy all the way. he came but slowly. It gae Pollyooly time to lead the Lump halfway half-way to Mrs Gibson, and send him tor! dling the rest. She was back at her castle, and at work again when the Prince caught sight of her. H'1 stopped short his unhasty roiud slowly laking in the situation. That she should be working In loneliness, thirty yards beyond the line of nurses and children alon'-r the beach, seemed too good to be true Then his unbur-rving unbur-rving mind grasped the fact that it was true, his heart blaied In lm bosom; be threw back his head, and hail his nose len larger he would have snifTed the breeze like a war-horse. He advanced upon her In a quick, shambling slouch. Pollyooly saw his eager advance; but she afTected not to see it She was eager for the fray, but fearful lest a display of thai eagerness should dash the royal courage; moreover, she wished the Prince to be flagrantly the aggressor She worked at the furth. r wall of the castle with her back to him A fray was the last thing the Prince looked for. There had been but one fray In his sheltered life; with a brother Prince carelessly admitted to his society. A fray with a child not of the blood royal was beyond dreaming. He sprang onto the castle wall and began to stamp and kick a breach in It with furious but clumsy energy. Then Pollyooly turned and sprang The Prince was hardly aware of her spring; he wa. only aware of a stinging sting-ing smack, and then the shock of her impetus toppled him over onto his back on the sand. Pollyooly came down too, but not on the sand; she came down onto the Prluce. and far more heavily than her fragile air WW" ranted. Or ever he could collect any Scattered wits he may have chanced to have, rhe was sluing astride him. R with a painful, grinding knee on r either of his arms, and slapping his Ef The Honorable John RufHn walked f briskly down from the sea-wall with g a smile of profound pleasure on his :I face. The perfumed Baron had not !r yet perceived his charge's plight. T: Pollyooly did not smack very hard I, at first, for she v,a6 resisting the wrlg- t gllng of the Prince, but once she had . dug her toes firmly into the sand, she it gave her mind to delivering each smack with the full swing of ber arm; E and the Prince began to bellow Then U the Baron saw the terrible, treasonable indignity the hope of the House of ir Llppe Schweidnltz was enduring. He t broke luto a curious toddling run, L, uttering odd short shrlek3 of the last I horror as he came ;f The Honorable John Ruffin placed Jt himself athwart the course of the tod- i dling deliverer and said, "Don't hurry, R Pollyooly; but smack him hard." i A smile of understanding wreathed if? Pollyooly's flushed but angel face, and t she did smite harder. The Honorable John Rnffin's back was turned to the headlong Baron; but his head was r bent a little sideways, and as the al- ready breathless rescuer made his final I spurting rush, he moved sharply to the left It was unfortunate (but since he had not eyes In the back of f hie head, it could not be helped) that I the left shoulder of the Honorable I John Ruffin. jerking upwards hard. Id have caught the onrushlrjg right shoulder of the deliverer. The Baron left the firm earth, twirled In the air In a fashion which would have won him the plaudits of the most exacting ex-acting vaudeville audience, came down on his back on the sand with a violence vio-lence which shook all the breath out of his body and lay gasping In a darkened world. jj It was a full two minutes before the bellowing of his sufficiently besmacked Umm charge came again, dimly, to his com prehendlng ears. Then he grew aware, also dimly, that the Honorable John Ruifin was siandlng over him and asking ask-ing loudly, with every appearance of Juat indignation, what he meant by not looking where be was going. The Baron was strongly of the opinion thai the interposed shoulder had been no accident? but he was much too busy with Ills breathing to say so. Then nrhen his breath came more easily and j1 he had the power to say so, he had no longer the inclination, for the knowledge knowl-edge of the terrible position in which he stood, or rather lay. had flashed on him he, a Prus-.ian officer, had been .knocked down by a civilian and was forever disgraced. j B Pollyooly continued to smack the bellowing Prino; the Honorable John Ruffin continued to ask the Baron what the ieil he meant by it; and the poor wits of the panting noblemai continued to work on his dreadful problem. Then a flash of Inspiration showed him the savin? solution; he could accept his nols questioner's view tha' his fall had been an accident acci-dent He sat up and sulkily apologized apolo-gized for having been knocked down. I e hands of Pollyuoly were sore from smacking Prince Adalbert, but not so sore as bis royal cheeks, and still she smacked on. She interjected between the smacks requests for an assurance that he would cease to annoy an-noy the children on the beach. His fine Prussian determination not to be robbed of bis simple pleasures pro-vented pro-vented him from giving It. He preferred pre-ferred to bellow. But there are limits even to royal endurance, and as the liaron rose shakily to his feet, the I', in., howled iue assurance she demanded, de-manded, jl IjH And mind you do, or I'll smack you again," said Pollyooly. ILB She rose to her feet, flushed and triumphant, tri-umphant, and rubbed gently together her stinging hands. The Prince lay where he was. still bellowing. Ifml Ten yards away Mrs Gibson stood holding the hand of the Lump, who gazed at the scene In placid wonder; and she was laughing gently. Ten away, on her right, stood a !io7.on children, surveying their bel- '!LB low ing p st with joyful, vengeful eyes. I LB Behind them distractedly hovered 'f three BOOCked nurses, quivering with horror at the upheaval of the Social edifice. t jilfgB Tho Baron slowly took in the humiliate- significance of the scene: he saw that the glory of a royal houso had been leveled to the dust, or rather to the sand. He caught his blubbering blubber-ing charge by the arm, jerked him to his feet, and led him away by one large ear. IliB "I congratulate you, Pollyooly. An excellent piece of work. The haughty foreigner will trouble us no more," said the Honorable John Ruffin, and he laughed quietly and joyfully. He was right. The royal progress the next morning was a very different matter. The Baron Von Habelschwert still perfumed the air as he walked; but It was no longer the air of a conquered con-quered country. His mustache was less fierce, his stride less proprietary. Indeed, he might easih have been mistaken mis-taken by those to whom bis name and d gnitlei were unknown, for an inof-aeper inof-aeper of a delicatessen shop. Print e Adalbert of Lippe-Schweidnitz was changed. He no longer reamed afield; he kept within six feet of his protective equerry. He iiiiH slouched less; and he had ceased to ( ! scowl arrogantly on the children, who t no longer lied at his approach ie re ijifAB garded little EngUsh girls with a re- H !B spectful. not to say timid eye. ami fMEH odged cloeer to the Baron as he passed on' To his mind the little English girl was stored with the potentialities U'UmB of j. powder magazine. |