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Show The Princess Elopes By HAROLD McGRATH I A m th mf 1 "The Man en the Ho, "Heart sn-4 Mask," a.s tbl"al. Mb a (, SYNOPSIS. Tin. American n-'il I" Itira.hrtt, 1 prill. 1..,.IV ol 1. . 1 ,, tt int.- a vr-incl -I I. - I.-- I In, .1 lo II il l l--oO,i,t,.l f..i I i- r. 1.. ill.., i- to..,-, ih, I- iiTi no, , u.l. . no-illv .ri"ina II m ah.- Itoi.l H-il lit.- I i In. c ot Is. -l I inn. .10 1 ii I ..I. I 1. 1.l.., . r nit I t-i'ft of ttie pun. lpilli r I lopp. Ihlnti. Tlio.e I . I. i.l 1... 11 n i.nnv inomht II- .. Mii. rl.i.n o.ikhI li i l (i. . r a.-. 11 1 1 ua ( iy inn. I, i f n surpils.. to ts.ih. 1 CHAPTER I. Continued. I The one picture of lo r which I wii lucky enoiieh to see I .id bei-n takitt' when she was six. and meant nothlid; to me In the wav of hlenilhcntlon. Fo nil I kno I mluht have .aed her ( the road. ' Hhe hi auie to me tlif Princess in the Invisible Cloak, pnt lug me orien ami donliilcas dorldln(i toy i-fToris to dlscein lur. My euil-l oslty became iilarmlnic t couldn't slcei for the tin. unlit of her. Finally 1 wo met, hut the meeting was a great surprise to us luilh. Tills mooting happened during the great hubbub ol which I have Just written; nnd at I he siimo time I met another who bad great weight lu my future uffnlr. Tho princess and I became rather well acquainted. I was not a gentleman, gentle-man, areordlng to her code, hut, In tho historic words of tho drug clerk. I was something Just aa good. Hhe honored hon-ored mo with a frank, disinterested friendship, which still exists. I havo yet among my fading souvenirs of diplomatic aervlce half a doien note commanding me to get up at dawn and ride around the lakes, something like III miles. Hhe waa almost a reckless a rider a myself. Hhe was truly a fa-nous fa-nous rider, and a wnmau who all well on a horse can never be aught hut graceful. BUu was, In fact, youth, fill and cliamilug. with ii an .a n an nlfleenl black eyes I ever beheld In a Teutonic head; wllty. besides, and a songstress of no ordinary talent. If I hnd been In love with her which I solemnly vow I was not! I should have called her beautiful and exhausted exhaust-ed my store ot complimentary adjectives. adjec-tives. Thu basic cause of all thla turmoil, about which I am to spin my narrative, narra-tive, lay In her education. 1 hold that a Herman princess should never be educated save as a Herman. Ily this I lueun to couvey that her education should not go beyond (lurman literature, litera-ture, Gorman history, Gorman veneration venera-tion of laws, German manner and Herman passivity and docility. The Princess lllldegardo had been educated edu-cated In F.nglund and France, which sUnplllloa everything, or, 1 should say, lo be exact, complicate everything. Hhe possessed a healthy contempt for that whnl-d'-ye-call It that hedges In a king. Having mingled with Kiik-llsb-speuklng people, she returned to her native land, her brain filled with the Importance of feminine liberty of thought and action. Hence, aha became be-came the bramblo that prodded the grand duke whichever way be turned. Ilia day were filled with horrors, bis nights with mares which did not havo box-stu!lf la his stables. Never could he anticipate ber In anything. On that day he placed guards around the palace alio wrote verses or read niodorn fiction; tho moment mo-ment be relaxed his vigilance sho was away on some heartrending escapade. Didn't sho scandalise the nobility by dressing up a hussar and riding her famous black Mecklenburg cross-conn try? Hadn't she flirted outrageously with the French attache and deliberately deliber-ately turned ber back on the Russian minister, at the very moment, too, when negotiations were going on between be-tween Itiisala and Harscheit relative to a email piece of land In the Hal-kans? Hal-kans? And, most terrible of all to relate, re-late, hadn't she rlddon a shining bicycle bicy-cle up tho Konlgsstrasse, In broad day-light, day-light, and In bifurcated skirts, he sides? 1 shall never forget tho Indignation Indig-nation of the press at the time of this last escapade, tint stroke of apoplexy which thicatenec. the duke, and the riHini with the barred lndow which the princess occupied one whole week. They burned thu offensive bicycle lu Ihe courtyard of the pulsce, ceremoniously, ceremo-niously, too, and the princess had wlti ni-Bseil this solemn unto da fe uj, her barred window. It Is no star upon tho ImugliiHtlon to conu(f ) the plctuio of her Una rngn. her tin .. I cilli.g hands, her coiupicHscd Hps, her tearless, flushing eyes, gs alio saw her beautiful new wheel wrliho and twist on Ihe blazing fagots. Hut what tho deuce was a poor duke to do with a niece ltko this? For a time I feared that the United Stums and the Grand Duchy of Par achnlt would aever diplomatic relation. rela-tion. The bicycle waa. unfortunately, ' American make nnd the manufac-I manufac-I iters wmte to mo personally that ,'icv considered thdtiselves grossly In- ill.'.l iner the m -I. n of ihe duke Iploninllc noloa . ie exchanged, and finally prevailed upon the dose to "-ne that In- lo Id ih.. ah.-, haiuiless ii1 that his angel hid b.-i-ii directed lily against his elece This letter 1" dull forward- d In the maliufiic irers. who. after ihe manner of their M. rarefully altered the phiHsing 11 used It In their mugailne adver -nienis Thev were so fsr appensod !at they offered me my selection from private slink Happily the duke jwer read anything hut the Fllegende sitter and Jugend. and thus war was I atrteil. later an automobile agent visited la town nt the secret bidding of her haneas hut he was so tinceremo-sisly tinceremo-sisly hustled over the frontier that troth must hiive rattled like a osrer castanets. It was a great try for rxpcilltlouancas, ns you la find, If you do me the hotim- to I hfcw mo In Ihe end I b the grand duke swore that his I Bare should wed aipM-lkllin. and the "Vcss vowed that she would not. Iwnmn who had charge of my horses that one of the palace ln.il.ls hud ixnimtcd lo him a dialogue which lis) taken li between the duke und '-a nl. (('. As I was anxious to be off (Atlie road I was compelled to listen 'olla gossip. The flinnd Dukr In two mouths' tlse you shall Weil Ihe Pllnce of Ihip-I Ihip-I titlnn. The Princess What! thai old reduce? red-uce? Never! I shall marry only wVrc I love. The Grand Duke Only where you l"t! IHmers l One woiil.Mhlnk. to l"V you talk, that you worn capable ef i lug something. fh Princess Vou have yet to Him I warn you not to force mo. I ltusii-o to do something ncundaloiis. I will marry one of Ihe people a man. The Grand Duke Hah! (Swears softly on hi way to the stables.) Hut the princess had In hor mind t plan which, had It gone through ufcly, would bave added many gray bslra to the duke' acanty collection. 11 was a mighty Ingenious plan, too, lor a woman to figure out. In bla attitude toward the girl the duke atood alone. Hehlnd bla back hi sinister wore out their shoes In wait-Ug wait-Ug on the caprlcea of the girl, whllo the grand duchess, hulf blind and half-deaf, half-deaf, openly worshiped her willful but s holly adorable niece, and abetted her la all her escapades. Ho fur as the populace wa concerned, she waa the daughter ot the favorite son, (lead these IS year, and that waa enough them. Whatever she did waa right ind prniier. Hut the hard-headed duke bad the power to say what should he hat. and he willed It that the Princes Prin-ces Hlldcgarde should marry bla old comrade In arms, the Prince of Dop-prlkinn. Dop-prlkinn. CHAPTER II. Aa I have already remarked, I used frequently lo take long ride into the rountry, and aomellme 1 did not return re-turn till the following day. My clerk waa alway on duty, and Ihe work nuvur appeared to make him round-shouldered. round-shouldered. It bad ridden horses for yeare, but throw a leg over a Rigid mount was me one of thu greatest pleasures In lie world. 1 delighted In stopping at jo old feudal Inns, of studying thu I Wld Goinuiii peasant, of drinking f Ai steins iincrucked these hundrud M of inspecting ancient arinoc Ojtt-Katheiliig trilling romances lit-lachtA'hvnitu. lit-lachtA'hvnitu. And often I huvo hud the uV " ""I" at """l0 I""1'"' crunii y Hen'11"" "r castle and Ksli for a lodging '" myself and horse. JoVlm. If ever, did 1 n t with a u'' I post V wldimdcul habit of picking Y'l'iKu roads and riding on till u wiMiped down from the uow-caph Vuntuln. i had a bit of poetry In my system that had nevei been completely worked out, and I wai always Imagining that at the very next Hchlcss or Inn was to hit uisia some ilcloctaMe adventure. I wai .-inly J', and Immliiialely fond ol tnj I Dumas. 1 rode In gmiv w.ilpcord Iocs he fnn IsMits. a blue seige coat, whit stock, and never a hat or cap nil the snow blew. I no, to lalli-.h wli-li th peasants asked leave lo lend tue a cap or to run back and llnd the one I had l-rcaiiinahly lost. One night the dcloclnhle adventure for which I was alwavs seeking came my way, and I waa wholly unprepared for II. I hud taken the south blghwny: that which seeks the valley beyond Ih lake. The inonnnim lay misty upon everything: on ihe far-off lake, on the great uphcnvnls of stone and glacier strove me, on the long white road that stretched out before me. rlbbon-wlse. High up the snow on the mountains I resembled hiive opals set in amethyst. I was easily .". miles tioin thu city; that Is lo any, I had hi-cu in the enddle I some six h s. NohiHtv but a king's ; messenger will ride a h tse more than ' live miles nn hour. I cast about for a place lo spend the lildit. There waa no tavern In sight, mid Ihe hovels 1 nan insst i inn ma no- i.iav iii ed no shelter for my horse. Sudden-1 Sudden-1 ly. around n bond lu the road, 1 saw I the ban n t was w cl.lng. It was a .nmlilliig. Iiitierlng old castle, stand-I stand-I lug lu the coiner of a cluster of firs; I and the tiles of the runts and the ivy of the towers were -Inning sliver with . the heavy fall of dew. Ijtdy t'liloo sniffed her kind, whin- iiIihI. and broke Into a trot. Hhe knew ' so.iiior I bun I thai there wns life he-' he-' yonil ihe mm. We rode up to the i cute, and 1 dismount! d mid stretched 'myself I tiled the kiiis. The lock 1 hung liaise, like a paralytic hand. 1 F.vldently those Inside had nothing tu I fear from Ihoae outside. 1 grasped an r "I Shall Marry Only Wher I Lovs." Iron bar and pushed In the gate, Ohio, following knowingly at my heels. I could feel the crumbling rust on my gloves. Chlo whinnied again, and there came an answering whinny fruit somewhere In the rear of the castla Homebody must be Inside, t reasoned There were lights In Ihe left wing hut this part of the castle waa sue rounded by an empty tuoat, damp and I weedy. Thla wa not to be entered ' save by a ladder. There was a great central door, however, which had modern appearance. The approach was a broad graveled walk. I lied I July Chloe lo a tree, knotted th bridle-reins above hor neck lo prevent her from putting her rualleas feet Into them, and proceeded toward the door. Of all (he nights thla was Ihe one on which my usually lively Imagination rcimsed. I waa hungry and tired, aud I dare say my little mare waa. I wasn't looking for an adventure; I didn't want any adventure; I wantod nothing In Ihe world but a meal and a bed. Hut for the chill of Ihe eight air the brcuth of the mountulu Is cold at night I should have beeu ported- , ly willing to sleep In the open. Down I drawbridge, up portcullis! I boldly climbed Ihe step and groped around for the knocker. It was broken and useless, like Ihe lock on the gate. And never a hull could I find. I swore softly und became Imputleut. People lu llnrschelt did not usually live In this slovenly fushlon. What sort of placo was this? Kiidilenly 1 grew erect, every fiber In my body tense und expectunt. A volcu, lifted lu song! A greut ponetiiitlug yet allklly mi How voice; a soprano; heavenly, not to say rhostly, coming as It did from the heart of this gloomy ruin of atone anil Iron. The Jewel song from Faust, loo! How the volcu rose, foil, soun d ugiiln with Intoxicating In-toxicating waves of sound! What permeating per-meating sweetness! 1 stood there, a solitary listener, as fur as I knew, bewildered, be-wildered, my In ai t beating bard and fast. 1 forgot my hunger. (TO US CONTINUED.) |