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Show The Princess Elopes By HAROLD McGRATH Authmr wf "The Mtn en Ihe Bo." 'Hearts and Masks." o.ie. -- itMM A? SYNOPSIS. T Ani. rl. ,n , 1 I,, t ir. ),rtl n rim, if (In v ..t I ". .r.,..-. i. n. h,. ii . rrlKMll.tf gt l,. .Pike Mel ll. I.. 11,,. I ii l,.i..,,,. f,,r hi. r.l."ll.,is in. , ., i ,. I'rlii-.-s. Mii,.-kmi,i. II i . 1 1 1 v .1.-. r- ,i,n tint! sl,v w.-.l il. .,,, f ,,,, k,,, an uglv l, widower, ruler ..f ll,.- nll,- boring filn, ,. .,!,! Though l- I,,.. I In II mill l.,r sir, liiMiilhn II, r An,. I, "I, li..v.T s-i-n II,.. iirlii. . .. While Iters. I.,i k rl.lliiic In ll,- ...uiiii. niglit m.-ruik.. l,l,i, n. ,r seeks ,,.,. Iil,itl,.n in )lln1'l.l,t-.t ..1.1 n hll.. ....klii. admission 1,- ai.ril.,1 tiy a li.m.llful vol. breaking Inlu song CHAPTER II. ConUnutd. llml I stumbled ilium on iif my drcuiu at lam? Hail Romance (nil donly relented, ai a coquette some-times some-times relent? For a pnre I knew not what to do. Then, wllh a shrug 1 have never been arrtiMl of lucking courage 1 tried once nuirr, by the aid uf a mulch, to locate a Im'II. Th.T., wua absolutely nothing; and tlm bout-In bout-In It uf my riding crop tin I hi- pnncla of that hiiKO duir would have been at noisy aa a feather. I grasped Hip knob anil turned It Imi'alli'ntly. lie luilil! thn iliKir opened without aounil. and I li'iii'd Inlu tho hallway, which wua velvet black. Hllenre! Tim aotiK died. All over that ureal rumbling structure not even the rca-urliiK rca-urliiK chirp of a cricket! I atood perfectly per-fectly at III. What Ilia deuce ihnuld I do? Turn bark? Aa 1 formed tlila question In my mind a draft uf wind alninmed the door ahut. 1 waa In for It, Hire enough; I waa positive that I could never find Hint door again. Heaven knowa how long I waited. Hoon 1 heard a UiikIi, light, Infec-tloua, Infec-tloua, (earleaa! Then I heard a voice, aort and pleading: "Don't go; In mercy' name, don't fn, tlretehen! You may he killed!" KiiKll'h! I had actually heard a voire apeak my nallvo tongue. .Nonnetiae. Iletty! I am not afraid of any shorn that ever walked, rixlu or flouted." "(Ihoai? It may be a burglar!" "Or Htelnbock! We thai) find nothing." noth-ing." Indeed! "Nothing but a rat, bugling about In the armor." The laughter came again. "You are not afraid, Iletty?" "Only cautloua. Hut bow can you laugh? A ratr erled a volca rather analoualy. "Why, they are aa big ai duga!" "Hut arrant cowarda." Bo! ono of theae voire apoke Eng. Ilab aa Ita birthright; the other apoke with an accent, that la to aay, by adoption. adop-tion. Into what had I fallen? Whither bad my hunger brought mo? 1 waa aoon to leurn. There came a faint thread of light on one aide of the hall, aurb aa may be likened to tbut which Altera under a dooralll. Treaently thla waa followod by the aound of Jungllag braaa rlnga. A heavy velvet portlero which I, being be-ing In durkne, had not discovered allpped buck. My glunce, rather blinded, blind-ed, waa flrat directed toward the flame of the candle. Then I lowered It and aurremlered for ever and for ever! 1 beheld two farea In profile, aa It were, one aide In darkneaa, tho other tinted and glowing like ancient Ivory. I honestly confess to you that In all my wandering and they have been frequent and many I never aaw aueh an enchanting picture or two more e-qulslte e-qulslte fucea. Ono peered forth with hesitant bravery; the other ahe who held the candle with cold, tranquil Inquiry. All my fear, auch aa they were, left urn Instantly. Healdea, I wua not with, out a curtain amount of gallantry and humor. I atepped aquurely Into the light and bowed. "Ladle. I am Indeed not a ghoat, but I promise you thut I shall be If I am not offered something to eat at once!" Tableau! "What are you doing here?" asked alio with the candle, her midnight eyes drawing down her brow Into a frown of displeasure. I bowed. "To begin with, I And a gate unlocked, and being curious, I open It; then I Iln, I a door unlatched, and 1 enter. Under these unusual rlr-ciimaiuncea rlr-ciimaiuncea I am forced to ask the same question of you: what are you doing here In this ruined cuatle? If It Isn't ruined. It la deserted, which amount to the aume thing." Thla waa Impertinent, eapvclully on the purt of a aelf Invited guest. "Thut la my uffulr, air. I huve a right here, now and at all times." Her voire wna cold and authoritative. "There I un Inn all mile further down the road; this la a private real-dence. real-dence. Certainly you cun not reninln here over night." "tll mllue?" I echoed dismally. "Uudum, If I have seemed Impertinent, ,n in. l - i ....I ' ' " '-. ' " ' !i:ie ' ll In tee ..ii It,. ' I lime ii.i.i. ..,,! : ' - Mfce r ,li I ,.-. ,, t. M I, hi bu,. i,... ,,. ,,, ,, .., I .nlmi' 'liiii 1 1,.- ji.i:ii,..i ,,f m, ,.' ii. .,. , ..irii.il ,w v.,,, k'"" "11 th. ,1 b) ,l. h I ak'e kn,,n mi ,,.,.., ,. , , , ,. irn'h i. I ,1. i ,, ., ,,, B , ,.,, No nil.- hk- s I,. Htiilul.r.. Hit,. n H'll.-ll Ml.' .iii Iu.iimiik u. (l! !: ..Till In ""'I I"""' ll'l'-'l I "I ' of It ll ' - Hue t.i me. n.-ni. , ui, I,, nnh.-r (h-in biilllai.i " mi, ,in Vi,,,.,!,-,,,! M :! iitnii a ,...,r I ,.al, tin l l- in I, I ,ve In.t mi .n, 1 . 1 in. I am I iiiim i iin, in. , I To tide u mil. H fin lu r now U a ,'nl. ul Hit I'".--, N illii . .in,l I ,im i. ii I. .tut of mi h, ,i... lie he In Ihiiikh. liri li tu n.'' '! Kn.tlMi Kill. ili,., K euhlly into the Ci. nch l.,i,i;,i.ic., uh ii , 1,1,1c "f -,.cll ll ... n Wtell-h. I kll.,W. tint I slim ly could tint help telling Hun lie; I ,, In l .ini in ,,. mi,! lli. v lnluht ! c.,n,li i -K.-xt.l. n.'' ' III .HI the Kill, -he hmkl like U gen- I ' Hill lint lllmil. I. II u gentle I Hum In ihe run. II.. 1 1 1-Ii t . " i..,!i, , lll.-l.heli. etellig UK' l III. ully mill ,-tn,-.l mill fiisiiIi li.tiely f"l lue, I Kil. d fmiii nun ,i (be oilier. liuiuliliiKli. nlier the n, miner of i, lie hii heum a tniigiie not under ,.i.ni,.,l,l,. J lies tnther nice." wua the Ktigllsh ulrl'a inn nieiil. "and hla eye strike me n. In tng too ati'iidy to be dishonest. dishon-est. " I bin ihe decency to burn In the cms. I hud tiilieu the alcp, so now I coiibl not draw buck. I sincerely hoped thut they would not enchnnge any cm liHrriiKKlng contldencea. When alone women converse li.n many perullnr toplca; ii nil conversing in a tongue which they su,Kiel to he unknown to me. theae two were virtually alone. "Hut. my dear child," Ihe other returned re-turned argumentative!)-, "we ran not offer hospitality to a atrange man thla night of all nlghta. Think of what la to be accomplished." (Ho aomelhlng waa to be accomplished? accom-plished? I waa right, then, In deceiving deceiv-ing them. To accomplish aomelhlng on a night like thla, far from habitation, habita-tion, hail all tho air of a conspiracy.) "Feed hliu and hla horse, and I'll uudertuke to get rid of 111 ill before that detestable Hlclnbock comes. Healdea, he might prove a valuable wltneaa In drawing up the pupeia." (I'upera?) "I never thought of that. It will not do to trust Htelnbock wholly." (Ireli h en turned her searching eye once more upon me. 1 confess that I had some difficulty In ateadylng my own. There are some persona to whom one ran not lie eucccasfiilly; o,e of them lood before me. Hut I rather fancy I pasaed through the ordeal with at least half u victory. "Will you go your way after an hour real?" she asked, apeak, lug In the familiar tongue. "I promise." It hi easy to make till promlne. I wasn't a diplomat for nothing. I knew how to hang on, to dodge under, to go about. "Follow me," Uretehen commanded briefly. We passed through the gloomy anion. A dump, musty odor (truck my sense of smell. 1 waa positive that the castle wua uninhabited, save for thla night. Three candles burned on the mantel, giving to the gloom a mysterious, myste-rious, palpitating effect. The room beyond was the dining room, richly paneled In wine-colored luuhogauy. Thla was better; It was cheerful. A log crackled In the fireplace. There were plenty of candles. Thete waa a pluno. too. This belonged to the cas tie; a heavy turpuulln covering lay heaped ut one side. There was a mahogany ma-hogany sldebourd thut would have ..cnf'od .iilal, a'purnKim. white hre,t in, I uiifaltc.l butter, un alcohol burner r w hli !i I,uuk u t.-.i pot. n1 hcldea -ill Mil. there wn. a pint of l.u It whiib w.i. inn hif emptied. Il.no "i i I" . n In the s.id.lle luilf ii d,l' II .,,, I.ul.'. .,ll will te.i.llli 'l ilt il ell. l int- of null, pies Into tap lures mi. I a tilde 1 1 ... ci which lui the i. tiiniMM , f a Hue supper My mouth watered I c, mt.., mor the g.m.i ihlni:. mast pheasant, pink hum. a appreciate the appetite Hint was warring war-ring with mi- ciitloitty "i:.u." bade she who wua called tlretcheti, Mmrtly. i And 11,1 horse?' Where Is If" "Tied In ii i bv the gate " She si link u Chinese gimg From , the kitchen appeared an elderly servl tnr who looked to tnc more fitted to , bundle a saber than a curving knife, ul leu. I. the senr on ti let cheek Im 1 plessed tne with this Idea ll found lout Inter that he was mi old soldier. I who Hied alone In the rustle as care , laker I Take this gentleman' horse to tlm' ; stables and feed him." said lirelrhen i I 1 You w ill Iln, I the uiilmal by the gate." ' With a ipiestl.uiiiig gintice at me the, j vM fellow linwi'd und made olt. I sul down, and the two women' brought the utlnn. plates and placed i them within reach. Their beautiful I builds Unshed before my eyes and now I und then a sleeve brushed my shnul-l d.T j "Thank you." I murmured. "I Willi out llrst. and then make my aio!oglea."j Thla remark caught the fancy of tlretehen. Hhe Intighed. It waa Hi same laughter I hud heutd while aland-Ing aland-Ing In the great hall. i "Will you drink tea. or would yoti prefer to finish thla llordeaii?" ah, asked pleasantly. "The wine. If you please; otherwla' the effect of the meal and the long I hour In Ihe wind will produce sleepiness. sleep-iness. And It would be frightfully ill-1 "I Bthald Two Fac In Profile, aa It Wara courteoua on my part to fall asleep In my chair. I am ery bard to awaks " The Kngllah girl injured out tbe wine and passed the goblet to me. I touched my lip to the glass, and bent my bead politely. Then I reaolulely proceeded to attack the pheasant and ham. I must prove lo these women that at least I waa honest In regard lo my hunger. 1 aucceeded In causing a formidable portion of the food to dl appear. And then I noticed that neither of the young women aealed herself while I ate. 1 understood. There was no hoatlllty n thl action; nothing but formality. They declined to alt In the presence of an un welcome at ranger, thu denying bl equality from a social so-cial point of view. I readily accepted thla decision on their part. They didn't know who I wu. They stood together by the fireplace and carried on a conversation In low tonea. How shall 1 describe them? The elder of the two, the one who seemed to possess all the authority, could not have been more than 20. Her figure waa rather matured, yet It waa dell cate. Her hair wu tawny, her skin olive In shade and richly tinted at the cheekbones. Her eye, half framed by thick, black arching brow, reminded remind-ed me of woodland pool In the dusk of the evening. depth unknown, cool, refreshing In reiuise. The chin waa resolute, the mouth waa large but shapely and brilliant, the noae poe. aeaaed the delicate nostrils character Istlc of all sensitive beings that I to say, thoroughbreds; altogether a confusing, con-fusing, bewildering beauty. At una moment I believed her to be Latin, at ihe nest I wu positive that she waa Teutonic. 1 could not discover a single sin-gle weak point, unless lmpulslvcniiss shall be called weakness; thl sign of Impulsiveness wua visible In the Hp. ITO HI CONTINUED.) L |
