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Show King Tommy CHAPTER XVII Contmued 24 "All the same," said Tommy, "I don't think the patriarch ought to have talked that way to the princess about ier father." "The princess evidently felt that .vuy herself," said Janet. "She changed ie subject abruptly, and well, she cent about the bush a bit, and It was rather hard to make out exactly what he meant. But I think she was try-lag try-lag to explain to the patriarch that ihe had no objection to marrying you. Of course, that wasn't a thing she could very well say straight out in plain words, and evidently the patriarch patri-arch didn't quite grasp what she vas at." "How did It end?' said Tommy. "I'm not asking simply out of curiosity. curios-ity. It's really rather an important matter with me." "I can't tell you how It ended," said Janet. "That tall count man came in who sat at supper with you last night." "Albert Caslmlr." That's his name. He came In and told me that I might come here to see you." "I wish you'd waited a little," said Tommy. "I waited as long as I could. I was practically ordered out of the room. But I shouldn' t have been much wiser If I'd stayed. They were all three talking nothing but Lystrlan. As soon as the princess realized that the patriarch wasn't taking In what she said, she dropped German and spoke Lystrlan. So did the count. All I can say Is that It sounded as if they were arguing." "It always sounds as If people were arguing when they talk a language one doesn't understand. Generally, they appear to be quarelllng. Which side was Caslmlr on, the princess' or the patriarch's?" "It seemed to me," said Janet, "that they were all three on different sides." "Well," said Tommy, "I suppose It's all settled by this time. I wish I knew how." "Prom the way they were speaking," Bald Janet, "I should say the discussion discus-sion might go on for hours. They all seemed to have a lot to say." "I wish you'd go back," said Tommy, "and try what you can do In the way of Influencing the patriarch." "I don't see that I've any right to Interfere." "Still, I think you ought to try. It's a frightfully serious thing for me. As far as I can make out, I'm either going go-ing to be hanged or married." "I'm afraid I've no influence with the patriarch." "Oh, yes, yon have," said Tommy, "as a representative of the League of Christian Churches, you must have. Suppose you" were to offer the patriarch patri-arch to make him president of a world conference of religions, to be held at Chicago or some place like that where a conference of the kind might be held. He'd love that. And at the same time you could tell Caslmlr that I don't in the least mind whether I'm king of Lystria or not. If I'm allowed al-lowed to marry Calypso I'd every bit as soon go home as stay here." "That young woman," said Janet, "is totally unsuited to be a curate's wife." "She Is," said Tommy. "I know that. Perhaps It would be better for you to say to Casimir that' I'd make quite a good king from his point of view give him any amount of balls and dinners, keep up the opera, not have any Income tax; and all that sort of thing. The late king told me exactly what's wanted and I'm prepared pre-pared to do It. It will be easy enough to talk over Casimir. The real trouble trou-ble is the patriarch. Look here, Miss Church, if you manage to persuade him, I'll promise faithfully to use all my influence as king to unite the Lys-trian Lys-trian church to any Christian body In the world you choose to name. Even if we have to wait till the present patriarch pa-triarch dies and I have the appoint-j appoint-j ment of a new one, we'll pull the J thing off In the end." That must have been a mrong temptation to Janet. I dare say she would have given way to it and gone to the patriarch with a proposal that he should be president of some sort of world conference. Whether lie would have accepted the position or not no one will ever know. Before Janet had made any reply to Tommy, Count Albert Casimir entered the room. He immediately ordered the two soldiers who stood on guard to go away. He spoke to them In a manner that was actually savage, just as if they had forced their way into Tommy's Tom-my's apartments against orders which lie had repeatedly given them. Then he marched over to the window, win-dow, where Tommy was standing, and saluted. After that he marched back to the door. Hung it open, stood to attention at-tention at one side of It and said. "Pleas,e." It was evident that Tommy was at liberty again. Janet, eagerly questioning Casimir. scarcely pausing to translate his an-wers an-wers to Tommy, got an outline of what had happened. The princess had carried her point. Casimir. who did not much care who was king of Lystria. so long as there was a king of some sit, backed her u. The patriarch. lw was a kind-hearted kind-hearted old gentleman nd reffUr fond d the princens. bad given Mtj in iUe uid 1 By George A. Birmingham Copyright by Bobbs-Merrill Co. W. N. U. Service Part IV London and Lystria CHAPTER XVIII I find myself at last, to my own great satisfaction, able to return to a part of the story in which I myself bore a part. I am no longer writing hearsay, but narrating what I actually actual-ly saw and heard. The scene of Lord Edmund Troyte's library in Grosvenor street, when Lord Norheys and his bride walked in, remains re-mains vividly pictured In my mind. Troyte sat bolt upright on the edge of a deep chair In which he had been lounging. At his elbow was a little table with the empty coffee cups and the liqueurs on It. Behind It sat Pro-copius Pro-copius Cable, staring at Norheys with an expression of angry amazement on his face. Half way between the door and the fireplace stood Norheys and his bride. I had never before seen Viola Temple off the stage, and her appearance surprised me. I expected her to be pretty, of course. I did not expect her to look gentle, shy and even timid. A girl who has faced huge audiences hundreds of times would not, one might suppose, be frightened of three old gentlemen sitting sit-ting round a fire. But she was. Norheys' Nor-heys' attitude was protective. He held one of her hands, and kept her close bsslde him. The library In Troyte's house In Grosvenor street Is a comfortable, and, I think, a beautiful room. There are a couple of good pictures, but for the most part the walls are covered cov-ered with bookcases. Troyte has spent a great deal on books during his life, rare books, exquisite examples of printing and books which have fine bindings. I do not know that he, or Indeed any one, ever reads books of that kind. It is generally easier, and pleasanter, to buy a modern mod-ern edition of an old author If you want to read him at all. But there Is no doubt that the presence In a room of good books, good from a bibliophile's point of view, creates an atmosphere which Is very agreeable, especially after dinner. A Persian carpet, one of the best I have ever seen, covers the floor of the library. Some good chairs, Chinese Chi-nese Chippendale, stand with their backs against the bookcases. But Troyte Is too sensible a man to sacrifice sacri-fice comfort to artistic feeling. Round the fire he had deep leather-covered chairs of thoroughly satisfactory late Victorian design. I, the fifth person present, and by far the least important, leaned back In my chair and giggled feebly. "Unless it's Emily's curate who's gone to Lystria," I repeated, "I don't know who It can be." Procopius Cable turned and glared at me with ferocity and contempt. I had been guilty of an ill-timed attempt at-tempt at a joke In the middle of a very serious crisis. I stopped giggling gig-gling abruptly and murmured an apology. apol-ogy. After that, for a while, nobody spoke. Troyte was the first to recover his self-possession. He rose from his chair and walked over to where Norheys Nor-heys and his bride were standing. "My dear Viola," he said, "that stupid husband of yours has never introduced in-troduced me to you, so I must introduce intro-duce myself as your uncle. Won't you come over to the fire and sit down?" He took her by the hand and led her to his own chair. He set her in it and placed a footstool at her feet. The recognition hart been a little long in coming, but there were excuses to be made for the delay. Nothing could have been more courteous than Troyte's Troy-te's manner when he got over the shock of her sudden appearance and made up his mind to accept the inevitable. inev-itable. The girl looked up at him with timid gratitude and blushed In the most charming manner. "Good old Uncle Ned." said Norheys. Nor-heys. "I knew you'd take it like a man. What I always said to Viola was this: Uncle Ned may be a member of parliament and a cabinet minister and all that, hut he's still a gentleman." gentle-man." Cable, his hands thrust deep into his trousers pockets, stood scowling. "What's happened in Lystria?" he said. "It seems to me," said Norheys. "that some other blighter has chipped in." Cable strode over to Troyte's writing writ-ing table, seized a pen and began to scribble at a terrific pace, faster than any one I've ever seen write, except on the stage. He talked while he wrote, another thing which reminded me of the theater. "I shall wire to Berlin at once. Casimir Cas-imir is still in Berlin. I shall wire to King Wladisluws. I shall wire to the patriarch in Lystria." "Seems a pity, doesn't it?" said Norheys. "to butt in like that. What I always say is: If a thing's done, then it is done, even if it happens to be the thing which a fellow would rather wasn't done." Troyte passed bis hand over his forehead anxiously. "There'll be trouble In the Balkans," he said. "I don't see how this business busi-ness can end without fresh trouble in the Balkans." "The marriage nas probably Dot tak en place yet," said Cable. "We may be In time to stop It." "Even If we do," said Troyte, "there'll be trouble.' "I don't see why," said Norheys. "Of course I'm only an outsider and this is your job, Uncle Ned. But I don't see why. It seems to me things ought to settle down. These mountainy fellows fel-lows in what-you-call the place " "Lystria," I prompted. "The good old I.ystrians," said Norheys, Nor-heys, "wanted a king, and they've got one. That dusky queen of yours, Uncle Un-cle Ned, wanted a husband and she's got one, or will very soon if we don't interfere. He may be a wrong 'un. Seems rather as If he Is, but if she's satisfied I don't see hat It matters to us. The great thing is not to start Interfering In-terfering with other people's business. That' never does any good." Troyte, who was seriously troubled, murmured something about a war in the Balkans which it might be impossible impos-sible to localize. Cable crossed the room from the writing table with three sheets of note paper In his hand. "This," he said, holding out one of them, "Is a telegram to Casimir. The other two are to the king and to the patriarch. Can you get them sent off at once, Lord Edmund?" "I think so," said Troyte. "I can send them round to the Foreign office, and they'll get them off for me. But I doubt If there'll be any operators on duty at this hour In the postofflces abroad. I shall have to write some telegrams myself. I must communicate communi-cate at once with our ambassador In Berlin, and with our ministers In Prague and Bukarest and " "Seems a pity, doesn't It?" said Norheys. "After all, Uncle Ned, that fellow, whoever he Is, evidently wants a princess. And what I always say Is: Why shouldn't he have her If he does?" "The patriarch will probably have him shot out of hand when he gets my telegram," said Cable bitterly. "I hope not," said Norheys. "He may be quite a decent fellow, not a wrong 'un at all. And It Isn't every one who'd take on that princess of yours, Uncle Ned. Lots of men don't like lt." "I've told you all along," I said, "that the princess Calypso is as white as you are." "Still, there's always risk," said Norheys. "A throw-back, don't you know. What scientific Johnnies call atavism. You never can tell when a perfectly coal-black baby might turn up. Horrid things, black babies. What I always say Is that If a fellow Is prepared to take the risk, why not let him? No particular business of ours, Is It, if the babies turn out to be black, or even brown?" Troyte was attending to Viola, taking tak-ing her coat from her, offering her cushions, trying to induce her to drink champagne. Cable grew Impatient. "Perhaps," he said, "you will phone these telegrams through to the Foreign For-eign office, or would you rather I sent a messenger with them?" Troyte got up and went to the telephone. tele-phone. Norheys talked on, addressing address-ing no one in particular. "What I can't see," he said, "is why we should butt in. So far as I can make out, I'm the only one of us with a shadow of a grievance, and I don't want to trot it out. I can't well take an action for breach of promise , against an Indian queen. I'd look such an ass, wouldn't I, Uncle Bill?" He turned to me because Troyte was at the telephone and Cable had turned his back on us. "I know you'll say she's not an Indian," In-dian," said Norheys. "hut Persians seem to me just as bad." "She's not Persian, either," I said. I (TO BS CONTINUED.) |