The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1894-11-28

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For seUerdl days he secluded himself In
has olc11 apartments.
the realm-ior that was impossible
but in some other equivalent, for princes
can give gifts which aspiring young
men who are not poor prize more than
money. And when once the bills were
receipted in full then the audacious
tailor should be duly kicked out Of the
palace and the grand duchy. This was
the baron's scheme.
The grand duke fully indorsed his ad-
viser's opinion, as indeed he always
did It was therefore determined that
the tailor should be smiled on, and that
confidential pourparlers should be COM
menced, with view to induce the tailor
to forego his pecuniary claims in consid-
Grafton of his being. made "von. .
No one who has not been in Germany
can understand the boldness Of this
step. To be a 3von" is to be noble
man, even though no title stands before
it. 1t raises a man at once above the
class of bourgeoisie and places him
among the aristocracy, and not only
himself, but all his children and de-
scendants forever. Nay, more, 1t has
backward as well as forward effect and
ennobles his family, root and branch,
ancestors and descendants. Consequent
" such patent Of nobility was and is
beyond price, and if the grand duke
could only bring himself to confer it
upon Heinrich Muller he would be more
than repaid for all that was owing to
him. It was, however, bold and un-
usual step to take, and Baron Won Dern-
field would scarcely have ventured to
make such a suggestion to the grand
duke, even under the. pressure of the
heaviest difficulties, if he had not been
prepared to back it up by weighty diplo-
matte arguments.
But this is how he reasoned: 'This
impudent tailor is secretly in love with
the Princess Gertrude. He fully under
stands that between him and her stands
the impossible gulf that yawns between
the common people and the nobility. II
we offer to create him won, he will
think that heaven itself is favoring his
suit; that the chasm is about to be filled
no. and that, when he is a real Won
Muller he may be able with some hope
of success to declare his passion. We
will make him won, then, in order to
get out Of his financial clutches, and
that once done leave the rest to US "
The scheme was not i'll conceived
Heinrich Muller had no inkling at all
of what was going forward, but II he
had been diplomatist he would have
suspected that some mischief was brew
ing from the fact that both the grand
duke and the minister were SO extraor-
dinarily polite to him. They smiled at
him whenever they passed him in their
carriages, and the old baron actually
went down to the shop himself to be
measured for anew court dress. Shortly
after valet from the schloss brought
him command from his serene high
ness to be at the castle the next evening
after dinner. He obeyed and was clos
eted for a short time with the prime
minister and then for short time with
the grand duke. Everything was ar
ranged without a hitch. The minister
commenced by explaining that the high
character and education of Herr Muller
had evidently raised him high above his
position, and that his serene hlghness
had come to the conclusion that he
could efficiently fill court Office If he
would retire from all connection with
trade. The grand duke, therefore, had
for q long time contemplated asking
him to give up his present occupation,
for which there could be no further ne
cessity, seeing how great was his well
known wealth, and thereupon conferr1ng
on him diploma of nobility and Great
ing him "von. - Only one difficulty
stood in the way. His serene highness
felt bound in honor to liquidate all out
standing liabilities to him before max
ing any such proposition; but, to tell
the candid truth, he began to fear it
would be several years before he would
be able to do this in full. The prime
minister, therefore, anxious to be OF
service to such superior young man
as Heinrich, took upon himself to let
him know what was designed for him,
and in the interest of all concerned ven
tured to suggest that it would be far bet
ter for Heinrich, in view of his future
career, which was certain to be distin-
guished, to secure the honor at once.
He could certainly do so if he would
generously forego his pecuniary claims
and give receipt in full for all that
was owing to him by the court.
Heinrich listened to all this with
grave attention. There is no denying
that his heart beat fast as he heard the
unexpected good news. Willingly in
1eed wonld he have paid thrice the