The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-11-20

Tor perhaps u nali uVsF lOuBer. 1ueu
at last the horses hoofs resounded upon
stone, and we drew up. My officer de-
scended from the carriage; followed
him. We were standing under O massive
archway, a sort of porte-cochere, light
ed by hanging lantern. Before small
door pierced in the stone wall fronting
us sentinel was posted, with his mus
ket presented in salute.
The three mounted gendarmes sprang
from their saddles.
Farewell; Herr Weinricht," said my
officer. Il have enjoyed our drive to-
gether more than l can tell you. If we
should never meet again il this world,
let Us hope We shall do SO in another
and a better" Then. turning to his
snbordinates: Conduct this gentle
man to the tower chamber" he COM
manded.
The sentry stood aside. One OF the
gendarmes preceding me, the other two
coming behind, I was conveyed up o
narrow winding stone staircase, into o
big octagon- shaped room.
The room was lighted by innumerable
candies set in sconces round the walls.
1t was comfortably, even richly, fur
nished, and decorated with consider
able degree of taste. A vast worm
hued Persian carpet covered the stone
floor; hooks, pictures, biblots, were
scattered Discriminatory about; and n
one corner there stood q grand piano,
open, with violin and bow lying on it.
The gendarmes bowed themselves out,
shutting the door behind them with an
ominous clangor.
IF this is to be my dungeon CELL I
thought, Il shall not be so uncomforta-
BILE after all. But how preposterous Of
them to force me 20 wear my dress
suit"
l threw myself into an easy chair,
buried my face in my hands and tried
to reflect upon my situation.
Suddenly I was disturbed by the
sound of light little cough behind me,
a discreet little ahem.
looked quickly up.
A lady had entered the apartment,
and was standing in the middle OF it,
smiling in contemplation of my despair
ing attitude.
Good heavens" I gasped, but not
audibly, as her face grew clear to my
startled sight, "the Grand Duchess
herself"
Il am glad to see you, Mr.. Vain
right" her highness began in English,
but slightly continental. 4X- is a
dull little place-oh, believe me, the
dullest of its size in Christendom-and
they tell me you are an amusing man"
Now, of course the reader has fore
seen it from the outset; otherwise why
should I be OBTAINING him with this
anecdote? But upon me it came as
thunderbolt, and in my emotion l for
got myself and exclaimed aloud: Sc
bastian Roch!" The face Of the Grand
Duchess had haunted me with a sense
of familiarity: the voice OF my red
headed officer in the carriage had seemed
not strange to me; but now that l saw
the face, and heard the voice, tinged by
that slight foreign quality Of English,
at one and the same time, oil was clear.
Sebastian Roch!"
1You said?" the gracious lady queried,
arching her eyes.
Nothing, madame. I was about to
thank your highness for your kind
ness, but"
But your mind wandered, and you
made some irrelevant military observa-
ton about bastion rock. 1t is perhaps
aphasia.
Yes, very probably" assented I.
"BuI vou are man Of honor, are you
not?"
Il nope So.
"The English generally are. You can
keep a state secret, especially when
you happen to have learned it by sort
of accident, can you not?"
Il am very tomb for such things,
madame"
That is well. And, besides, you
must consider that not all homicide is
murder. Sometimes one is driven to
kill IL lelf-defense.
II have not doubt Of that"
II am only sorry it should all have
happened before you saw his squint. 1t
would have pleased your sense of humor.
" is the dullest little prlncipality,
she went on, "oh, but dull, dull, dull!
am sometimes forced in despair to
perpetrate little jokes. Yet you have
actually stopped here five weeks. 1t
must be as they say, that the English
people take their pleasures sadly. You
are a painter, am told
yes, your htghness, make shit
at painting"
eliminating audience. I think you had
better paint my portrait. will fiddle
to YOU to your hearts content. Between
whiles we will talk. Sometimes, l may
tell you, I smoke cigarettes; one must
have some excitement. We will Try to
enliven things a little, to galvanize a
little life into this corpsely court. Do
you think We shal succeedi"
sOh, should rot despair Of doing 80. :
THAT is nice Of you. have a most
ridiculous high chancellor; you might
draw caricatures of him. And my first
lady of the chamber has preposterous
lisp. do hope shall be amused" =.
As she spoke she extended her left
hand toward me. I took it and was
about to give it friendly shake.
NO, no, not that" said she. oh, !
forgot; YOU are an American and q
democrat, and the simplest c OF
court etiquette is Sanskrit to you. Must
I tell you what to do?" :,
To cut long story short, l thought
my lines had fallen unto me in extreme.
ly pleasant places; and 60 indeed they
had-for awhile. I passed a merry
summer at the court Of X, alter
mating between the Kesidenz in the
,own and the schloss beyond the walls.
I made good many preliminary studies
for the Princess portrait, while she
played with her violin; and between
t:mes, as she had promised, we talked
practiced court etiquette, smoked ciger.
cites, and laughed at scandal. But
when began upon the final canvas L