Evening star., 1896-09-12

she did not seem at all to shrink away
from me, as 1 did from her. She seemed
rather to edge over, by slow advances
more and more to my side When the jolt
ing Of the coach would throw her some
what nearer to me. instead of retreating
she would keep the advantage she had
gained, until finally, she was as close 20
me as she could very well be without ab-
solutely reclining upon my shoulder. More
than once l remember, / was tempted to
put my arm around her and bring the
sweet being still closer. The temptation
was terrible one, but I resisted 1t brayely
and l was afterward glad of it.
The driver kept his horses at the same
rapid gait as when he started, and we soon
passed over what seemed to be a long
stone bridge and out Of the town At last
L judged we were out Of the town, because
the lights had disappeared, but it was
rather dark and raining still, and the
moisture on tne glass made II impossible
Tor me to give more than guess as to our
surroundlngs At one time We seemed to
be climbing long, steep HILL and now we
were plunging down the further side OF 1t;
then, again, Tor long time, a quarter of
an hour at least. the road passed through
dense. black forest. Meanwhile / was Won
derIng whether we Were on the road To 81
Estephe. wnat kind Of place it was and
whether we would be stopped ON tho
frontier by the customs officials Won PIl-
sener had evidently arranged with bjs
coachman to get rid OF Melanie. and n
he had broken his agreement about taE,rs
the maid he would be very likely N hraas
any other agreement and take the nrincesa
heavens knows where. His man eyidentIv
thought that he had the baron inside Of
the carriage I could have told him whara
to hnd the baron at that moment ana
laughed to myself as I Imagined his snr-
prise and discontinue when he should Ana
of his master i''eeao
The princess and 1 did not talk very
much during our Journey. The creakine
ana sh 1oising OF the vehicle and rumbling Of
o1's., eme mneeis maoe IL dificult for us to mako
ourselves heard, and I had besides ex-
hausted all the subjects of Conversation
excepting those upon " hich It was danger
GUS ior me to enter. At one time she asked
tephe Win 81. Es-
was quite familiar with 1t, some vears
ago. L answered. and so I had been. for
.a. was tne name OF a cheap brand of
college. at
Il suppose" she continued. that Won
Know Know where to find the Maitre D'Armes
without any trouble?"
"Oh," said /, Il have left all that to tho
coachman." ~ ''e
Il noticed. as soon as we started. that
you had way of leaving everything to the
coachman, but do not mind as long as
you keep your agreement about the main
tfing. the matter about which I smoke to
you at the supper table. Remember? n
must De produced and handed to the syndic
before the ceremony"
Will do even better than that your
nlghness. 1 assure you now, by everything
that hold sacred. that the ceremony shall
not take place until 1 have given ii into
your own hands. What is the use Of maxi
ing the mayor a party to the transaction?
l VIII give 1t directly to you. and IL 1 do
rot, there will be no ceremony"
You are certainly very generous, Herr
Baron. And your present promise is very
different from the wording OF your previous
conditions I must say that my opinion Of
you has changed materially since 1 met
you tonight
IT hope. your highness. that the opinion
which you had Of me before tonight was
not a favorable one"
TT was not Herr Baron"
In an hour, or 1t might have been an hour
and a quarter. after we first started. we
saw several lights appear here and there
and we seemed to be coming into a town
We again passed over a bridge drove some
way along a street and made a number Of
turns; then We seemed to pass through a
stone arch; the wheels grated over n
winding graveled driveway. and the car
riage drew up in front Of a building of
goodly size. several windows of which were
lighted up.
The driver sprang to the ground and
opened the coach door. 1 stepped down
upon the path and handed the princess
out. At the same time, the doors of the
rortico Of the building were flung open, the
light from the vestibule streamed across