The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-09-12

1elt most secure, ceItuln lnnPS nHp-
pened which could only happen throt gh
some person or persons using the ndvan-
tage which the possession OF her blank
would give. The unfortunate girl was
not long left in doubt rs to the identity
OF the man who had found what she
had lost. IL wrs sac baron,
Ludwig Won PilseneI Sras ! believe no
more degraded, cruel, unprincipled
scoundrel ever lived. He had the audacity
to write her, telling her that he was
the author of the events which had
SO terrified her. that he had her blank
in safe keeping, and 10 offer shame
lessly TO make terms with her for its
return. In an agony of apprehension,
she Immediately wrote me what had
happened, and / hastened to her with
the wings of the wind. When arrived,
i found that she had already had several
interviews with Jarno, the emissary
and intimate of the baron, a man who is,
if anything. worse than his master,
and the terms which he had proposed
for the return of the princess blank
were no more or less than the hand
of the princess. You look surprised,
but YOU must remember that / told you
that even the safety of the house of
Andel was in the baron's hands
When / tell you these awful and i'm
portant secrets, il should show you
what perfect confidence i have in you.
/ have only been with you few short
hours, but there has been something
in your words, your actions and your
eyes which makes me willing to trust
you with everything"
, j interrupted her.
"And yet l am afraid you wouid not
trust me with the best of all, with that
which would be sweeter than life it
self"
She looked perplcxed for a moment.
then blushed diyinely, and continued
her story.
"I must now tell you, and this will
explain some things which nave APP
peared somewhat strange to you, that
the baron has spent most of his life
away from the principality, and had
only recently returned to Oldendorf, at
the time he found the princess blank.
How, when or where he found it re-
mains mystery. The princess has
never seen him, and she had good rea-
sons to suppose that he had never seen
her, except at distance. have never
seen the man at all. This being the
case, 1t occurred TO Inc in my great de-
sire to shield my beloved friend, that,
aided by my resemblance to Stephanie,
might be able TO impose upon the
baron by substituting myself for the
princess, and in some way obtaining
from him the princess blank. Prompt
ed by me, Stephanie at last consented,
through Jarno, 70 run away with yon Pill
sener. 1t was necessary, at least, that
there should be one interview between
the principals. 1t took place at the
masked ball week ago. She went
through the ordeal brnvely; the ar-
for the elopement were
completed, and through it all he never
got a glinpse of her face. You will
now see why, when met you tonight,
/ supposed you were the baron, and
why was not surprised that you took
me for the princess. There is one thing
more; i promised to tell you what it
was that the princess lost. / am anxious
to tell you, as / am tired of using al .
ways that monotopous blank The one
failing of the princess, which I before
and a frightful and griev- |
Gus failing L acknowledge II is, is her |
penchant for gossip. l believe she is
insane upon the subject. There is no
libelous tale, no questionable episode,
70 risque story, about the prominent
people of the principality, which she
does not, in some way, hear and remem-
Der. She has stored away in her mem-
ory, every scandalous incident which |
has happened in and near the court in
twenty years. II this were all, II would |
be bad enough, heaven knows; but 81
is thousand times worse. She would
not utter one of these things for the
world; but she is so besottedly foolish
that she has, from time 20 time, written
them all, from beginning TO end. In
her diary. 1t is the diary that she has
lost. Do you wonder at her anxiety?
A month after the book had disappeared,
some of these scandals which she sup
posed known only TO herself. COM
menced TO circulate about the court.
People began 10 receive anonymous
postal cards accusing them and Others
Of beinous crimes against society. Chill
dren were separated from their parents,
wives from their husbands. The nrir-
cess was IN urst"u, ,t,. Lt.OrS the
baron made himself known TO her. She
had written in the bool, some awful
secret about her own uncle, the prince;
and had pinned TO the page n scrap OF
paper, upon which was the proof OF
what she wrote. IL was the fear of the
publication of this secret which made
her ready 20 accede 10 almost anything /
Won Piscncr asked her. II she could
obtain the diary. together with this
scrap Of paper, the house Of Andel
az least would be safe. rs the baron
could do nothing without u. This il
the reason OF our frantic efforts TO get
the diary. ! have now told you all.
DO you blame me for anything have
doneY'
talked TO her calmly al length. and