Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1897-05-05

come on, boys-who's with me?' the
crowd of enthusiastic bystanders
quickly swells into thousands, obedient
to his slightest bidding.
The court and the ministry have, for
some time, abandoned the quest of q
suitable marriage for the young prince,
as he most resolutely proclaimed his in
tention of devoting himself to the peo-
pie and the navy, leaving matrimony
to the duke of Spanta, his elder brother
Constantine, the heir to the Grecian
throne. So the court and the minis
try, well pleased, smiled contentedly
and Prince George went travelling, hav-
ing been chosen as companion de voy-
age by his cousin and intimate chum,
the czarowitch of Russia, now the car.
whose life he saved from the hands of
a japanese assassin in the far east.
When he returned to, his family he
made good his determination of COM
manding the navy, and such was his
single-hearted devotion to his duties
that again the court and ministry
smiled with content, and congratulated
themselves upon possessing a model
prince and younger son.
Still water, however, runs deep, and
the prince, after all, is only human
being. He is, moreover, something of a
romanticist, and somewhere deep in his
heart lay hidden the desire to be loved
by some woman for his own sake, big,
strong, handsome athlete that he is. and
r. q, .; 4A thof he iS
the son of the king of Greece and pos
siblc heir to the throne.
Whether it was because the time and
his mood We're propitious, whether it
was the effect of dinner or destiny, will
never be known, but certain it is that
the prince fell in love with the beauty of
this sea maiden, and fora year and ahalf
has behaved much like other lovers, i'm
patient at every moment spent away
from her, reckless of the hours when
with her, enraptured at triiles, detected
for causes equally trifling, and jealous
with ordinary mannish jealousy of
every churl that crossed her path; while
the court, incrcdulous, dismayed,
aghast, have looked on with increasing
doubt and apprehension, and wondered
what plan could be evolved from the
deep recesses of statecraft to get rid
of her, yet hesitating to speak or act,
for the prince is strong and violent and
has a strong hold upon the people.
And the peasant "soul-child?' Until
a short time before the Cretan war,
the identity of her lover was quite un-
known to her. He was loved like other
men; he knew, perhaps, for the first
time in his life, what is meant to possess
affection for himself alone, and not for
his title; and he also learned what it
was to suffer for his loves sake, the ex.
postulations of his family and those
high in the government being severe
and bitter.
There had been long strolls and talks,
and discussion about housekeeping,
and dover of linen and the pearls
which belonged to Larissas foster
mother; there had even been practical
talks about n COW and mules and an in
come, all of which were untried novel
ties to this sated young scion of o royal
house. His presents, indeed, We're of
such magnifcence as to cause stupefac-
tion; but although he visited openly at
the girls home, like any of the rustic
swains whereabouts, and took Larissa
on frequent excursions upon the great
waste OF waters so beloved by them, he
Wore always the national costume and
masked his identity by calling himself
II sailors son from Piraeus.
b Lal'issa gradually grew to be a
scholar, with the books her lover
brought, and the pains he took to add
to the good fundamental education
which size already had, and many u
golden afternoon of summer, when
Athenian society wondered where
Prince George might be-for the idyl
had not then become public property
The royal lover was reading and in
terpreting old Homer to the beautiful
girl at his side, while around them
stretched q landscape long sung in his
tory and not far distant rolled the
classic waters Of the straits of Salamis.
But such a state Of things could not
go on forever uninterruptedly. The
cause of true love runs no smoother
for kings son than for sailors; and
one day a mounted messenger rode up
to the farmhouse while Larissa and
her lover were within, and demanded
hastily and authoritatively for Prince
George. When the presence of this
royal parsonage and any acquaintance
with him, even by sight, was denied,
the tactless messenger lost patience
and, pointing inside to where, uncon-
scious of what was transpiring, the
royal head was bent close to that OF
the plebeian maiden, exclaimed:
81 see the prince here, my good wom-
an. Make haste and tell him l bear the
kings orders"
The secret was out. Red and angry
the prince rode away in obedience to
the paternal commando; and it was the
last visit in which the freedom of an
accepted suitor to the woman whom he
loved was accorded him. Greek women
hold their virtue as their highest prize;
and the next time he found few mo-
ments before embarking on the hastily
I L