Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1898-12-22
CHAPTER v.

| CHAPTER v.
| What 1 Learned In st. Petersburg.
There was little wonder that slept
none that night 1t was not merely
that l felt that had come to the be
| ginning Of a fresh stage in my life
| Journey. one that would probably az
| ford some new and strang eexperi-
| ences. My heart throbbed every time
| Princess 1rene's face. Surely that look
| would not have been given to every
one! Surely it would not have been
given to anyone but me! Surely she
must know-surely she was thinking
then-that it was for her sake that I
| was anxious to unravel the mystery of
the Princes disappearance.
AS often as these thoughts would
cross my mind l would call myself
fool, dolt. cOnceited ass, and repeat to
myself that l was only performing an
obvious duty-that l was running no
risk, and that the task I had under
taken. even if it should be successful,
deserved no special recognition, no eX-
traordinaly gratitude. That might be
true enough: but it was possible to
look at the matter from another point
OF view. Is there any wonder that
was weak enough to indulge in dreams
as fair as they We're fleeting?
Long before dawn next day left the
castle. TO my surprise and delight
Irene came down in time to see me off
She had, indeed. an excellent reason
for seeing income that had most I'M
accountably forgotten. She had satsup
the night before to write letters. which
Ter mother had signed that morning
letters to the house steward Of the
Princes house at st. Petersburg; to
the Princes bankers, authorizing me
to draw such sums as l might require;
and one to the chief of police, inform.
ing that I had undertaken the search
after the Prince in behalf of the fami-
ly, and begging him to give meklll the
assistance he could.
These letters Princess Irene gave me
with her own hand; and--unless I
grossly deceived myself-there shone
for an instant in those clear eyes the
look that had set my heart beating so
wildly the night before.
On account of the state of the roads.
it took me three days to reach the cap
ital. l found that the steward at Low.
ma house-as the Princes town resi-
dence was called-was a grave, elderly
man, narrow-minded and stupid, per-
haps, but palpably honest-the last
man in the world to mix himself w
with conspirators. really felt relieved
when 1 scanned the old mans face,
and found it free from those signs Of
secretiveness and obsequiousness
which are to be seen so often in the
faces Of Russian servants. l saw that
Ivan Ivanovitch was Il man to be
trusted. and 1 told him so, frankly,
thereby winning his confidence.
AS soon as l had eaten something, I
sent for Ivanovitch, and making him
sit down opposite me, l began to ques-
ton him as to the circumstances OF the
Princes disappearance.
"In the first place." said I, "when did
the Prince arrive from Volotzka?'
Ivan counted on his fingers and and
answered, "On the Goth Of March"
"And when did you see him last!'
sThe last time saw my poor mas
ter was on the night between the Goth
and goth of March,
'Then he has been gone about 4
fortnight?' I exclaimed.
"a fortnight tomorrow night, Sir"
"Why did you not writ eat once to
the Princess"
The old man shuffied in his seat. 81
could not tell that His Highness had
not gone away somewhere Of his own
accord" he said; land if so, he might
have been very angry with me, when
he returned, for interfering in his af
fairs. | spoke to the police about it:
and / was told that the Princess could
do no good that I should only be caus-
ing her anxiety by writing. and that
they would inform Her Highness when
they thought it necessary
The explanation was, in the circum
stances. reasonable enough, and l went
on with my questions.
"Now we come to the evening Of the
23th," said. 'Did the Prince dine at
home that evening"?
Gle did, sir"
"AlOne"'
"Quite alone"
did he seem to be in his usual
health and spirits?''
II think So / did not notice any
thing remarkable about him."
"IIc did not appear 10 be anxious,
troubled or wOrried?'
mo; not Mt ALL
What did he do after dinner?
"Ie went to the library, smoked Il
cigar and looked over some newsDa.
pers. Then he went to his dressing
room for II short time. and then he
went to the ball ut the French Ambas-
sad0r's."