Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1899-02-23

sank back in my seat amazed-first,
sate my astonishing blindness, In not
sooner recognizing what the conspir-
I ator's talk had been tending to, but
chiefly at the audacity Of the proposal.
| "In plain words, you wish me to per-
senate the Gear, in order that you may
kidnap him"
CAS- his father kidnapped the gallant
Prince Alexander-precisely."
But you are mad!' cried, getting
up and moving about the cabin, in my
excitement. 1.-THE scheme never could
be carried out. Even If it could, it
would end in the ruin Of yourselves
and all your hopes. Europe would not
tolerate such an outrage. You would
fail, and the last state of Russia would
be worse than the first.''
zone thing at time, please"
zone thing is enough for me-. I do
not mean to do anything so mad and
wicked. And there's an end Of it,
"And an end, too, to your winning
the Princess Irene as your bride. She
is a sweet girl and a kind-hearted-I
trust the fur robe she so kindly lent
me was restored to herr'
I told him it had been returned to
her. but did not think it necessary to
add that the Princess had told the
moujik who brought it to her from the
saw mill, to keep it for his trouble.
/ ':She is a noble creature. 1t would
be pity to see her fall into poverty,
+ or be forced, for her mothers sake, to
marry the greatest brute in the Rus
siam empire!
"What is this you are telling mey'
"Dcn't you know the story? Let me
tell it to you. then,-it will interest You.
You must know that my father adj
vanced large sums to the late Prince
Kropenski, the present Princes father:
the connection between them lasted
for many years, and that way we be-
came intimately acquainted with the
affairs of the family. When the pres
ent Prince succeeded to the title. the
estates We're so heavily mortgaged that
they were almost worthless to the heir;
and as some Of the mortgages were in
the hands of a cousin, Alexis Krcpen-
ski. this young man (whom 1 referred
to just now as the greatest brute in
RussiD conceived the idea of getting
the estate into his own hands, leaving
the Prince with the barren title. He
might have succeeded, too, for our
Prince was no more a wise man then
than he is now, had it not been for the
late Car Alexander II. The matter
came to his ears. and he interfered.
He practically forced Alexis to accept
a settlement, under which the estates
were to belong to the Prince for his
life, and if he died childless, to Count
Alexis. If the Prince left son. he, Of
course, would succeed his father, but
if he left only a daughter or daughters
the lands were to revert to Alexis. He
took his chance, and the chance has
turned out in his favor. AS you know.
the Prince has daughter. but no SON."
But what is the use of telling me
all tllis?" I exclaimed. "when the
Prince is likely to live as long as
ain:'
Il am not so sure of that" said Won
Mitsclka. with perfect composure.
1.-THE fact is, he was condemned to die
by the Committee. and his sentence
has only been reprieved. But he is
fast wearing out our patience-you
yourself heard Lobieski say that he
gave more trouble than any other half
dozen men in the prison. 1t is more
than likely that he will. one of these
days. commit an outrage-he has made
two murderous assaults on warders al
ready-which will make it necessary
for us to shoot him. And in any case,
there is no doubt that Count Alexis
would, after the Prince had been I'M
accountably absent for a year, obtain
a. decree from the Car to the effect
that, if he did not return before GER
tain time. the settlement should take
effect as if he had died in an ordinary
way.
"Now," continued Won Mitschka, 81
must tell you that, when the Prince
and his family lived in st. Petersburg,
Prince Alexis saw his cousin, the
Princess Irene, and fell violently in
love with her. He is brute, a savage
and YOU know what a savage a Rus
sian can be. Count Alexis is all that,
and more. But his passion for the
young Princess is very strong-there is
no doubt about that; and if it had not
been for the ill-feeling existing be-
tween her father and him, he would
have pressed his suit in way that the
Princess would not have liked. The
death. real or assumed, Of the Prince
would give him his opportunity, and
YOU may be sure that he would not be
slow to take advantage of it,
I remembered that when l told the
Princess Irene that was going back
to England, she said she had no male
relative except cousin who was not
their friend. Count Alexis was no
doubt the man she meant.
''But no one, not even the Car, can
make the Princess marry her cousin
against her will'' cried.
"No doubt. But see the position the
Princess will find herself in, in the
event of decree to the effect that
Prince Kropenski must be held to be
civilly dead. I happen to know that
the Prince has not saved kopeck out
of his income. The repairs to the cas-
tie must have swallowed up all his
ready money. There is nothing for his
widow and daughter when the land is
taken from them. How would the
Princess Irene see her mother, an in
valid and accustomed to every luxury
how could she bear to see her moth