The San Francisco call., 1901-11-03

ing his nose ref1ectively. "What an Out
landish place for girl ike her 70 lVe
in." he continued "And that sWeet-ldCeu
old lady and noble Uncle Cdspdl
Gods, one would think barbarians existed
there and not such people as the Gug-
genslockers, refined, cultivated siilSltt |
rich I'm more interested than ever III lIle
place"
80 am I. I'm willing and ready 70
make the trip. old man. if you are sun
of a mind. It's lark, and, peslueS' I 9IIC
may not be the only pretty and gracious l5
it on the map, let's not stop I'LL we see
Edelweiss on the earth itself.
They made hasty preparations for the
journey Anguish. romantic and Iuli oI
adventure, advised the purchase OF par
of pistols and knife apiece. malhtdIAIh5
that, as they were going into an unKhoWn
and mountainous region, they shoulu De
prepared for brigandS and other elements
of danger Lorry pooh-pOohed the SuS-
gestion of brfgands but indulged his
MOOD by buying some ugly-looklhS re-
volvers and inviting the prospect OF
something really thrilling in the way Oh
adventure With their traps they were
soon whirling through France, bound Tor
a certain great city, on the road 10 Euel-
weiss, one filled with excitement, eager
ness and boyish zeal. the other hardSseH
pointment was in store for him. Through
the glamour and the picturesqueness CT
the adventure there always crept the un-
conquerabIe feeling that he was on a
fools errand. that he was committing
deed so weak and brainless that 1t was
sure to make him a veritable lduShlnS
stock when it became known. After all,
who was Miss Observation-Disclosures
baker, gardener or sausage-maker2
TRAVELLING of course, was pleasant AT
this time of the year. and the two Amer
leans saw much that interested them
along the way.
Their French especially Anguish's, was
of great value to them, for they found
occasion to use it at all times and in all
places. Both spoke German fairly we'll
and took every opportunity to brush up
in that language, Lorry remembering that
the Guggenslockers used many express
sions that showed a preference for the
Teutonic. The blithe Anguish, confident
and in high feather, was heart and soul
in the odd expedition of love. and talked
necessarily of their reception by the far
away hostess, their impressions and the
final result. His camera and sketching
materials were packed away with his
traps. 1t was his avowed intention to i'm
mortalize the trip by means of plate, pal
cite and brush
At the end of two days they reached a
certain large city, the first change, and
then 200 miles to another. The distance
from this point to the capital of Graus-
tark was 200 miles or more chiefly
through mountainous lands. Somewhat
elated by the cheerful information there
received, they resumed the journey to Ed
elweiss the city of vale. slope and park
summer fall and winter. Changing cars
at the end of the second day out, they sat
back in the dusty seats of their carriage
and sighed with relief
"Unless we jump the track, this train
will land us in the city we are looking
for" said Anguish, stretching out his legs
comfortably. I'm admit 1T has been a
tiresone journey, and I'll be glad when
we can step into a decent hotel, have a
rub and feel like white men once more.
am beginning to feel like these dirty
Slavs and Huns we saw way back there
There's one thing certain said Lorry,
looking out of the window. '"The people
and the habitations are different and the
whole world seems changed since we left
that station. Look at those fellows on
horseback over there"
What did 1 tell you about brigands and
rohbersp' exclaimed Anguish. IF those
fellows are not bandits I'll lose faith in
every novel 1 ever read"
The train rolled slowly past three
mounted men whose steeds stood like
statues upon little knoll to the right of
the track, men and beasts engaged in ST.
lent contemplation of the cars The men.
picturesquely attired and looking fierce.
carrying long rifles, certainly bore an as
pect that suggested the brigand. When
the guard entered the carriage Anguish
asked in German for some information
concerning the riders.
''Dey're frontier police guards" re-
sponded the man in English, smiling at
their astonishment. Both Americans
arose and shook hands with him.
by George, it's good to hear a man
talk white mans language" cried An
guish.
How do you come to be holding job
on this road? An Englishman?'' demand
ed Lorry, He looked anything but Eng
lish.
'Im not an Englishman," said the
guard. flushing slightly. MY names
Sticky. and I'm an American, SIR
IAN American!' exclaimed Lorry. Sitz-
ky grew loquacious.
'Sure! l used to be sailor on a United
States man-o'-war. A couple of years ago
1 got into trouble down at ConstantinopIe
and had to get out of de service. After
dat l drifted UP dis way and went to rail-
roadin'." He hadn't exactly the manner
of a man-o'-warsman.
How long have you been on this road?'
asked Grenfall.
'"Bout a year, 1 should t'ink Been on
dis branch only two months, dough-"
Are you pretty well acquainted in Ed
elweiss 2"
"Oh, run in dere every other day-in
an out ag'in. It's fine place-purtiest
you ever saw in your life. The town runs
right up the mountain to the tip-top
where the monks are-clear up in d.
clouds. Dey say it SHOWS up dere almost
all d. time
Later on, from the loquacious guard.
the two Americans learned quite a good
bit about the country and city to which
they were going. His knowledge was
somewhat limited along certain lines, but
quite clear as to others.
Dis Graustark, s fer as I know. IA
eeder sort o. state or something belong
in to de umpire, governed by it's own rul-
ers. Edelweiss is d. capital; d big guns
of d land lives dere. I've walked out and
saw d. castle where d. Princess and 4,
royalty hangs out. D. people speak a
language of deir own, and 1 can't get next
to a ting dey say. But once in a while