Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1902-11-22
EVILS OF AMBITION
ny HARRY PAIN.


but tnptegossessilg ssee, and Thought him
Of no lnP9 .8aee. 20 far Is tEat went, they
| had guessed i al igat tie first time
He hsa esa e been souilion 70 Prince
| Ferdinand dc Colorado Ciaro, but had been
| degraded for ignorance for contumelious-
| ness, r Intermittent intOxicaticn. He
| was moss JUS plain yarlet, and not doing
| a; all wei at IL.
But ne had ambition.
Iaisl the intelligent reader viii rtmem-
Der, was III the old days The venerable
Smiles bad not yet shown a waiting world
how 70 help itself The possibility Of get.
ting from log cabin to white house in six
| fea-skips had not inspired a volume. There
were no university extension lectures to
| .empt young varlet away from the coarse
pleasures Of skittles and a pot Of four mead
TO dispassionte consideration Of Keats
Education, thrift and industry had not been
| pointed out as the legitimate weapons OF
the poor but ambitious, Consequently he
varlet never SO much as thought Of rising in
! the world by these means. lie thought
rather Of a matrimonial alliance, which is
as effective and as a rule easier
| Ills proud masters often Thought that the
| yarlet was at work when III reality be was
asleep And they often thought that he
was asleep when in reality he was plotting.
/ He was a splendid plotter, and he knew it,
| He was ready to plot against any varlet OF
his own weight in the united kingdom, IL
some gentleman would provide purse. 1t
was his ambition to marry princess and ii
a yarlet means to marry princess he has to
| plot considerably And even then be may
miss the first princess and have to wait
for the next.
Our varlet saw clearly that it would be
! hopeless for him to marry a princess by
| birth, but he saw hopes Of princess by
marriage. Prince Ferdinand de Colorado
Claro was unmarried. he might be in
duced TO marry the herdsman's daughter,
seratina Imperiale Maduro, with whom the
varlet had an understanding; and later the
yarlet would marry the princes widow.
| The yariet had some splendid receipts for
making widows He had only to drop
little powder in the princes metheglin-and-
soda and send in his proposal after the flu
neral. You may, perhaps jump hastily to
the conclusion that the varlet was a das-
tard so he was.
But how was the Prince Ferdinand de
Colorado Claro to be induced to marry the
lowborn Serafina Imperial Maduro? /
cannot say that Serafina was actually beau
| III III IlGE lIlcuuS sdlu tildC sAS loVhcd
better some days than she did others; her
enemies said she looked worse other days
than she did some The varlet had gone to
her in his eringing and dastardly way, and
said: "Will thou marry me, Serahna2'
Pass" said Serafna
But can | make thee princess"
"Ah, now you're talking! said the sim
pie maiden
Now the varlet knew well that next to
the real thing reputation for the real thing
is effective, so he proceeded to get for Sera-
fna reputation for the most wonderful
beauty, and few other things.
In those days you could get as many
bards as you wanted-at seven for sixpence
by putting your head out of the window
and whistling. In some respects the world
has changed surprisingly since those grand
old days The varlet got shilling's worth
of best bards around him, and gave them
their instructions.
''You viii 60 and sing in the palace and
grounds of Prince Ferdinand de Colorado
Claro."
Pardon, said the senior bard, but does
the prince keep dogs, because"
THE prince has ten bloodhounds, but it
is l who am appointed to feed them. To
night they will all have nasty accident"
"Qu&e so. You don't mind my asking?"
"The question was natural. And you will
all sing the immaculate virtue, the icy pride,
the glorious beauty, and the general heart
breakingness of Serafna Imperiale Ma
duro."
And the bards began practicing at once;
20 Serafna!
Have you ever seen her?"
In those days the simple folk rhymed as
| apA 4hair fiOp
was absolutely horrid.
A week passed, and then the varlet was
summoned to the princes presence.
"Varlet," said the prince, ~ had in
tended to slay you for the nasty accident
that happened to my ten bloodhounds. l
forgot about it. I'm sorry"
"Sire," said the varlet, politely, "the de-
lay has caused me no inconvenience"
"On one condition l will spare your life
Bring to me that damosel Serafna Impe-
riale Maduro of whose surprising fame
hear so much. The bards have not her ad-
dress"
The varlet had been much too cunning
20 give it to them. "Then slay me, sire," he
said. "For that ice-cold maiden will come
at no mans bidding. But if you will deign
TO visit her at her lowly cottage, will be
your guide"
80 be it," said the prince And we
will start at once" He was already wear
ing his Sunday suit of armor He took his
helmet down from the peg, lifted his lance
out OF the umbrella-stand in the hall, and
mounted his piebald steed He looked like
a picture. The varlet led the way to Sera-
fina's cottage. So far the plot had worked
admirably, but just here the bottom of it
dropped out
Had Serafna been looking her best she
might, with the help of an established rep
utation, have managed to pull through. But
that day she had taken honey from her
hives, and the bees had shown their irri-
tation in the usual manner. Her face was
bound up in red flannel. One of her eyes
was sparkling, but the other was invisible.
Her mouth was twisted up one side of her
face, and her nose was swollen.
"Serafna% asked the prince
81 am she"
'Well--er-IN think about it and let you
know. I've rpe some business with this