The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-06-21

I
 she was really clever appealed to him al we'll Long after he tired of her he fount | her immensely useful, and he was willini
 to pay the money she demanded for serv | ing him.
 As for Queen Natalie, the cattle deal CTS daughter deceived her completely 1 Natalie had a passion for politics. Sht was continually mixed up In all manner | of plots. Draga Maschin won her conf dence by manifesting strong pro-Russiar ] proclivities, and she received her coveted | appointment of lady-in-waiting to the | Queen. This gave her the secure position at court for which she long had schemed
 She had many affairs. but immoralit, is not severely condemned in Servia. The, were necessary to maintain her position to secure the influence she craved. As member of the court and a confident oi l the Queen, who was only two years her | senior, she occupied a place higher than | she had expected to reach, but her sue. cess only stimulated her ambition to greater dreams. She began to long for 2 | throne. King Milan, stceped in debauchery. an ungoverned gambler, yet not lacking in | a certain discernment. was safe against the wiles of the most ambitious woman. because he was always an uncertain quantity. And woman for woman, Nata- 1 lie was more brilliant, abler than Draga Maschin.
 When little Alexander was proclaimed | King at the age of 1S, Draga Maschin who was then nearly 2S. saw a way to reaching throne. She began to play a | dangerous game with infinite patience. She used all her arts, all her knowledge | of human nature, to gain the affections | of the youthful prince, and she succeeded. | A Catherine could not have played the cards more cleverly, but then a Catherine would not have stopped to such petty game.
 Before Alexander of Servia was l5 he had mistress. and she was Draga Mas chin, a woman of 30.
 So long as Draga Maschin was merely the favorite of the boy King and didn't attempt to make capital out of the fact, nobody paid any particular attention to it. It was supposed that 1t was simply youthful infatuation and that the boy would outgrow it. But, instead of wan- ing, such was the cleverness of the wo- man that 1t increased. Many filings and slights she had to endure. She only smiled very sweetly and slowed them oWdS HI tuc Ol AtCE HSHlUIys
 When, at the age of 17, King Alexander planned and executed his clever coup d'etat, declaring himself of age and the actual ruler of Servia. the wise recog- nized the influence of Draga Maschin.
 Then she Haunted herself as the Kings mistress. Her husband who loved her, was helpless. He struggled against her ambition. seeking to regain a love he never had. Frightful stories of her de- pravity were common talk. She appa- rently paid no attention to them. 1t is true that she began to use influence over the King to further the interests of the members of her family, but she worked under cover. Her position was none too secure.
 Queen Natalie, awakened too late to the power of the cattle-dealer's daughter, tried to combat her influence. There was open war between them, and Draga won. She prevailed upon Alexander to banish his mother from court. That. of course, was after Natalie had dismissed Draga Maschin as a lady in waiting.
 The King established DraRa Maschin in a handsome home, and Draga Mas chin's husband. disEraced heartbroken. committed suicide. It can be understood how Colonel Maschin of the massacre re- joiced when he had the privilege of en- tering the royal palace to murder the wo- man whom he believed had sent his broth CT to his grave and laughed while he was dying.
 Draga MaschIn had everything she de- sired save what she wanted most, that for which she had been scheming all the years-a throne.
 The woman of nearly forty persuaded a man of twenty five, and that man King. whose mistress she had been since he was boa nF A- I.A IL CT Alexander was really deceived by the trick she practiced or whether he was a party. to 1t shall never be known. And whatever its effect upon him may have been, it's influence upon the people of Servia was disastrous. If she had borne Alexander an heir they might have for given her: as 1t was, they hated her for the deception.
 The people of Servia believed that Queen Draga planned to substitute her sisters child for her own.
 Once secure on the throne, all the petti- ness, the meanness, the baseness of Draga's character asserted themselves. She gave her passions free rein. She was Queen at last and determined to enjoy the privileges of her rank.
 From the very start she began paying off old scores and with usurious interest. Not a slight. not a chance remark was forgotten, and the punishment was heavy. The officers in the army who had sneered at her in the old days felt the weight of her displeasure. Women who had snubbed' her were made to suffer through mem bers of their family as well as person., ally.
 She had her favorites. and these were advanced regardless of ability and fitness. Especially did she push the members of her family to the fore. Her brothers having the rank of lleutenants, had i'm mense influence and power, and they abused 1t cheerfully. They seem to have been men of great physical courage and absolutely devoted to their sister, but for the rest they were pretty bad lot.
 There were stories that Queen DraRa had children somewhere, but if she had they never arose to confront her. There were stories that aftr she was married she was unfaithful to her husband. Ger tain it is she quarreled with him like a hshwife.
 When she felt that she was losing her hold over him she sent for her sister 1 Helene, a girl of F, to join her in the ] palace, and the expected happened. Even 1 Servians rebelled at this effort to keep the influence over thir monarch in the ] Lunjevitza family. Afterwards Draga | grew jealous of Helene.
 While the hatred against her was wide l spread and constantly growing because of | her conduct, her persistent seeking for revenge and because she tried to have her brother. Nicodemus. named as heir to the throne. 1t was in the army that she