The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-15

little had pulled myself together, and
was able to hold the written sheets be-
fore my eyes,:
Belgrade, June the Fifth.
Dear Old Lad: &,
Did 1t make you jump to see my ugly scrawl
again? Faith, It's ugher than ever just now,
for I'm not very strong yet. But you'll not
mind ii my pen does prance all over the page,
as 1t has queer way Of doing, all on Its own
responsibility You'll have had Inc under the
SOU long since, won't YOU, lad you and Won
Atdorf and old Mackenzie: But you can't lose
Il bad penny. It7always turns up. And so I've
my feet again, thanks to good people here
who took me in wnen l little else but frag
ments of a man held together by my clothes
and managed somehow to stitch the fragments
You'll have heard all that Ed tell you of
whate happened month since; how those cursed
anu how NOyodnia is Novodnia no more-and
we'll served, too for breeding such swine. {,
All, but there's one thing l can tell that
may be news to you, Teddy lad. Our old friend
Won steinbrucke turned up here-l would say
there. in Novodni--and took another hand in
things. SO you didn't finish him after all, tho,
man wore great bandage about his neck to the
moment he diedfor he did die at the last, but
that comes later-and they said Your point must
for he couldn't talk only made queer beast
| noises. Oh yes, Stenbrucke paid up.
But, ah. Teddy, Teddy, when fall to think
Ing OF tnOSe ours or NOvOQnlanS! ana OF WnaCs
they did, | see scarlet. I've fought, you
| know. in many queer corners Of the earth, and
I've my share of blood and cruelty. I've
seen those Latin-Americans mob a president
whom they didn't fancy-but he generally de-
served it. I've seen Chinese drag a foreigner
out of his house and tear him to bts-but they
thought they had reasons. He was an enemy.
What I'd before mans own
friends desert him, so to the enemy. shoot
him, stone him, not because they'd anything
against him, but because it was plain that the
| lnNn Urin ond y-an +
be on the safe side. Sheer cowardice, Ted, but
such contemplate cowardice.
Aye, they outwtted u.s. George and his crowd.
tho they did it thru the treachcry of our own
| men. They made forced march one night,
| and in the morning they were in Novodni. The
garrison had surrendered with never shot
| tired. They came swarming and hooting about
the palace, soldiers and civilians, men, women
and children, calling for the Prince. and oh, lad
| lad, the Life Guards ran out Of their barracks
down by the palace gate and joined them. The
Life Guards! Why Prince Karl knew person
ally every man in the regiment helped them out
of their little scrapes, gave them wedding pres
that was the bitterest part of it all We knew
the thing was all over, then but the Prince
would go out on the steps of the palace and try
| to speak, and we went with him. a dozen of us.
You know what happened. The mob came up
at u.s. great wave of them, and we lasted only
a few moments. The Prince wouldn't lift a
| hand. He had weapon, but stood there, bare
readed, hands .clasped before him, till bullet
from below finished him. Thank God, he died
| before they. got their hands upon him, for we
had been holding them of with our pistols and
swords till they finally trampled us under. And
here's where Won Steinbrucke comes in. He was
at the very head of the mob as it came up the
| steps. Cad. he was fairly frothing at the
mouth to get revenge for that bandaged neck of
his Some one else engaged him first and
| saw more of him for few seconds, for
was. as you may say. busy. But directly he
| whirled about just before me, with a sort of
snarl, and made at the Prince. Oh, well,
won't dwell on it. I finished your work, Ted
and then somebody caught me a knock over the
crown. and 1 dropped upon the Princes body
| He'd been done for while l spitted Won Stein
brucke
Well. they looted the palace and finally wen
away-to burn some public buildings believe
leaving the little heap of us lying on the steps
1t seems that some wel-meaning but not over
brave souls picked us up, and finding one or tw'
not quite done for, shipped us off to Belgrad
along with several tranoads of refugees, tn
decenter sort. who wouldn't stay in the capita
to it burnt and looted
SO here 1 am, old lad, whole again-th
precious fimsy-a plank from the wreck. an
feeling mighty little of hero. For I'm tn
, chap who would have set Her and her husban
firm on their throne. and then made an end o
myself. But her husbands dead and the thron
no longer stands. SO I've failed all around
Does Won Altdorf still talk of his fate? Wha
2 a hand she played. Teddy boy!-Tve come int
l a fortune lad-and there's bit Of irony fo
= you. 1t seems that my old Uncle John. wh
hated me as he hated nothing else in the worlc
the devil included. got rolled out in the hun,
ing field about the time that. / was so nearl
done for. and, leaving will, his property come
down to me as next Of kim The solicitors al
. pear to have my name in the papers
being In this down down here, and 80 wrote m
= | at Novodni the letter coming to Begrad
= All. we'll, the saints give him peace-meann
: thereby a good horse. pack of hounds an
a | plenty of celestial foxes with right of wa
e thru the Elysian fields But for one thn
9 lad. I'd settle down now. the old gentleman
q money. and quit this vagabond soldering Bl
, the one thing is the only thing. Teddy
- quiet life for me. I've ccrtai in duty left
T. perform. trust. Then. when that's over wit
s off for more fighting! There's good work fo
= ward in the Transvaal, and the Cape mounts
.s police know of old. They've jolly good re
- son to They'll give me billet rig
. enough. But first for my trust. 7 must con
IL on to Paris and give the Princess Eleanor tt
) last news of her husband. I've certain lit
If things to place in her hands. keepsakes, lo
e of hair ring two. locket the Prince ga
"a into my care when he knew that he must dl
and begged me to give to her. should l by al
l. chance come thru the affair alive.
le So I shall see you again, after all, dear la
" All. it will be good to have grip at your hal
n. once more. And at Altdorfs and S
a Gavin's. I shall be there not long after "