The St. Louis Republic., 1903-03-08

snail always recall with pleasure. With
envy, too. We know of nothing In fiction
80 cheerful. It was that. no doubt, which
nrst captured the magazine.
In subsequent footnote the editors de-
clared that they declined to vouch for his
In our heart We bear. too. Mr.. r. Cru
soc de Rougemont- -Munchausen. His i'm
agfnation did not give out there.
He was capable OF other fights. For. con-
quoted by the aborigines to the mainland,
ne then became King. potentate not merely
OF the people, but monarch Of all he sur
veyed, which included bitches Of diamonds
and gullies of gold-mere trifies that he
abandoned for the better exercise of his
genius and the production of a new edition
OF the Austraiasian Nights.
HERE'S A BETTER ONE
Is not that good story. too? But wait
bit. There Is a better one coming One,
parenthetically. that nothing in modern
history can touch. No. indeed To invent
the yarn with what Mr.. Alice de Rouge
mont gulled not merely a magazine, but the
British Association. predicates an honest
imagination To move as Briggs did from
hall bedroom to q throne predicates origi-
nality.
To be born as Harden-Hickey was. a plain
American, and plan to be King, predicates
romance. To emerge as De Tounens did,
from peddler's pack into a royal purple.
predicates guile. To exchange. as Solouque
did. a saucepan for a scepter, predicates
cheek.
To pass. as OKeefe did, from hatchway
to regalia. predicates agility. But to be
born in bonds. and to make the whole world
gasp, to startle nations and throw Christen-
dom into fits. predicates more. 1t shows, or
seems to show, the force Of destiny.
Tsi An did that Isl An was a little
slave girl. At the age of Ii she was pur-
chased by a mandarin. In his household
what she did not know she guessed, and
what she could not guess she learned.
She learned to dance. A bee could not
equal her: She learned to read. She knew
q hundred stories. each more diverting than
the last On the tomtom she learned to
strum. The three notes that are dear to
the Orient she rendered surprisingly. She
learned things more difficult yet She
learned how to smile and how to hold her
tongue
Astonished at her versatility, the man.
DARN sent her as a present to his sovereiSn.
at Pekin. One day the son noticed her.
The slave became a favorite and, becom-
Ing mother. became a secondary wife
There one might suppose that had she
ambitions they would have rested. It was
there they began.
son. mysteriousiy vacated the planet. leay-
Ing two wfdows-this woman and another.
He left also a decree proclaiming as Era
peror his son Tungche.
During tho latter's minority the CO.
widows became co-regenta At the age Of
16 the boy married and was allowed to
fancy that he reigned. But not for long.
In the same mysterious fashion that had
attended his fathers departure he, too, be-
came Guest Of Heaven. In no time his
wife followed. With her went an unborn
child. who was presumptive heir.
MYSTERIOUSLY DIED.
The next ia succession was Hienfung's
nephew Kwangsu. The fact that he was
an infant In arms necessitated the replacing
OF the Government In commission.
The Dowager Expresses became co.
regents once more. Then between them a
quarrel occurred. The elder lady mystert-
ousiy sfckened and as mysteriously died.
Tsi An was sole regent.
A dozen or more years ago Kwanssu came
OF agA Npwtnally his aunt retired behind