Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-08-25

10 tne iaHu HUN winch you drew me.
/ came because love you. Is not that
enough to drag man to the end of the
world? ] came to marry you If I could,
for you were Miss Guggenslocker to
me. Then you were within my reach,
but not now! can only loce a prin-
cess!" He stopped because she had
dropped to the couch beside him, her
serious face turned appealingly to his,
her fingers clasping his hands fiercely.
Il forbid you to continued forbid
you! Do you hear? I, too, have
thought and dreamed of you, and I
have prayed that you might come. But
you must not tell me that you love me
you shall not!'
II only want to know that you love
me-" he whispered.
"Do you think I can tell you the
truthY' she cried. II do not love your
Before he had fairly grasped the i'm
portance Of the contradictory sentences
she left his side and stood in the win
dow, her breast heaving and her face
flaming
"Then am to believe you do" he
groaned after a moment. II find a
princess and lose woman!"
II did not intend that you should
have said what you have, or that /
should have told you what 1 have.
knew you loved me or you would not
have come to me-" she said softly.
"You would have been selfish enough
to enjoy that knowledge without CIV
ing joy in return. I see. What else
could you have done? A princess! Oh,
| would to God you were Miss Guggen-
slocker, the woman sought!'';
Amen to thatw she said. sCan' /
trust you never to renew this subject?
We have each learned what had better
been left unknown. You understand
my position. Surely you will be good
enough to look upon me ever afterward
as princess and forget that I have
been a woman unwittingly. ask
you, for your sake and my own, to re-
frain from a renewal of this unhappy
subject You can see how hopeless it
Is for both Of U.s.. have said much to
you thai | trust you will cherish as
coming from a woman who could not
have helped herself and who has given
to you the power to undo her with
single word. I know you will always
be the brave, true man my heart has
told me you are. You will let the be-
ginning be the end"
The appeal was SO earnest, so noble,
that honor swelled in his heart and
came from his lips in this promise:
"You my trust me, your highness.
Your secret is worth thousandfold
more than mine. 1t is sacred with me.
The joy of my life has ended, but the
happiness of knowing the truth will
never die. shall remember that you
love me-yes, I know You do-and
shall never forget to love you. l will
not promise thnt shall never speak of
it again to you. AS l lie here there
comes to me courage did not know
I could feel,' so,3
mo, nor she cried vetemently.
forgive me! You can at least let
me say that as long as I live may
cherish and encourage the little hope
that all is not dead. Your highness, let
me say that my family never knows
Wien it is defeated, either in love or in
war"
1.-THE walls which surround the heart
of princess are black and grim, i'm
penetrable when she defends it, my
Boosting American" she said, smiling
sadly.
"Yet some prince of the realm will
batter down the wall and win at
single blow that which a mere man
could not conquer in ten lifetimes.
Such is the world
"The prince may batter down and
seize, but he can never conquer. But
enough Of this! l am the Princess of
Graustark, you are my friend, Grenfall
Lorry, and there is only q dear friend
ship between, us" she cried, resuming
her merry humor SO easily that he
started with surprise and not little
"And THRONE" he added, smiling,
however.
"And promise" she reminded him.
From which trust I may some day
be released" said he, sinking back, af-
flicted with a encouragement and de-
Termination Of equal power. He could
see hope and hopelessness ahead.
by death!''
"No; by life! 1t may be sooner than
you thinkw
"You are forgetting your promise al
ready"
Your highness' pardon" he begged.
They laughed, but their hearts were
sad, this luckless American and hap
less sovereign who would II she could
be woman.
ut is now o'clock-the hour when
you were to have called to see me-"
she said, again sitting unconcernedly
before him in the window seat. She
was not afraid of him. She was a
princess. ":
Il misunderstood you, your highness.
remembered the engagement, but it
seems was mistaken as to the time.
I came at In the morning"
"And found me at homer
"In an impregnable castle, with
ogres all about"
Ito Be Continued.)