Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-09-01

look his wife, my sister, passed away,
dying of broken heart. Her daugh-
ter, their only child, was, according to
our custom, crowned at once. She has
reigned for fourteen years, and wisely
since assuming full power. For three
years she has been ruler de facto. She
has been frugal and has done all in
her power to meet the shadow that is
descending"
"And what is the alternative in case
the indemnity is not paid?" asked
thing bright in the approaching calam-
ity.
"The cession Of all that part Of Grau-
stark lying north of Edelweiss, includ-
ing fourteen towns, all of our mines
and our most productive farming and
grazing lands. In that event Grau-
stark will be no larger than one of the
good sized farms in your western coun-
try. There will be nothing left for her
royal highness to rule save tract SO
small that the word principally will
be travesty and Il jest-this city and
twenty-five miles to the south, a strip
about $50 miles long. Think of it!
Twenty-Five by $50 miles, and yet call
ed principally! Once the proudest
and most prosperous state in the east,
considering its size reduced to that!
Ach, gentlemen-gentlemen, / cannot
think of it without tearing out a heart
string and suffering such pains as NOR
tai man has never endured. l lived i'll
Graustark's days of wealth, power and
supremacy. God has condemned me to
live in the days of her dependency,
weakness and poverty. Let us talk no
more of this unpleasant subject"
Willingly, your eXcellency, since it
is distasteful to you. 1 hope, however,
you will permit me to ask how much
you are short of the amount" said
Lorry Considerably, yet cilriously.
"Our minister of finance. Gaspon,
will be able to produce 100000 CAV
vos at the stated time, far from enough.
| This amount has been sucked from the
people from excessive levy and has
been boarded for the dreaded day.
Try as we would, it has been impossi-
Bile to raise the full amount. The peo-
pie have been bled and have responded
nobly, sacrificing everything to meet
the treaty terms honorably, but the
1 strain has been too great. Our army
has cost! us large sums! We have
strengthened our defenses and could,
should we go to war, defeat Axphain.
But we have our treaty to honor. We
could not take up arms to save our
selves from that honest bond.
"Our levies have barely brought the
amount necessary to maintain an army
large enough to inspire respect among
those who are ready to leap upon us
the instant we show the least sign of
distress. There are about us powers
that have held aloof from war with us
simply because we have awed them
with our show Of force. 1t has been
our safeguard, and there is not citi-
zen of Graustark who objects to the
manner in which state affairs are con-
Quoted. They know that our army is
an economy at any price. Until last
spring we We're confident that we could
raise the full amount due Axphain, but
the people in the rural districts were
unable to meet the levies on account of
the panic that came at most unfortu-
nate time. That is why we were hur-
rying home from your country, Mr..
Lorry. Gaspon had cabled the princess
that affairs were in a hopeless condi-
ton begging her to come, home and do
what she could in b final appeal to the
people, knowing the love they had for
her! She came and has seen these 10y
al subjects offer their lives for her and
FOR Graustark, but utterly unable to
give what they have notAihoney. She
asked them If she should disband the
army, and there was negative wall
from one end of the land to the other.
Then the army agreed to serve Oh half
pay until all was tided over. Public
officers are giving their services free,
and many of our wealthy people have
advanced loans on bonds, worthless as
they may seem, and still we have not
the required amount"
Cannot the loan be extended a few
years." asked Lorry, angry with the
ruler in the north, taking the woes Of
Graustark as much to heart as if they
We're his own.
mot one day! Not in London, Paris
nor Berlin
Lorry lay back and allowed Anguish
to lead the conversation into other
channels. The count remained for half
an hour, saying as he left that the
princess and his wife had expressed
desire to be remembered to their guests.
"Her royal highness spent the even
ing with the ministers of finance and
war, and her poor head, / doubt not, is
racking from the effects of the consul
tation. These are weighty matters for
q girl to have on her hands, solemnly
stated the count, pausing for an in
slant at the door of the apartment.
After he had closed it the Americans
looked long and thoughtfully at each
other, each feeling respect for tho
grim old gentleman that they had new
er felt for man before.
CHAPTER XIII.
UNDER MOON AND MONASTERY.
W on two days Lorry lived through
IA intermittent stages of delight
ga and desnondency HIs recoverv