The daily Alaskan., 1905-08-24

 .....BEAUTY
torlginaLl

own features as long as possible. The queen died when the little princess Henrietta was an infant, and the king placed her in one of his palaces, where she was brought up In charge of the Duchess Margaret, her aunt. Not n mirror was permitted In the palace and the king ordered the water in the artificial lakes and basins with which the spacious grounds RbOunded Co be drawn or for fear the princess should catch the reflection of her face. From time Co time the duchess was required to make reports to the king concerning her charge,
 "The princess Is growing Co be very beautiful" the duchess reported when Henrietta was sixteen years old, "ond Is absolutely unconscious of her charms"
 "rell her" replied the king. ''that she Is very homely,"
 The order was obcyed. The princess, who up Co this time had not thought Of her own appearance, was sclzel | with desire Co see what she looked | Ike, and tAc duchess was obliged Co double the Instructions she had thrown n the way Of her doing so. But m | time she began Co consider that the sight of her ugllucss would only dis. trcss her, and she made a VOW never to sec reflection of her face.
 When she wus twenty her father died suddenly, and she became queen. Those near her at once broke tbc sc. crct of her beauty Co her, but she would not believe them. "Now that am queen you are an disposed Co Oat ter mo" she said, "and, though | be uggcr than NCiusu, you would make me believe am beautiful as Venus | Her first cdict was that any one being Instrumental In showing her her fca- turcs should at once be behcadcd. | Many ucIghhoring princes proposed for the hand of the queen, but she, be. ucying In her ugllness, feared that when they came to see her they would be shocked, and she would listen Co none cf them.
 Now. tho Queen Henrietta, being a woman with no strong minister Co sup port her iu governing her people, soon became the prey of several small ua tioss. whose rulers nlannnl m alliance to invade her kingdom, conquer it aud div de It among them, OucCu llenu eta dI nla bet ehr eUlI' 'n yt n Inc tide that set in against hr~. hrt having no general on whom she could rely, her forces were beaten. and there was cv- cry prospect that her kingdom would soon belong to her covctous nciChhnTs. For some time a young officer, Theo dorus. had been rising through merit alone from one command to snotbsr, and at last the queen decided to ap- point him her general In chief She had never seen him. Indeed, she knew nothing of him except what he had ac- complshed In her service.
 | Meanwhile she was SO troubled about her affairs that no one dared risk being instrumental in showing her that she was beautiful instead of ugly, for In her present mood even the discovery that she had been mistaken might lead her to deal unmerclfully with her in- former. This as well as the suc,,ess Of her foreign enemy showed how lacking in bravery were her own men.
 No sooner had the young general l come to. the supreme command than the tables were turned against the | curcn's enemies. Tn a series of battles la which he displayed not only great yigor and Ecncruish,n but personal bravery. he routed the armies Of his focs. laid waste their countries and annexed them to the Kingdom of his sovcrCign.
 | When the war was over great prepa- | ratlauS were made at the capital to re- cciyc the victorious army. Before hls arrival the queen had made Thecdorus a prince. but this was only the begin pI.g of the honors that were to be giy- ca him. He marched home with that portion of hls army not needed Co con- trol the newly acquired countries and | rele al us leau NN lNN NuNAs tAAN AAlN capital. The queen had directed that throne be erected In front of her pal acc upon which to receive the young hero. For fear he might break the law she had Issued In regard to showing her her likeness. she sent him a copy Of the edict embroidered on velvet. Upon his arrival at the palace he threw himself from his horse before the throne and was about to kneel at the queens feet when he was startled at sight of her transcendent beauty. Then Instead of kneellng he thrust hls polished shield before her face.
 The effect was electrical The queen gazed for a moment at her features, then, rising from her throne, knelt at the feet Of the prince
 Be thou king" she said. q am no longer worthy to be queen, for you have dIsobeyed my edict and as your sovereign should be obliged to behead you. That cannot do"
 Theodorus, raising her, led her back to the throne, then knelt before her.
 Gracious queen" he said, T am as ready as eve to de in your service. In the field served an unseen sovereign and faced death simply from sense Of