Evening journal., 1905-05-24
UNCONSCIOUS
.....BEAUTY


had been so vain Of her beauty that he
directed that their only child, a daugh-
ter, should be kept from seeing her
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 a
mirror was permitted in the palace,
and the king ordered the water in the
artificial lakes and basins with which
the spacious grounds abounded to be
drawn Off for fear the princess should
catch the reflection Of her face. From
time to time the duchess was required
to make reports to the king concerning
her charge
''The princess is growing to be very
beautiful" the duchess reported when
Henrietta was sixteen years old. "and
is absolutely unconscious Of her
charms"
TELL her" replied the king, that
she is very homely."
The order was obeyed. The princess,
who up to this time had not thought
Of her own appearance, was seized
with a desire to see what she looked
like, and the duchess was obliged to
double the distractions she had thrown
in the way of her doing so. But in
time she began to consider that the
sight of her ugiiness would only dis
tress her, and she made a vow never
10 see reflection of her face.
When she was twenty her father
died suddenly. and she became queen.
Those near her at once broke the Sc
cret OF her beauty to her. but she
would not believe them. 'Now that
am queen you are all disposed to fiot-
ter me-" she said, 'and, though / be
uglier than Medusa. you would make
me believe l am beautiful as Venus
Her first ediCt was that any one being
instrumental In showing her her fea-
lures should at once be beheaded
Many neighboring princes proposed
for the hand Of the queen, but she. be
lieving in her ugliness. feared that
when they came to see her they would
be shocked and she would listen t
none of them.
Now. the Queen Henrietta, being {
woman with no strong minister to sup
port her in governing her people, sooI
became the prey of several small ma
tions, whose rulers planned an alliancl
to invade her kingdom. conquer it an'
divide it among them. Queen Henri
eta did the best she could to stem tn
tide that set in against her; but, havinl
no general on whom she could rely, he
forces were beaten. and there was ey
cry prospect that her kingdom woul'
soon belong to her covetous neighbOrs
For some time a young officer, Theo
dorus. had been rising through meri
alone from one command to another
and at last the queen decided to ap
point him her general in chief Sh
had never seen lin. Indeed. she knew
nothing Of him except what he had aC
complished in her service.
Meanwhile she was so troubled abOu
her affairs that no one dared risk bein
instrumental in showing her that sh
was beautiful instead of ugly, for il
/ her present mood even the discover
that she had been mistaken might leal
her to deal numerically with her in
/ former. This as well as the success 0
her foreign enemy showed how lackini
in bravery We're her own men.
No sooner had the young genera
come to the supreme command tina
the tables were turned against tn
queens enemies. In a series Of battle
in which he displayed not only grea
vigOr and gcneralship, but persons
! bravery, he routed the armies Of hi
foes, laid waste their countries an
annexed them to the kingdom Of hi
sovereign.
When the war was over great prepa
] ratiOns were made at the capital to r.
ceive the victorious army. Before hi
arrival the queen had made Theodoru
a prince, but this was only the begiI
ming of the honOrs that were TO be giV
en- him. He marched home with tina
portion Of his army not needed to COZ
troll the newly acquired countries an
rode at it's head on its entry into tn
capital. The queen had directed that
throne be erected in front Of her pa
ace upon which to receive the youn
hero. For fear he might break the la'
she had issued in regard to showing he
her likeness. she sent him a copy Of III
edict embroidered on velvet. Upon HI
arrival at the palace he threw himse
from his horse before the throne an
was about TO l1neel at the queens fee
when he was startled at sight Of he
transcendent beauty. Then Instead
kneellng he thrust his polished shiel
before her face.
The effect was electrical. The quee
gazed for a moment at her feature
then. rising from her throne, knelt
the feet Of theprince.
''Be thou king" she said. Il am Z
longer worthy to be queen. for 70
have disobeyed my edict and as vol
sovereign should be obliged to behea
you. That cannot do"
Theodorus. raising her, led her baC
to the throne, then knelt before her.
Gracious queen" he said, Il am
ready as ever to die in your serviees ]
the field 1 servee an unseen sovereis
and faced death simply from sense
duty. On behoIding your exquisite loy
illness am ready TO die, grateful 4
having given you z sight of the bles