The National tribune., 1906-09-06
THE PRISONER OF ZENDA.
Continued from page Il

been his fathers faVorlte. and IL nau
occasioned some unfavorable comment
when he had been created Duke, with
a title derived from no less a city than
the capital itself. His mother had been
of good. but not exalted. birth.
Hes not in Paris now. is he?" i
asked
"Oh. no! He's gone back to be pres
ent at the Kings coronation. cerc-
mony which. I should say he'll not en-
| Joy much. But, Bert. old man. don't
| despair! He won't marry the fair An
toinette, at least, not unless another
plan comes to nothing. Still, perhaps,
| She He paused and added with n
| laugh: Royal attentions are hard to
| resist-you know that, don't you. Ru-
dolf?"
/ "Confound you," said l. and. rising.
1 left the hapless Bertram in George s
| hands and went home to bed.
The next day George Featherly went
with me to the station, where I took a
ticket for Dresden.
"Going to see the pictures?" asked
George, with a grin.
! George is an inveterate gossip, and
had 1 told him that was off to Ruri-
| London in three days and in Park Lane
in a week. I was therefore about to
return an evasive answer when he
saved my conscience by leaving me
suddenly and darting across the plat
! form. Following him with my eyes. /
saw him lift his hat and accost a grace
full, acknowledgement woman who
had just appeared from the booking
office. She was perhaps a year or two
over 80. tall, dark and of rather full
| figure. AS George talked. I saw her
| glance at me. and my vanity was hurt
| by the thought that, muffied in fur
coat and neck wrapper for 1t was a
chilly April day) and wearing soft
travelling hat pulled down over my ears,
l must be looking very far from my
best A moment later George rejoined
me.
You've got a charming travelling
companion" he said. That's poor Bert
Bertrand's goddess. Antoinette de Mau-
ban. and. like you. she's going to Dres-
den-also. no doubt TO see the pic
lures. It's very queer. though. that she
doesn't at present desire the honor Of
your acquaintance"
Il didn't ask to be introduced" l OBJ
served. A little annoyed.
We'll. ] offered to bring you to her,
but she said. Another time Never
mind. old fellow. perhaps thereI1 be
smash and you'll have chance of res
cuing her and cutting out the Duke Of
Streisau,''
No smash. however. happened. either
TO me or to Nine. dc MaJ1aIs. ! car
speak for her as confidently as for my
self: for when, after a nights rest in
Dresden, continued my journey she
got into the same train. Understand
ing that she wished to be let alone, ]
avoided her carefully. but / saw that
she went the same way as / did to the
very end of my Journey. and took op-
portunities of having good look at
her. when could do so unobserved.
AS soon as we reached the Ruritanian
frontier (where the old officer who pre-
sided over the Custom House favored
me with such a stare that I felt surer
than before Of my Elphberg physiog-
nomy) I bought the papers. and found
In them news which affected my move
ments. For some reason. which was
not clearly explained and seemed to be
something of a mystery, the date of
the coronation had been suddenly ad-
vanced, and the ceremony was to take
place on the next day but one. The
whole country seemed in stir about
it. and 1t was evident that Strelsau wss
thronged Rooms were all let and ho-
tells overlooking; there would be very
little chance of my obtaining a lodging,
and / should certainly have to pay an
exorbitant charge for it. I made up
my mind to stop at Zenda, a small
town SO miles short of the capital, and
~ lEoIu the =
reached there in the evening; I would
spend the next day, Tuesday, in a wan
der over the hills which were said to De
very fine, and in taking glance at the
famous castle, and go over by train to
Strelsau on the Wednesday morning.
returning at night to sleep at Zenda.
Accordingly. at Zenda I got out. and
as the train passed where / stood on
the platform, saw my friend, Nine. de
fva 1ar yIn ole r1y c1,
going through to Strelsau. having, with
more providence than I could boast
secured apartments there. I smiled to
think how surprised George Featherly
would have been to know that she and
had been fellow-travelers for SO long.
was very kindly received at the
hotel-it was really no more than an
inn-kept by fat old lady and her
two daughters. They were good. quiet
people, and seemed very little interest
ed in the grea. doings at Strelsau. The
old lady's hero was the Duke, for he
was now, under the late Kings will,
master of the Zenda estates and OF the
castle, which rose grandly on its steep
hill at the end of the valley, mile or
so from the inn. The old lady. indeed,
did not hesitate to express her regret
that the Duke was not on the throne
| instead of his brother.
I'VE know Duke Michael" said she.
| HE has always lived among us; every
Ruritanian knows Duke Michael. But
| the King Is almost stranger; he has
been so much abroad not one in 10
knows him even by sight"
"And now" chimed in one of the
young women, they say he has shaved
off his beard. SO that no one at all
knows him"
| SHAVED his beard!" exclaimed her
mother "WhO saws so ?"
| Johann. the Dukes keeper. He has
seen the King"
| "Ah, yes, The King. sir, is now at
the Dukes shooting lodge in the forest
here; from here he goes to Strelsau to
be crowned on Wednesday morning"
I was interested to hear this, and
made up my mind to walk next day in
the direction of the lodge on the chance
of coming across the King. The old
lady ran on garrulously.
| "Ah, and I wish he would stay at
his shooting-that and wine (and one
thing more) are all he loves. they say
and suffer our Duke to be crowned on
Wednesday. That / wish, and I don't
care who knows it."
Hush, mother!" urged the daugh-
tiers.
i "Oh, there's many to think as dol"
cried the old woman stubbornly.
/ threw myself back in my deep arm
chair and laughed at her zeal.
For my part" said the younger and
prettier of the two daughters, a fair
buxom, smiling wench, Il hate Black
Michael! red Elphberg for mo