Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1906-04-24
CHAPTER l

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~ ty Of Graustark, serene relic of
rare old feudal days. The traveller
reaches the little domain after an ar
duous, sometimes perilous, journey
from the great European capitals,
whether they be north or south or west
never east. lie crosses great rivers
and wide plains; he winds through fer
tile valleys and over barren plateaus;
| he twists and turns and climbs among
somber gorges and rugged mountains;
he touches the cold clouds in one day
and the placid warmth Of the valley in
the next One does not go to Graustark
for pleasure jaunt. 1t is too far from
the rest Of the world, and the ways are
often dangerous because of the strife
among the tribes Of the intervening
mountains. If one hungers for excite
ment and peril, he finds it in the jour-
ney from the north or the south into
the land Of the Graustarkians. From
Vienna and other places almost direct
ly west the way is not so full of thrills,
for the railroad skirts the darkest Of
the danger lands.
Once in the heart Of Graustark, how
ever the traveller is charmed into
dreams Of peace and happiness and
paradise. The peasants and the poets
sing in one voice and accord, their
psalm being Of never ending love.
Down in the lowlands and up in the
hills the simple worker of the soil re-
joices that he lives in Graustark; in the
towns and villages the humble mer-
chant and his thrifty customer unite
to sing the song Of peace and content
ment; in the palaces of the noble the
same patriotism warns its heart with
thoughts of Graustark, the ancient.
Prince and pauper strike hands for the
love of the land, While outside the
great, heartless world goes rumbling
on without a thought of the rare little
principally among the eastern noun
tains.
In point of area Graustarll is but
mite in the great galaxy of nations.
CHANGING over the map of the world,
one is almost sure to miss the infnites-
imal patch Of green that marks it's To-
cation. One could not be blamed If
he regarded the spot as typograph-
ical OF typographical illusion Yet the
people Of this quaint little land hold
in their hearts love and Il confidence
that are not surpassed by any of the
lordly monarchs who measure their
patriotism by miles and millions. The
Graustarkians are a sturdy, courageous
race. From the faraway century when
they fought themselves clear of the
Tartar yoke to this very hour they
have been warriors Of might and valor
The boundaries Of their tiny domain
were kept inviolate for hundreds of
years, and but one victorious foe had
come down to lay siege to Edelweiss,
the capital. Axphain, powerful prin-
cipality in the north, had conquered
Graustark in the latter part of the
nineteenth century, but only after q
bitter war in which starvation and
famine proved far more destructive
than the arms Of the victors. The
treaty Of peace and the indemnity that
fell to the lot Of vanquished Graustark
have been discoursed upon at length
in at least one history.
Those who have followed that his
tory must know, of course, that the
reigning princess, Yetive, was married
to young American at the very tag
end Of the nineteenth century. This
admirable couple met in quite romantic
fashion while the young sovereign was
travelling incognito through the United
States of America. The American, q
splendid fellow named Lorry, was so
persistent in the subsequent attack
upon her heart that all ancestral preju-
dices were swept away, and she be-
came his bride with the full consent Of
her entranced subjects The manner
in which he wooed and won this young
and adorable ruler forms very at
tractive chapter in romance, although
unmentioned in history. This being
the tale of another day, it Is not timely
to dwell upon the interesting events
which led up to the marriage Of the
Princess Yetive to Grenfall Lorry. Suf-
fee it to say that Lorry won his bride
against all wishes and odds and at
the same time won an endless love and
esteem from the people Of the little
kingdom among the eastern hills. Two
years have passed since that notable
wedding in Edelweiss.
Lorry and his wife, the princess,
made their home in Washington, but
spent few months of each year in
Edelweiss. During the periods spent
in Washington and in travel her affairs
in Graustark We're in the hands Of a
capable austere old diplomat, her
uncle, Count Caspar Halfont. Princess
Volga reigned as regent over the prin-
cipality of AXphain. To the south lay
the principally Of Dawsbergen, ruled
by young Prince Dantan, whose half
brother, the deposed Prince Gabriel,
had been for two years prisoner in
Graustark, the convicted assassin of
Prince Lorenz Of Axphain, one time
sutton for the hand of Yetive.
1t was after the second visit Of the
Lorrys to Edelweiss that serious turn
Of affairs presented itself. Gabriel had
succeeded in escaping from his dun.
geon. His friends In Dawsbergen
stirred up revolution, and Dantan was
driven from the throne at Serros. Or
the arrival of Gabriel at the capital
the army of Dawsbergen espoused the
cause of the prince 1t had spurned, and,
three days after his escape, he was on
his throne, defying Yetive and offering
price for the head Of the unfortunate
Dantan, now fugitive in the hills
along the Graustark frontier.