Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-06-28

| him at some time. The trouble IS tnat
his face is unknown to most Of us,
among the others. | have been going
ON the presumption that Baldos is IN
reality Prince Dantan, but last night
/ the belief received q severe shock"
"Yesg" came from several eager lips.
.My men who are watching the
Dawsbergen frontier came in last
night and reported that Dantan had
been seen by mountaineers no later
than Sunday, three days ago These
mountaineers were in sympathy with
! him and refused to tell whittier he
went. We only know that he was ia
| the southern part of Graustark three
days ago. Our new guard speaks many
languages, but he has never been heard
to use that of Dawsbergen. That fact
in itself is not surprising, for, Of all
things, he would avoid his mother
tongue Dantan is part English by
birth and wholly SO by cultivation. In
that he evidently finds a mate in this
Baldos."
ssThen he really isn't Prince Dam
tan?'' cried Beverly, as though cher
ished ideal had been shattered.
s.Not if we are to believe the tales
from the south. Here is another COM
plication, however There is, as you
know, Count Halfont, and perhaps all
Of you, for that matter. a pretender to
the throne of Axphain, the fugitive
Prince Frederic. He is described as
young, good looking, scholar and the
next thing to pauper.'
"Baldos a mere Spretender" cried
Beverly in distress. Never
ssAt any rate, he is not what he pre-
tends to be-" said the baron, with a
wise smile
s'Then you think he may be Prince
Frederick asked Lorry, deeply inter-
ested.
II ani inclined to think so, although
another complication has arisen. May
| it please your highness, am in an
amazingly tangled state of mind" adj
mitted the baron. passing his hand
over his brow.
do you mean that another mysteri-
Gus prince has come to life?" asked
Yetive, her eyes sparkling with interest
in the revelations.
early this morning dispatch came
to me from the Grand Duke Michael of
Rapp- Thorberg, a duchy in western
Europe, informing me that the dukes
eldest son had fed from home and is
known to have come to the far east.
possibly to Graustark."
"Great ScottH' exclaimed Anguish.
1T never rains but it halls, so here's
hail to the princes three"
ssWe are the Mecca for runaway roy
atty, it seems" said Count Halfont.
go on with the story, Baron DAN
gloss" cried the princess. ut is like q
book
"a description of the young man ac-
companies the offer of a large reward
for information that may lead to his
return home for reconciliation, and"
here the baron paused dramatically.
"And what?' interjected Beverly,
who could not wait.
"The description fits our friend Bal
dos perfectly!
"You don't mean it, exclaimed Lor-
~. "Then he may be any one of the
three you have mentioned?"
"Let me tell you what the grand
dukes secretary says. / have the Of
fetal notice, but left it in my desk.
The runaway son of the grand duke is
called Christobal. He is twenty seven
years of age, speaks English fuently,
besides French and our own language.
It seems that he attended an English
of our own young men who are still in
England. six weeks ago he disappear
ed from his fathers home At the
same time dozen wild and venturous
retainers left the grand duchy. The
party was seen in Vienna week later,
and the young duke boldly announced
that he was off to the east to help his
friend Dantan in the fight for his
throne. Going on the theory that Bal
dos is this same Christobal we have
only to provide reason for bis pre-
ferring the wilds to the comforts Of
our cities. In the first place, he knows
there is large reward for his appre-
hension and he fears our police. In the
second place, he does not care to direct
the attention of Prince Dantan's foes
to himself. He missed Dantan in the
hills and doubtless was lost for weeks,
but the true reason for his flight is
made plain in the story that was print
ed recently in Paris and Berlin news
papers. According to them, Christobal
rebelled against his fathers right to
select wife for him. The grand duke
had chosen a noble and wealthy bride,
and the son had selected a beautiful
girl from the lower walks of life. Fa-
Their and son quarreled and neither
would give an inch. Christobal would
not marry his fathers choice, and the
grand duke would not sanction his
union with the fair plebeian.'
Here Beverly exclaimed proudly:
Il