The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1906-09-28

> What are you going to do l0ith us?"
He comes here vagabond, but he GER
tainly does not act like one. He admits
that he is being hunted, but takes no
one into his confidence. For that he
cannot be blamed"
Have you any reason to suspect
who he isl" asked Lorry.
my instructions were to refrain
from questioning him. complained
Dangloss, with a pathetic look at the
original plotters. "Stll, have made
investigations along other lines"
"And who is hep cried Beverly
eagerly
Il don't know" was the disappoint-
ing answer. I'VE are confronted by
queer set of circumstances. Doubtless
you all know that young Prince Dan
tan is flying from the wrath of his half
brother, our lamented friend Gabriel.
He is supposed to be In our hills with
a half starved body of followers. 1t
seems impossible that he could have
reached our northern boundaries with
out our outposts catching glimpse of
him at some time. The trouble is that
his face is unknown to most of us, l
among the others. / have been going
on the presumption that Baldos is in
reality Prince Dantan, but last night
the belief received a severe shock"
YES" came from several eager lips.
my men who are watching the
Dawsbergen frontier came in last
night aud 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 in
the southern irt Of GEaustark three
days aga. Our new guard speaks many |
languages, but be has never been heard
to use that Of pawsbergen. 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 mate in this
Baldos."
Then he really isn't Prince Dan
tan?' cried Beverly, as though a cher
ished ideal had been shattered.
mot IL we are to believe the tales /
from the south. Here is another COM !
plication, however. There is, as you
know, Count Halfont, aud perhaps all
of you, for that matter, a preteuder to
the throne of Axphafn, the fugitive
Prince Frederic. He is described as
young, good looking. 9 scholar and the
next thing to pauper."
"Baldos a mere pretenderw cried
Beverly in distress. "Never!''
AT any rate, he is not what he pre-
tends to be-" said the baron, with q
Wlgs smile:
iThen You think he may be Prince
Frederick" asked Lorry, deeply inter
ested.
III AM 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 sen had. fed from home and is
known to have come to the far east,
possibly to Graustark"
"Great Scottr' exclaimed Anguish. !
2ail to the princes three" 4
1--WE are the Mecca for runaway roy |;
atty, it seems" said Count Halfont
go on with the story, Baron DAN
gioss," cried the princess. cit is IKE a
book"
"a description of the young man ac-
companies the offer of }arge reward
for Information that may lead to his
return home for reconciliation, and
here the baron paused dramatically.
"And whatT' interjected Beverly, Ii
who could not wait.
1.-The description fits our friend Bal
dos PERFECTLY
"You don't mean itT' exclaimed Lor-
ry. Then he may be any one of the
three you have mentionedT"
LET me tell you what the grand
dukes secretary says. have the of.
fetal notice, but left it in my desk.