Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-08-02

our FVUu. tUTtUtV BUtUOS.
Undoubtedly, sir, it Will. DAVIS
bergen hardly will make a fight to re-
lease Gabriel He is safe in your dun
geons. If they want him now they
must come to your strongholds. They
will not do it, believe me-" said Ravone
simply. Alas, l am faint and sore, as
you suspect. May lie down for an
hour or two! In that time you will
have heard from your wardens and my
story will be substantiated Then l
shall be ready to accept your hospitali-
~ as it is proffered. outside your city
gates my humble followers lie starry
Ing. ny only prayer is that you will
send them cheer and succor."
No time was lost in sending to the
gates for the strollers who had accom-
pished the marvel of the day. The
news Of Gabrel's capture was kept
from the city's inhabitants until veri-
ficntion came from the proper sources,
but those In control of the affairs of
state were certain that Ravonc's story
was true. All operations came TO a
standstill The movements of the army
were checked Everything lay quies-
cent under the shock of this startling
climax.
Hang it," growled Anguish, with q
quzzlcal grin as Ravone departed I'M
der the guidance of Count Halfont
himself, this knocks me galley west.
Id like to have had hand in 1t. 1t
must have been great. How the devil
do you think that miserable little gang
Of tramps pulled it OFF,"
Harry" said Lorry dsgustedly,
they taught us Il trick or two"
While the young princess was being
cared for by Yetive's own maids in one
of the daintiest bedchambers of the
castle Beverly was engaged in writing
q brief but pointed letter to her Aunt
Josephine, who was still in st. Peters
burg. She had persistently refused to
visit Edelweiss, but had written many
imperative letters commanding her
niece to return to the Russian capital.
Beverly now was recalling her scat
tered wits In the effort to appease her
nunt and her father at the same time.
Major Calhoun emphatically had or
dered her to rejoin her aunt and start
for America at once Yesterday Bev-
erly would have begun packing for
the trip home. Now she was eager to
remain in Graustark indefinitely. She
was so thrilled by Joy and excitement
that she scarcely could hold the pen.
Father says the United States pa
pers are full of awful war scares from
the Balkans. Are we part Of the Bal
kans, Yctive?" she asked. HE says I'm
to come right off home. Says he'll not
pay a nickel Of ransom If the brigands
catch me, as they did Miss Stone and
that woman who had the baby. He
says mother Is worried half to death
I'm just going to cable him that it's all
off, because he says if war breaks out
he's going to send my brother Dan over
here to get me. I'm having Aunt Jo-
sephne send him this cablegram from
st. Petersburg: They never fight in
Balkans. Just scare each other. Skip
headlines, father dear. Will be home
soon. Beverly. How does that sound?
1t will cost lot, but he brought it
upon his own head And we're not in
the Balkans, anyway. Aunt Joe will
have flt Please call an A. d. II. boy,
princess. I want to send this message
to ST. Petersburg"
When Candace entered the princess
boudoir half an hour later she was far
from being the tmid youth who first
came to the notice of the Graustafk
cabinet. She was now attired in one
Of Beverly's gowns, and it was most
becoming to her. Her short curly
brown hair was done up properly; her
pink and white complexion was as
clear as cream, now that the dust Of
the road was gone; her dark eyes were
glowing with the wonder and interest
of nineteen years, and she was, all in
all, most enticing bit of femininity.
You are much more of a princess
now than when first saw you"
smiled Yetive, drawing her down upon
the cushions of the window seat be-
side her.
But she was such pretty boy"
protested Dagmar. You don't know
how attractive you were In those'-
Candace blushed. "Oh. they were
awful, but they We're comfortable. One
has to wear trousers II one intends to
be q vagabond. l wore them for more
than week"
you shall tell us all about it," said
Yetive, holding the girls hand in hers.
ut must have been a most interesting
week for you"
ION, there Is not much to tell, your
highness," said Candace suddenly reti-
cent and shy. "Aly stcpbrother - oh,
how hate him!-had condemned me to
die because he thought | was helping
Dantan. And ! was helping him, too
aR that could. Old Bappo, master of
the stables, who has loved me for q
hundred years, he says, helped me to
escape from the palace at night. They
were to have seized me the next morn