Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-08-16

NOUS good. her nlgnness VIII be PROUD
to receive you when you are ready to
come to the throne room. am Gren-
fall Lorry. Come, sir; rest and refresh
yourself in our gladdened home. An
hour ago we were making ready to rush
into battle, but your astonishing but
welcome news is calculated to change
every plan we have made"
Undoubtedly, sir, it will. DAVIS
bergen hardly will make 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
shall be ready to accept your hospitai-
ty as it is proffered. Outside your city
gates my humble followers lie starv-
ing. My 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-
plished the marvel of the day. The
news of GabriePs capture was kept
from the city's inhabitants until yeri-
fication came from the proper sources,
but those in control of the affairs of
state were certain that Ravone'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
quizzical grin as Ravone departed IN
der the guidance of Count Halfont
himself, this knocks me galley west.
I'd like to have had a hand in it. 1t
must have been great. How the devil
do you think that miserable little gang
of tramps pulled it OFF,"
Harry" said Lorry disgustedly,
s'they taught us a trick or two"
While the young princess was being
cared for by Yetives own maids in one
of the daintiest bedchambers of the
castle Beverly was engaged In writing
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
aunt 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, Yetivef' she asked. He says I'm
to come right off home. Says he'll not
paw 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-
sephine 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 fit. Please call an A. D. 7. boy,
princess. / want to send this message
to st. Petersburg"
CONTINUED netx week.