Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-16
BY ANTHONY HOPE.
tcopyrish. 1894. 1898. by Henry Holt . Co,

waved my hand in farewell and dropped 1t
grazed my finger and felt the blood. Old
Sapt turned round in the saddle. Some one
| fired again, but they had no rines, ana we
were out of range. Sapt fell 10 Laughing.
That's one to me and two to you. with
decent luck" said he. Little Josef will
have company"
AYE, they'll be parti carree," said l.
My blood was up. and rejoiced to nave
killed them.
"Well, a pleasant nights work to the
| rest!" said he. Il wonder If they noticed
your
""The big fellow did; as ! struck him
heard him cry. The king!"
Good! good! Oh, well give Black MI
chael some work before we've done,"
Pausing an instant, We made oandage
for my wounded finger. which was bleeding
freely and ached severely, the bone being
much bruised. Then we rode on, asking OF
our good horses all that was in them. The
excitement of the fight and of our great
resolve died away, and we rode in gloomy
silence. Day broke clear and cold. We
found farmer just up and made him give
US sustenance for ourselves and our horses
I. feigning toothache, muff1ed my race
closely. Then ahead again. till Strelsau lay
before us. 1t was o'clock or nearing g.
and the gates were all open as they al
ways were save when the duke caprice or
intrigues shut them. We rode in by the
same way as we had come out the evening
before, all four of us-the men and the
horses-wearied and jaded. The streets
were even quieter than when we had gone;
every one was sleeping off last nights rev
elry, and we met hardly soul TIL we
reached the little gate of the palace. There
sapt's old groom was waiting for US.
''Is all we'll, sir?' he asked.
"AHs WE'LL" said sapt. and the man,
coming to see. took my hand to KISS
"It's nothing said 1 as dismounted
IT caught my finger in the door"
Observation-Disclosures said Sapt. Ah!
but, my good Freyler, l do not need to
tell you that!
The old fellow shrugged his shoulders.
"All young men like to ride abroad now
and Sapt's laugh left his opinion Of my mo-
tives undisturbed.
"You should always trust man." observed
Sapt. fitting the key in the lock-'just as
We went in and reached the dressing
room. Flinging open the door, we saw
Fritz Won .Tarlenheim stretched, fully
dressed, on the sofa. He seemed to have
been sleeping, but our entry woke him.
He leaped to his feet, gave one glance at
me, and with joyful cry threw himself
on his knees before me.
THANK God. sire! thank God. you're
safe.' he cried, stretching his hand up to
catch hold Of mine.
1 confess that 1 was moved. This king,
whatever his faults, made people love him.
For a moment 1 could not bear to speak
or break the poor fellows illusion. But
tough old Sapt had no such feeling. He
slapped his hand on his thigh delightedly:
BRAVO ladr' cried he. I'VE shall do"
Fritz looked up in bewilderment l held
out my hand.
You're wounded, sire" he exclaimed.
Its only scratch" said 1, but"
paused.
He rose to his feet with bewildered air:
Holding my hand he looked me UP and
down. and down and IN. Then suddenly
he dropped my hand and reeled back.
Where's the king? Where's the king?'
he cried.
Hush. you fool" Kissed sapt. Not so
loud. Here's the king!'
A knock sounded at the door, Sapt
seized me by the hand
Here, quick to the bed room! OFF with
your cap and your boots. Get into bed.
Cover everything up.
l did as 1 was bid. A moment later Sapt
looked in, nodded. grinned. and introduced
gentleman, who came up to my bedside,
bowling again and again. and Informed me
that he was of the household of the Prin-
cess Flavia and that her royal highness
had sent him especially to inquire how the
kings health was after the fatigues which
his majesty had undergone yesterday.
MY best thanks, sir, to my cousin" said
1: land tell her royal hghness that l was
never better in my life"
1.-The king added old Sapt (who, I be-
gan to find, loved good lie for its own
sake) ''has slept without break all night"
| The young gentleman Che reminded me of
Osrc in "Hamlet) bowed himself out
again. The farce was over and Fritz Won
Tarlenheim's pale face recalled us to real
ity-though, in faith, the farce had to be
reality for us now.
us the king dead?'' he whispered
please Cod no." said I. But he's in the
| hands of Black Mchael!'
(To be continued tomorrow