Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1906-12-28

seat plaintively. even humbly. The
man was very deliberate with his
English. He mad been recommended
20 her as the best linguist in the serv-
Ice at Radovitch. and be had a repu-
tatlon to sustain.
1T another hour is but yet" he man
aged to inform her. with a confident
smile
"oh. dear" she sighed, "a whole hour
OF thisp'
1--WE soon be dar, Miss Bev'ly Jes'
yo' max up yo' min to res easy-like.
an we But the faithful old colored
womans advice was lost In the wrath
full exclamation that accompanied an
other dislodgment of bags and boxes.
The wheels of the coach had dropped
suddenly into a deep rut Aunt Fan
nys growls were scarcely more potent
than poor Miss Beverly's moans.
1T is getting worse and worse" ex-
claimed Aunt Fanny's mistress petu-
lantly. "I'm black and blue from head
to foot, aren't you, Aunt FannyW
"Ah cain say as to de blue, Miss
Bevly. Hits a mos monstrous bad
road, sho 'nough Stay up dar, will
yo?" she concluded, jamming bag
into an upper corner
Miss Calhoun, tourist extraordinary,
again consulted the linguist in the sad
die. She knew at the outset that the
quest would be hopeless, but she could
think Of no better way to pass the next
hour than to extract mite of infOrma-
tion from the officer.
"Now for good old chat" she said,
beaming smile upon the grizzled Rus
sian. rs there a decent hotel in the
vlllage?" she asked.
They We're on the edge Of the village
before she succeeded in finding out all
that she could, and it was not great
deal, either She learned that the town
of Balak was In Axphain, scarcely a
mile from the Graustark line. There
was an eating and sleeping house ON
the main street, and the population Of
the place did not exceed 300.
When Miss Beverly awoke the next
morning, sore and distressed, she look
ed back upon the night with horror
that sleep had been kind enough to in
terrupt only at intervals. The wretched
hostelry lived long in her secret cata-
Iogue of terrors Her bed was not a
bed; 1t was a torture. The room. the
table, the-but it was all too odious for
description. Fatigue was her only
friend in that miserable hole. Aunt
Fanny had slept on the floor near her
mistress cot, and it was the good old
colored woman's grumbling that awoke
Beverly. The sun was climbing up the
mountains in the east, and there was
an air Of general activity about the
place. Beverly's watch told her that it
was past o'clock.
Good gracious!" she exclaimed.
Its nearly noon, Aunt Fanny. Hurry
along here and get me up. We must
leave this abominable place in ten min
utes." She was Wp and racing about
excltedly.
"Befo' breakfas? ?" demanded Aunt
Fanny weakly.
Goodness, Aunt Fanny, is that all
you think about|
"Well, honey, yo'll be thlnkin'
moughty serious bout breakfas' long
to'ahds 'leben o'clock. Dat iii tum-
my o. yourn'll be pow'ful mad cause
yo' didn' -
Very well, Aunt Fanny. you can
run along and have the woman put up
breakfast for us. and wen eat 1t on
the road. ! positively refuse to eat
another mouthfuI In that awful dining
room. I'll be down in ten minutes"
She was down in less. Sleep, no
matter how hard earned, had revived
her spirits materially She pronounced
herself ready for anything. There was
a wholesome disdain for the rigors of
the coming ride through the mountains
In the way she gave orders for the
start. The Russian officer met her
just outside the entrance to the inn.
He was less English than ever, but he
eventually gave her to understand that
he had secured permission to escort
her as far as Ganlook, town in
Graustark not more than fifteen miles
froG: Edelwelss and at least two days
from Balak. Two competent Axphain-
ian guides had been retained. and the
party was quite ready to start. He
had been warned of the presence OF
brigands In the wild mountainous
passes north Of Ganlook. The Rus
slams could go no farther than Gan
look because Of royal edict from
Edelweiss forbldding the nearer APP
proach of armed forces. At that town,
however, he was sure she easily could
obtain an escort of GraustarlSian sol
diers.
AS the big coach crawled up the
mountain road and farther into the
oppressive solitudes Beverly Calhoun
drew from the difficult lieutenant con-
siderable information concerning the
state of affairs in Graustark. She had
been eagerly awaiting the time when
something definite could be learned.
Before leaving st. Petersburg early in
the week she was assured that a state
of war did not exist. The Princess
Yetive had been in Edelweiss for six
weeks. A formal demand was framed
BOON after her return from America re-
quiring Dawsbergen TO surrender the
person Of Prince Gabriel to the author
tiles of Graustarx. To this demand
tbovo .,rar M HagnfAo Vouunugn no rryo-