Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1907-03-06

1
George jingled his money. SAILED
cruelty az poor Ber;ram and answered
pleasantly:
Nobody knows. - th, WY. Bet.
l met "A great man al h,r house the
other nighi.-at least about mJnt.l
ago. Did you ever meet Il m-;ar DUE
OF Sirelsau!"
YES. | did" growcd Bertra,n.
AN extremely accoapl shell naa.
thought hun"
IL was not hard 10 SIZE that Georges
references TO the duke We're iutellei
to aggravate poor Bcrtram's suTerngs.
so that | drew the Inference that the
duke had distinguished Nine. lie Mau-
ban by his attentions She was Il wild
ow. rich. handsome AMI. according to
repute. ambitious 1t WAS quite pos
slble that she. las George PIT IL. was
flying us high as a parsonage whb was
everything he could be short OF enjoy
Rag II strictly royal rank. for the duke
was the son OF the late king OF Ruri.
tania by q second and morganatic mar
rlage and half brother to the new king
He had been his fathers favorte. and
IL had occaslonel some unfavorable
comment wnen he had been created
duke. with title derived from no
less city than the capital itself His
mother had been of good. but not ex
allied, birth.
Hes not in Paris now. Is he?"
asked.
"Oh. no. He's gone back TO be pres
ent at the kings coronation: cere'
mony which. should say he'll not
enjoy much. But, Bert, old man. don't
despair. He won't marry the fair An
toinette--at least not unless another
plan comes to nothing Still. perhaps.
She He paused and added. with II
laugh. Royal attentions are hard to
resist. You know that. don't you, Ru-
dolf?"
"Confound your said |. and. rising.
left the hapless Bertram in Georges
hands and went home to bed.
The next day George Featherly went
with me to the station, where | took
a ticket for Dresden.
"Golng to see the plctures?' asked
George, with a grin.
George Is an inveterate gossip, and
had | told him that / was off to Ruri-
| tania the news would have been in
London in three days and in Park lane
in week. ! was therefore about to re-
turn an evasive answer when he saved
my conscience by leaving me suddenly
and darling across the platform. Fol
lowing him with my eyes, saw him
lift his hat and accost a graceful. fash
ionably dressed woman who had just
appeared from the booking office. She
was perhaps year or two over thirty.
tall, dark and of rather full figure. Az
George talked l saw her glance at me,
and my vanity was hurt by thu thought
that. muffled in fur coat and neck
wrapper for it was chilly April day.
and wearing soft travelling hat pulled
down TO my eyes, / must be looking
very far from my best. A moment
later George rejoined me.
you've got charming travelling
companion" he said. That's poor Bert
Bertrams goddess, Antoinette de Maui
ban, and, like you, she's going to Ores
den-also. no doubt. to see the pictures
rs very queer. though. that she doesn't
at present desire the honor OF your ac-
quaintance"
Il didn't ask L. be introduced" oh
served little annoyed
We'll. I offered to bring you to her.
but she said. Another time Never
mind. Old fellow. perhaps there'll be
smash. and you'll have chance OF res
cuing her and cutting out the Duke os
Strelsau-
No smash, however. happened. either
TO me or 10 Nine lie Mauban can
speak for her as confidently as for my
self. for when. after nights rest In
Dresden. continued my Journey she
got Into the same train. Understand
ing that she wished to be let alone
avoided her carefully. but ! saw that
she went the same way as did to the
very end of my journey. and took op.
portunitles OF having good look az
her when could do so unobserved
As soon as we reached the Rurita-
Man frontier (where the old officer who
presided over the custom house favor
ed me with such stare that felt
SureT IMAM DefOle OF my ElpnDerk
physiognomy, l bought the papers and
found In them news which affected my
movements. For some reason which
was not clearly explained and seemed
to be something OF mystery the date
of the coronation had been suddenly
advanced. and the ceremony was to
take place on the next day but one.
The whole country seemed In a stir
about II. and IL was evident that Strel-
sau was thronged. Rooms we're all let
and hotels ove-fcwing. There would
be very little chance OF my obtaining
lodging. and I should certainly have
to pay an cxorbitant charge for II.
made up my mind To stop at Zenda,
small town fifty miles short of the cap
ital and about ten from the frontier
My train reached there In the evening
| would spend the next day. Tuesday
In wander over the hills. which were
said to DC very fine. and In taking