Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1907-09-25

husband for his rebellious niece, the
Princess Hidegadfde p pnia,y &c nnnn
kim, an ugly old widower, and ruler
of the principality of Doppelkinn. Though
he had been In the country SIX months hs
princess, and when at last they met IL
was very much of a surprise TO both.
CHAPTER i.-Continued.
The one picture of her which was
lucky enough to see had been taken
when she was six, and meant nothing
ito me in the way of Identification. For
all knew l might have passed her on
the road. She became to me the
Princess in the Invisible Cloak, pass
ing me often and doubtless deriding
my efforts to discern her. My curl
losity became alarming. l couldn't
sleep for the thought of her. Finally
we met. but the meeting was a great
surprise to us both. This meeting
happened during the great hubbub of
which l have just written; and at the
same time l met another who had
great weight in my future affairs.
The princess and | became rather
well acquainted. | was not a gentle
man, according to her code, but, in
the historic words of the drug clerk, /
was something just as good. She hon.
ored me with a frank, disinterested
Friendship, which still exists. / have
yet among my fading souvenirs of
diplomatic service half a dozen notes
commanding me to get up at dawn and
ride around the lakes, something like
16 miles. She was almost as reckless
rider as myself. She was truly ia
nous rider, and a woman who sits
well on a horse can never be aught
but graceful. She was, in fact, youth
full and charming, with the most mag
nificent black eyes l ever beheld in
Teutonic head; witty, besides, and
songstress of no ordinary talent. If
had been in love with her-which l
solemnly vow l was not!-I should
have called her beautiful and exhaust
ed my store of complimentary adjec-
tives.
The basic cause of all this turmoil,
hbout which | am to spin my nara
tive, lay in her education. / hold that
a German princess should never be
educated save as German. BY this
1 mean to convey that her education
should not go beyond German litera-
ture. German history, German venera-
lion of laws, German manners and
German passivity and docility. The
Princess Hildegarde had been edu-
Gated in England and France, which
simplifies everything, or, l should say,
to be exact, complexities everything.
She possessed a healthy contempt
for that what-d'-ye-call-it that hedges
in king. Having mingled with Eng
disappearing people, she returned to
her native land, her brain filled with
the importance of feminine liberty OF
thought and action. Hence, she be-
came the bramble that prodded the
grand duke whichever way he turned.
His days were filled with horrors, his
nights with mares which did not have
box-stalls in his stables.
Never could he anticipate her in
ANYTHING. On that day he placed
guards around the palace she wrote
verses or read modern fiction; the mo-
ment he relaxed his vigilance she was
away on some heartrending escapade.
Didn't she scandalize the nobility by
dressing up a hussar and riding her
famous black Mecklenburg cross-coun-
try? Hadn't she fiirted outrageously
with the French attache and deliber
ately turned her back on the Russian
minister, at the very moment, too,
when negotiations were going on be-
tween Russia and Barscheit relative
to a small piece of land in the Bal
kans? And. most terrible of all to re-
late, hadn't she ridden shining bicy-
Gle UP the Konigsstrasse, in broad day
light. and in bifurcated skirts. be-
sides? | shall never forget the indig-
nation of the press at the time of this
last escapade, the stroke of apoplexy
which threatened the duke, and the
room with the barred window which
the princess occupied one whole week.
They burned the offensive bicycle in
the courtyard of the palace, ceremo-
niously, too, and the princess had wit
messed this solemn auto da fe from
her barred window. 1t is no strain
upon the Imagination to conjure up
the picture of her fine rage her threat
ening hands, her compressed lips, her
fearless, flashing eyes, as she saw her
beautiful new wheel writhe and twist
on the blazing fagots. But what the
deuce was a poor duke to do with a
niece like this?
For a time / feared that the United
to<otos and The CropH nuchv 81 De-
scheit would sever diplomatic rela-
lions. The bicycle was. unfortunately,
of American make, and the manufac-
turers wrote to me personally that
they considered themselves grossly in
suited over the action of the duke.
Diplomatic notes were exchanged, and
/ finally prevailed upon the duke to
state that he held the wheel harmless
and that his anger had been directed
solely against his niece. This letter
was duly forwarded to the manufac-
turers, who, after the manner of their
kind. carefully altered the phrasing
and used II in their magazine adver-
tisements. They were so far appeased
that they offered me my selection from
the private stock. Happily the duke
never read anything but the Fliegende
Batter and Jugend, and thus war was
averted.
Later an automobile agent visited
the town-at the secret bidding of her
highness-but he was so unceremo
niously hustled over the frontier that
his teeth must have ratified like a
"a
country for expeditiousness, as you