Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1907-05-24
g !;!,s prisoner
; ss!..,, o 81 Zenda
HOPE
convr;abted 1884, 1885, by Henry Holt q Company
. . . q O - q - - a - z 4 4 Z 4 a

short interval And, finally, If you
walk through the picture galleries at
Burlesdon, among the fifty portraits or
so of the last century and half you
will find five or six, including that OF
the sixth earl, distinguished by long,
sharp, straight noses and quantity
of dark red hair; these five or six have
also blue eyes, whereas among the
Rassendylls dark eyes are the COM
moner.
That is the explanation, and I am
glad to have finished it. The blemishes
on honorable lineage are delicate SUBJ
iect, and certainly this heredity we
hear so much about Is the finest scan
dalmonger in the world; it laughs at
discretion and writes strange entries
between the lines Of the ''peerages."
1t will be observed that my sister-in-
law. with a want of logic that must
have been peculiar to herself (slnce we
are no longer allowed to lay it to the
charge of her SEX, treated my COM
plexion almost as an offense for which
| I was responsible, fastening to assume
| from that external sign inward quail
| tie, Of which 1 protest my entire In
noceace, and this unjust inference she
sought to buttress by pointing to the
| uselessness of the life had led. Well,
| be that as it may, / had picked up
| good deal of pleasure and good deal
of knowledge. had been to Ger
man school and German university
and spoke German as readily and per-
| fcctly as English; I was thoroughly at
home in French; had smattering OF
Italian and enough Spanish to swear
| by. / was, l believe, strong, though
hardly fine, swordsman and good
shot. / could ride anything that had
a back to sit on, and my head was az
cool one as you could find, for all its
flaming cover. If you say that l ought
to have spent my time in useful labor
am out of court and have nothing to
say, save that my parents had no busi-
ness to leave me $4,000 a year and q
rowing disposition.
| QluclcASC OCtWSSh yVo 1910
Robert" said my sister-in-law, who Of
ten (bless herb speaks on platform
and oftener still as If she were on one,
"is that he recognizes the duties OF his
position and you only see the opportun-
tiles of yours
ITO man Of spirit, my dear Rose"
I answered, opportunities are duties"
"Nonsense! said she, tossing her
head. And after a moment she went
on, "Now here's Sir Jacob Borrodaile
offering you exactly what you might
be equal to-"
"a thousand thanksp' 1 murmured.
"He's to have an embassy in six
months, and Robert says he Is sure
that he'll take you as an attache. DO
take it, Rudolf, to please me-"
Now, when my sister-in-law puts the
matter in that way, wrinkiing her
pretty brows, twisting her little hands
and growing wistful In the eyes, all on
| account of an idle scamp like myself,
| for whom she has no natural RESPONSE
bility, I am visited with conjunction.
Moreover, 1 thought it possible that
could pass the time in the position sug-
gested with some tolerable amuse-
ment. Therefore l said:
| "My dear sister, If in six months
| time no unforeseen obstacle has arisen
and Sir Jacob invites me, hang me II
1 don't go with Sir Jacob"
ooh, Rudolf, how good Of you!
am glad"
"Where's he going TOT"
"He doesn't know yet, but it's sure
| to be good embassy"
MADAM" said I, "for your sake I'll
60 II it's no more than beggarly lega-
ton. When do thing, don't do it
by halves"
My promise, then, was given, but six
months are six months and seem or
eternity, and inasmuch as they stretch
ed between me and my prospective in
dustry q suppose attaches are indus
trious; but 1 know not, for never be-
came attache to Sir Jacob or to any
body else) 1 cast about for some de-
sirable mode Of spending them. And
1t occurred to me suddenly that I
would visit Ruritania. 1t may seem
| strange that had never visited that
country yet, but my father Qn spite Of
| a sneaking fondness for the Elph-
bergs, which led him to give me, his
second son, the famous Elphberg
name of Rudolf had always been
J averse to my going, and since his death
my brother, prompted by Rose, had ac-
copied the family tradition which
taught that a wide berth was to be
| given to that country.
But the moment RuritaEic had come
into my head l was eaten up with Gu
riosity to see it. After all, red hair and
long noses are not confined to the
mouse of Elphberg, and the old story
seemed preposterously insufficient
reason for debarring myself from &C.
quaintance with highly interesting
and important kingdom, one which had
played no small part in European his
tory and might do the like again un-
der the sway Of a young and vigorous
ruler, such as the new king was ru-
mored to be. My determination was
elinched by reading in the Times that
Rudolf v. was to be crowned at Strel-
eau in the course of the next three
weeks and that great magnidcence
was to mark the occasion. At once l
made up my mind to be present and
began my preparations. But inasmuch
as it has never been my practice to