Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-02-23
G q! ssprlsoner
Eli; 81 p: Zenda.
HOPE
shted.l by {,


what. If anything. ought TO do And
by way of closing the discusson-and
also. ! must admit. of eXasperating my
strict little sster-in-law a trife more
! observed:
Il rather like being an Elphberg my
self"
When I read story. | skip the ex-
plantations. yet the moment | begin to
write one | find that | must have an
explanation. For it is manifest that /
must explain why my Sister-in-law was
VeXed with my nose and hair and why
! ventured to call myself IN Elphberg.
For, eminent as. l must protest, the
Rassendylls have been for many gen
eratiOns. yet participation in their
blood. of course. does not ut first sight
Justify the boast of Il connection with
the @rander stock of the Elphbergs or
Il claim TO lie one of that royal house
For what relationship is there between
Ruritania and BUrleSdOn. between the
palace at Strelsau or the castle of
Zeuda and 800 Park lane. w?
Well. then-and | must premise that
| ''iii -'lii- l'i lOl'' w AAht ny tHC
very scandal which nv dear Lady
| BurleSdon wishes forgotten - in the
! year 1873 George H.. sitting then on
| the throne. peace rcigninG for the mo-
ment and the king and the Prince of
| Wales being not yet at loggerhcadS.
| there came on visit to the English
| court Il certain prince. who was after
| ward known 10 history as Rudolf
| Ill of Ruritania. The prince was Il
| tall. handsome Young fellow. marked
| (mayhe married; ii is not for me 10 say
| 10y soWewhat unusually long. sharp
and straight nose and mass Of dark
red hair-in fact. the nose and the hair
which have stamped the Elphhergs
time ont of mind He stayed some
months in England. where he was
most courteously received; yet in the
end he left rather under Il cloud. for he
fought Il duel lit was considered highly
we'll bred of him to waive all question
of his rank with nObleman we'll
| known in the society of the day not
only for his own merits. but as the
husband of 4 very beautiful wife. In
that duel Prince Rudolf received Sc
we're wound and. recovering therefrom
was adrOitly struggled OFF by the Ruri-
tanian ambassador. who had found
him Il pretty handful The nObleman
was not wounded in the duel; but, the
i morning being raw and damp on the
occasion of the meeting he contracted
4 severe chill, and. failing to throw il
off. he died some six months after the
departure of Prince Rudolf. without
having found leisure to adjust his rela
tons with his wife, who after another
two months bore an heir to the title
and estates of the family of Burlesdon
This lady was the Countess Amelia
whose picture my sister-in-aw wished
to remove from the drawing room il
Park lane. and her husband was
James. fifth earl of Burlesdon auC
| twenty-Second Baron Rassendyll. botl
in the peerages of England, and /
! Knight of the Garter. AS for Rudolf
: he went back TO Rurtania. married
wife and assembled the throne. WHEREOF
his progeny in the direct line have sd
from then till this very hour-with on,
short interval. And. finally. if YOU
walk through the picture galleries a
Burlesdon. among the fifty portraits o
, so of the last century and half yOi
; will find five or six. including that o
: | the sixth earl. distinguished by long
. sharp. straight noses and Il quantit
: of dark red hair; these five or six hav
also blue eyes. whereas among tn
s RasSendyllS dark eyes are the CON
Il moner.
That is the explanation, and I an
!, glad to have finished it. The blemiShe
e on honorable lineage are delicate sui
IS iect, and certainly this heredity w
IL hear so much about is the finest scan
e dalmOnger in the world: it laughs a
discretion and writes strange entire
i between the lines of the ''peerages.'
y 1t will be observed that my sister-iI
n law, with Il want of logic that mus
If have been peculiar to herself (since W
a are no longer allowed to lay il 10 til
charge Of her SEX, treated my con
r pleXiOn almost as an Offense for whic
e ! was responsible. Fastening to asSum
e from that external sign inward qua
a tiles of which | protest my entire il
nocence and this unjust inference 81
IA sought to buttresS by pointing to til
s disclosures of the life | had led. Wei
z be that as it may. | had picked up
e. good deal of pleasure and Il good de.
t of knowledge. | had been to &c
l. man school and German universit
IS and spoke German as readily and pc
y, fectly as English; | was thoroughly
. home in French; had Il smattering
+ Italian ami enough Spanish to swe;
l. by. | was. | believe. strong, thoue
" hardly fine. swordsman and GOO
shot / could ride anything that h
. a back to sit on. and my head was /;
or cool one as you could find, for all i
m, flaming cover. If you say that | Dug
~ to have spent my time in useful lab
of | am cut of court and have nothing
IT. say, save that my parents had no bus
~ ness to leave me $1,000 a year2and
rowing disposition.
on. The difference between you al
.62 Robert" said my sister-n-law, who c