The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1907-02-18
A Stepping Stone
go a Chrome
[orisinal.l

During the carnival az NICE WISH
people from all parts Of the world were
making merry, a masked figure wear
ing the dress Of Mephlstopheles, catch
Ing sight of a shapely and graceful
girl with two faxen braids hanging
down her back-a Marguerite-follow-
ed her. The girl noticed that she was
pursued by the demon and pretended
to be very much in dread Of him. For
an hour or more she made efforts to
elude him, being assisted by her
friends, who found great sport In the
demon chasing Marguerite and Mar
guerite lodging the demon. Finally the |
girl was withdrawn from the game
and taken to a cafe for supper. Then
came the fiend and sat at the next ia
BILE. All being unmasked, Mephlstoph-
eles discovered a friend In Margue-
rites party and secured an introduce
ton. Then occurred the strange anom-
ally Of a love affair between the devil
and the country girl.
Soon after another affair of the heart
was brought about, also by an episode
Between strangers The king Of Wis
senburg while hunting became thirsty
and, seeing a well house by the road
side, turned In for q drink, followed
by all his retinue. A maiden was draw
ing water at the time, and, as 1t was
not meet for king to drink from a
bucket and there was no cup, the girl
offered one OF her own construction.
Putting her two hands together, cup
fashion, she lowered them into the
bucket till they were filed, then offer
ed the king a drink.
Now, the king was very thirsty, and
the maid was very pretty, and her
hands were white and soft, for she was
no peasant, but the daughter Of a coun-
try gentleman, Herr Bishoff, who lived
on the estate on which the well was
situated. His majesty drank all the
water In the improvIsed cup, then ask
ed for more, and more, till it looked
as If he would drink the well dry, but
suddenly, noticing that the eyes Of his
retinue were upon him, he deslsted,
thanked the girl and rode away.
All that day, all night and the next
day the king kept quaffing imaginary
|
cup formed Of the two shapely hands
Of a young girl whose lustrous eyes
were the while looking into his. He
was not married, though one of his
foreign ambassadors was at the time
negotiating for the hand of a foreign
| princess.
Suddenly he ordered all negotiations
broken OF. He had formed a plan.
He would ennOble the girl who had
given him to drink from the cup Of
flesh and blood and marry her. But
when he came to propose the plan his
prime minister thought that the eleva-
ton would be too sudden; that the
kings prestige would suffer. He pro-
posed instead that the lady should
marry prince of the blood, be divorced
without having lived with her hus-
band and step from the title of princess
to that of queen. The king fell in
with the plan at once, though 1t would
occasion delay In his nuptials. An
ambassador was dispatched to the es-
tate of Herr Bishoff, the father Of the
kings choice, to make known the
kings intention. OF course Herr
Blshoff was delighted with the plan
to make his daughter, Leona, a queen
and assented at once. The girl.
strangely enough, was opposed to 1t.
When giving her hands for a cup to
the king she had given them to him as
her sovereign. The king, being III
favored, made upon her a dlsagreeable
impression. However, 1t was not pos
sible for her to understand the will
both of her king and her father, and
/ the temptation to become a queen was
} of course very great.
Prince Metzyar a distant cousin OF
! the king, was selected to be the step
, ping stone on which Leona Bishop
/ should mount to a throne An objec
, ton was raised by the king that the
! prince was handsome fellow, wild anC
hard to manage. Possibly he might
make trouble. But the ministers urged
that no woman would choose to re.
main the wife OF a mere prince with
out prospects when she could be q
queen. Besides, there was no other
2 person OF royal blood available. So II
was arranged that the wedding should
!. take place and the prince should ht
\ ordered to a foreign station, his de
! parture to take place at the conclusion
! Of the ceremony.
In order to give prominence to Icons
BishoR in becoming a princess on hel