The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1908-08-12
You want your motor carr"

You want your motor carr
Yes"
"l'll telephone. Your chauffeur will
have 1t here in six minutes And your
aid-de-camp. VIII YOU
II don't want him, thanks. I'd rather
go alone"
Seven minutes later the big white
motor car was at the door which was
the private entrance to the emperor's
suit, ana the emperor was waiting for
it, having forgotten all about tho sable
lined coat which had been n present
from the czar. If 1t had been midwin-
ter he would have forgotten, just tho
same. nor would he have known that
ii was cold.
There was plenty OF time now to car
ry out his plan, which was to catch
the Orient express at the Kronburg
station and present himself to the
Mowbrays in the train later. AS to
what would happen afterward, 1t was
beyond planning, but Leopold knew
that the girl had loved him, and he
hoped that ho would have Lady Now
bray OH his side.
The only way Of reaching Kronburg
'''''' ''NhASoo l$t was Dy TOUu.
There was no railway connection be-
tween the two places. But the town
and the castle were separated by
short eight miles, and until checked by
traffic In the suburbs the sixty horse
power car could cover n mile in less
than two minutes.
Unfortunately, however, police regu-
lations were strict, and OF this Leo.
pold could not complain, as he had up.
proved them himself. Once he was
stopped and would certainly not have
been allowed to proceed had he not re-
vcalcd himself as the emperor, the
owner of tho one unnumbercd car in
Rhactla. AS 1t was, he had suffered
Il delay Of five minutes, and just rs
he was congratulating himself on the
goodness OF his tires, which had made
him no trouble for many weeks, loud
report rs of pistol shot gave warn.
ing of puncture.
'ut there was not moment to waste
on repairs. Leopold drove on on the
rims, ONLY TO acknowledge presently
the truth of IN old proverb, "The moro
haste the less speed"
Delayed by torn and Tapping tire,
the car arrived at the big central sta
ton of Kronburg only Ave minutes be.
fore ~. Leopold dashed in careless
whether he were recognized or not,
and was surprised at the absence OF
the crowd which usually throngs the
platform before the departure OF the
most important train OF the day
"ls the Orient express late?" he ask.
cd of IN inspector to whom he was
but man among other men.
NO, sir. Just on time. Went out
five minutes ago"
but it isn't due to start till t."
Summer time table, sir. Autumn
time table takes effect today, the 1st
of October. Orient express departure
changed to IL 80"
An unreasoning rage against fate
boiled In the emperor's breast He
ruled this country, yet everything In 1t
seemed to conspire in n plot to wreck
his dearest desires
For few seconds he stood speech
less, feeling as If he had been dashed
against blank wall and there were
no way of getting around It, Yet the
seconds were but few, for Leopold was
not n man OF slow decisions.
His first step was to inquire the
name of the town at which the Orient
express stopped soonest. In three
hours, he learned, 1t would reach Eel
gardc the last station on ihe Rhaetian
side Of the frontier.
His first thought on hearing this was
to engage n special and follow, But
even in these days there is much red
tape cntanglcd with railway regula-
tionS In Rhaetia. 1t soon appeared
that 1t would be quicker to take the
next train to Fclgardc, which was due
to leave In half IN hour and would ar
rive only an hour later than the Orient
express
IcOpold's heart was chilled, but he
shook off dcSpondency and would not
be discouraged. Telephoning to the
hotel where the Mowbrays had been
stopping. he learned that they had
gone Then he wrote out telegram:
Miss Helen Mowbray Travelling From
Eronburg to Paris by Orient Express,
Care Of station Master Mt Felgardo:
| imploro you lcavo the train at Eel
Eordc and walt for mo. Am following In
all haste. WIN arrive Felgardo ono hour
after you and hope to find you at Leo
poldhof.
SO far the wording was simple. He
had significd his intention and express
ed his wish, which would have been