Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1908-08-06

PAGE SEVEN
which hung below his shoulders. He was dressed in a red silk shirt
that was beted at the waist and hung outside black velvet trousers
which, in turn, were stuffed into high black boots. I recognized the
costume at once as that of a Russian servant, but what a Russian serv-
ant in his native livery could be doing in a private house in Knights
bridge was incomprehensible.
81 advanced and touched the man on the shoulder, and after an
effort he awoke, and, on seeing me, sprang to his feet and began bow
ing rapidly and making deprecatory gestures. I had picked up enough
Russian in Petersburg to make out that the man was apologizing for
having fallen asleep, and I also was able to explain to him that I
desired to see his master.
"He nodded vigorously, and said. sWill the Fxce1encv cona+ h;s
way? The Princess is here
81 distinctly made out the word princess and I was a good deal
embarrassed. I had thought it would be easy enough to explain nv
intrusion to a man, but how a woman would look at il was another
matter, and as 1 followed him down the hall I was somewhat puzzled.
"As we advanced, he noticed that the front door was standing
open, and with an exclamation of surprise, fastened toward it and
closed it, Then he raped twice on the door of what was apparently
the drawingroom. There was no reply to his knock, and he tapped
again, and then tlmidly, and cinging subsequently, opened the door
and stepped inside. He withdrew himself at once and stared stupidity
at me, shaking his head.
"tshe is not there he said, He stood for a moment gazing blanlly
through the open door, and then fastened toward the dining-room.
The solitary candle which still burned there seemed to assure him that
the room also was empty. He came back and bowed me toward the
drawing-room, She is above he said; L will inform the Princess of
the Excellencys presence ~~~1 r. = ~--]
"Before / could stop him he had turned and was running up the
staircase, leaving me alone at the open door of the drawingroom. I
decided that the adventure had gone quite far enough, and if I had
been able to explain to the Russian that I had lost my way in the fog,
and only wanted to get back into the street again, I would have,lefft
the house on the instant. ~&41@%.M% s$s@Is-T - m..4s
"Of course, when I first rang the bell of the house I had no othhesy
expectation than that it would be answered by a parlor-maid Who
would direct me N my way. I certainly could not then foresee that
would disturb a Russian princess in her boudor, or that I might be
thrown out by her athletic bodyguard. Still, I thought 1 ought not
now to leave the house without making some APOLOGY. and If tho
worst should come, [ could show my card. They could hardly believe
that a member of an Embassy had any designs upon the hatrack.
"The room in which [ stood was dinly lighted, but 1 could see
that, like the hall, it was hung with heavy Persian rugs. The corners
uoro HIoJ VAL ,oj,o aJ 4l-a III ~, 1,
of Russian cigarettes, and strange,d dry scents that carried me back to
the bazaars of Vhdivostock. Near the front windows was a grand
piano. and at the other end OF the room a heavily carved screen Of
some black wood, picked out with ivory. The screen as overhung
with a canopy of siken draperies, and formed a sort of alcove. In
front of the acove was spread the white skin of a polar bear. and sct
on that "a of those low Turkish coffee tables. It held a lighted
spirit lamp and two gold coffee cups. / had heard no movement from
above stairs, and it must have been fully three minutes that I stood
waiting, noting these details of the room and wondering at the DELAY.
and at the strange silence.
"And then, suddenly, as my eye grew more used to the halflight,
l saw, projecting from behind the screen IS though it were stretched
along the back of a divan, the hand of a man and the lower part of his
arm. I was as startled as though 1 had come across a FOOTPRINT N a
deserted island. Evidently the mar had been sitingt there since I had
com. into the room, even since l had entered the house, and he had
heard the servant knocking upon the door. Why he had not declared
himself | could not understand, but I supposed that possibly he "a a
guest, with no reason to interest himself in the Princesss other visit.
om, or perhaps, for some reason, he did not wish to be observed. ]
could see nothing of him except his hand, but had an unpleasant
feeling that he had been peering at m through the carving in the
screen, and that he still was doing so. l moved my feet noislv on the
floor and said tentatively, 4 beg your pardon
"There VA n reply and the hand did not stir. Apparently the
man was bent upon ignoring me, but IS all I wished was to apolopize
for my intrusion and to leave the house, [ walked up to the alcoye and
peered around It, Inside the screen was a divan piled with cushions.
and on the end of it nearer me the man vas sitting. He was a Young
English1nan with light yellow hair and a deeply bronzed face. He vas
seated witt his arms stretched out along the back of the divan. and
with his head resting against a cushion. His attitude was one of ON
plete ease. But his mouth had fallen open, and his eyes were set with
an expression of utter horror. At the first glance I saw that he vas
quite dead.
ITO Be Continued Next Week
MAKE YOUR OWN STOCK FOODS BY USING
H SKIDOO HORSE N CATTLE TABLETS