The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1908-09-24

observation at Nolseni in his hand.
At first siyht the kings commands
were totally at variance with the in
terests Of the Ellcnhurg co'erle aud
with the progress of their great plan.
They did not want the house Of Stefano-
v'tch strengthened ana glorihed in the
person Of its present heir apparent.
But the matter was more complicated
| than first glance showed. There were
the guns TO he considered as well and
the gunncrs training at Nolscni. These
would I've sources Of strength and pres
! tige To the prince not less valuable.
more tangible, than even great match.
| md now the prince was on the spot.
Send him on his travels! The time was
| short When the short time ended he
might he FAR away. Finally he might
60 and yet take nothing by his jour
ney The exalted princess would he
| hard 10 win The kings family pride
might defeat itself 10y making him
| pitch his hopes ana his claims too high.
/ On the whole. the matter was diff
cult. The three chief conspirators
/ showed their conviction Of this I'm their
| characteristic ways. Countess Ellen
burg became more picus than ever;
/ General Stenovics more silent at least
more prone 20 restrict his conversation
10 grunts; Colonel Stafnitz more gay
and interested in life. lie, too. was
I fishing and in his favorite waters. and
he had hopes of Il big rise.
There was one contingency impossi-
/ bile TO overlook. In spite of his fathers
orders the prince might refuse TO go.
| A knowledge of he state Of the kings
health would afford him very strong
excuse suspicion Of the plans Of the
coterie an oyerpuwering motive. The
king himself had foresceu the former
! danger and feared its effect on his
dominant hopes BY his express COM
mund the prince was kept in ignorance.
| lie had been amply rcaSsured by DR..
! Natcheh. on the latter point the CO.
! terie had. they fattcrcd themselves,
nothing TO fear. On what ground, then,
could the prince Justify refusal? His
gunners? That would be unwarrant
able The King would rot accept the
plea. Did RastatZ's report suggest any
other ground for refusal? If 1t did It
was one which to the kings mind
would seem more unwarrantable still.
There Is no big game without its risk;
but, after fun consideration, Stenovics
and Stafnitz decided that the kings
wishes were in their interest and
should he communicated TO the prince
without delay. They had more chances
for them than against them. If their
game had It's dungers-well the time
might be very short
In these days Countess Elenburg
made practice OF shutting herself up
In her private rooms FOR MS much as
two additional hours every day. She
told the king that she sought a quiet
time for meditation and prayer King
Alexis shrugged his shoulders. Medi-
tation wouldn't help matters, and, in
face of Dr. Natchef's diagnosis of the
condition OF his heart, he must confess
to serious doubt even about prayer.
He had outlived his love for the count.
ess, but to the end he found in her q
source of whimsical amusement, divin.
Ing II not her ambitions at least her
regrets, understanding how these r.
grets. when they became very acute
had to he met by an access Of piety.
Naturally they would he acute now In
view Of Natchcf's diagnosis. He
thanked her for her concern and bade
her by all means 60 and pray.
What was the stun of her prayers
the stun behind the words? No doubt
she prayed for her husbands life. No
doubt she prayed for her sons well be-
Ing, Very likely she even prayed that
she might not he led Into temptation or
to do anthing wrong by her love for
her son, for II was her theory that the
Ince himself would ruin his own
cnGnces and throw the crown away. 1t
Is not easy always TO he sure of con-
scious insincerty
Yet the devils advocate would have
had small difficulty In placing n fresh
face on her prayers. in exhibiting what
lay below the words, in suggesting
how ii was that she came forth from
her secret devotions not happy and
tranquilized, but with weary eyes and
her narrow lips close set in stern self
control. Her prayer that she might do
nothing wrong was a prayer that the
prince might do nothing right. II that
prayer were granted sin on her part
would become superhuous. She prayed
not to be led into temptation-that
sounded quite orthodox. Was she to
presume to suggest to Heaven the
means by which temptation should he
avoided?
stsnovics skillfully humoFed this
shade OF hypoerisy. When he spoke 10
her there were 10 his mouth no such
wosds as plans OF schemes or hopes or
ambittons-no, nor claims nor rights,
1t was always "ths possibilities we are
compelled to contemplate" ''the steps
we may be forced into taking" ''the
necessities Of mere self defense" "the
interests OF the kingdom" "the su-
pSeme evil OF civil strife" which last
most respectable phrase meant that 1t
was much better to jockey the prince
out of his throne than TO fight him for
| ~ CoIOnaI Cfafnft, blk hts III o,.d