Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1908-06-15

his majesty accept@E They went to-
gether to the window. A sudden storm
had gathered. Rain was peking down
In big drops.
at looks like being a rough night"
remarked the king.
I'm afraid it does. sir" Lepage
agreed. .s..-t4
"were lucky to be going to our
beds"
Every. SIR" answered Lepage. won
dering whose opposite fate his majesty
was plying.
II shouldn't care. even II were a
young man and a sound one. to ride to
Praslok tonight"
ITO Praslok. sir?' There was sur
prise in Lepage's voice. He could not
help It. Luckily it sounded quite natu-
raj to the king. 1t was certainly not
night to ride Ave and twenty miles and
into the hills unless your business was
very urgent.
Eyes. to Praslok. I've had my breath
Of air. You can shut the window. Le-
page"
The king returned to the fireplace and
! stood warming himself. Lepage closed
the window. drew the curtains and
! came to the middle of the room, where
he stood in respectful readiness, and
! underneath that very lively curiosity.
Yes" said the king slowly. Captain
Markart goes to Praslok tonight with
dispatch for his royal highness, you
know. Business. Lepage. urgent bust
ness! Everything must yield to that"
The king enunciated this virtuous max
i'm as though it had been the rule Of
his life. mo time to lose. Lepage, so
| the captain goes tonight. but I'm afraid
he'll have a rough ride-very rough"
I'm afraid so. sir" said Lepage. and
added strictly in his thoughts And so
| will NJ. Zerkovitchv
| Captain Markart was entirely Of his
majesty's opinion as he set out on his
| journey to Praslok. His ride would
be rough. dark and solitary-the last
by Stenovics' orders. Markart was not
afraid. He was well armed. but he ex-
pected to be very bored and knew that
he would be very wet by the time he
| reached the castle. He breathed a
| fervent curse on the necessities of
state, Of which the minister had in
| formed him. as he buttoned up his
heavy cavalry overcoat and rode across
| the bridge on to the main road on the
right bank an hour before midnight.
Going was very heavy; so was tho
rain; so was the darkness. He and his
horse made blurred, laboring shape
on the murky face of night. But his
orders were to hasten, and he pushed
on at sharp tr0t and soon covered his
first stage. the FIVE miles to the old
wooden bridge. where the road leaves
the course of the krath. is carried over
the river and strikes northeast toward
the hills.
At this point he received the first in
timation that his journey was not to be
SO solitary as he had supposed. When
he was halfway across the bridge he
heard what sounded like an echo Of the
beat Of his horses hoofs on the timbers
behind him. The thing seemed odd.
He halted a moment to listen. The
sound Of his horses hoofs stopped. but
the echo went on. 1t was no echo then.
He was not the only traveller that way!
He pricked his horse with the spur.
Regaining the road. he heard the tim
bers Of the bridge still sounding. He
touched his horse again and went for
ward briskly. He had no reason to as
sociate his fellow travellers errand
with his own. but he was sure that
when General stenovics ordered dis
patch he would not be pleased to learn
that his messenger had been passed by
another wayfarer on the road. II
But the stranger, too. was in hurry.
1t seemed. Markart could not shake
him OF. On the contrary. he drew
nearer. The road was still broad and
good. Markart tried a canter. The
stranger broke into canter. AT any
rate. It makes for good time" thought
Markart. smiling uneasily. In fact. the
two found themselves drawn. into
sort of race. On they went. covering
the miles at quick. sustained trot. ex-
hilarating to the men. but rather q
strain on their horses. Both were well