Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1908-06-12

confidential friends knew this, the king
knew 1t himself. and Lepage. his valet.
knew it. There the possession OF the
secret stopped. ......
The king was gay and courageous.
Courage. at least, he had never lacked.
He seemed almost Indifferent. The best
years were over. he said. and why not
an end? An end swift. without pain.
without waiting! There was much to
be said for It. Lepage agreed with bis
master and told him 80 in his usual
blunt fashion. They agreed together
not to cry about it. ana the king went
fishing still. But the time was short.
and be pushed on his one great idea
with a zeal and an earnestness foreign
to his earlier habit He would see his
son married or at least betrothed be-
fore he died. He would see the great
marriage in train. the marriage which
was to establish forever the rank and
prestige OF the house of Stefanovitch.
The Prince Of Slavna must set forth on
his travels. seeking wife. The king
even designated a princess of most IN
questionable exaltedness as the first
object Of his sons attentions or pur-
suit. With an unusual peremptoriness
and an unusual independence he sent
Stenovics orders to communicate his
wishes directly to the prince. Stenovics
received the royal memorandum on the
day on which Lieutenant Rastatz re-
turned to Slavna with the fruits Of his
observation at voseni in his hand.
At first sight the kings commands
were totally at variance with the In
terests of the Ellenburg coterie and
with the progress Of their great plan.
They did not want the house of Stefano-
witch strengthened and glorifed In the
person Of it's present heir apparent
But the matter was more complicated
than first glance showed. There were
the guns to be considered as well and
the gunners training at Volseni These
would be sources Of strength and pres
tige TO the prince. not less valuable.
more tangible. than even great match.
And now the prince was on the spot.
Send him on his travels! The time was
short. When the short time ended he
might be far away. Finally he might
60 and yet take nothing by his jour
ney. The exalted princess would be
hard to win. The kings family pride
might defeat itself by making him
pitch his hopes and his claims too high.
On the whole. the matter was diff
cult The three chief conspirators
showed their conviction Of this in their
characteristic ways. Countess Ellen
burg became more pious than ever;
General Stenovics more silent. at least
more prone to restrict his conversation
to grunts; Colonel Stafnitz more gay
and interested In life. He, too. was
fishing and In his favorite waters. and
he had hopes of big, rise.
There was one contingency impossi-
Bile to overlook. In spite of his fathers
orders the prince might refuse to 60.
A knowledge Of the state of the kings
health would afford him a very strong
excuse, a suspicion of the plans of the
coterie an overpowering motive. The
king himself had foreseen the former
danger and feared its effect on his
dominant hopes. BY his express COM
mand the prince was kept in ignorance.
he had been amply treasured by DR..
Natcheff. On the latter point the CO.
terie had, they fattered themselves.
nothing to fear. On what ground. then,
could the prince justify q refusal1 His
gunDers? That would be unwarrant-
able. The king would not accept the
plea. Did Rastatz's report suggest any,
other ground for refusal? II II. did It
was one which to the kings mind
would seem more unwarrantable still.
There is no big game without Its risk:
but, litter full consideration. Stenovics
and stafnitz decided that the kings
wishes were IN their interest and
should b communicated to the prince
without delay. They had more chances
for them than against them. n their
game had its dangers-well, the time
might 10 yary short ~ 81. -. S' =, - :
In these days Countess Elienburg
made = practice Of shutting herself up.
In her private rooms for Us much a.
two additional hou1s every day. She
told the king that she sought a quiet
time for meditation and prayer. King
Alexis shrugged his shoulders. Medi.
tattcn wouldn't help matters, and. In
face Of Dr.. Natcheff's diagnosis Of the
condition Of his heart. he must confess
to q serious doubt even about prayer.
He had outiived his love for the count.
css. but to the end he found IN her a
source of whimsical amusement. diyin.
ing II not her ambitions at least her
regrets. understanding how these re-
grets. when they became very acute.
had to be met by an access Of piety.
Naturally they would he acute now In
view Of Natchefrs diagnosis. He
thanked her for her concern and babe
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 fife. No
doubt she prayed for her sons we'll be-
ing. Very likely she even prayed that
she might not be led into temptation or
IN do anthfD~ Srroow a., 49,. -,