The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1909-12-20
s ss.I. :! 'TRUXTON KING s htss;:5 Barr

Gr q uStark AN
tCopyrisht, 1909, by George Barr
meCutcheon.)
d Company. Published, Sept, 1900
Tullis was strange man in
many particulars. He was under
forty years of age, but even at
that rather immature time of life
he had come to be recognized as a
shrewd, successful financial pow
err in his home city, New York.
At the very zenith of his power,
he suddenly and with Quixotic
disregard for consequences gave
up his own business and came to
Graustark for residence, following
a promise made to Grenfall Lorry
when the latter day dying in lit
tie inn near Brussels.
They had been lifelong friends.
Tullis jestingly called himself the
little princes "morganatic god
father" For two years he had
been a constant resident of Grau-
stark, living contentedly, even in
dolently, in the picturesque old
castle, his rooms just across the
corridor from those occupied by
the little prince. To this small
but important bit of royalty he
was Uncle Jack; in that capac-
| ity he was the most beloved and
at the same time the most abused
gentleman in all Graustark. AS
many as ten times a week he was
signally banished from the do
main by the loving. headstrong
little ruler, only to be recalled
with grave dignity and few tears
when he went so far as to talk of
packing his "duds" in obedience to
the edict.
John Tullis, strong character
though he was, found this lazy,
dolce far niente life much to his
liking. He was devoted to the
boy; he was interested in the life
at this tiny court. The days of
public and court mourning for the
lamented princes and her husband
wearing away after an established
period, he found himself eagerly
delving into the gaieties that fol-
lowed. Life at the castle and in
the homes of the nobility provid-
ed a new and sharp contrast to the
busy, sordid existence he had
known at home. 1t was like a
fine, wholesome, endless dream to
him. He drifted on the Joyous,
smiling tide of pleasure that swept
Edelweiss with its careless waves
night and day. Clever. handsome,
sincere in his attitude of loyalty
toward these people of the top
most east, he was not long in be-
coming a popular idol.
His wide-awake, resourceful
brain. attuned by nature to the
difficulties of administration, lent
itself capab1y to the solving of
solving of many knotty financial
puzzles; the ministry was never
10th to call on him for advice and
seldom disposed to disregard it.
An outsider, he never offered a
suggestion or plan unasked; to
this single qualification he owed
much of the popularity and
esteem in which he was held by
the classes and the masses. So
cially, he was great favorite. He
enjoyed the freedom of the most
exclusive homes in Edelweiss. He
had enjoyed the distinction OF
more than one informal visit to
old Princess Volga of Axphain,
just across the border, to say moth
ing of shooting expeditions with
young Prince Dantan of Dawsber-
gen, whose American wife, for
merly Miss Calhoun of Washing
ton, was a friend of long stand
ing.
John Tullis was, beyond ques-
ton, the most conspicuous and the
most admired man in Edelweiss in
these serene days of membership
to the adored Prince Robin.
There was but one man con-
nected with the government to
whom his popularity and his influ-
ence proved distasteful. That
man was the duke of Perse. On
more than one occasion the cabi-
net had chosen to be guided by the
sagacity of John Tullis in prefer
ence to following the lines laid
down by the astute minister of
finance. The decision to offer the
new bond issue in London and
Paris was due to the earnest,
forceful argument of John Tullis
outside the cabinet chamber, to
be sure. This was but one in
stance in which the plan of the
treasurer was overridden. He re-
sented the plain though delicate
Influence of the former Wall
street man. Tullis had made it
plain to the ministry that Grau-
stark could not afford to place it.
self in debt to the Russians, into
whose hands, sooner or later, the
destinies of the railroad might be
expected to fall. The wise men
of Graustark saw his point with
out force of argument, and voted
down. in the parliament, the
dukes proposition to place the
loan in st. Petersburg and Berlin.
For this particular act of trespass
upon the dukes official preserves
he won the hatred of the worthy
treasurer and his no inconsider-
able following among the depu-
ties.
But John Tullis was not in
n a NY f0u