Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1910-11-18
CHAPTER XVII.
y LITTLE FINGER

III 1 LIZ rlNGEk
TIIE king of Jusendheit. Prince
Ludwig and the chancellor sat
in the form of a triangle. Her
a beck was making pyramid of
his finger tips. sometimes touching his
chin with his thumbs. His face was
cheerful.
His royal highness. still in the guise
OF mountaineer. sat stitily in his
chair. the expression on his face hard
ly translatable; that on the kings not
at all. He was dressed in the brilliant
uniform of a colonel in the Prussian
uhlans. an honor conferred upon him
recently by King William. Prior to
his advent into the grand duchy Of
Ehrenstein he had been to Berlin. A
whm for which he was now grateful
had coZened him into carrying this
uniform along with him on his adven-
lures. 1t wac only after he met
Gretchen that there came moments
when he forgot he was a king. He
was pale. From hour to hour his
heart seemed to grow colder and small
er and harder. till it now rested in his
breast with the heaviness of stone.
out of which life and the care Of living
had been squeezed. He rarely spoke
leaving the burden of the conversation
to rest upon his uncle's tongue.
$50 your royal highness will under
stand" said IIerbeck. that it was the
simplest move I could make and the
safest. Were II known or had it been
known this morning that the king of
Jugendheit and The prince regent had
entered Dreberg In disguise and had
been lodged IN the SteinschlOss there
wond have been Il serious riot in the
city. So had you arrested as spies.
Presently n closed carriage will convey
you TO the frontier and the unfortu-
nate incident will be ended. And when
you cross the frontier it would b. wise
to disperse the troops waiting there
for you
Prince Ludwig SMILED. ut was only
an army Of defense The duke had
nearly 10000 men at the maneuvers. |
have no desire for war: but. on the
other hand. am always ready for it."
There will never be any war be-
tween u.s." pr"phrthally. 1.-The duke
grows impatient 1T times. but / can al
ways rouse his sense of justice You
will. of course pardon tile move
made There will be no publicity.
There will be no newspaper notoriety.
for the journalists will know nothing
OF what has really happened"
For that consideration your excel
lency has my deepest thanks" replied
Prince Ludwig
Il thought 1t best to let you go with
out seeing the duke The meeting be-
tween You two might be painful"
That also is thoughtful Of your ex-
cellency." said the king. Il have no
desire to see or speak to his highness."
There is. however. one favor
should like to ask. said the prince.
Can l grant it:'
Easily. l wish to leave a sum of
money in trust tC be paid to one
Gretchen Schwarz. who lives in the
Krumerweg. She is ambitious to be-
come a singer. Let nothing stand be-
tween her and her desires"
Granted"
The heart of the king at the sound
of that dear name suddenly expanded
and stihed him. The stiffness went
out Of his shoulders.
"Ah. this little world Of ours. The
mistakes and futile schemes we make
upon it," The chancellor dallied with
his quill pen. III was cynical move
Of fate that your ajesty should see
the goose girl first
Enough" cried the king vehement.
~. Let us have no more RETROSPECT
ton ii you please. Moreover. | shall
be Obliged 10 you il you will summon
at once the carriage which is to take
us TO the frontier. The situation has
been amicably and satisfactorily ex-
planned. see no reason why We
should be detained any longer"
Nor |" added Prince Ludwig. II
am rather weary of these tatters. l
should even like bath"
The three of them were innediatclv
attracted by Il singular noise IN the
corridor. The door swung in violently,
crashing against lie wall and SILVER
ing into atoms the Venetian mirror
The king. the prince aud the chancellor
were Instantly upon their feet. The
king clutched the back of his chair
with grip of iron. Gretchen? Her
highness? What was Gretchen doing
here? All. could he have flown.
The duke came in first. and he wait
ed till the others were inside. Then
he shut the door with lesser violence
and rushed over to the chancellor
"I1erbeck. you Villain
The chancellor stared at the gypsy,
Mt Won Arnsberg. at Grumbach.
"Herbeck. you black scoundrelv'
cried the duke. Can you realize how
difficult 1t is not to take you by the
throat and strangle you here and
now?"
''{Ie is madw said Herbeck, bracing
against the desk.
Yes. am mad, but 1t is the sane
madness OF a terribly wronged man