Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-02-15
\ BUXTON { KING
Copyright. 1909. by George
 Barr McCutcheon Copyright. 1909. by DOdd. Mead Q Company
CHAPTER II.

fairs were under the control of an able ministry headed by the venerable Count Halfont. The Duke of Perse, for years a resident of St. Pe- tersburg and financier of high stand ing, had returned to Edelweiss soon after the distressing death of the late Princess Yetive and her American hus- band, and to him was intrusted the treasury portfolio.
 The financing of the great railroad project by which Edelweiss was to be connected with the Siberian line in the north fell to his lot at time when no one else could have saved the little government from heavy losses or even bankruptcy.
 The opening of this narrative finds the ministry preparing to float new 100000 gavvo issue of bonds for con- Jtruction and equipment purposes. Agents of the government were ready to depart for London and Paris to take up the matter with the great banking houses. St. Petersburg and Berlin were not to be given tue opportunity to gob- ble up these extremely fine securities. This seemingly extraordinary exclu- sion of Russian and German bidders was the result of vigorous objections raised by an utter outsider, the Ameri- can, John Tullis. long time friend and companion of GreIfall Lorry. consort to the late princess.
 Tullis was strange man in many particulars. He was under forty years of age, but even at that rather imma- ture time of life he had come to be recognized as q shrewd, successful financial power in his home city. New York. At the very zenith of his pow CT he suddenly and with quixotic dis regard for consequences gave up his own business and came to Graustark for residence. following a promise made to Grenfall Lorry when the lat ter lay dying in a little inn near Brus- sels.
 They had been lifelong friends. Tul- lis jestingly called himself the little princes 'morganatic godfather" For two years he had been a constant resi- dent of Graustark.
 His wide awake, resourceful brain, attuned by nature to the difficulties of administration, lent itself capably to the solving of many knotty financial puzzles; the ministry was never loath 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. Socially he was a great favorite. He enjoyed the freedom of the most exclusive homes in Edelweiss.
 There was but one man connected with the government to whom the pop- ularity and influence of John Tullis proved distasteful. That man was the Duke of Perse. On more than one occasion the cabinet had chosen to be guided by the sagacity of John Tullis in preference 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-outsde the cabinet chamber. to be sure. This was but one instance in which the plan of the treasurer was overridden. He resent ed the plain though delicate influence of the former Wall street man. TulIis had made it plain to the ministry that | Graustark 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 without 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 inconsiderable following among the | deputies.
 But John Tullis was not in Edel- weiss for the purpose of meddling | with state affairs. He was there be- cause he elected to stand mentor to the son of his lifelong friend, even though that son was a prince of the | blood and controlled by the will of three regents chosen by his own sub- jects.
 To say that the tiny prince loved | his big, broad shouldered, ruddy cheek ed, adoring mentor would be putting it too gently; he ldolized him. Tullis was father, mother and big brother to the little fellow in knickers.
 One woman in Graustark was the source of never ending and constantly | increasing interest to this stalwart companion to the prince. That woman was. alas. the wife of another man! Moreover. she was the daughter of the Duke of Perse.
 The young and witty Countess of Marlanx came often to Edelweiss. She was a favorite at the castle, notwith. standing the unhealthy record of her ancient and discredited husband, the Iron Count. Tullis had not seen the count. but he had heard such tales of