The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1911-02-16
AScapegoat
By ALBERT TUCKER KENYON
Copyright. 1910, by American Press
Association

of them fugltlNeS from justice, That
man is in it is prima facie evidence
that he has an object for losing himself
to the rest of the world
A soldier in the foreign legion con
spicuous for his refined appearance
passed under the name of Franz Lud-
wig. He would not admit the country
from which he hailed, and since he
spoke several languages equally well
1t was impossible for any one to fix
upon the land of his nativity,
This is the story of the so called
Franz Ludwig:
His real name was Count Joseph
Zadsky. He had been honored by the
intimate friendship OF the crown prince
of his native land. The prince and he
rode together. hunted together - in
short, all their amuscments were in
common The count was engaged to
marry the Baroness Sophia, daughter
of a prominent member of the SOW
ereign's household
The crown prince was possessed by
a passion for gambling. He did not at
tend the public gambling places so
| plentiful in Europe. His habit was to
| play either in his own palace or whcr-
ever he was invited. one afternoon
he was playing in the home of no
| bleman where Il house party had been
| invited to meet him. The prince was
| playing with bad luck and was drink
| ing heavily. Several of the guests
L.. = I
| Count Zadsly was present and, fear
| ing that something would occur to ere
ate scandal, begged his royal high
ness to retire from the game The
prince refused, and the game went ON.
| The excitement increased both with
the increase of stakes and spirits con
! sumed. But now the prince was win
ming.
These cards are Marked suddenly
| shouted one of the party. There are
little protuberances on their backs"
''If you can feel them" said Zadsky,
you must have cut down the skin Of
one Of your fingers for the purpose.
| And If you have done that you have
| introduced the cards into the game"
Amid a hubbub the cards were OK
amined and were found to have been
made for the purpose of swindling
Then HadSky said:
"All show the tips of your fingers"
Every man present made the dis
play except the crown prince His OK
| preston betrayed him. but his tongue
came to his defense.
"Gentlemen," he said do you ask
the heir apparent to the throne to cx-
| onerate himself from cheating at
| cardsY
Zadsky was dumfounded. There
was Il silence. Then the party arose
from the table and separated
The story got out, ana the privy
| council was convened to consider
| what action should be taken Some
way of generating the prince must be
devised The people were loyal to the
| crown. but it would never do for one
who must soon sit upon the throne to
| appear before the people as n user Of
marked cards. The council assembled
and, summoning all the men who had
| been of the gambling party, examined
| them separately.
When Count Zadsky was examined
one OF the first questions asked was
| this
"Iow did you know that gamblers
using such cards rs were used on this
| occasion pare the tips of their fingers
to make them sensitive to the touch
Il knew it, as | know Of any other
| fact Of which | have heard :"
you were the person who an
nounced the fact that pared finger tips
go with these cards to the party, were
you notE'
II was"
"And called upon the others, includ-
ing his royal hlghncss, to show their
fngersF'
II did"
THAT will do"
The council after examining the wit
nesses continued its deliberations IN
secret and broke up without giving out
any information as to its conclusions.
But the next morning Xadsky was
banished from the court. and the pco-
pie breathed freely once more that
their prospective ruler had been vim.
dictated
One morning the soldier in the for
eign legion wrote Il communication to
the president of France. At the same
time the president received q call from
Of hn iI1 h
The result OF the communication and
the visit was the forwarding Of dis
charge papers to Private Franz Lud
wig. and he left the corps with the
congratulations Of his comrades.
what does it meanY asked his cap
tain
"IIave you not heard that the crown
prince Of --- is dcad?"
Eyes. 1t is given out that he died
Of an aneurism, but II has been said
that he committed suicide after a de
bauch. But what has that to do with
your dlschargcY
ut has this to do with Il: The crown
prince will not be II sovereign He
will be nothing, ut least on earth
Therefore n cloud resting on me has
been removed. | shall 90 to the cap.
ital and receive an important appoint
ment"
"WenY
THAT'S all
Count Zadsky's prophecy was veri
fed He returned to the capital, was
appointed as he predicted and married