The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1912-03-28

tache, you know"
May not have another dance iater?"
l asked.
She shook her head. Il shall dance
no more tonight" she said Then we
reached the door and found the small
room crowded with otiit'ills and digni-
taries. The princess halted sharply.
But you may take m Tor Il turn On
the terrace" she concludti
As We crossed the WIDE floor the
crowd fell back. but DcIra gave no
greeting to any one, though she must
have known all eyes were upon us.
Yet, to give her due credit. she seem
ed as unconscious of II rs If we were
alone In the room. As for me, l admit
! was acutely Conscious of it, and the
walk to the door seemed endless
must have shown my relief when 1t
was over, for the princess looked up
with smile.
Can you remember several years
backT" she said.
$50, she had recognized mel
THAT depends" said l. Il have Il
bad memory except for pleasant
things"
She gave me q sharp look. 'Do you
know a Captain Smith Of your army:'
Smith Is very common name in
America. know at least dozen who
are officers"
"John Smith is his nams lie was a
captain six years ago"
l appeared to think q moment. II
know two such-one In the cavalry,
the other In the engineers-"
describe them, please"
i showed surprise Does your royal
highness?"-
She cut in. '-That Is Just what she
Is trying to find out"
"Yesf"
whether either of them Il the Cap
tain Smith I have in mind"
both would be much honored."
Il am not 70 sure a. to the one
mean. He was . vsry eoecsited fel-
low"
I gritted back q smile. at must
have been the engineer" I said. Hes
good deal Of q pris, bat in many
ways he is 4 good sort Of chap"
"rhis Captain Smith," she said,
was he in Valsria six years ngo:'
I reflected a moment "Yes, he was
here that year"
She thought 4 Bit "Was he given
to reminIsclngr
mo one in Amsrica but myself
knew he had bssn 70 vaisria."
She smiled
saw the blundsr. ''It happened he
knew Of my Dalbsrg dsscent,' l has
tened to add.
HAS he ever mentioned an adven.
ture In the forest nAaf the summer
palace"
II am quite sure h has not" said,
but without looking at her.
Then l felt q touch on my arm, and
l took her glovsd fingers In my own
and held them.
"You are very good. COUSIN" she
said then loosed her hand.
when did you recognize meT' l
asked
when you kissed me- That was
why l was 30 angry"
II noticed you were annoyed"
"Yet l was more disappointed"
yes" l infected.
"To have my Ideal Captain Smith
shattered so completely"
But when you learned it was your
cousin"
"That saved the ideal"
"But l cannot live up to the cap
tain"
She shook her head. There is no
need The captain is dead. 1t Is my
Cousin Armand now"
The second morning after the ball I
arose early-in fact, Just as the buGles
Of the garrison were sounding revcille
and went for horseback ride into
the country. Though knew about
all the roads in the vicinity, I confess
1t never occurred to me to take any
but that which led toward the summer
palace and the place where l had first
met the princess.
AS logged through the streets
went over my experiences and always
with the same result would enjoy
them while they lasted. Afterward-
well, afterward would be time enough
when 1t came. So shrugged my
shoulders and returned the salute OF
the officer at the gate and rode out into
the open country.
had gone possibly 4 mile when there
came the beat of running hoofs behind
me and rapidly nearing. Thinking 1t
might be a messenger from the en-
bassy | swung around in the saddle.
only to find the front horse was rid
den by q woman and the other by
groom
My first thought was. ''the princess"
My next, by Jovs. she rides wcll!'
Then something familiar in seat and
figure struck me, and recognized La
dy Helen Radnor. Evidently she had
already made me out. for she waved
her crop and pulled down to q canter.
Here was an end to my solitary ride