Abbeville progress., 1913-12-13

make the rest of his examination.
very short investigation showed him
that the wire passed through the floor
and into the body of the chiffOnier.
/ But there it apparently ended Paul
pulled out every drawer, inspected
every inch Of the old piece Of furni-
ture with scrupulous care, in vain At
| last he was compelled to acknowl'
edge himself defeated The wire END
ed somewhere in the wood; but unless
he could break the chitfonier into
minute pieces he could discover moth
ing further.
Morning dawned after what seemed
= an eternity Breakfast was served
| TO Paul In his room About ten CLOCK
Won Grobelaar made his appearance
and invited Paul TO accompany the
child princess and himself upon
morning stroll
So the day wore away. ~ SIN
O'Clock all were gathered IN me
queen boudoir 10 await the expected
itelcphoHic message from the aHoa7-
s2dor lf Berlin
AZ s'Nthlr,E the telephone rang Win
a sudden shriilH'ss that started all
land set them upon their feet FROM
his chair ths old minister arose liz
walked slowly toward the Instrument
slowly. not bocaus" h" was the less
.auXiOus bur because Dc was the more
fearful He listened. then AFTER
moment. u" hung up the receiver,
"MadcmOisclIe and Gentlemen. ne
said, u have the honor 10 announce
to you her majesty mas ratified the
treaty and left Berlin ten minutes ago,
accompanied by his royal highucss the
prince cousort.
For full half minute nobody spoke
Then Clojhilde came forward
"Mynheer -" she began.
Gentlemen" said Won Grobei'ar.
Her royal highness intends TO cele-
bratc the joyful news by playing the
national anthem upon the harpsichord
of William of Orange"
They trooued down the grand stair.
way the Princess Juliana in the lead.
whooping exultantly as she raced
along
There was no, one wrong note The
pripcess PLAYED with no bad execution
and her fingers instinctiyely felt for
and found each separate key And
what had begun as a prank ended 1if
ferentIv for the setting Of the scene
wrought itself upon the imagination OF
all present. so that each eye was moist
even Won Grobelaars and at the
end he was swallowing hard. Pau
saw Clothilde turn her head away; he
touched Eer lightly uptn the shoulder
and she started violently.
You taught her all this yourself?'
: he asked
She stared at him like a madwOman
and suddenly, brushing him aside
broke through the crowd, gained the
corridor, sobbng violently. Pau
: turned to Won Grobelaar.
= Il think that is the last We shall SEE
of Nademoiselle.' he said.
Why" asked the minister quickly
The crowd had dispersed outside tn
door. whittier they had been attracted
by the Princess Clothilde's behavior
\ and they stared after her curiously
The little princess was resentfull-
! complying with the admomuonS O
the head nurse concerning reurin
= time Paul led Won Grobelaar TO tn
harpsichord and showed him the neN
wire.
- Il didn't understand, said No
Grobelaar, looking at Paul with tn
vague air of one absorbed in som
: abstract cogitatiOn. DO you know.
he continued, that the sight OF he
little highness there made me fej
| like an old fool? When | think ho'
. many such princesses have grown u
- to be men and women -"
I i beg your pardon, said Paul. Di
h you notice that wire?'
II Il what - which wire? Wei
II what of it?"
Il Il was here last night when tn
| palace was asleep
Then, sir. you were grossly remis
in your duty. You should have r.
mained in your room"
Possibly" answered Paul dril
But the fact remains that that VII