Abbeville progress., 1913-12-13

attendance at the palace; you will |
take up your quarters there and will |
keep III. Princess Juliana constantly |
under your supervision.
Now. my dear Lane. there is a
very unfortunate incident in this af-
fair The notorious Princess ClOthil- |
De. of Austria. who is we'll known to
be connected with the League, has
been installed at The Hague for sew
eral weeks as the Princess Julianas 5
music teacher. She has completely
won the favor of Queen Wilhelmina,
and all representations made to her
majesty on this point have been fruit
less When the queens mind is made
up. nothing can shake her In that
respect she is a true Netherlander.
And her majesty, unfortunately, has
the most complete confidence in
the Princess ClOthilde. So you will have
TO regard the princess as an enemy
within the gates. Won Grobelaar will
doubtless post you on all necessary
matters. You can trust him implicit
~ Good morning. Mr.. Lane. You
will report to me here five days hence
at the same hour"
Lord Claude handed Paul his cigar
cite case again. lit cigarette for him,
and bowed him to the door. In spite
of the nOnchalance of his demeanOr.
Paul felt that Tresham was seriously
alarmed as to the outcome.
The thought of meeting Clothilde
again, matching himself against her.
sent the blood coursing wildly through
Pauls veins He hurried home, pack
ed his suitcase. and caught the next
train for Harwich, whence a fast
steamer landed him in Holland on
the following morning. That afternoon
he reached The Hague and he drove
at once to the palace. and was soon
in consultation with Won Grobelaar.
The minister proved to be resolute,
tried old man of about seventy years.
He welcomed Paul without the slight
est formality, and anXiously read
through the credentials which Lord
Tresham had furnished him. Then,
with a grave mien, he asked him to
be seated
Il have received a communication
from Lord Tresham." he said He
has described you thoroughly, both in
features and manner, so that | am
confident that you are the person whom
Won represent Yourself to be You
will appreciate the necessity of these
precautions when | tell you thrt Hol-
land is facing the greatest crisis in
all her checkered history. It's pre-
else nature is still unknown to us, but
we know enough to be aware that il
cCnters upon the Princess Ju!iana, and
Z will be effected tomorrow evening
rs soon as the news is telephoned tC
The Hague that her majesty has rati
fed the treaty which is now pending
with Germany. Your task Will be tC
guard the little princess. You are
to act under my orders as the princess
guardian until her majesty returns. In
particular, you are to watch scrupu
lousy the Princess Clothilde who is
quite well known to be an agent Of
the League. and who unhappily, was
placed in charge of the princess mu
sical tuition by her majesty, in spite
of all our representations.
Come. now" he added, "and ! viii
introduce you to her highness."
With a beating heart Paul followed
: the old minister along the main corri
dor of the old-fashioned, rambling pal
ace. until they entered the royal apart
ments. Sounds of child practicint
I'd
swing doors were opened, and Vol
Grobelaar led Paul into the music
room, where. seated upon high stool
the royal princess was lingering {
small keyboard with her tiny fingers
under the direction of Clothilde, whC
sat beside her on a straight-backeC
, chair.
The entrance of the two caused ar
immediate cessation of the lesson. The
child princess looked round curiously
, the other princess. she of Austria, ross
, and stood looking at Paul defiantly
+ Her face was deeply flushed, and Pau
, could see that her own agitation al
, most equaled his own. He made al
, obeisance to the child automatically
and then heard Won Grobelaar begir
the laborious formula of a Dutch in
PRODUCTION.
Mr.. Lane and | are old acquaint
y ances," murmured ClOthNde, inclinini
; her head
e Mr.. Lane is to be assistant super
9 yrsor Of her highness during her ma
). lj-sty's absence" said the old gen
tleman.
! Paul mumbled something whicl
e seemed appropriate at the time. Wha
S it was he could not afterward recall
+ In spite of his resolr ions, the sigh
e of the woman whom ie had once love-
= devotedly. and Wuom, he knew, h
= loved. in spite of his volition, still, ha
l. completely overcome his self-posses
h sion. He walked to her side like
e man il a dream, and in the same me
,chanical fashion went through tn
/ process of introduction to the chic
:. nurse. Vrouw Leidermeer. stout, mid
|. dle-aged person Of apparent capabi
4 it,.
{ During the remainder of that day tn
y four never left one another The
d seemed inspired by mutual dstrus
s Under other circumstances, it woul