Putnam patriot., 1914-03-20

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 l When the late king succeeded to l the throne there were three who i knew of this passageway. The king was one; Giovanni Strozzi was an- 1 other, and the wife of Giovanni StroE zi was the third.
 Now, fin those days and in the half savage little countries upon which tho Carpathians look down it was pre- eminently the duty of prime ministers to find out the secrets of other people.
 So 1t came to pass that once the king. coming all unattended, passed through this secret passageway. and entered the boudoir of the fair lady who preferred handsome young king to rather elderly prime minister, And tho king, finding the lady wait ing for him, indeed, but quite dead, hastened with all stealth back to the royal palace,
 Strozzi. it was declared by his en- emles. held that all true statecraft was embodied Tn Maehiayellis Prince" This had been told the king. and 1t increased his respect for his minister Moreover. when he read The Prince" quite through and ab- sorbed all of the chapters on the rights of vengeance and the best methods of obtaining the same, 1t made him just little bit afraid. The face Of Ser Giovanni was always a smiling mask and one could never guess what knowledge his fertile brain might own.
 Thus for time the king feared little and then less, and then not at all
 And in the due course of time, thanks to the willy diplomacy of this model prime minister whose deyo- ton to his country and his royal mas ter was the talk of the chaneelleries of Europe. the many troubles of An coma came to an end This took twen- i ty years, and the king was very tired of being a king So he consulted with his prime minister and decided that he would nbdicate in favor of his son.
 In these later years the secret of the passageway had been discovered by a very discreet and devoted lackey in the service of Strozzi and was, of course, duly reported by the prime minister to the king So 1t was nat ural that It was now used by the two
 On the eve of the day upon which the abdlcation was to be announced to the people. the king came through the passageway and talked long with his prime minister This was in the room which Strozzi called his library. The king noted that 1t contained but two volumes One of these was The Prince;" the other purported to be the secret history of the Medici. He remembered that the Medici had been very skillful in the art of administer ing poison and the juxtaposition of the volumes was unpleasant to his nerves.
 He noted with pleasure that tonight the smile of the prime minister had in It less of that chill for which 1t was noted
 Talk of the future leads ever to talk of the past. and they drank much wine But. presently. the king es- saved to rise nd found that he could not do SO. Nor could he speak. His brain was quite clear, and he could hear Strozzi distinctly.
 Complete paralysis" the manner of the prime minister was that of 8 scientific exparimenter who has ae- compllshed his desire. The eyes of the king were piteous.
 Twenty years l have waited" said the old statesman. His smile was ac. tually warm now. There was real benevolence in 1t. ''Twenty years. my liege You were necessary to Ancona and you cannot say, sire, that l have not always served my country to the best of my ability. It is but right that l take interest for those twenty years. I gave her death-gentle. rner oiful death You see, loved her we'll sire, and would not cause her pain | But you-why, sire. it may we'll be that i you will live twenty years more | Twenty years of living death, sire ] No voice to betray the secret you ans | must share between us. no power O | hand to write out an accusation'
 think that even he who wrote "Th' Prince" would approve my ven l geaneel"
 So the prime minister passed GU
 of the chamber to summon the serv
 ants who would bear the king into hil
 own palace. first emptylng the win'
 from the got let of the king.
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