The Ely miner., 1914-02-13

we must snake nlm on, ScnmQlt
cried. "Have you q pistol?"
Neither of US was armed. Incredi
BILE as the blunder appeared to be. we
had left our revolvers in our best"
clothes.
"Hark," cried Schmidt again.
Above the whir Of our automobile,
above the noise Of the wheels, we
heard three sharp reports like pistol
shots. Schmidt smiled grimly.
THE prince is urging his horses
with his whip" he said, and drove the
machine on at full speed. We leaped
over distractions, we swayed from
side to side, coming within an ace Of
overturning now in one ditch, now In
another. And all the while we heard
the sound of the galloping bays.
"He takes the shorter road down the
mountain" said Schmidt. AT the
crossroads, one mile ahead. we meet"
We said nothing; there was nothing
to say. We sat in silence behind the
driver, whose arm still encircled the
waist of the princess; and she seemed
either to sleep or to be happy there.
1t was a strange denouement-thatw we,
who had planned the plot should thus
play second fiddle to this clown.
The sound of the horses hoofs grew
louder. The crossroads appeared in
front of us. And then, emerging from
behind cluster of trees, galloping fu
riously down the mountain side, we
saw the coach of the prince, and a
man upon the box who lashed his mad
dened horses. Suddenly Schmidt
pressed the brake. There was long
grinding skid-and we came to halt
just as the driver pulled in his sweat
ing team and rushed for our machine.
Hold the princess" cried Schmidt,
and rushed toward him. And then
Well, do not know how 1t hap
pened, but suddenly, before we could
collect ourselves for defense, the two
of them were upon us, and in a trice
we were pinned under them and help
less. l felt pistol pressed against
my forehead. / looked up into the
laughing eyes of Schmidt. And the
man with him was not the prince, as
l had seen his photograph in the shop
windows of Hoch Cassel, but young
fellow OF about Schmidt's age and
build and carriage.
Gentlemen" said Schmidt calmly,
"since you are at our mercy, yield and
give us your pledge to obey our in.
structions. l should be loath to kill
YOU"
WHO are you?" spluttered Nikolai.
''Herr Lieutenant Won Offenbach, at
your service" said Schmidt, bowing.
Gentlemen, my brother. Do yon
pledge yourselves?'
We did We had to- We got into
the automobile again and the five of
us proceeded at more leisurely pace,
leaving the princes coach standing in
the road, the horses trembling and
shivering in front of it.
Il will not ask you what your mo-
tives were, gentlemen, in seeking to
steal my promised BRIDE" said the
lieutenant. 1T may have been some
chivalrous intent, or some more sim
lister reason. But inasmuch as you
have played into my hands, l thank
you.
81 own that at one time had begun
to despair, imagining you to be spies
of the Polak, until happened to over
hear some of your very frank English
conversations, which, needless to say.
| understood perfectly. 1t was then
that l contrived to have my brother,
who was acting as the Polak's coach
man, run away with his team and pre-
tend to pursue US. The actual distance
covered by the coach was less than a
mile. The sounds came clearly at
night from that mountain road-and
your imagination did the rest. / do
not think he could have caught us
had not the route he was to take been
carefully laid out by us in advance.
Il am now taking my bride across
the frontier, where before the night
is gone, we shall be united according
to the rites of the Roman Catholic
CuuICu, WulCu, do yOu hAO", al iO ihoio-
soluble l trust that l may have the
pleasure of your company as witness
es.''
We'll" whispered Nikolai, after a
pause, I'VE thought that we were max.
ing use of our friend Schmidt, but 1t
seems that he was making tools of US.
Confound him." he added, suddenly
enraged. I'VE played into his hands
at every step. Why, we even cranked
up his automobile for him"
"And ran over the chamberlain" l
added, laughing at the recollection.
"And lost our ransom" continued
Nikolai in whisper.
Well" l said, we're here and we
can't help it. And so let US say good
luck to them"