Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-03-10
CHAPTER XVII.
A Royal Tragedy.

o came back to Matt In waves
of recollection. He remembered th'
stir It had made, the shock Of hor
ror. the profound mystery In which
the affair was shrouded. He remem
bered the speculations as to what had
actually happened In that lonely hunt
ing lodge, some maintaining that the
beautiful young baroness had killed
herself rather than be forsaken, caus
ing the prince to blow out his own
brains from remorse; others, that II
had been a double suicide, death
pact, deliberately conceived and ms
deliberately executed by the heir to
one Of the greatest Kingdoms Of the
world.
Matt was dumfounded; he could not
utter a word. Was 1t possible, was II
conceivable that John Mort was the
"You know the story that the world
knows" continued the old man. "iou
know the story l myself believed for
thirty six hours. till"- He hesitated
lowered his voice and looked about
him. Listen" he went on. II mean
to hide nothing from you. 1t is true
that the young baroness threw caution
to the winds and followed the prince
there; It Is true she shot herself: II
Is true that my son In his frenzy tried
to turn the same pistol against his
own breast.
ITO face such a scandal seemed I'm
possible; to escape seemed worse In
either event the throne would be
shaken to its foundations and my
sons name blackened beyond redemp-
ton. He had valet named Zeitz-
Ludwig Zeitz-one Of those faithful
simpletons who are sublime In the
devotion which our house has always
inspired. This fellow, who affected to
copy the prince and was proud be-
yond measure Of resemblance no
one saw but himself. threw himself at
my sons feet. He would shoot HIM
self, he said: his body would be mis-,
taken for that Of the prince: death
atones for everything. and my son,
unpursued might pass the frontiers
without detection and lose his Identity
In the countless millions beyond.
"His proposal was disregarded. was
treated as gross impertinence. He
was roughly silenced and ordered to
hold his tongue. while my son In the
midst Of his comr;. les persisted like a
mailman in his desire to die. Suddenly
there was report. and they rushed In
to find this ZeitZ lying beside the wo'
man with the top Of his head blown
off. He had dressed himself In my
sons clothes, had taken my sons rifle
and had resolved the matter In his
own harebraned way. But mt that
moment in their dismayed state 1t
seemed to my son md his friends the
solution Of everything. They did not
wait to ask how the corpse Of the valet
could pass the examination that would
necessarily follow. My son mounted
a horse and fed.
"As said, the imposture for thirty
six hours was not questioned. But the
doctors could not be deceived. The
body was Enthusiastically that Of Lud-
wig Zeitz. | myself stood before 1t rs
It lay naked on their table and con-
firmed their opinion. My feelings to-
ward my son were very bitter. He
had dishonored the imperial house. l
exaggerated In my heart, though God
knows 1t was great enough, the harm
he had done 1t and me. With the con-
nivance of the doctors I accepted the
imposture. The world had accepted
It, and decided to leave them IN igno-
rance.
"It was not until years afterwnrd-
In 1893, when the empress was taken
from me under the most horrible cir
cumstances-that I found In her pa
pers some facts Of startling import.
Her extravaganza, which had been the
talk Of Europe and to me perpetual
source Of discord, had Its origin In
vast debt incurred In 1890. on which
afterward she had been paying exces-
sive interest as we'll as steadily dimin-
tshing the principal. And the one who
had obtained that vast sum was no
other man than my unhappy son, who
had gone to her In his extremity ana
had thus acquired the means to hide
himself In the uttermost parts OF the
earth.
There Is nothing the world Will not
condone nor forget, and in twenty
years new generation arises to whom
the scandals Of the old are Of slight
significance. My people love me; have
no need to surround myself with guards
and secret agents, as l move among
them. often with my little grandchil-
dren on either side clinging to my
hands; my reception Is one to touch the
heart. Surely. I said to myself, they
will be with me II l recall my son.
The sight of an old father, white hair
ed and broken, holding out his arms
in forgiveness, Is one too human, too
affecting to be met with scorn. They
also will forgive every father among
them, every mother, every son. Then
llt was began my search, sending
forth agents to every corner OF the
globe. For years 1t went on without
the least success, until my special bu-
reau. whose service It was to read
every paper printed, learned Of you IN
lManaswan and seized clew we were
not slow to follow. We were impelled
| to extraordinary exertions. I sent my
chief Of the secret police to New York
with unlimited powers and unlimited
money. He surrounded you with an
army Of spies. who reported to him
and then to me by cable. Everything
was done. permissible or sometimes
not permissible, to gain from you that
information for which would have
given all the life have left.
There Is the story, Mr.. Broughton.
| I make no offers Of reward; make no
threats. Both, appreciate now, were
mistaken. simply ask you, beg you
to tell me where my son is."
For awhile Matt remained silent, too
lazed to answer.
II must make a single stipulation,
he said at length. 'That we land to
gether, alone, you and l, and, II you
majesty win permit my wife, and i