The Washington herald., 1914-10-25

tle NuSslau SudIu-nouSe, ! saw, 70 my
delight, that my car was standing On
the road in front of the door, with a
group Of interested soldiers euriousty
inspecting every part, of it.
l strolled up carelessly, greeted the
astonished soldiers in broken Russian.
and asked them if they were familiar
with the machine. ,
l handed my passport to the lieuten-
ant to read, process which takes scne
time with an illiterate Russian officer,
and went on explaining the mechanism
of the car to the inquisitive soldiers
Finally ! came to the driving power.
And now, my friends" 1 said, 'I
VIII show you how the car is propelled.
Stand back clear of the wheels, Il vou
please. You see this lever. I place NV
hand on It 80"
StayP shouted the officer, div;uina
the danger in this demonstration.
He spoke too late. As my hand
grasped the lever, vaulted into the
car, and before the excited soldiers
realized that it was under way, the Pan
hard was tearing toward the BOUNDARY
line at the rate of twenty-four miles an
hour.
The Russian sentry ran out into the
middle of the road to stop me. rode
right over him, and am sorry to say
that l believe he was killed.
The Austrian sentry simply fred Of
his gun as a warning to his comrades
al the guard-house farther along the
road They swarmed out, and I pulled
up the machine l had put the brake
on Immediately after crossing, into Aus
trian Territory.
In the Emperor's namer" I whisper
ed to the Austrian officer of the guard.
Il am not an Englishman, but a MEM
Der Of the Austrian secret service. Bv
allowing me to pass without delay YOU
will render the government a vital
service"
You have just killed a man." the Of
hcer objected, pointing to the blood on
my wheels.
Il am afraid 50. The fact that
killed a Russian sentry in order to
cross the frontier should convince YOU
that am in deadly earnest"
The officer BY some rare chance was
intelligent enough to believe me.
Pass on, sir" he said.
l pressed the lever and set out On
my mad race across an empire to Wen
IA. l will not attempt to describe that
nightmare ride. Late in the evening of
the following day alighted at the
gate of the palace of Schonbrunn.
worn out my face and hands chapped
and bleeding, my eyes half blinded with
dust, and my strength nearly gone.
The Emperor Take me to the En-
pcrorP I gasped to the first person 1
met. 1T is life or deathP
l was conducted into the presence of
a chamberlain, who sought to impose
all sorts Of obstacles.
you cannot see his majesty now.
dare not intrude upon him. He is clos
eted with the archdukes. 1t is a Haps-
burg councilI"
i mustP' l cried out; you have Civ
en- me ten thousand reasons for insist
ing. If it costs my life I must interrupt
his majestyT
My violence cowed the official He
conducted me, or, in fact, supported
me, for / was almost too weak to stand,
to the door of the council chamber.
Go in if you must" he said. For
my part, l dare not announce you"
l turned the handle of the door and
staggered into the room.
The spectacle which met my eyes was
dazzling. In blaze of light all the
archdukes of the imperial house, wear
ing their uniforms and robes of state,
were grouped in semi-circle, facing a
throne on which the representative of
the Caesars was seated in his imperial
mantle, wearing the great double eagle
crown of Austria. Before him on a
footstool knelt a handsome lad of IF
teen, in whom had no difficulty in rec
ognizing the Archduke Karl, the
destined successor to the throne.
At the moment burst in I saw the
venerable Emperor raise his hands to
his head, lift up the imperial crown, in
which the huge diamonds and rubies
and sapphires sparkled like founts of
FIRE, and hold it poised in the air over
his young knsman's bentthead. In an
other second it would have rested on
the boys brow, and Francis Joseph
would have ceased to reign.
"Pardoni"
My voice rang out like the hoarse
scream of drunkard. l tottered for
ward and fell on my knees, while the
Emperor half rose from his throne,
still grasping the great crown in both
hands.
Pardon, sirel A: this hour a Rus
sian army of $1,000 men is encamped
upon the soil of AustriaP'
Francis Joseph sank back on his seat
and mechanically replaced the diadem
on his own head.