The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-03-21
The Flight Of the
Princess
An Audacious Hazard of NIkolai, Independent Agent, as
Related by His Lieutenant, Summers
BY H. M. B
CcOpyrisht. 1918. by W. C. Chapman,

Nlk0ial nad unIOl0eu MS SCnSme 10
me as our train ran through the pleas
ant, fertile plains of Saxony.
What would deter you, Summers
he said, els the rank Of the persons
most intimately concerned. Now to
my mind that is the best guarantee
of success for our undertaking. You
can strike at kings and queens where
you cannot with impunity attack those
of lower rank. Why? Because these
persons, being themselves outside the
law, are loath to have recourse to it.
We take our lives in our hands, it is
true, but we revert to the old condi-
lions when each man was a law unto
himself. l think we can succeed just
because OF the improbability Of such
an attempt. And we can hold her to
heavy ransom for the cause"
But a princessl" l urged. Where
can we hold herr"
eff once we get her into our auto
mobile said Nikolai, mo power on
earth can hinder us. We take her
direct to the old castle that we have
rented for the summer; it is two miles
AAOAA Nhs hdDAtdlAOh C0SdPC MOulA
be impossible.
But | admit" he added, meditative-
Iy, that an accomplish within the cas-
tie would help us materially" He fell
TO thinking and would speak no more.
Our plans we're as follows: The
Princess of Cassel-Wexel was to be
married to the Polish Prince Ponia-
A.vrglF Tho ~ rrfo no Woe y3aund
with great aversion by the subjects
of the tiny principality of eastern
Germany, while the princess herself
was rumored to cherish no unkindly
feeling toward a handsome but impe-
.cunious guards officer, whose aspira-
tons were, of course, destined to re-
main unfulhlled. Possibly, in these
days of democracy, the king might
in the end have given his consent;
but the Polish marriage was necessary
in the interests of state, and car and
kaiser had set their hearts on it. So
It seemed improbable that anything
could avert the approaching nuptials.
But two weeks were to intervene
before their contamination. Nikolais
scheme was to obtain admittance to
the castle in the guise of an andersen
want or of an American chauffeur, the
supply of whom, for the many royal
automobiles, was constantly beneath
the demand. Then, with me as his as
sistant, we were to entice the prin-
cess for a ride, to kidnap her, and to
,secrete her in our castle, twenty-four
miles away, and well within the Dor
ders of an unfriendly state, until a ran
som could be arranged.
We put up at the little capital town,
dominated by the castle of the king
of Cassel-Wexel, which seemed entire
Iy to overshadow the narrow streets
that engirdle it. In spite of the popu-
lar prejudice against the marriage,
Hoch Cassel was en- fete, and flags,
bearing the Russian and German arms,
hung from every window. Neverthe-
less, scraps of conversation that we
overheard, contemptuous references to
the Polak," whose carriage driven by
magnificent bays, raced through the
streets at all hours to the imminent
danger of worthy citizens necks, bore
witness to the condition of the public
mind.
"a chauffeur and a mechanician!'
exclaimed our landlord, when W
preached to him the fact that We de
sired a position. And Germans born
returning from America to the father
land? Young men, your fortunes arr
made. His Highness Prince Rudolph
loves all Americans since his return
g.. .L.N oo,pfrr Iagf onrino AM
he is installing innumerable automo
biles in place of his old carriages. CT
up to the castle at once and ask TO
the Herr Chamberlain; he will talk
you on. Oh, the salary is liberal; tw'
marks a day and everything found"
That morning we succeeded in OF
tanning an interview with the Chan
berlain. Both of us were thorough
proficient in the running of automC
'biles and we were Immediately as
signed positions in the royal stable
-Nikolai as a chauffeur, / as a clear
er.
Each of the chauffeurs had two AT
tomobiles in his charge; 1t was hi
duty to have them always in good re
pair, and when any of the royal famil
desired to ride, the chauffeur wen
with the vehicle that was selected
The other men we're of the mechani
type and regarded us with luminosity
except young Schmidt, a splendid spe
cimen Of a man, and Of a bearini
which would have consorted rathe
with patrician stock than with tn
humble family from which he ha
sprung. We three roomed togethe
an a quaint, old-fashioned apartment a
the back of the stable, and all nigh
dong when our confidence had been et
rtablished he raved of the princess.
would have become exceedingly m
notonous, but for the fact that Mix
Iai and / saw In him a possible too
for the fulhllment of our design.
You have not seen herr" he e,
claimed, as he got into bed. "Ah, tn
universe was not completed until &c
made her. Such eyes-they woul
melt the candles upon our lady's a
tar. Such hair-radiant as the SUI
And when she smiles! And the
would marry her to an insolent 10y
browed Polak. whom she despises."
Line Of Least Resistance.
The waiter, in wishing me goo
morning, remarked that the day wa