The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1914-09-17
The Kind
OF Government He
Liked
By JOHN c. LARNED

In any event. the Crowd prince
must not be exposed" said Won Bern
stein.
(Which means that must lose my.
self to the world"
The reply was made by Count Ester
hoff. on whose person had been found
q pack of marked cards. A party Of
young noblemen and the prince had
been playing baccarat. His royal
highness had lost heavily. and Ester
hon had won. In order to force the
latter to return his winnings the
prince. who sat near the winner. slip
ped the marked pack into his pocket
and then accused him Of having won
his money by cheating. To prove his
accusation he demanded that Esterho6
be searched. and the cards were found.
No one was deceived. nor was 1t In
tended that any one should be deceiv-
ed The scheme was to effect the re-
turn Of the money the prince had lost
to Esterhon without the heir apparent
being obliged to demean himself by
accepting 1t as gift.
There is a way out Of It II you
choose to avail yourself of It." said
Bernstein.
'What way?"
''Give up what you have won to the
prince and the matter will be hushed
up"
THAT would be to acknowledge my
self guilty. prefer to appear guilty
to the world and preserve my own self
respect"
Nonsense. count. 1t Is our duty to
preserve the sovereign from reproach.
He belongs to the people. Let them
lose confidence in him and what FOL.
lows? Anarchy"
Esterhoff stood 6rm. he was ex.
Guided from the princes set ON the
ground that he had used marked cards
He gave his winnings to the poor.
which was considered q proof that his
conscience had In the end got the bet
ter of him. Under the name Of Peter
EsterhoR he went to America. His
family estates had been lost by his "a
ther, and 1t was his ambition to make
money and redeem them.
Twenty years rolled BY. The crown
prince had become king under the title
Of Oscar VIII. He had remained
gambler and a spendthrift. though the
Ill success to rec0up his losses with
Count Esterhon had kept him from
trying such a method again. During
the two decades that had since passed
he had become personally bankrupt
All that saved him was that the
wealthy nobility. fearing that Il he col
lapsed he would carry the government
and them down with him. kept him
ahoat
A wealthy American came to the
capital and took residence. He was
unmarried and lived entirely alone.
Nobody knew why he had come. why
he remained or what he did with him.
self Bankers knew that he had
brought with him unlimited credit
from America. and It seemed to them
that the money he drew was expended
for something, though they did not
know what
One day the king received notice
from lawyer that one Of his notes
which was due must be paid at once
Oscar forwarded the note through his
chamberlain to noble who had been
appointed by the other mobiles to take
care Of the kings debts. The amount
was paid. but other similar notices
came pouring In so fast that 1t was
found impossible to take care of them.
His majesty was Informed that there
was danger of a public scandal. Many
Of these claims were for money nd
vanced for illegitimate purposes. The
king asked who was pressing them
and was told that an American multi
millionaire was supposed to be at the
bottom Of It ALL
One morning the American received
command" to appear at the palace.
he replied that he had no wish to visit
the king; If the king wished to see him
he would find him at home. The next
day the royal carriage stopped at the
Americans house: the king alighted
and was received in the drawing room.
II have called" said Oscar, ito learn
the meaning Of your having bought up
claims against me and pressing them
for payment"
Perhaps your majesty may remem-
Der when you were crown prince slip
ping pack of marked cards into my
pocket"
"YOur pocketT'
81 am Count Esterhoff."
The king blanched.
"I have keDt those cards - continued
Esterhoff. land would like to sell them
to your majesty"
"How much do you ask for themT
inquired Oscar after collecting his fac
ulties.
1.-Two hundred thousand American
dollars for each card"
Great heavens. man! What do you
mean?"
II mean that in my youth lived
under system wherein the chief men
and women found it to their interest to
support injustice. II your people still