Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1915-06-24

/
and he now proposed mat this child
should be secretly taken freu its mar
ents and substituted TOT the rOyal
infant.
| Incredible an II may seem Ia
you--as II stili seems 10 me--thls
monstrous scheme was adopted, tho
physician himself undertaking to carry
Il out He took away the tiny princess.
without being detected, gained admit
lance 70 the Keepers wife under ths
pretcxt OF being sent ~ the king %
oher hin services. exchanged the In
fAnts, and brought hack the plebeian
child 70 he reared Iii tho palace . tho
heir 70 tho NetherlAnds and Luxen.
burg.
Thus was this extraordinary plok
carried out with the most complete mo
cess. The early death Of the unhappy
little daughter Of the royal house.
from : congenitAl cauae, seemed Il
cond0ne the kings treachery to hia
wife. and eifsctually stopped ail fear
Of discovery. The king and his two
accompiices preserved their secret.
Till the moment when i III of rAse Ma,
70 the revelation of Il u the person
most concerned
And what did the prince al Grange
do. when tho king Informed him u
all this!' asked. u the ambassador
made long pause.
THAT h the very question which /
put 70 him on the occasion whom 20
took me into his confidence. H -
piled:
NV first feeling, on learning that
| had 20 title q the position thas Il
occupied. was one Of sheer disnaay.
But this feeling deepsned into ON
Of nerce resentment u realix@4
what these men. this kine ma MI
mintsterab had made q NJ. Iwna y
living falsehood, tho most colossal III.
poster ID the world, robbod az Nv very
manhood, and unable thencoforth III
look my fellow crsaturss II ~ fAces
n my adopted fatAer ha1 Aope1
TO crush me by tho disclosure II ~
true position. he must have boen sa1ly
disappointed. NY nrst impulse -
% reject the lying role 10 Md thrust
upon me. and to publicly rsnoanoo
my borrowed rank The iirst hfnf g
such m intention was enough %
bring him to reason. For tho flrst
time some faint notion of the deadlv
injury he had done me- appeared u
penetrate his mind. til his humillnr
ton. he ccndescended 10 irnpl0re ~
not TO expose him IN tho eyes of
Europe
- could not entirely resist these
prayers. Had any other person than
myself been the Victim. could not
have withheld oil sympathy from tho
scheme. which was Intended to haiIie
the enemies OF Holland. A ii was.
the evil was now past mending,
Miserable an my life had been iii the
oppressive atmosphere OF i court. |
had Sense enough to know that II was
too late In the day for nae to accustom
myself 10 the obscure poverty of
peasants life. even forhore to ask
the king for the names Of my unknown
parents.
Yet ] could not face the prospect
OF continuing to play 4 part which
found 70 intolerable. discussed the
matter with my father--as l have con-
tiued To call him--and In the end It
was decided that should live abroad
In ssmi-private manner, : substan-
tial pension being assigned to me on
the condition that the secret or my
birth was strictly kept.
Such am, such II my career. You
perceive In me monster Of the moral
world. creature To whom every virtu-
Gus and noble aspiration has been for.
hidden before he was born. i wretch
whose life II prolonged crime, and
who Will render the only atonement
to society which II In his power BY
Fastening his progress TO the grave"
A. the ambassador repeated these
pathetic words OF the prince. his yoics
shook. II was indeed necessary to be-
lieve that his recollections had caused
him genuine emotion.
Il endeavored TO s0Othe this young
man, 80 miserably situated, but with
out success. BY this time dawn was
approaching, and he decided To return
to his own residence. where be pressed
me to visit him. TO crafty him
consented. but ! did not fulfiii my
promise With every sentiment q
pity for this 1mpostor In spite OF him.
SELF ! did not care to associate with
him: and. besides, his circle, you
understand, was not one OF those In
which one gains reputation by mixing.
And az shortly afterwards / entered
upon the series OF foreign employ
ments which have since filled my
life. II so happened that we never
net again.
When did the prince der asked
! think II was In the year or 1884"
vas the reply. Queen Sylvia died SIX
,r eight years before that, thus ena-
bling the king to marry again. But
iestiny seemed to have decided that II
1uxemburg could no longer belong to
he Netherlands. for the only child
II this second marriage was. AZ you
snow, daughter, who ID now the
'eigning queen"