Tombstone epitaph., 1915-07-04

ents and substituted for the royal infant
 Incredible as it may seem to you-as it still seems to me-this monstrous scheme was adopted, the physician himself undertaking to carry it out He took away the tiny princess. without being detected, gained admit tance to the keepers wife under the pretext of being sent by the king to offer his services. exchanged the in- fants. and brought back the plebeian child to be reared in the palace as the heir to the Netherlands and Luxem- burg.
 Thus was this extraordinary plot carried out with the most complete sue cess. The early death of the unhappy little daughter of the royal house. from a congenital cause. seemed to condone the kings treachery to his wife, and effectually stopped all fear of discovery. The king and his two accomplices preserved their secret. till the moment when At of rage led to the revelation Of it to the person most concerned"
 And what did the prince of Orange do, when the king informed him of all this?' I asked. as the ambassador made a long pause.
 That is the very question which put to him on the occasion when he took me into his confidence. He re- piled:
 My first feeling. on learning that I had no title to the position that occupied. was one of sheer dismay. But this feeling deepened into one of fierce resentment as I realized what these men. this king and his ministers, had made of me. was a living falsehood, the most colossal i'm postor in the world, robbed of my very manhood. and unable thenceforth to look my fellow creatures in the face.
 If my adopted father had hoped to crush me by the disclosure of my true position. he must have been sadly disappointed. My first impulse was to reject the lying role he had thrust upon me. and to publicly renounce my borrowed rank The first hint of such an intention vas enough to bring him to reason. For the first time some faint notion of the deadly injury he had done me appeared to penetrate his mind. In his humilia- tion, he condescended to implore me not to expose him in the eyes of Europe
 "'1 could not entirely resist these prayers. Had any other person than myself been the victim, I could not have withheld all sympathy from the scheme. which was intended to baftie the evil was now past mending. Miserable as my life had been in the oppressive atmosphere of a court. had sense enough to know that it was too late in the day for me to accustom myself to the obscure poverty of a peasants life. 1 even forbore to ask the king for the names of my unknown parents.
 Yet I could not face the prospect of continuing to play a part which found so intolerable. I discussed the matter with my father-as have con tiued to call him-and in the end 1t was decided that I should live abroad in semi-private manner. a substan- tial pension being assigned to me on the condition that the secret of my birth was strictly kept
 Such am, such is my career You perceive in ne monster vf the moral world, a creature to whom every v;rtu. ous and noble aspiration has been for. bidden before he was bora. a wretch whose life is a prolonged crime, and who will render the only atonement to society which Is in his power by hastening his progress to the grave'"
 As the ambassador repeated these pathetic words of the prince, his voice shook. It was indeed necessary to be- lieve that his recollections had caused him genuine emotion.
 T endeavored to soothe this young man. so miserably situated. but with out success. By this time dawn was approaching. and he decided to return to his own residence, where he pressed me to visit him. To gratify him l consented, but I did not fulfill my promise. With every sentiment of pity for this impostor in spite of him. self l did not care to associate with him; and, besides, his circle, you understand, was not one :: those in which one gains reputation by mixing. And as shortly afterwards I entered upon the series of foreign employ. ments which have since filled my life, 1t so happened that we never met again"
 When did the prince die?" asked presently.
 T think it was in the year of 1884" was the reply. Queen Sylvia died six or eight years before that, thus ena- bling the king to marry again. But destiny seemed to have decided that Luxemburg could no longer belong to the Netherlands, for the only child of this second marriage was, as you know, a daughter, who is now the re;sG:Hs queen"
 The prince of Orange never mar ried, did he?"
 No. There was at one time . rumor which connected his name with an English princess. But it came to nothing: and, of course. after the prince had learned his true position,