The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1915-12-10
IA Secret !
Marriage
Ii Was Between a Prince and )
! a Girl In Wooden Shoes. ;
By r. A. mitchell

IL see in this proposal, your males
ty," said the prime minister, Van der
Donken, to King Hubert, "a scheme
to unite our kingdom of Lituria to that
Of Pomaria. Your majesty is well
aware that the area of Pomaria is
three times that of Lituria. If the
Princess Catherine marries your son it
will result in the annexation Of your
dominions to those Of your hereditary
enemies"
"That shall never be-" said King HUI
bert, grinding his teeth.
Unfortunately. the prince has met
the princess, and she has captivated
him."
what sort of woman Is sheY
Unfortunately ambitious. She is de-
scribed by those Of her suit as being
avaricious, selfish and cruel"
what can we do to turn the prince
from her? I fear that to attack her
will only enlist him In her defense"
your majesty is right. We must
accomplish our ends by diplomacy.
The princess has your son In thrall
To win him from her we must invei-
gle her into trap, and once she has
entered 1t we must exercise all our in
genuity to prevent her getting out"
"Have you a plan"
II have. It Is this: Let us give out
that your majesty has been attacked
| by disease that must prove fatal
within a few months; that you desire
| the prince, who will inherit the throne
| after you, to marry at once on pain of
your naming his cousin, Oscar, to sue
coed you in his stead. Catherine will
not marry him without his inheritance.
But she will not hesitate to permit him
to sacrifice 1t for revenge upon your
majesty for not consenting to the
match. shall endeavor to make some
compromise with her by which we may
rescue the prince from her.
Van der Donken was a marvel Of
astuteness. being regarded as equal
In chicanery even to q woman. The
king gave him carte blanche to do
as he liked, and he set out at once
for the capital Of Pomaria. where he
found Prince Carl In dalliance with the
Princess Catherine. The minister an
nounced to the young man that his
father had not long to live, that
proposal had been made by King Otto
Of the neighboring kingdom Of Bren-
tino that the two kingdoms should be
united by the marriage of Carl and
King Otto's daughter, Xenia. and that
the marriage should be celebrated at
once. If the prince refused the crown
should pass ut his fathers death to his
cousin
This interview between Van der Don
ken and Carl took place in the pres
ence Of Catherine. The prince looked
at her for instructions as to his reply.
She replied for him by stating that he
was betrothed to her and would marry
her. II any usurper took her place at
his fathers death the king Of Pomaria
would send an armed force to Litu1a
to seat its rightful sovereign on the
throne.
Now, the kingdom of Brentino was
even more powerful than that Of
| POmaria. The hand Of the Princess
Xenia had indeed been offered to Carl
and doubtless II Carl had seen her he
would have obeyed his father. On re-
| ceivinG refusal to King Hubert's
plans the willy Van der Donken pro-
| posed to Carl and Catherine com.
promise. He suggested that Carl mar.
~ some girl of low degree. His IA
Their. to withdraw him from such a
union. would consent to divorce and
his marriage with Catherine. Again
the prince looked at the princess for
instructions. She agreed to take the
matter under consideration and after
long reflection consented TO the plan.
making 1t condition that she should
approve Of the girl the prince married
Van der DOnken agreed to this, though
he well knew that Catherine would
not consent to the prince marrying any
| girl who was capable Of drawing him
away from her.
The prince returned to Lituria with
Van der Donken. 1t having been ar.
ranged that the princess should follow
to inspect the girl he would marry as
| soon as one could be found to do so on
receiving a price and giving her con-
sent to subsequent divorce. In due
time the princess was called for and
introduced into the home Of q poor
widow whose daughter had consented
to the terms.
Anneke was the name of the bride.
little Dutch girl I'm number of petit
coats and wooden shoes. Her COM
plexion was brown. her face covered
with pimples and her hair fiery red.
Her appearance was that OF half
witted person. AS soon as Catherine
saw her she gave her consent to the
marriage. which took place in her
presence and tnat of Van der Donken
and Anneke's mother. Then Carl went
back TO Pomaria with Catherine.
Meanwhile King Hubert had kept
himself in secluslon. but as soon as his
minister announced TO him that his son
had been married he appeared again In
public apparently as well as ever.
Catherine, hearing of his recovery, was
quite taken aback. fearing that she
had been tricked. But, remembering
the wedding with the homely Dutch
girl, she took heart.
Then came Van der Donken to the
prince with an order from his father