The Nevada County picayune., 1915-07-02
PRINCE CITRON"

ChronicEed by ALLEN UPWARD

Nhi5s SODi0 dsOs pt6dh tbD at bassador. as soon as we were comfort ably settled in the smoking room of his luxurious mansion, "and King Will Hams first wife was still alive. You are aware that it was his second wife who is the mother of Wilhelmina?"
 T had forgotten it, but no matter"
 Tt is. on the contrary a fact which must be borne in mind" retorted his Excellency. T was returning home from the theater, past midnight As approached the Madeleine, I saw a small crowd collected at the foot of the steps. Crossing over to find out what had taken place, found myself on the outside of a ring of women. the most abandoned wretches of the quarter of man lying on the bottom step of the flight. apparently intoxicated be- yond the power to move.
 The spectacle of this unfortunate seemed to have strangely excited the women, who were hurling at him the vilest insults in their horrible vocabu- lary 1ncensed at the behavior of these hass, roughly pushed my way through them to the side of their victim, whose clothes disordered and covered with mud. as they were, seemed to be those of man of position. The wretched creature was lying on one side, his left hand outstretched, with which he seemed to be trying feebly to ward on the foul epithets of his tormentors. stopped down over him, and lifted his head to the light.
 Tt was Prince Citron
 You will easily figure to yourself the horror of discovering the heir to . famous monarchy. the descendant of William the Silent. in this deplor able situation. I had not failed to hear some of the dark reports as to this young mans career; nevertheless at sush moment the only sentiment which inspired me was that of the most profound pity.
 "Sternly rebuking the filthy hags. who slunk away before my reproaches. raised the prince to his feet. and supported him down to the edge of the pavement, where perceived an empty 11acre coming up. Into this assisted Alexander-to give him his proper name-who instantly fell like a log upon the cushions. Then I gave the driver my own address, and we pro- ceeded to the house near the Rue de Rivoh. in which I at that time oc- cupied a small flat
 During the short drive, Prince Alex ander lay absolutely motionless, and without uttering a sound. But from time to time I caught gleam of dull intelligence in his bloodshot eyes; which were turned to me, as if he were trying to comprehend who l was, and what accident had brought him into my company.
 When we got to the house, it was necessary for me to engage the ser vices of the concierge to get the un- fortunate youth upstairs to my apart ment, which was on the third floor. There found that my valet had re- tired, a circumstance which I did not regret. I got my strange visitor c0m- fortably settled upon couch; l loosened his collar and necktie for him, removed his boots, and spread . warm rug over his feet. Then I sat down to wait till he should recover from his lethargy.
 While l watched his uneasy repose, l strove to recall the various things which had heard about the heir of William III. He was of course we'll known to me by sight, for the incl dent l speak of took place at time when l was attached to the stan of the foreign office in Paris, and when, as you may have heard, there was some talk of making me deputy and minister.
 But preferred a diplomatic career to parliamentary one, and l do not regret my decision. In a country like France, which is ruled over by the bourgeoisie, politics reduces itself to terribly prosaic level. l can only find the romance for which my dis position craves in the courts of those countries where the will of monarch still counts for much, and where the course of the greatest events may be decided by a nod given at the right moment, or by sentence whispered in the intervals of waltz.
 Though I never before had any in- tercourse with Prince Citron, l was familiar with the stories in circula- tion about him. It was generally be- lieved that his residence in Paris was not altogether voluntary-that, in fact, he had been compelled to leave the Hague in consequence of some ter ribie misunderstanding with his father; and there were those who asserted that the old king of the Netherlands had sworn that his son should never return so long as he himself was alive. But, though there were hundred diff ferent versions of the cause of this ex-