The evening world., 1915-01-29


Of . hitherto friendly government
will be-"
whats the grievanosS" inquired
Mr.. Blithers, bluntiy. He was edginG
into familiar waters now. "whars the
matter with Dawsberssnf Money
| controversyf"
mot at ALL" said LAssar hastily.
why not let 'em withdraw" said
Mr.. Blithers. I'VE can get along
without them"
There was . general uplifting Of
mora fixed concentration Of case.
| IL dare say you are already ao-
Quainted with the desire on the part
Of DawsberEen to form an alliance In
which Axphian can have no part"
said Baron Romano. Tn other words.
II has been the desire Of both DAVIS
bergen and oraustark to perfect .
matrimonial alliance that may CO.
mcnt the fortunes Of the two coun-
| trIes"--
, Count ouinnox mentioned soms-
thing Of the sort" interrupted M,
Blithers. But suppose this matri-
moniai alliance doesn't come off, who
would be the sufferer. you or DAVIS
bergen? Whom will u benent the
most2"
There was q moments silence.
Doubtless II had never occurred to
tho Ministry to speculate on the
point.
Dsv:essn .n's nam.,o is rich SG-sr' ~; :!
the gainors by such an alliance. Mr..
Blithers."
II don't 20 much on aliiances." said
the capitalist. II believe In keeping
out Of them II possible"
II sec" said tho Baron refiectiveiy.
There was another silence. Then:
1T has come to our notice In
q most direct manner that the Prince
Of Dawsbergen feels that his friendly
consideration Of q proposal made BY
our Government some years ago ID
can hardly be anything but humiliat-
ing to him, not only a. q sovereign
but a. q father"
Hes the one who has the mar
riaEeable daughter. chr had really
forgotten the name"
The Baron leaned forward. stiil tap
ping the tabletop with his long. slim
fingers. "
has reached his ears. II II only
natural that no should feel resentful
For fiftcen years there has been an
understanding that tho Crown Prin-
cess OF Dawsbergen and the Prince OF
Graustnrk wero one day to b welded
to each other. You will admit that
the present reports are somewhat
distressing to him and unQuestion-
ably SO to the Crown Princess."
|. chair. 1T seems to me that he ID
making q mountain out Of . mole
hill"
Baron Romano shrank perceptlbly
"It devolves upon me. CIR. a. spokes.
man for the Ministry, the court and
the people of Graustark. to inform you
that marriage between our Prince and
any other than the Crown Princess oi
!, Daw.bersen 10 not to bs considered q
, possible"
Prince any voice in the matterf" M
demanded,
"Yes. He has already denied. some.
|, what publicly. that ne is not contem-
plating marriage with your daugh-
ter. He has had voice In that mat
ter at least"
A fine moisture started out on the
purpllsh brow Of Mr.. Blithers. Twen-
ty-two eyes were upon him. He real
ixed that he was not attending an In
formal conference. He had been
brought here for n deliberate purpose
OF reminding you. my lords, that Ms
denial was no more emphatic than
that expressed by my daughter. M
said. with real dignity.
I'VE have accepted her statement
as final. bat II 10 our earnest desire
that the minds OF the people be set al
rest" said the Baron gravely. I sin
cerely trust that you will appreciate
our position, Mr.. B'ithers. 1t II mol
our desire or intention to offend IN
this matter. but we believe II to be
only fair and Just that We should un'
derstand each other At the outset
Tho impression In afoot that
MY lords" said Mr.. Blithers. ris-
ing. his face suddenly pale, II bes
leave to assure you that my daugh-
ter's happiness 10 Of far more impor-
tance TO me than all the damned
principalities in the world. Just q
moment, please. I apologize for the
oath-but ! mean II. Just the same
do not resent your attitude. nor do
resent your haste in conveying to me
your Views on the subject. II may be
diplomacy to go straight to a question
and get II over with. but II isn't al
ways diplomatic to 20 off half-cocked
will say, with perfect candor. that
should like to see my daughter the
II want you TO understand that hsl
own wishes In the matter are TO gov.
ern mine In the end. have had thii
marriage In mind; there's no use deny
ing II. have schemed to bring these
two young people together with Q hn-
gle object IN view. know that u
they saw enough of each other they
would fall In love. and they would
want the happiness that love brings
10 all people. Just a moment. Baron !
I want to say to you now. all OF you
that II my girl should love your Prince
and he should love her In return
there isn't q power below heaven thai
can keep them apart. II shs doesn't
love him. and he should be unlucky
enough to love her. I'd see him hanged
before he could have her! I'll admit
that ! have counted on seeing all oi
this como TO pass. and that ! have
bungled the thing pretty badly be-
, cause I'm a loving. selnsh father-but,
, my lords since you have brought me
here 10 tell me that II is impossible Tor
, my girl to marry your Prince. ] wiz
say to you. here and now. that II they
ever love each other and want TO ge'
married. I'll see to II that II isn't Inn
possible. You issue an ultimatum 70
me In plain words. 20 I'll submit one "a
you, In equally plain words. ] intend
to leave this matter entirely to my
daughter and Prince Robin. They are
IN do the deciding, 90 far as j an