Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1916-03-03

power to see beyond that majesty.
| When little more than IL babe in arms
| he was orphaned. and the affairs Of
! state fell upon the shoulders of three
| loyal and devoted men who served a.
regents until he became of age.
| He was seven when the great revolt
headed by Count MarlanX came so
near to overthrowing the government
| and he behaved like the prince that ht
J was 1t was during those perilous
| times that he came to know the gal
| liant TruXton King. in whose home he
was now happy guest. But before
| Truxton King he knew the lovely girl
| who became the wife of that devoted
| advenrurer and who. to him. was al
| ways to be Aunt Lorraine
| AS very small boy he had paid two
visits to the home land Of his father
but after the death of his parents his
valuable little person was guarded so
jealousy by his subjects that not once
had he set foot beyond the borders of
Graustark. except ON two widely sep
arated occasions of great pomp and
ceremony at the courts Of Vienna and
st. Petersburg. and secret journey to
London when he was seventeen. lit
| appears that he was determined to see
great football match.D On each of
| these occasions he was attended by
watchful members of the cabinet and
certain military units in the now far
from insignificant standing army. AS
a matter Of fact. he witnessed the foot
ball match from the ordinary stands.
surrounded by thousands of unsuspect-
| ing Britons. but carefully wedged In
between two generals of his own army
and fanked by a minister Of police.
minister Of the treasury and minis
ter Of war, all of whom were excess
sively bored by the contest and more
or less appalled, by his unregal enthu
siasm. He had insisted on going to the
match incog. to enjoy it for all it was
worth to the real spectators-those who
sit or stand where the compression is
not unlike that applied to q box OF
| sardines.
| The regency expired when he was
twenty years of age. and he became
ruler in fact of himself as well as Of
the half million subjects who had wait
ed patiently for the great day that was
to see him crowned and glorified. He
was their prince. and they loved him
well.
| Mr. Blithers was very close to the
truth when he said Ito himself, If you
remember) that the financial situation
in the far off principality was not all
that could be desired. It is true that
Graustark was in Russia's debt to the
extent of some 100000 gavvos-about
$3O.0OO,O0O. in other words-and that
the day Of reckoning was very near at
hand. The loan was for period of
twelve years and had been arranged
contrary to the advice Of John Tullis.
an American fnancier. who long had
been interested in the welfare Of the
principality through friendship for the
lamented prince consort. Lorry. He
had been farsighted enough to realize
that Russia would prove hard cred
itor. even though she may have been
sincere in her protestations of friend
ship for the modest borrower.
A stubborn element in the cabinet
overcame his opposition. however. and
the debt was contracted, taxation in
creased by popular vote and Il period
Of governmental thriftiness inaugu-
rated. Railroads. highways. bridges
and aqueducts were built, owned and
controlled by the state. and the city of
Edelweiss rebuilt after the devastation
created during the revolt of Count
Marlanx and his miniOns. There SEEM
ed to be some prospect Of vindication
for the ministry. and Tullis, who lived
in Edelweiss, was fair minded enough
to admit that their action appeared to
have been for the best The people
had prospered, and taxes were paid in
full and without complaint. The re-
serve fund grew steadily and surely.
and there was every prospect that
when the huge debt came due it would
be paid in cash. But on the very crest
of their prosperity came adversely. For
two years the crops failed. and a pesti-
lence swept through the herds. There
was not so much as penny left over
for the so called sinking fund.
CHAPTER u.
MIR. BIithers Goes Visiting.
4 YEAR of grace remained. The
"a minister of finance had long
~ since recovered from the delu-
sion that it would be easy
70 borrow from either England or
France to pay the Russians. there be-
hg small prospect of a renewal by the
ear, even for short period at high
er rate Of interest. The great nations
of Europe made it plain to the little
principally that they would not put
finger in Russias pie at this stage Of
the game. Russia was ready to go to
war with her great neighbor, Austria.
Diplomacy-caution, if you will-made
it imperative that other nations should
sit tight and look to their own knitting,
so to say. Not one could afford to be
charged with befriending even in a
roundabout way either of the angry
grumblers.