Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1916-11-14

Mako sure papers are sitned at once, a.
such contingency might cause B. to change
his mind and withdraw II possible.
Robin looked up. n think this may
account for the two manhunters."
said he. His companions stared.
"You will hear all about them from
Gourou. We were followed this aft
ernoon."
"Followed" gasped Quinnox.
beautifully" said the prince. with
his brightest smile. Detectives. you
know. It was ripping"
'T had the feeling that evil would
be the result Of this foolish trip to-
day." groaned Quinnox. ~ should
not have permitted you to-
"The result is still In doubt" said
Robin enigmatically. "And now. what
comes next?
Read this one. It is from Mr.. Blith-
ers. I'll guarantee that you do not
take this one so complacently."
He was right in his surmise. Robin
ran his eye swiftly over the cablegram
and then started up from his chair
with muttered imprecation.
"Sh!" cautioned the count-and just
in time, for the young man was on the
point of enlarging upon his original ef-
fort. Calm yourself, Bobby, my lad"
"You needn't caution me-" murmured
the prince. "If / had the tongue Of
pirate couldn't begin to do justice to
this" and he slapped his hand re-
soundingly upon the crumpled mes
sage from William w. Blithers.
The message had been sent by Mr..
Blithers that morning, evidently just
before the sailing Of the fast French
steamer on which he and his wife were
crossing to Havre. It was directed to
August Totten and read as follows:
Tell our young friend to qualify state
ment to press at once. Announce recon-
sideration of hasty denial and admit en-
gagement. This Is imperative. I am not
in mood for trifling. Have wired Paris
papers that engagement Is settled Have
also wired daughter. The sooner we get
together on this the better. Wait for my
arrival In Paris. W. B.
There is still another delectable
communication for you, Robin" said
the count. It was directed to r.
Schmidt, and I took the liberty Of
opening it, as authorized. Read it,"
This was one of the ordinary "petits
bleu," dropped into the pneumatic tube
letter box at 2:30 that afternoon.
shortly before Robin ventured forth on
his interesting expedition In quest Of
tea, and its contents were very crisp
and to the point:
Pay no attention to any word you may
have received from my father. He cables
a ridiculous command to me which shall
ignore. II you have received similar
message implore you to disregard 1t al
together. Let's give each other fight
ing chance. MAUD BLITHERS.
Mr.. Blithers received q marconi-
gram from the Jupiter when the ship
was three days out from New York.
It was terse. but sufficient.
Have just had glimpse Of Prince
Charming. He Is very good looking. Love
to mother. MAUD.
He had barely settled into a state Of
complete satisfaction with himself
over the successful inauguration OF q
shrewd campaign to get the better OF
the recalcitrant Maud and the incom-
prehensible Robin when he was
thrown into q panic by the discovery
that young Chandler Scoville had
sailed for Europe two days ahead OF
Maud and her elderly companion.
Newspaper reporters in New York
camped on the trail Of Mr.. Blithers.
He very obligingly admitted that
there was something in the report
that his daughter was to marry the
Prince Of Graustark, although he
couldn't say anything definite at the
time. It wouldn't be fair to the par
ties concerned, he explained. Then
came the disgusting denials in Paris
by his daughter and the ungrateful
prince. This was too much. He
couldn't understand such unflial be-
haviour on the part Of one. and he
certainly couldn't forgive the ingrat-
itude Of the other.
Instead Of waiting until Saturday to
sail, he changed ships and left New
York on Friday, thereby gaining
nothing by the move except relief
from the newspapers, for 1t appears
that he gave up f1ve day boat for
one that could not do it under six.
"There will be something doing In
Europe the day I land there. Lou"
he said to his wife as they stood on
deck and watched the statue Of Lib
erty glide swiftly back toward Man
haitian Island. "I've got all the
strings working smoothly. We've
got Groostock where 1t can't peep
any louder than a freshly Matched
chicken, and we'll soon bring Maud
to her senses. BY the way. did ! tell
you that I've ordered some Dutch ar
chitects from Berlin to co.
"The Dutch are from Holland" she
said YEARLY.
ITO go over to Growstock and give
me a complete estimate on repairing
and remodeling the royal castle? !
dara sav we'll have to do q good deal