Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-16

free and merry one. his spirits as effer
vescent as wine. his manner blithe and
boyish. yet beneath all this fair and
Guileless exposition of carelessness lay
the sober integrity Of caste.
His mother. the beautiful. gracious
and lamented Princess Yetive. set all
royal circles by the ears when she mar
ried the American. Lorry. back in the
nineties. A special act Of the ministry
had legaliZed this union. and the son
Of the American was not deprived of
his right to succeed to the throne which
his forbears had occupied for centuries.
From his mother he had inherited the
right of kings. from his father the
spirit Of freedom: from his mother the
power Of majesty. from his father the
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 as
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 he
was. 1t was during those perilous
times that he came to know the gal
liant Truzton King. in whose home he
was now a happy guest. But before
TruXton King he knew the lovely girl
who became the wife of that devoted
adventurer and who. to him, was al
ways to be Aunt Lorraine"
AS a 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 a secret journey to
London when he was seventeen. lit
appears that he was determined to see
great football match.b 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
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 1anked by minister Of police. a
nj ha trn mi
ter Of war. all Of whom were exces-
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 a box of
sardines.
The regency expired when he was
twenty years Of age, and he became
ruler in fact Of himself as well rs 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. il you
remember, that the financial situation
in the far off principality was not all
that could be desired. 1t Is true that
Graustark was in Russias debt TO the
extent Of some 10000. 600 gavvos-a about
S3O.OoO,00O. In other words-and that
the day Of reckoning was very near at
hand. The loan was for a period Of
twelve years and had been arranged
contrary to the advice of John Tullis.
an American tinancier. who long had
been interested in the welfare OF the
principally through friendship for the
iamented prince cousort. Lorry. He
had been farsighted enough TO realize
that Russia would prove a hard cred
ltor even though she may have been
| sincere III her rrotestations of friend
| snip for the modest borrower.