The Monticellonian., 1917-03-01


 last They have the same expert enees, the same triumphs, the same catastrophes They tread the same circle of experience without progress ing, until they have grown wise. You see, their rank carries it's limitations with it. This knowledge makes the study of history profoundly interest ing; we see the conqueror Remeses II. as Hannibal and Napoleon; Cleo patra as Catherine of Russia; AlexaH- der the Great as Charles XII of Swe- den; Abdul Hamid, the insane old tyrsnt of Turkey, as the reborn Cali gnla, and so on
 Now to revert to Princess Bertha, Like many princesses, she had fos- ter mother, the wife of common sailor, who occupied a cottage not far from Osborne castle, and piled his trade within plain view of the Royal Yacht club. There is a comfortable freemasonry among all mothers. and the sailors wife, accommodated with lodging in the castle, brought with her her year-old boy. Alfred Barton. The fisherman's son and the princess played together and evinced so strong a mutual attachment that when Mrs. Barton's services were no longer need ed, she continued to bring her child to the castle to play with the little lady of exalted lineage.
 This happened for years. Every summar tha Iittla princacS was hroupht to Osborne by her parents; every sum- mer she insisted on playing with Al fred. It was not until he was thir- teen and she twelve that the old queen, who had viewed the childish attachment complacently. took alarm at an intimacy which seemed likely to continue. The princess parents en- deavored to break the friendship, but proved pOwerhess in the face of their little daughters obstinacy and her eyi- dent misery. In fact, the children could no more live without each other than a flower can live when plucked from its stem.
 There was a long family confer enee, at which the old queen made the sensible suggestion that the aequaint- ance should be permitted to continue until the princess was put into long dresses. Then, she said, nodding her head sagely, thoughts of social con quest and royal lovers would quickly make her forget the fisnerman's son. But in the meanwhile, to prevent Bertha from suffering any i'll from the association. she proposed to have Al fred Barton educated at one of the fashionable public schools.
 And here, to everybody's astonish- ment, Ned Barton, the fisherman. in- terposed his veto. One might have thought that he would have welcomed the opportunity and have been proud of his sons royal patrons. But the monarchy of Englapd is founded upon certain well understood principles. and the subservience of the subject is based upon an imrnutable self-respect and jealous maintenance of his rights and liberties. Ned Barton, standing humbly in the presence of Queen Vic toria and their serene highnesses, Princess Bertha's parents, stoutly said that he viewed the intimacy with as much misgiving as they did that he was plain fisherman and intended that his son should follow the sea; he would not have him made into a shoddy gentleman at Harrow or Eton And Queen Victoria had to abandon her program.
 So the acquaintance continued for several years more, and before the princess had been put into long dresses her parents were faced with the fact that she loved Alfred Barton with a sisterly' affection which showed every symptom of developing into a stronger feeling. She was an only child and ruled them She would not go into society, 6r meet her royal low CTS, or do anything but spend half of each year at Osborne, and sail with Alfred Barton, and have him to tea in the grounds at Osborne castle.
 Of course, you have guessed who Alfred Barton was. He had come back to birth to win his beloved, whom his death had left solitary, near ly 500 years before; but he had con. fused his memories. He had come back wrong, just as a man, taking the wrong train from New York might start off on a parallel track, and yet wind up at St. Louis instead of Chi cago.
 They were declared lovers when the matter was brought to my knowl- edge by Sir Henry Foulkes, physician in-waiting to Queen Victoria And it was then that I made this discovery
 But if the parents of the princess could not break off the acquaintance, at least they could prevent marriage, which would, in fact, have been no marriage under the laws of both Eng land and Germany. There was no thought of marriage between the young folks, it was believed. Their serene highnesses resigned them selves to seeing their daughter remain an old maid-one of those royal old maids whose status is so eloquent a tribute to the tenacity of their mis- placed affections The lovers met more rarely, for Ned Barton had been made captain of small steamship which carried freight and occasionally a passenger or two between South ampton and Cherbourg. and 1t was only during his occasional periods of absence ashore that he came to the castle And here he had won such favor by his sterling integrity, his manliness, and his manners. which were those of a nobleman rather than of a common fisherman's son. that he