The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1917-08-18

property" 1 said. 81 have some recol
lection Of having seen it In your
hand"
She took 1t, examined 1t well and
then, with an artificial laugh, declared
ut certainly Is not mine. 1 once
had a bag very similar, but mine was
not of such good quality"
"Are you really quite certain, count
ess?" I demanded.
"Quite," she declared. "But why
trouble about that bag while there is a
point much more important-the safety
and whereabouts of his imperial high
ness?" she went on in a great state of
agitation. "Tell me, count, exactly
what occurred-as far as you know"
I recounted to her the facts just as
they have already been written down,
and as I did so / watched her face, no
ticing upon it an expression full of sus-
picion of myself. She was, it seemed
to me, undecided as to the exact extent
of my knowledge.
allow did you know that the young
mans name was Krahl?" she asked,
eagerly. "You had perhaps met him
before-eh?"
The Search.
To this leading question I maintained
a sphinxlike silence. That the little
old woman who had SO Unexpectedly
become a lady-in-waiting was playing
some desperate double game l felt
sure, but it's exact import was still an
enigma.
"In any case," she said, "would it
not be as well to return to the Neue
Schenke and make searchP'
I smiled. Then, in order to let her
know that I was acquainted with TIA
liam, the language she had spoken on
that well-remembered night in her own
conservatory, I exclaimed:
"Ahe allie vote con gil occhi aperti
81 far del sogni." sometimes one can
dream with ones eyes open.)
Her thin eyebrows narrowed, and
with a shrug of her shoulders the
old woman replied:
"Dal falso bene viene il vero male"
(From an affected good feeling ONE
a real evil.)
l realized at that moment that there
vas more mystery in the affair than 1
had yet conceived. His imperial high
ness was certainly missing, though the
female element of the affair had be-
come eliminated by my recognition of
her w handbag. She, too, had been
in secret to the forester's house-but
with what object?
Half an hour later we were back at
the little house in the forest.
The guests had all returned to the
castle, and only Eckhardt, the police
commissioner, remained, with a for
ester and his underlings. Already
search had been made in the surround
ing woods, but without result. OF his
imperial highness there was no trace.
In the long room, with it's pitch-pine
walls, and lit by oil lamps, the old
countess closely questioned Eckhardt
as to the result of his inquiries. But
the police official, who had become full
of nervous fear, declared that he had
been sent off by his highness, and
had not since found any trace of him.
He spoke of the little silk bag, of
course, and attached great Importance
to it.
Within half an hour we had reor
ganized the heaters from the neighbor-
hood and, with lanterns, set out again
to examine some woods to the east
which had not been searched. About
ten o'clock we set forth, the countess
accompanying us and walking well,
Notwithstanding her age, though 1
could see that it was a fearful anxiety
that kept her active. To the men with
us every inch of the mountain side
was familiar, and for hours we
searched.
A Startling Discovery.
Suddenly, not far away, a horn was
blown, followed by loud shouts. Quick
ly we approached the spot, and Eek
hardt and myself, as we came up,
looked upon a strange scene. Close to
the trunk Of a great beech tree lay the
form of the crown prince. hatless, out
stretched upon his face.
Instantly I bent, tore open his
shooting jacket, and to my great relief
found that his heart was still beating.
He was, however, quite unconscious,
though there seemed no sign of a
struggle. AS he had left his hat and
gun in the house, it seemed that he
had gone forth only for a moment.
And yet we were quite a mile from the
forester's house!
The countess had thrown herself up
On her knees and stroked his brow ten
derby when I announced that he was
still living. By her actions / saw that
she was filled by ONE bitter self-re-
proach.
With the lanterns shining around
him-surely a weird and remarkable
scene which would, if described by the
journalists, have caused a great SEN
sation in Europe-the crown prince
was brought slowly back to conscious
ness, until at last he sat up, dazed and
wondering.
TTs- a-.k .,1-I- - wa4 vouA