The Washington times., 1917-06-17

W OiAt
he laughed. lit is really intensely
amusing. is II not?"
was silent knew that the deep
Iy-Iaid plot against Great Britain was
proceeding space.
Get through all thAt-Etonight IL
you can. Heltzendorff." the crown
prince urged. The crown princess
leaves for Treseburg. in the Harz.
tomorrow, and in the evening We so
to Nice"
ITO Nice. ! exclaimed.
Yes" he said. Il have a friend
there.
A friend there! I reflected.
could only suppose, that the attrac-
tion in Nice was OF the feminine
gender.
Then the lady is in Nice" l re-
marked. for sometimes ! was per.
mitted. on account of my long ser
vice with the Emperor, to speak IS
miliarly.
Lady. no." he retorted. "It is a
man. And / want to get to Nice at
the earliest moment. So get through
those Internal documents. Burn them
all. They are better out OF the way,
he laughed.
The Trip To Nice.
Just before IL o'clock on the fol-
lowing night we left the Marmor
palace. His imperial highness travel
ed incognito as he always did when
visiting France. assuming the name
OF Count Won Grunau. With us was
his personal valet. Schuler, the mill
tary secretary. Major Lentz. and Eek
ardt, the commissioner OF secret po-
lice for his highness's personal pro-
lection.
After a restless night-for there
were many stoppaEes-I spent next
day with the crown prince in long
and firing discussions on military af-
fairs. / endeavored to obtain from
him some reason why we were pro-
ceeding to Nice. but to all my in
quiries he was smilingly dumb.
Only a fortnight before he had had
a quarrel with his wife.
"Cnu is a fool" he had declared
openly to me. after she had left the
room in anger.
We had been busy arranging a pro-
gram OF official visits in eastern Ger
many. when suddenly the crown prin-
cess entered. pale with anger, and
demanded hercely an explanation Of
certain anonymous letter which she
held in her hand.
Cold and Sinister.
KINDLY read that she said
haughtiIy. "and explain what It
means.I
The crown prince Erinned, that
cold. sinister expression overspread-
ing his countenance. a look which is
such a marked Characteristic of his.
Then, almost Enatching the letter
from his young wife's fingers. he read
II through. and, with a sudden move
ment tore it up and flung it upon the
| carpet. saying:
Il refuse to discuss any unsigned
letter, Really. ~ We were to notice
every letter written by the common
scum we should. indeed, have suffi-
cient to do
His wife's arched brows narrowed.
| Her face betrayed hercest anger.
Il happen to have inquired, and
now know that those allegations are
correct" she cried. This dark-hair-
ed singer woman. Irene Speroni. has
attained great success on the variety
stage in Italy. She IS the star OF the
Ssls Margherits. in Rome"
"well?" he asked in defiance. And
what Of IL, pray
That letter you have destroyed
! tells me the truth. / received IL a
! few days ago. and sent an agent to
Italy in order to learn the truth. He
has returned tonight. See" And
! suddenly she produced a crumpled
snapshot OF the crown prince in his
polo playing gsrb. and with him a
smsrtly dressed young woman. whose
Z g. =.
Produces Bill for Gems.
Yes" she cried bitterly. "you re-
fuse, Of course. to look upon this
piece Of evidence, now know why
you went TO wiesbsden. The woman
was singing there. and you gave her
pair of emerald and diamond ear
rings which you purchased firm VolI-
gold in Uter den Linden. See. Here
is the bill for them"
And again she produced a slip Of
paper.
The scene ended in the poor ro-
man. in a frantic paroNysm Of despair
tearing on the splendid necklace Of
diamonds at her throat-his present
to her on her marriage-and casting
it full into his face.
Then, realizing that the scene had
become too tragic, took her small
hand. and, with a word Of sympathy,
led her out OF the room and along
| the corridor.
AsI left her she burst into a sudden
torrent Of tears: yet when I returned
again to the Crown Prince I found
his manner had entirely changed. He
treated his wife's natural resentment
and Indignation as a huge Joke. and
II was then that his imperial high
ness declared to me:
"Cilli is a fool"
..May he Missing
Listen. HeItzendorn." his high
ness exclaimed suddenly. IN Nice
may disappear for a day or two. I
may be missing. But II am, please
don't raise a fuss about H. I'm in
/ cognito. and nobody will know.
may be absent for seven days II
| I am not back by that time then you
may make inquiry"
But the cOmmissary Of police Ec-
kardt, He will sure know" ! remarked
in surprise.
NO. He won't know. I shall evade
him as I've often done before" replied
his imperial highness. 'I tell you Of my
/ intentions 80 that you may curb the ac-
/ tivities Of our most eStimable friend
/ Tell him not 10 Worry. and he will he
/ paid a thousand marks on the day Count
Won GrunaU reappesrs."
smiled. for / saw the influence OF
I