, 1917-07-26

lection of having e II In your
hand!'
She took it, examined it well and
then, with an artificial laugh, declared;
at 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
essT' 1 demanded.
Quite she declared. "But why
trouble ebout that bag while there is II
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"
1 recounted to her the facts just as
they have already been written down,
and as / did so 1 watched her face, no.
ticing upon 1t an expression full of sus-
picion of myself. She was, it seemed
to me, undecided as to the exact extent
of my knowledge.
"How 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 1 maintained
n sphinxlike silence. That the little
old woman who had so Unexpectedly
become a lady-in-waiting was playing
some desperate double game 1 felt
sure, but its 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 Search?'
l smiled. Then, in order to let her
know that l was acquainted with TIA
liam, the language she had spoken on
that well-remembered night in her W
conservatory, l exclaimed:
"Ahe! allie vote con gil occhi aperti
81 far del sogni." (Sometimes n a
dream with ones eyes open.)
Her thin eyebrows narrowed, and
with a shrug of her shoulders the
| old woman replied:
"Dal false bene viene II vero male"
(From an affected good feeling comes
a real evil.)
1 realized at hat moment that there
was more mystery in the affair than 1
had yet conceived. His imperial high
ness was certainly missing, though the
iAu OiiN VI liS anal nav w
come eliminated by my recognition of
her w handbag. She, too, had been
in secret to the forester's house-but
with what object?
Hal 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 Its 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 he little silk bag, of
course, and attached great Importance
to it.
Within half an hour we had reor-
ganized the beaters from the neighbor-
hood and, with lanterns, set out again
" oolit "oouo " lC Gust
which had not been searched. About
ten O'Clock we set forth, the countess
accompanying us and walking well,
Notwithstanding her age, though /
could see that 1t 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 a
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 n 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, 1t 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 knee and strOked his brow ten
derby when / announced that he was
still living. By her actions 1 saw that
she was filed by some 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 u great SEN
sation in ~EurOpe-the crown prince
was brought SLOWLY back to conscious