The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1917-07-14

Ills mdJeSly WISHES 10 see you Ill
once" l urged, full of wonder.
I could plainly see that his imperial
highness had been much upset at men,
ton of the mysterious person called
Minckwitz. What could the emperor
know of him? Was there some scan
dial at the root of it all, some facts
which the crown prince feared might
be revealed?
Travel-stained and without changing
his tunic, willie" went to the tele-
phone and ordered Knot to bring back
the car. In it he drove across to the
Neues Palais to see the emperor.
l had an appointment in Berlin that
night, and waited until quite late for
"Willie's" return. AS he did not come,
l left for the capital, and on arrival
at my rooms, rang up Wolff's agency,
and gave out a paragraph to the press
prince, had been compelled to aban-
don his journey to Thorn, owing to
having contracted a chill.
At the Schloss Gels.
Several weeks went by, and one day
we were at the ancient schloss at Gels,
in far Silesia,
The guests included old Count Won
Reisenbach, court chamberlain of the
prince of Schambourg-Lippe, who was
a noted raconteur and bonvivant, with
Major Won Heidkamper of the Fourth
Bavarian Light Cavalry, a constant
companion of "Willie," and Karl Won
Pappenheim, a captain of the Prussian
guard, who had been educated at Ok
ford, and who was so English that it
was often difficult for people from
London to believe that he was a Prus-
sian.
Won Pappenheim was n of "Wil-
lies" new friends. He "a the son
of a great landowner of Erfurt, and
the pair had for the past month been
inseparable. He was a shrewd, keen
eyed man, who seemed ever on the
alert, but, of course, obsessed by mill
rete, a pretty girl, 4. a year or so his
junior, who had been to the Mariner
palace IN n occasion.
One day 1 had accompanied the
party out after stag. Soon after lunch
con, which we took at a forester's
house, we went forth again, and 1 con-
cealed myself at a point of vantage,
lying behind a screen of ferns and
branches specially constructed as
cover.
l was alone, at some considerable
distance from the others, and had been
there waiting for nearly an hour with
my gun in readiness, when suddenly l
heard the cracking of dried wood not
far away.
Something was moving. I raised my
gun in breathless eagerness.
Next moment, however, 1 heard the
voices of two men-"Willie" and his
friend, Won P%appenheim. They were
approaching me, speaking in low, con-
fidential tones.
"YOu quite understand" "Willie"
was saying. "My position is a terri
BILE one. l don't know how to extri-
cate myself. If I dare reveal the truth,
then I know full well what their ven
geance will be-"
"But, my dear Caesar" was Karl
o Pappenheim's reply, for he was on
such intimate terms that he called his
highness by the name Won Hochberg
had bestowed upon him, "is it not your
duty to risk all and tell the truth?"
The pair had halted only a few yards
from me and taken cover behind a
dead bush which had been cut down
and placed conveniently at the spot,
in case the shooting party were a large
one and the screen behind which had
concealed myself was insufficient. SO
neal were they that / could hear all
that was said.
"The emperor would neither believe
nor forgive me-" "Willie" said.
"Minckwitz is a clever devil. He
would bring manufactured evidence
which must implicate me-"
Minckwitzi That was the name
which the emperor had uttered, asking
me if / knew him
"But can he bring evidence?" asked
his companion.
eyes, curse him The cant"
"YOu can refute it, surely?"
"No, / can't. If I could, I should
make a clean breast of the whole mat
ter" Willie declared.
"He Holds Me in the Hollow of His
Hand"
"But cannot l help you? Cannot
see Minckwitz, and bluff him?" his
friend suggested.
"You don't know him." was the re-
ply. HE holds me in the hollow of
his hand"
"Ah! Then you have been horribly
indiscreet-ehfo
81 have. / admit I have, Karl; and
1 do not see my way out of it."
"But, my dear Caesar, think of the
danger existing day by day-hour by
hour !" cried Won Pappenheim. "Thinl
what there is at stake! That letter
you showed me this morning reveals
only too plainly what is intended"