The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1917-10-18
A PRINCESS
CHOICE
BY RUTH GRAHAM

tlat an alliance with MS FAMILY was
considered desirable by all the other
potentates The king had one child, n
daughter, who was Of marriaGeablc
age, but up to the time she was TWEEN
ty years of age she had been kept
away from the outside world, shut up
even seen her excepting her family
and limited suit of attendants.
On her twentieth birthday her IA
Their sent letter to several neighbor
ing monarchs stating that his daugh-
ter would correspond with any man of
royal blood suitable to become her hus-
band and that she would marry some
one Of these correspondents, provided
he was willing to marry her He was
not to see her till after he had been
selected for her conSort, and If after
seeing her he was not minded to mar
~ her he would be excused from do
ing so.
A number Of princes entered the lists
and wrote letters to the princess. Most
of them expatiated upon her beauty,
which they had never seen, comparing
her to the full moon. to fountain
flashing in the sunlight. to the fairest
flower that had ever grown upon the
earth.
There was one correspondent, sign
ing himself Carous, who did not refer
to any physical beauty that the prin-
cess might possess or to other attri-
butes, such as mOdesty, good sense or
kind heart. He wrote Of such
traits as he would value in wife
IF you possess these" he added, you
are a treasure to any man, but no man
is worthy Of YOU"
The princess threw the letters from
those who hattered without having
seen her into the wastebasket but she
was touched by the one from this man
who valued mental rather than phys
ical traits. She replied to his epistle,
stating that she was most affected by
his placing a high value on q sympa
thetic heart. She desired husband
who would be sympathetic with her,
as she would sympathize with him.
Prince Carolus believed he had
struck the chord that would win him
the princess. SO he wrote her second
epistle expatiating upon tenderness
Of heart, exalting 1t above, all other
virtues. He was sure that If he mar
ried her he would feel for her in all
her troubles-for even royal persons
have them-and he had no doubt that
she would respond in kind.
The princess was about to invite
Prince Carolus to an interview when
letter came from another royal per
sonage who signed himself Alanthus
Alanthus said that. while he would
gladly become the husband of priu-
cess who would inherit a kingdom, he
must know before he entered the lists
for her hand what drawbacks there
might be concerning her He suspect
ed from the fact that a sutton would
not be permitted to see her that there
was some physical blemish about her
Should such be the case any man who
should meet her as sutton would be
placed in an embarrassing position
A refusal to marry her after seeing
her would put a slight upon her. Alan
thus would not care to be placed in
such u position If she would assure
him that there was no physical blight
upon her he would then write her
again. This letter caused the princess
to hesitate.
Soon after CarOlus had sent his let
ter to the princess he received a por
trait of a young woman, one-half of
whose face was covered with mark
ed Disagreement. 1t was a red and
purple blrthmark. Carolus naturally
inferred that it was a likeness Of the
princess. 1t ended the correspondence
between them for he never wrote
her again. That sympathy for the I'M
fortunate which he had spoken of so
effusively did not stand the test to
which it had been put.
Alanthus also received portrait. 1t
represented a woman neither beautiful
nor homely. though the face was not
devoid of character He, too. inferred
that he had been sent likeness Of the
princess When he had made up his
mind what to do in the matter he
wrote her a letter stating that he had
received portrait which he presumed
to be hers that he had been favorably
impressed with it and suggested that
they meet and get acquainted
The princess replied that they would
better correspond for awhile before
meeting in order to learn Of each 9th,
er's good. bad or Indifferent qualities
For several months they wrote each
other, and then the princess sent a
brief note stating that she had learned
but one thing about her sutton. He
had shown himself a true eman in de-
clining to put himself in a position to
decline to marry woman because ma
ture had laid upon her physical
Flemish. She appointed time for the
meeting
Alanthus went to the palace expect
ing to see the woman whose likeness
had been sent him. He met different
person. When the princess appeared
he was thrilled She was radiantly
beautiful
The princess married Alanthus, who
turned out to be young king who