The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1917-08-25

"Quite. Two of the women at the
table declared that it must have been
thunder, and then the conversation
proceeded. I, however, confess to your
majesty that I was very much puzzled,
and the more so because only two
nights ago, while we sat at dinner.
Friedrich-August and myself en- IA
mile, we heard exactly the same
sounds again!"
Really !" laughed the emperor.
"Quite uncanny. l hope, here In Ores
den, you are not believing in spooks,
as London society believes in them"
mot at ALL" saic the princess ear
nestly. 81 don't believe in omens But,
%curiously enough, the king told me
yesterday that his two old aunts, who
formerly lived in our wing of the pal
ace, had sometimes heard the clatter
of horses hoofs, the jingle of harness,
the grinding of brakes, and the rum
bling of heavy carriage wheels"
"H'm!" grunted the emperor. "Tve
heard that same story before, Louisa.
The departing coach means trouble to
the ~reigning family"
"That is exactly what the king said
to me only last evening"" answered
Louisa frankly. "Does it mean trouble
to me, l wonder?"
Certainly not" l declared. "Your
imperial highness need not worry for
one moment over such things. Nobody
nowadays regards such phenomena as
presage of evil. There is no doubt
some perfectly natural explanation of
the sounds. Every old palace, castle
and even private house, has its tradi-
TONS"
The kaiser's Merry Mood.
Then the emperor, after acknowl-
edging the salute of Baron Georg o
Metzsch, controller of the royal house
hold-a tall, thin, crafty-eyed man,
with hair tinged with gray, and wear
ing a dark blue uniform and many
observation-disclosures the topic Of o IN
versation.
The kaiser was in particularly merry
mood that night. He had gone to Ores
den against his inclination, for he had
| long ago arranged an Easter review
on the Tempelhofer Field, but the visit
was, I knew, for the purpose of con-
sultation in secret with the king Of
SaxOny.
Several times l wondered upon what
his majesty of Saxony had stumbled.
That morning the emperor and king
:, had been closeted alone together for
fully three hours, and the outcome of
the secret conference seemed to have
put the all-highest into a most excel
lent mood.
The Saxon crown prince and his
wife were at that time a most devoted
| couple, though all of us knew that
| the modern ideas Louisa had brought
to Dresden from the Hapsburg court
| had much shocked old King George
and his consort. The Saxon court was
unused to a pretty women with buoy
ant spirits rejoicing in life with a CAPT.
tai 81"
According to the court whisperings,
trouble had started a few days after
marriage, when the king, having given
his daughter-in-law a tiara of dia-
i'll u W wa R
| injunctions to wear them just as they
were-a style of the seventeenth CEN
| tury-he one evening at the opera saw
! her wearing the stones reset in that
| style known as art nouveau. n king
became furious, and ordered them to
be set again in their original settings,
| w%hereupon Louisa coolly returned the
present.
Such was the commencement OF the
old kings ill-feeling toward her.
The state ball that night was GER
tainly a brilliant one for such a small
court, and next day we all returned
to Potsdam. Louisa, in a depressed
mood, for while dancing with Count
Won Castell Rudenhausen of the Prus-
sian Guard her lovely rope of pearls
had suddenly parted as though cut by
a knife.
A Mysterious Absence.
Before we left Dresden, however, l
met the crown princess in n of the
corridors. 1t was nine o'clock in the
morning. She wore her riding-habit,
having Just come in from her morning
canter.
"Well, count !" she laughed. $50
you are leaving us unexpectedly! l
shall be coming to pay another visit to
Potsdam soon. The emperor invited
me last night. Au revoirr"
Her imperial highness paid her
promised visit to the empress at the
Neues Palais in July.
At the time of her arrival the en-
peror had left suddenly and gone away
to Hubertusstock. When anything I'M
usual upset him he always went there.
1 overheard him the day before his de-
parture shouting to Lohlein as ] passed
along one of the corridors. The judi
cial councillor seemed to be trying to
pacify him, but apparently entirely
without avail.
"You are as sly as all he restl u
I heard the emperor declare in that
shrill, high-pitched tone which always
denotes his anger. "I1l hear none of