Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-08-10


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"
"Hm!" grunted the emperor. 1--WE
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, wonderT'
Certainly not" / 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 it's tradi-
tions."
The Kaiser's Merry Mood.
Then the emperor, after acknowl-
edging the salute of Baron GeOrg Won
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
corations-changed the topic of con-
versation.
The kaiser was in particularly merry
mood that night. He had gone to Dres-
den against his inclination, for he had
long ago arranged an Easter review
on the Tempelhofer Field, but the visit
was, 1 knew, for the purpose of con-
sultation in secret with the king of
Saxony.
Several times 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 capi.
tai 'L."
According to the court whisperings
trouble had started q few days after
marriage, when the king, having giver
his daughter-in-law a tiara of dia
mOnds, a royal heirloom, with strict
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. The kini
became furious, and ordered them tt
be set again in their original settings
whereupon Louisa coolly returned tht
present.
Such was the commencement of the
old kings ill-feeling toward her.
The state ball that night was Ger
tainly q brilliant one for such a small
court, and next day we all returned
to Potsdam. Louisa, In q depressed
mood, for while dancing with Coun
Won Castell Rudenhausen of the Prus
sian Guard her lovely rope of pearls
had suddenly parted as though cut b!
a knife.
A Mysterious Absence.
Before we left Dresden, however,
met the crown princess in one Of tn
corridors. 1t was nine o'clock in tn
morning. She wore her ridlng-habit
having Just come In from her morning
canter.
"Well, count !" she laughed. as,
you are leaving us Unexpectedly!
shall be coming to pay another visit t
Potsdam soon. The emperor invites
me last night. Au revoir!"
Her imperial highness paid he
promised visit to the empress at tn
Neues Palais In July.
At the time of her arrival the en-
peror had left suddenly and gone ava
to Hubertusstock. When anything III
usual upset him he always went ther,
l overheard him the day before his d.
parture shouting to Lohlein as passe
along one of the corridors. The jud
cial councillor seemed to be trying
pacify him, but apparently entireI
without avail.
"You are as sly as oil the rest
heard the emperor declare in thf
shrill, high-pitched tone which alway
denotes his anger. "Tll hear none {
it-no excuses. want no fawnin
no Jew-juggling."
The next heard was that the kaist
had left for that lonely retreat {
which he went when he wished to /
alone in those periods of crazy impet-
osity which periodically seized hir
and further, that he Lad taken wit
him his crafty crony, Lohlein.
During that mysterious absence
when the tinseled world of Potsda
seemed at peace-the good-lookiI
Saxon crown princess arrived.
1 was on duty on the railway pla
form to bow over her hand and to We
| come her.
"Ah! Count Won Heltzendorff We
} did l not say that l should not
! very long before 1 returned to Pot
! dam, eh7" she exclaimed. Then wi
merry laugh: ''Do you rememb
Q those Gathering hoofs and my brok
e rope of pearls? Nothing has ha
pened yet"
e An Angry Emperor.
a Three days later an incident occr
a red which caused me a good deal
r thought, and, truth to tell, mystifi
!, me considerably.
o That somewhat indiscreet journ
:, the Militaer Wochenblatt, had pU
: lished a statement to the effect tn
o Friedrich-August of Saxony and [
handsome Louisa had had a viole
:. quarrel, fact which caused a gre
+ deal of gossip throughout court C
), cles.