The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1917-02-10
Margaret
The Story Of How . KinSs
Son Came to His Own.
D =. A. Anc1EL-


blood. but not heir to the throne. was
attempting to seize It by force. King
AIonzo had not married till late In life
and had no son to inherit the crown
I'LL he was nifty years old. John. who.
had King Aionzo died childless. would
have been the sovereign. gathered
about him number Of adberents.
whom he had seduced by promises Of
preferment, with q view to deposing
the king and killing the infant Grown
Prince Theodore. only few weeks old.
Now. 1t happened that the queen was
unable to nurse her offspring. and u
wet nurse had been brought In for the
purpose. This woman had . son the
same age as Prince Theodore and d.
vlded her milk between the two chill
dren.
John succeeded In bis attempt. but
not exactly as he had expected. King
Alonzo was killed by one Of Johns
lieutenants who were charged to secure
the sovereIgn's person. John himself.
At IHe ueuu VI
into wing Of the palace where the
crown prince was under the care Of his
nurse. Prince Theodore and his fos-
ter brother. David. each occupied .
cradle. TINT Of the prince being Of
ivory capopicd with fine lace, that of
David Of wood with no canopy. As
John was about to dispatch the child
In the royal cradle he received news
that the king had been killed. Not
relishIng the staying Of an infant and
realizing that before the prince would
reach an age to be an obstacle In his
way. John gave him to one Of his ad-
herents with instructions to pay
peasant to adopt him. at the same time
taking measures to conceal his origin.
When the revOlutionlsts had left the
royal nursery Margaret. the nurse. who
had been concealed behind a curtain
and had heard the instructions given.
stepped from her hiding place and,
kneeling. gave thanks that 10 murder
had been committed. Then. turning
to the wooden cradle. she took the
child from 1t and. watching her oppor-
tunity. finally left the palace with It
by a rear exit.
John proclaimed himself king. and.
though he gave all the offices to bis ad-
herents and by his misrule brought
much misery on the people Of Tar.
faria. he made them so afraid Of him
that they dared not make any attempt
to throw on the yoke.
When John had reigned twenty years
he had a daughter who had come to a
manageable age, but lie had no son.
Not daring to leave the government In
the hands Of woman. fearing that
after his own death the people would
rebel against her. 1t occurred to him
to marry her to the true prince, who
had been brought up as a peasant.
He had always had bis eye on the
boy. who had been adopted by an ig-
norant countryman, and one day sent
a messenger to bring him to the pal
ace. The young man was SO uncouth
TINT John disliked to give him his
daughter; but, since by doing SO he
hoped to render her succession and
reign peaceful. he adhered to his de-
termination.
Unfortunately for the kings purpose
the young man was between twenty
and twenty-one years Of age. too old
to make refined person Of him. The
prince-peasant showed no evidences Of
having been bcgotten by king and
was very stupid. John gave him the
best masters, both In Intellectual fields
and In department.; but, despite their
efforts. they could make nothing Of
him.
Had the kings daughter, Eleanor.
been girl OF a refined nature John
would have had difficulty In making
match between her and the clod-
hopper. But she was not. The branch
Of the royal family to which she be-
longed had been noted for generations
back for protligacy and coarseness, and
Eleanor. though still not eighteen.
showed plainly that this inheritance
cropped out In her. 1t made little dit
ference to her whom she married.
When the supposed peasant had been
Somewhat furnished up he wns told
Tint he was the true heir to the throne
Of II was to marry the princess. fol-
John proposed to abdicate In his favor
with view to seeing his daughter q
queen during his lifetime. As was ex
pected. the prince-clodhopper was
ready to accept the situation. and
nothing remained but to announce tc
the people thnt the sovereignty was
to he transferred to the son and hell
Of the late King Alonzo. then to make
preparations.
Now. this would have filled the Tar
tarians with delight Ind not the re
turned prince-peasant rendered him
self unpopular by his uncouthness ant
overbenring ways. Put beggar OF
horseback and he will ride to thu
devil" The man who had been takeI
from the plow to consort with king
daughter had been elevated altogethe