The times-herald. [volume] (Burns, Harney County, Or.) 1896-1929, 1918-05-11

Had Prince l-erdlnand Wini~.n UtIu
been less taken up with finding one OF
his kid gloves, which he Ind lost, he
would have noticed that there was q
scuIIle going on ut the very edge of
the red carpet, and that the bcggnr oi
the morning was being led away. be.
tween two policemen, whllo n third
running up the river bank. glngcrly
deposited Il slnuil round object In the
water, and stood back. II was merely
one of the small incidents of royal
outing, md was never published 10
he papers. But Father Gregory.
whose old eyes were far sighted, Ind
seen II all. His hnnd--the hand OF the
church--was on the shoulder OF the
crown prince MS they landed.
The boy looked around for the little
Girl OF the bouquet He took nm I'm
mense interest IN little girls, partly
because he seldom saw any. But she
was gone.
When the motor which had taken
them from the quay reached the pull
ace, Hedwig reused the nrchduchess,
whose head had dropped forward on
her chest. Here we are, mother" she
said. "You hnve hnd nice sleep"
But Annuncinta muttered something
about being glad the wretched day was
! over and every one save Prince Ferdi-
| nand William Otto seemed glad to get
back. The boy was depressed. He
felt, somehow, thut ,hey should hnvc
enjoyed II, and that. having merely
endured II, they had failed him again.
The countess, having left her royal
mistress In the hands of her maids,
went to her own apartment. She was
not surprised, on looking Into her mir
ror, to find herself haggard and worn.
II had been u terrible day. Only
second had separated that gaping lens
In her bag from the eyes OF the officers
about. Never, In an adventurous life,
had she felt SO near TO death. Even
now Its cold breath chilled her.
However. that was over, well over.
She had done well. too. A dozen pie
lures of the fortress, OF Its guns, Of
wall, were In the bag. Its secrets, 80
securely held. were hers, and would
be karl's.
II was cunningiy devised scheme.
Two bags, exactly alike as TO appear
ance. had been made. One, which she
carried daily, was what II appeared to
be. The other contained q camera,
When knob OF the fastening was |
pressed, the watch slId inside and the |
shutter snapped. The pictures when |
enlarged had proved themselves per |
feet.
Pleading fatigue. she dismissed her |
maid and locked the doors. Then she
opened the sliding panel. aud unfas-
tened the safe. The roll Of film was
In her hand, ready TO be deposited un-
der the false bottom OF her jewel case,
Within the security of her room.
the countess felt at ease. She even
sang n little. bit OF ballad from her
native mountains.
SIN singing, she carried the Jewel
case TO her table. and sat down be-
fore II. Then she put hand TO her
throat.
The lock hnd been forced.
A glance about showed her that her
code book was gone. In the trny
above, her Jewels Remained untouched:
her pearl collar. the diamond knIck-
knacks the archduchess had given her
on successive Christmases, even
handful OF gold coins, all were safe
enough. But the code book was gone.
Then indeed did the countess look
death In the face--and found II ter.
rible. For moment she could not 30
much as stand without support. II
was then that she saw u paper folded
under her Jewels and took II out with
shaking fingers. In fine, copperplnte
script she read:
Madame-Tonght at one o'clock closed
nacre Will await you In the Street OF the
Wise virgins. near the church. You will
go In u, without fail. 10 wherever II takes
you.
tslgned) The Committee OF Ten.
The committee OF ten This thing
had happened 10 her. Then II was
true that the half mythical committee
vonla wus n real terror, which had her
by the throat. For there was NO cs-
cape. None. Now indeed she knew
lint rumor spoke the truth, and that ,
The terrOrists were everywhere. In
daylight they hnd entered her room. |
They had known of the safe. known
" the code. Known how much else? I
Wild ideas OF flight crossed her
mind. to be as Instantly abandoned for
heir futility Where could she go
hat they would not follow her? !
When she hnd reacted from her first Q
'hock she fell TO ponderIng the mat q
er, pro and con. What could they Z
want Of her? II she was an enemy 10 G
he country, so were they. But even :
hat led nowhere, for after all. the \
errorlsts were not enemies TO Livonia. Q
hey claimed indeed to be Its friends. o
N hold In their hands its future and v