New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-11-15

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Hedwig would marry Karl. Sh'
might be troublesome, would indeed
almost certainly be troublesome
Strangely enough. the countess hatet
her the more for that. To value sc
lightly the thing for which Olga
Loschek would have given her soul
this In Itself was hateful. But there
was more. The countess saw much
with her curlously wide, almost child
ishly bland eyes; 1t was only now that
1t occurred to her to turn what she
knew of IIcdwIg and Milky to account,
She stopped pacing the floor, and
sat down. Suppose HedwIg and Milky
Larlsch went away together? He'd
Wig. she felt. would have the courage
even for that. That would stop things.
But lIedwig did not trust her. And
there was about Milky n dog-like quail
ity of devotion. which warned her
that, the deeper his love for Hedwig,
the more unlikely he would be to
bring her to disgrace. Milky might
be difficult.
She must try for Hcdwig's o n
hdtnce, But Karl! How to reach
him? Not with %reproaches, not with
anger. She knew her man well. To
hold him off was the first thing. To
postpone the formal proposal, and gain
time. If the chancellor had been right.
and things were as bad as they ap-
peared, the kings death would precipi-
tate n crisis. Might. indeed, overturn
the throne.
The king was very feeble. This
affair of yesterday had told on him.
The gossip of the court was that the
day had seen Il change for the worse.
His heart was conferred on the crown
prince.
All, here was another viewpoint.
suppose the crown prince had not
come back? What would happen, with
the king dead. and no king? Chaos,
of course. A free hand to revolution.
IIcdwig fighting for her throne, and
inevitably losing it.
But that was further than she cared
to 60 just then. She would finish GER
tain work that she had set out to do,
and then she was through. No longer
would dread and terror grip her in the
night hours.
But she would finish. Karl should
never say she had failed him. She
had in her possession papers for which
he waited or pretended to wait: data
secured by means she did not care to
remember; plans and figures carefully
cOmpiled-a thousand deaths in one If
they were found on her. She would
get them out Of her hands ut once.
1t was still but little after five. She
brought her papers together on her
small mahogany desk, from such hid
ing places as m knOw-the Innings
Of perfumed sachets. the toes OF small
slippers, the secret pocket In a muff
md having locked her doors, put
them In order. Her hands were
trembling. but she worked skillfully.
She was free until the dinner hour,
nut she had a great deal to do. The
in order, she went to Il panel
the wall of her dressing room, and,
1t aside, revealed the safe in
her jewels were kept. Not that
Ter jewels were very valuable, but the
safe was there. and she used 1t.
The countess took out a jewel-case,
implied 1t, lifted Its chamOis cushions,
md took out a small book. 1t was an
Indifferent hiding place, but long i'm
nunity had made her careless. Re-
.rfn, - Al. AaAI, ,L1 -..Ns- 1870
n code. 1t was, to all appearances.
friendly letter referring to a family
n her native town, and asking that
he recipient see that assistance be
ent them before Thursday of the fol-
owing week. The assistance was
peclfied with much detail-at her ex-
'ense to send so many blankets, so
many loaves Of bread. n long list.
having finished, she destroyed, by
turning. a number of papers, watch
ng until the last ASH had turned from
ull red to smoking gray. The code
ook she hesitated over, but at last,
nth a shrug of her shoulders, she re-
urned 1t to its hiding place In the
ewel-case.
Coupled with her bitterness was a
Of relief. Only when the papers
ere destroyed had she realized the
they had been. She summoned
lima, her maid. and dressed for the
treet. Then, Minna accompanying
er. h summoned her carriage and
'ent shopping.
She reached the palace again in
me to dress for dinner. Somewhere I
n that excursion she had left the let
to be sent to Its destination over
he border by special messenger that
light. {
Prince Ferdinand william Otto, at
moment Of her return, was pre-
airing for bed. He washed himself, {
18th Oskar standing by, holding a I
reat soft towel. Even the towels {
ere too large. And he brushed his s
.eth, and had two drinks of water,
ecause a stifish feeling In his throat
ersisted. And at last he crawled up r
ito the high bed that was so much c
10 big for him, and had to crawl out T
gain. because he had forgotten his {
q
When everything was done, and the Z
NJ puffln0 ouf tha li0hf could ma I