Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-06-14

the cake with "Boby" on the top, and
the crown prince had eaten far more
than was good for him.
He sat, lingering the Lincoln penny
and feeling extremely full and very
c~ontented.
Then, suddenly, from a far off church
a deep-toned bell began to toll SLOW
~.
Prince Ferdinand William Otto
caught it. st. Stefan's belli He sat
up and listened. The sound was faint;
one felt 1t rather than heard it, but
the slow booming was unmistakable.
He got up and pushed his chair back.
Other bells had taken it up, and
now the whole city seemed alive with
bells-bells that swung sadly from side
to side, as If they said over and over
"Alas, alas !"
Something like panic seized Ferdi-
nand William Otto. Some calamity
had happened. Some one was-per-
haps his grandfather.
He turned an appealing face to Mrs.
Thorpe. ST must 60" he said. II do
not wish to appear rude, but some
thing is wrong. The bells"
Pepy had been listening, too. Her
broad face worked. "They mean one
thing" she said slowly. 81 have heard
it said many times. When st. Stefan's
tolls like that, the king is deadl"
mol Mol" cried Ferdinand Will
liam Otto and ran madly out Of the
door.
While the birthday supper was at
its height, in the bureau of the ON
cierge sat old Adelbert, heavy and
despairing. That very day had he
learned to what use the committee
would put the information he had
given them, and his old heart was
dead within him. One may not be
loyal for seventy years, and then easily
become a traitor.
Then, at sever o'clock, something
happened.
The concierge's niece had gone,
leaving the supper ready cooked on
the back of the stove. Old Adelbert
sat alone, and watched the red bars
OF the stove fade to black. By that
time it was done, and he was of the
damned. The crown prince, who was
of an age with the American lad up
stairs, the crown prince was in the
hands of his enemies. He, old Adel-
bert, had done it.
And now it was forever too late.
Terrible thoughts filled his mind. He
could not live thus, yet he could not
die. The daughter must have the PEN
sion. He must live, a traitor, he on
whose breast the king himself had
pinned a decoration.
He wore his new uniform, in honor
of the day. Suddenly he felt that he
could not wear it any longer. He had
no right to any uniform. He who had
sold his country was of no country.
He went slowly out and up the stair
case, dragging his wooden leg pain
fully from step to step. He heard the
concierge come in below, his heavy
footsteps re-echoed through the @-S
ing. Inside the door he called furi-
ously to his niece. Old Adelbert heard
him strike a match to light the gas.
In his room he sat down on a
straight chair inside the door, and
stared ahead. Then, slowly and me-
chanically, he took off his new uni
form and donned the old one. He
would have put on civilian clothes, had
he possessed any. For by the deeds
of that day he had forfeited the right
to the kings garb.
It was there that Black Humbert,
hurrying up, found him. The con
cierge was livid, his massive frame
shook with excitement.
"Quick !" he said, and swore a great
oath. "To the shop Of the cobbler
Heinz, and tell him this word. Here
in the building is the boy"
"What boy?"
The concierge closed a great hand
on the veterans shoulder. "Who but
the crown prince himself!" he said.
"But I thought-how can he be
here?"
"Here is he, in our very hands. 1t
Is no time to ask questions"
eff he is here"
HE is with the Americans," Kissed
the concierge, the veins on his fore
head swollen with excitement. "Now,
go, and quickly. I shall watch. Say
that when I have secured the lad, I
shall take him there. Let all be ready.
An hour ago." he said, raising his
great fists on high. "and everything
lost. N~ow-hurry, old wooden leg. 1t
Ia a great night"
'But-I cannot. Already I have
done too much. I am damned. I have
lost my soul. I who am soon to die"
"You will 60"
And, at last, he went, hobbling down
the staircase recklesslS, because the
looming figure at the stairhead was
listening. He reached the street.
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