Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-05-17
Jealousy, and was nerselr nalr mao

she knew MIN we'll u mao ner-
self, for years, held him by holding
herself dear, by the very difficulty of
attaining her. And now this indiffer-
ent, white-faced girl, who might be
his, indeed, for the taking, but who
would offer or promise no love, was
rousing him to the instinct Of posses
sion by her very Indifference. He had
told her the truth, that night in the
mountain Inn. It was Hedwig he
wanted, Hedvig herself, her heart, all
of her. And, if she knew Karl, he
would nov heaven and earth to get
the thing he wanted.
She surveyed the group. How little
they knew what was In store for them!
She, Olga Loschek, by the lifting of
a finger, could urn their SNUG superb
GRITTY into tears and despair, could ruin
them and send them flying for shelter
to the very ends Of the earth.
But when she looked at the little
crown prince, legs dangling, eating his
thin bread and butter as only ~ hun
CRY small boy can eat, she shiyered.
By what means must she DO all this!
By what unspeakable means!
= .
Karl saw the king that evening, a
short visit marked by extreme formal
ity, and, on the kings part, by the
keen and frank scrutiny of one who
is neal the end and fears nothing but
the final moment. Karl found the
meeting depressing and the kings eyes
d~isconcerting.
at will not be easy going for OTTO"
said the king, at the end of the short
interview. ST should like to feel that
his interests will be looked after, not
only here, but by you and yours. We
have a certain element here that is
troublesome"
And Karl, with Hedwig in his mind,
had promised.
"His interests shall be mine, SIR"
he had said.
He had bent over the bed then, and
raised the thin hand to his lips. The
interview was over. In the anteroom
the kings master of the horse, the
chamberlain, and a few other gentle
men stood waiting, talking together in
low tones. But the chancellor, who
had gone in with Karl and then re-
tired, stood by a window, with his
arms folded over his chest, and waited.
He put resolutely out of his mind the
face of the dying nan on his pillows,
and thought only of this thing which
he-Mettlich-had brought about.
There was no yielding in his face or
in his heart, no doubt Of his course.
He saw, instead of the lovers lettering
In the place, a new and greater king
dom, anarchy held down by an IRON
shod heel, peace and the fruits there
of, until out of very prosperity the
people grew fat and content. Z
He saw a boy king, carefully taught,
growing into his responsibilities until,
big with the vision of the country's
welfare, he should finally ascend the
throne. He saw the river filed with
ships, carrying merchandise over the
world and returning with the wealth
of the world. Great buildings, too,
lifted their heads on his horizon, a
dream city, with order for disorder,
and citizens instead of inhabitants.
When at last he stirred and sighed,
1t was because his old friend, in his
bed in the next room, would see moth
ing of all this, and that he himself
could not hope for more than the be-
ginning, before his time came also.
The first large dinner for months
was given that night at the palace, to
do King Karl all possible honor. The
gold service which had been presented
to the king by the czar of Russia was
used. The anticipatory gloom of the
court was laid aside, and jewels
brought from vaults were worn for the
first time in months. Uniforms of
various sorts, but all gorgeous, touched
line shoulders, and came away, bear
ing white, powdery traces of the meet
ing. The greenhouses at the summer
palace had been sacked for flowers and
plants. The corridor from the great
salon to the dining hall, always ca
dreary passage, had suddenly become
a fairy path of early spring bloom.
Even A~nnunciata, hung now with
ropes of pearls, her hair dressed high
for a tiara of diamonds, her canoes
exchanged for pearls, looked royal.
Proving conclusively that clutter, as to
dress, is entirely a matter of value.
Miss Braithwaite, who had begun
recently to think a palace the dreariest
place in the world, and the most COM
monplace, found the preparations
rather exciting. Being British she
dearly loved the aristocracy, and
shrugged her shoulders at any family
which took up less than a page in the
peerage. She resented deeply the in
trusion of the commoner into British
politics, and considered Lloyd George
an upstart and an interloper.
That evening she took the crown
prince to see the preparations for the