Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-05-03

'Thank you all very much" he said.
sit is a very beautiful gift. / admire
1t very much. / should like to keep
1t on my desk, but 1 suppose it Is too
valuable. Thank you very much"
The spokesman hoped that 1t might
be arranged that he keep 1t on his
desk, an ever-present reminder of the
love of his city. To this the chancellor
observed that 1t would be arranged,
and the affair was over. To obviate
the difficulty of having the delegation
back down the long room, it was the
crown prince who departed first, with
the chancellor.
Late In the afternoon the king sent
for Prince Ferdinand William Otto.
He had not left his bed since the day
he had placed the matter of Hedwig's
marriage before the council, and now
he knew he would never leave 1t.
There were times between sleeping
and waking when he fancied he had
already gone, and that only his weary
body on the bed remained. At such
times he saw Hubert, only, strangely
enough, not as a man grown, but as a
small boy again; and his queen, but
as she had looked many years before,
when he married her, and when-a at last,
after months of married wooing, she
had crept willing into his arms.
So, awakening from a doze, he saw
the boy there, and called him Hubert.
Prince Ferdinand William Otto, feel
ing rather worried, did the only thing
he could think of. He thrust his warm
hand into his grandfather's cropping
one, and the touch of his soft flesh
reused the king.
The sister left them together, and
in her small room dropped on her
knees before the holy image.
In the kings bed chamber Prince
Ferdinand William Otto sat on a high
chair, and talked, but he viewed his
grandfather with alarm. His aunt had
certainly intimated that his running
away had made the king worse. And
he looked very i'll.
"Tm awfully sorry grandfather" he
said.
For what?"
"That I went away the other day.
sir"
ut was, after all, a natural thing
to do"
The crown prince could hardly be-
lieve his ears.
eff 1t could only be arranged safely
"a little freedom The king lay
still with closed eyes.
Prince Ferdinand William Otto felt
uneasy. "But l am very comfortable,
and-and happy" he FASTENED to say.
"You are, please, not to worry about
me, SIR"
The king still held his hand, but
he said nothing. There were many
things he wanted to say. He had gone
crooked where this boy must go
straight. He had erred, and the boy
must avoid his errors. He had cher
ished enmities, and in his age they
cherished him. And now
MAY l ask you a question, sir?"
"What is it?"
"Win you tell me about Abraham
Lincoln?"
"Why?" The king was awake
enough now. He fixed the crown
prince with keen eyes.
"Well Miss Braithwaite does not
care for him. She says he was not a
great man, not as great as Mr.. Glad
stone, anyhow. But Bobby-that's the
boy I met; I told you about him-he
says he was the greatest man who
ever lived"
Sand who" asked the king, "do you
regard as the greatest man?"
Prince Ferdinand William Otto
1dgeted, but he answered brayely,
"You, sir"
"Humph!" The king lay still, smil-
ing slightly. "Well," he observed,
there are, of course, other opinions
as to- that. However-Abraham Lin
coin was a very great man. A
dreamer, a visionary, but a great man.
You might ask Miss Braithwaite to
teach you his Gettysburg address, 1t
is rather a model as to speech making,
although it contains doctrines that
well, you'd better learn it"
"Yes, SIR" said Prince Ferdinand
William Otto. He hoped l. was not
very long.
"Otto," said the king suddenly, 'do
you ever look at your fathers pic
ture?"
mot always"
"You might-look at it now and
then. I'd like you to do it."
"Yes, sir"
fTo 10 Na~urYuuod
Fish Scale JeWeIry.