Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-05-06

william Otto rather hoped, tu,s;
ling. that Hedwig would not be there.
There was a difference in Milky when
Hedwig was around. When she was
not there he would do all sorts OF
things, like jumping on his horse while
1t was going. and riding backward in
the saddle, and so on. lie had once
even tried jumping on his horse as 1t
galloped past him, and missed, and
had been awfully ashamed about it.
But when Hcdwig was there, there
was no skylarking. They rode around.
and the riding master put up jumps
and they took them. And finally He'd
wig would get tired, and ask Milky
please to be amusing while she rested.
And he would not be amusing at all.
The crown prince felt that she never
really saw Milky at his best.
The riding school had been built for
officers of the army, but was now used
By the court only. Here the king had
ridden as a lad with young Mettlich.
his close friend even then. The favor
lite mare of his later years, now old
and almost blind, still had stall in
the adjacent royal stables. One of the
kings last excursions abroad had been
to visit her.
Overhead, up a great runway, were
the state chariots, gilt coaches o. in
conceivable weight, travelling carriages
Of the post-chase periods, sleighs in
which four horses drove abreast, their
panels painted by the great artists of
the time; and one plain little vehicle,
very shabby, in which the royal chill
dren of long ago had fled from kar-
MAN invasion.
In one corner. black and gold and
forbidding, was the imposing hearse in
which the dead sovereigns of the coun-
try were taken to their long sleep in
the vaults under the cathedral. Good,
bad, and Indifferent, one after the
other. as their hour came, they had
taken their last journey in the old
catafalque, and had joined their for
bears. Many they had been: men Of
iron, men of blood. men of-fiesh, men
Il.
crypts, and of all the line only two
remained.
One and all, the royal vehicles were
shrouded in sheets. except on one day
of each month when the sheets were
removed and the public admitted. But
on that morning the great hearse was
uncovered. and two men were working.
one at the upholstery, which he was
brushing. The other was carefully oil
ing the wood of the body. Save for
them, the wide and dusky loft was
empty.
The archduchess was having tea.
Her boudOir was crowded little
room. The archduchess liked it be-
cause it was warm. The palace rooms
were mostly large and chilly. She had
fire there on the warmest days in
spring. and liked to put the Goals on,
,herself. She had them wrapped in
pieces of paper so she would not soil
her hands.
This afternoon she was not alone.
Lounging at window was the lady
who was waiting ut the time, the
Countess Loschek. Just now she was
getting rather a wigging, but she was
remarkably calm.
''The last three times" the arch
duchess said, stirring her tea, "you
have had a sore throat. In my opinion,
you smoke too many cigarettes
!. The Countess Losci1ek was thirty,
and very handsome, in an insolent
way. She was supposed to be the best
dressed woman at the court, and to
lrule Annunciata with an iron hand,
although 1t was known that they
quarreled great deal over small
things, especially over the coal fire.
Some said that the real thing that
held them together was resentment
that the little crown prince stood be
tween the Princess Hedwig and the
throne. Annunciata was not young
but she was younger than her dead
brother Hubert.
The countess Sawned.
"Where is Hedwig?" demanded the
archduchess.
"Her royal highness is In the nurs-
cry, probably"
"Why prhhahlv'"
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