Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-05-16

and pillaged BY the very ancestors Of
one Of them. taking short cuts through
narrow passages that twisted and
x0rmed their way between: aud 90.
finally. to the door Of q tall building
where. from the concierge's room be-
side the entrance. came . reek Of
stewing garlic.
Neither Of the children had noticed
the unwonted silence Of the streets.
which had. almost suddenly, succeeded
the noise Of the carnival. What few
p~assers-by they had e had been
hurrying In the direction Of the palace.
Twice they had passed soldiers. with
lanterns. and once one had stopped
and flashed q light on them.
"Well, old SPORT" said Bobby In
English. anything you can do for
mel"
The soldier had passed on. mutter.
Ing at the insolence Of American chill.
dren. The two youngsters laughed
consumedly at the witticlsm.
The concierge IA out. His niece
admitted them. and went back to her
interrupted cooking. The children hur.
ried up the winding stone staircase,
with Its iron rail and its gas lantern.
to the second floor.
In the sitting room, the sour.faced
governess a darning a hole In a
small stocking. She looked at the
clock.
"You are fifteen minutes late" she
snapped. and bit the darning thread
not with rage, but because she had
forgotten her scissors.
I'm sorry, but you seq
"Whom have you there"
"A friend Of NINE" said Bobby, not
a whit daunted.
The goyerness put down the stock.
Ing and rose. In 20 doing, she caught
her first real glimpse Of Ferdinand
William Otto. and she staggered
back.
"Holy Saints" she said, and went
white: Then she stared at the boy,
and her color came back. "For u mo-
ment," she muttered but no. He
Is not 60 tall, nor has he the manner.
Yes, he Ia much smallerw
Which proves that, whether It
wears It or not, royalty Is always
measured to the top Of a crown.
In the next room Bobby's mother
was arranging candles on a birthday
cake in the center Of the table. Pepy
had iced the cake herself, and had
forgotten one Of the IBIS" In Bobby"
so that the cake really read: "Boby
XII"
However. It looked delicious, and
inside had been baked q tiny black
china doll and a new American penny
with Abraham Lincoln's head on It
The penny was for good fortune, but
the doll was a Joke Of Pepy's, Bobby
being aggressively masculine.
Bobby, having passed the outpost
carried the rest Of the situation by as
sault. Mrs. Thorpe saw Ferdinand vii
liam Otto, and went over. somewhat
puzzled, with her hand out. II an
very glad Bobby brought you" she
said. HE has so few little friends
, Then she stopped, for the prince hat
brought his heels together sharply, ant
. bending over her hand. had kissed It
exactly as he kissed his Aunt Annun
ciata's when he went to have tea witt
) her. Mrs. Thorpe was fairly startled
not at the kiss, but at the grace witt
which the tribute was rendered.
Then she looked down, and 1t re
stored her composure to find that Fer
dinand William Otto, too, had turnet
. eyes toward the cake. He was, afte
all. only a hungry small boy. witt
quick tenderness she stopped an,
kissed him gravely on the forehead.
Caresses were strange to Ferdlnan'
= William Otto. His warm little hear
( leaped and pounded. At that moment
he would have died for heri
Mr.. Thorpe came home a little late
] He kissed Bobby twelve times, and on,
!, to grow on. He shook hands absent,
with the visitor. and gave the Frau
q lein the evening paper-an extra
vagance on which he insisted, although
one could read the news for nothln
by going to the cafe on the corner
Then he drew his wife aside.
e Look herel" he said. Don't tel
9 Bobby-no use exciting him. and @
d course it's not u funeral, anyhow
but there's a report that the crow
d prince has been kidnapped. And that
not oil. The old king Is dying!"
q "Flow terrible"
"Worse than that. The old king gon
and no crown princel It may mea
b almost any sort Of trouble! ~
l. closed up at the park for the night.
q His arm around his wife, he locke
It through the doorway to where Bobb
and Ferdinand were counting tn
candles. "1t's made me think prett
hard" he said. "Bobby mustn't 6
around alone the way he's been doinl
All Americans here ore cons. &c
%mllllonaires. II the crown primo
d could go, think how easy"
His arm frightened around his wifi
and together they went into the brit
day feast. Ferdinand William OF,
was hungry. He ute eagerly--chlcke,
q. fruit CompOte. nOtnto anlad-oO0 i