The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1918-04-12

It chancellor, isn't he?"
t The king had passed bad nigh
q and Haeckel was still missing. Th
(" chancellor's heart was heavy.
= The chancellor watched the crow
4 prince, as he sat at the high desl
e laboriously writing 1t was the hou
a of English composition, and Primo
Ferdinand William Otto was writin
+ theme.
! about dogs" he explained. 'Tv
r seen great many, you know. l coul
do it better with a pencil. My PEI
sticks in the paper"
! He wrote on, and Mettlich sat ant
watched. He caught Miss Braith
, waite's glance, and he knew what wa
in her mind. For nine years now hat
come, once year, the painful ami
versary of the death of the late crown
prince and his young wife. For Mint
years had the city mourned, with flags
at half mast and the bronze statue Of
the old queen draped in black. Ant
for nine years had the day of grief
passed unnoticed by the lad on whom
hung the destinies of the kingdom.
Now they confronted q new sit
uation. The next day but one was the
anniversary again. The boy was older
and observant. 1t would not be pos
sible to conceal from him the
significance of the procession march
Ing through the streets with muffled
drums.
They could not continue to lie to
the boy. Truthfulness had been one
of the rules of his rigorous upbring-
ing. And he was now Of an age to re-
member. So the chancellor sat and
waited, and fingered his heavy watch
chain.
| Prince Ferdinand William Otto put
lis attention to the theme, and finished
| it, Then, flushed with authorship, he
looked up. MAY / read you the last
line of it?" he demanded of the
chancellor.
81 shall be honored, highness." Not
often did the chancellor say "high-
ness" Generally he said "Otto" or
my child"
Prince Ferdinand William Otto read
aloud, with dancing eyes, his last line:
"T should like to own a dog
thought" he said wistfully, "that /
might ask my grandfather for one."
II see no reason why you should not
have a dog" the chancellor observed.
mot one to be kept at the stables"
Otto explained. "One to stay with me
all the time. One to sleep on the foot
of the bed"
But here the chancellor threw up
his hands. Instantly he visualized all
the objections to dogs, from fieas to
rabies. And he put the difficulties
into words. No mean speaker was the
chancellor when SO minded. He was
a master of style, of arrangement, OF
logic and reasoning. He spoke at
length, even, at the, end, rising and
pacing a few steps up and down the
room. But when he had concluded,
when the dog, 80 to speak, had fed |
yelping to the country Of dead hopes, |
Prince Ferdinand William Otto merely |
gulped, and said:
"Well, wish I could have dogp
The chancellor changed his tactics |
by changing the subject. 81 was won |
dering this morning, as I crossed the
park, If you would enjoy an excursion
soon. Could it be managed, Miss
II dare say" said Miss Braithwaite
dryly. Although I must say, if there
is no improvement in punctuation and
capital letters
"What sort of excursion? asked his
royal highness, guardedly. He did not
care for picture galleries.
"Out-of-doors, to see something in
A real excursion, up the
river"
ITO the fort? I do want to see the
new fort"
AS matter of truth, the chancellor
had not thought of the fort. But like
many another before him, he accepted
the suggestion and made it his own.
ITO the fort, Of course" said he.
"And take luncheon along, and eat
It there, and have Hedwig and Nikkyf
And see the guns?"
But this was going too fast. Milky,
II course, would go, and If the princess
-dISO u, she loo. buI luHCHcOH. IL
was necessary to remind the crown
prince that the officers at the fort
would expect to have him join their
ness. There was short parley over
his, and 1t was finally settled that the
,ficers should serve luncheon, but that
here should be no speeches.
'sThen that's settled" he said at last.
I'm very happy. This morning shall
apologize to d.. Puaux."
During the remainder Of the morn
ling the crown prince made various
excursions to the window to see II the
weather. was holding good. Also he
lsked, during his half hours intermis-
ion, for the great box of lead soldiers J
hat was locked away In the cabinet.
I shall pretend that the desk Is q {
ort, Miss Braithwaite," he said. DO
,ou mind being the enemy, and pre-
ending to be shot now and thenT
But Miss Braithwaite was correcting
,apers. She was willing to be passive
nemy and be potted at, but she drew {
he line at falling over. Prince Ferdi-
and William Otto did not persist. He |
vas far too polite. But he wished in
IL his soul that Milky would come. ! l