The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-11-07

TO MS BOveTneeS, tnht No Wouiu uuVo
something else to do. He's the
chancellor. isn't hef"
The king had passed bad night,
and Haeckel was still missing. The
chancellor's heart was heavy.
The chancellor watched the crown
prince, as he sat at the high desk.
laboriously writing. 1t was the hour
of English composition. and Prince
Ferdinand William Otto was writing
q theme.
About dogs" he explained. "Tve
seen a great many. you know. could
do It better with pencil. My pen
sticks in the paper"
He wrote on, and Mettlich sat and
1 watched. He caught Miss Braith-
waite's glance, and he knew what was
in her mind. For nine years now had
come, once year, the painful ami
versary of the death Of the late crown
prince and his young wife. For nine
years had the city mourned. with flags
at hnlf mast and the bronze statue Of
the old queen draped in black. And
for nine years had the day of grief
passed unnoticed by the lad on whom
hung the destlnics of the kingdom.
Now they confronted a new sit
untion. The next dny but one wns the
anniversary again. The hoy 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
4 member. So the chancellor sat and
waited. and fingered his heavy watch
chain.
Prince Ferdinand William Otto put
his attention to the theme. and finished
lit, Then, flushed with authorship. he
looked up. MAY read you the last
line Of 1T" he demanded Of the
chancellor.
II shall be honored. highness." Not
often did the chancellor say "high-
ness" Generally he said soto" or
my child"
Prince Ferdinand William Otto read
aloud, with dancing eyes, his last line !:
"T should like to own . dog I
thought" he said wistfully. that I
mieht ask my grandfather for one"
II see NO reason why you should not
have q dog" the chancellor observed.
"Not one to be kept at tho 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 visualixed all
/ A. tn
rnbies. And he put the dimculties
into words. No mean speaker was the
chancellor when 20 minded. He was
. master Of style, Of arrangement. Of
logic and reasoning. He spoke at
length, even, ut the end, rising and
pacing q few steps mp and down the
room. But when he had eoncladed.
when the dog, 30 to speak, had ned
yelping to the country Of dead hopes,
Prince Ferdinand William Otto merely
gulped. and said:
~Weil, / wish could have Q dogi"
The chancellor changed his tactics
BY changing the subject. II was won
der1ng this morning. as I crossed the
park, II you would enjoy an excursion
soon. Could It b managed. Miss
Braithwaiter
II dare say" said Miss Braithwaite
dryly. ALTHOUGH must say. II there
10 no Improvement in punctuation and
capital letters"
"What sort Of excursionr asked his
royal hlghness. guardedly. He did not
care for picture galleries.
"Out-of-doors, to see something In
teresting. A real excursion. up the
river"
ITO. the fort3 do want to see the
new fort"
Az q matter Of truth, the chancellor
had not thought Of the fort But like
many another before him, he accepted
the suggestion and made II his own.
ITO the fort. Of course" said he.
~And take luncheon along. and eat
1t there, and have Hedwig and Nikky3
And see the gunsr
But this was going too fast. Milky.
Of course, would 60. and II the princess
cared to, she too. But luncheoni 1t
was necessary to remind the crown
prince thats-the officers at the fort
would expect to have him join their
mess. There was a short pariey over
this, and 1t was finally settled that the
officers should serve luncheon. but that
there should be no speeches.
Then that's settled" he said at last.
I'm very happy. This morning shall
apologize to II. Puaux."
During the remainder Of the morn
ming the crown prince made various
excursions to the window to see II the
weather was holding good. Also he
asked. during his half hours intermis-
sion, for the grent box Of lead soldiers
that was locked away In the cabinet.
II shall pretend that the desk is
fort, Hiss Dfaitfwuite," he said. DO