The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-01-23

and pillaged by the very ancestors Of
one of them, taking short cuts through
narrow passages that twisted and
Tormed their way between: and 80.
finally, to the door of a 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
passers-by they had seen had been
hurrying In the direction of the palace.
Twice they had passed soldiers, with
lanterns, and once one had stopped
and flashed light on them.
"Well. old sport !" said Bobby In
English. "anything you can do for
meT
The soldier had passed on. mutter-
ing at the insolence Of American chill
dren. The two youngsters laughed
consumedly at the witticism.
The concierge was 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 was darning 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 see"
"Whom have you there7"
"A friend Of mine" said Bobby. not
a whit daunted.
The governess put down the stock
Ing and rose. In SO doing. she caught
her first real glimpse of Ferdinand
William Otto. and she staggered
back.
"Holy Salnts!" she said. and went
white. Then she stared at the boy,
and her color came back. FOR mo-
ment." she muttered but NO. he
IL not SO tall, nor has he the manner.
Yes. he Is much smaller!"
Which proves that. whether 1t
wears 1t or not, royalty is always
measured to the top Of a crown.
In the next room Bobby's mother
was arranging candles ON q birthday
cake In the center Of the table. Pepy
had iced the cake herself. and had
forgotten one Of the ''b's" in Bobby"
20 that the cake really read: "Boby
XII"
However. It looked delicious. and
inside had been baked q tiny black
china doll and new American penny.
with Abraham Lincoln's head on It.
The penny was for good fortune, but
the doll was 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 VIII
liam Otto. and went over. somewhat
puzzled. with her hend out. II am
very glad Bobby brought you." she
said. He has 20 few little friends"
Then she stopped, for the prince had
brought his heels together sharply, and
bending over her hand. had kissed It,
exactly as he kissed his Aunt Annun-
ciata's when he went to have tes with
her. Mrs. Thorpe was fairly startled,
not at the kiss, but at the grace with
which the tribute was rendered.
Then she looked down, and 1t re-
stored her composurs to find that Fer
dinand William Otto. too. had turned
eyes toward the cake. He was. after
all. only 4 hungry small boy. With
quick tenderness she stopped and
kissed him gravely on the forehead.
Caresses were strange to Ferdinand
william Otto. His warm little heart
leaped and pounded. At that moment.
he would have died for heri
Mr.. Thorpe came home little late.
He kissed Bobby twelve times, and one
to grow on. He shook hands absently
with the visitor, and gave the Frau
lein the evening paper-an extra
vagance on which he insisted. although
one could read the news for nothing
by going to the cafe ON the corner.
Then he drew his wife aside.
Look hefei" he said. "Don't tell
Bobby-no use exciting him, and Of
course it's not our funeral, anyhow
but there's a report that the crown
prince has been kidnapped. And that's
not all The old king 10 dyingl"
"How terriblei"
"Worse than that. The old king gone
and no crown princel It may mean
almost any sort Of troublel I've
closed up at the park for the night"
His arm around his wife. he looked
through the doorway to where Bobby
and Ferdinand were counting the
candles. "It's made me think pretty
hard" he said. Bobby mustn't 20
around alone the way he's been doing.
All Americans here are considered
Il the crown prince \
could 90, think how easy"
His arm tightened around his wife.
n nd fo0othor thov vvant into Tho hfr<h.