New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1919-01-31
CHAPTER xV-Contlnued.

troublesome"
And Karl, with Hedwlg In his mind
had promised
Ills interests shall be mine, sir,
he had said.
He had bent Over the bed then, anG
raised the thin hand to his lips. The
interview was over. In the anteroOn
the kings master of the horse, the
chamberlain, and n few other gentle.
men stood waiting. talking together In
low tones. But the chancellor, who
had gone in with Karl and then re-
tired, stood by Il window, with his
arms folded over his chest, and waited.
lie put resolutely out Of his mind the
face of the dying man on his pillows,
and thought only of this thing which
he-Mettlich-had brought about.
There was no yielding in his face or
In his heart, no doubt of his course.
He saw, instead of the lovers lettering
in the place, u new and greater king
dom, anarchy held down by an iron
shOd heel, peace and the fruits there
of, until out of very prosperity the
people grew fat and content.
He saw a boy king, carefully taught,
growing into his responsibilities until,
big with the vision of the country's
welfare, he should finally ascend the
throne. He saw the river filled with
ships, carrying merchandise over the
world and returning with the wealth
OF the world. Great buildings, too,
lifted their heads on his horizon, d
dream city. with order for disorder,
and citizens instead of Inhabitants.
When at last he stirred and sighed,
1t was because his old friend, in his
bed in the next room, would see moth
ing of all this, and that he himself
could not hope for more thar the be-
ginning, before his time came also.
The first large dinner for months
was given thur night ut the palace, to
do King Karl all possible honor. The
gold service which had been presented
to the king by the cur of Russia was
used. The anticipatory gloom Of the
court was laid aside, and jewels
brought from vaults were worn for the
nfSt time i'll months. Uniforms of
various sorts, but all gorgeous, touched
mt shoulders, and came away, bear
ing white, pOwdery traces of the meet
ing. Ia greenhouses ut the summer
palace had been sacked for flowers and
plants. The corridor from the great
salon to the dining hail, always Il
dreary passage, had suddenly become
Il Ialry path of early spring bloom.
Even ~Annunciuta, hung now with
ropes or pearls, her hair dressed high
Tor a tiara of diamonds, her canoes
exchanged for pearls, looked royal.
Proving conclusively that clutter, as to
dress, is entirely u matter of value.
Miss Braithwaite, who had begun
recently to think a palace the dreariest
place in he world, and the most com
monplace, found the preparations
rather exciting. Being British she
|dearly loved the aristocracy, and
shrugged her shoulders ut any family
which took up less than II page in the
peerage. She resented deeply the in
~trusion of the commoner into British
politics, and considered Lloyd George
an upstart and an interloper.
That evening she took the crown
prince to see the preparations for the
festivities. The flowers appealed to
him, and he asked for and secured Il
rose. which he held carefully. But the
magnifcence of the table only faintly
impressed him, and when he heard
that Milky would not be present, he
lost interest entirely. "Will they
wheel my grandfather In In a chair?"
he inquired.
lie is too Ill.," Miss Braithwaite
said.
Hell be rather lonely, when they're
all ut the party. You don't suppose |
could 20 and sit with him, do youl"
ut will be long after your bed !
time"
bedtime being the one rule which was ,
never under and circumstances broken,
he did not persist. To have insisted :
might have meant five marks off in .
Miss iiraithwaite's book, and his rec +
ord was very good that week. To- =
gether the elderly English woman and q
The boy went back TO the school ROOM. !
The Countess Loschek, who had c
dressed with Il heavy heart, was easily h
most beautiful of the women that v
A little court paid tribute to b
her beauty, and bowed the deeper and
iattered the more as she openly
and fouted them. She caught h
q flicker of admiration In Karl's
face. and although her head went v
high, her heart beat stormily under q
It.
Hedwig was like q flower that re- RI
1uired the sun. Only her sun was
happiness. She was in soft white G
.hiffons, her hair and frock alike girl "
sh and ~unpretentlous. Her mother, b
into her dressing room, had
Eyed her with disfavor. is
"You look like a schoolgirl" she a
aid. and had sent for rouge, and with W
Ter OWE royal hands applied 1t. He'd I
Wig stood silent, and allowed her to b,
ave her way without protest. Had B
unlimited, too, to a diamond pin In her fc
hair. and a string of her mothers ST
n
There" said A%nnunciata, standing W
fl and surveying her, you look less
Ike a baby" W
She did, indeedi 1t took Hedwig d,
ute five minutes to wash the rouge Il
II her face, and there was, one might
o well confess, a moment when a part sc
( the crown jewels of the kingdom W
~ In a corner of the room, whence W
trembling maid salvaged them, and nc
them for damage.
The Princess Hedwig appeared that ii