The Washington herald., 1920-05-09
CoWboy's Loue
Fights Europe
For Princess
Titled Russian Weighs Mon.
tana Ranchman Against
Court Life.

s''oh. know the Russia OF the
czar wasn't peffect. But surely It
was better than the hell Sf the Bpl-
sheviki. And things were improve
Ing long before the revolution came. :"
The voice Of the little 20-year-oId
Princess Xenia De waldeck broke.
For a moment she could not so on.
But her blue-grey eyes continued
TO spark like flint. The clenched
hands. too, showed the grip Of emo
tion on her.
A Ranch or n Court.
Sitting in the foyer Of the Ward
man Park Inn, the princess was the
reincsrnation Of the Russia of yes
terday. She was a striking Old
World portrait in New World
frame.
Her Titan hair. famed throughout
Europe. circled her head like q red
gold crown. For all her petiteness
she was every inch a queen.
Americans are befriending her.
She has been their guest at wash
inston and is returning to France
with them, presently.
Once a court favorite in the gay
st. Petersburg. she today 10 q penni-
less exile. But q pot of gold at the
end of a rainbow OF romance 10
within her grasp.
He is "a big broth of a boy" an
American cattleman from Montana.
They met upon the wsr-swept fields
CT France.
She was nursing and he was SOL
dieriny then. There were others.
but the wealthy young rancher
came first
Now she is lighting with herself
and the spirit Of her fathers. which
Will 1t be. a ranch or a court? A
plain American" democrat or a
European noblemsn?
Censures Russian Aristoersts-
Princess Xenia told her story in
a quaint. rambling way. Her soft
English had the musical back
ground of a French accent.
My father is safe, thank Godi I
have just heard from him after
three years. He is now at Paris,
awaiting me.
For eighteen months I had abso-
lutely no news of him. During all
those terrible days. he was fleeing
before tffe Bolsheviki. from one vii
lage to another.
Finally he reached the Russian
border and escaped. But he knows
nothing of the fate Of our proper
ties near Warsaw.
Il think so often of our ants.
of their little tragedies and their
little comedies. What has become
of them, Are they alive or are
they dead?
! s''Oh, the aristocrats are. in q
sense, to blame for much. We
thought too much about enjoying
ourselves. We were blind to the
signs appearing on all sides of US.
We were deaf to the first rumbles
Of the approaching storm.
Knew RasPutia Well.
And the monk, Rasputin. What
bad influence he was, with his
dirty body and his dirty soul. His
face was ugly and his long. black
coat was always greasy, Neverthe-
less. he could hypnotize people, es-
pecially women.
The Czarine came under his
spell. His position at court caused
him to be. received everywhere
Like the rest i had to know and
see him often. But he always re-
pelled me.
His death removed a curse from
Russia. But his death alas came
too late.
1T was a friend of mine who
killed him. Rasputin's slayer was
ironically a prince.
Both my uncle and my father
were attached to. the court They
saw everything and went through
much. About uncle I am still an
xious. His whereabouts remain a
mystery.
Many Killed Themselves.
AT one time my father and he
were imprisoned in the. same town.
The royal family also was held
captive there, as was a faithful
group of the nobility.
20. SO many killed themselves,
so many dear. good friends OF
mine! There was nothing else to do.
Such suicides are still occurring.
Switzerland has become the buria,
ground OF aristocratic despair.
Russia was not even ready for
a republic. The Russian is a child
and the masses are uneducated.
But the people swallowed the lies
of the Bolshevikt They must be
led, and they became the victims
of q crooked but % clever leader
ship.
Maybe the Grand Duke Nicholas
will yet be able to do something
for them. But who knows?
ut Is impossible to foretelI Rus
sia's future. Only this thing is
certain, the masses, if they under
stood LITTLE hefoHe ,tpaersfapa l,s.