New Britain herald., 1923-04-10
What Happened in the Great Room
10 Father spenscr, Katherine
and 20 Madgc

I'd iNnct SptHscf' huthcImc
and 20 MadGc
Grace Diapers hand gripped m,
arm and urged me forward. coult
feel hor fingers trembling with the
impulse TO disregard Harry Under
woods injunction and dig them talon
like into my flesh. Urged beyond my
accustomed stride. we followed my
father, conveyed in similar fashion
by Mr.. Underwood. And though We
marched swiftly Grace Draper
whose face was still covered by the
Yashmak veil---seemed eager to catch
mp with them, as / we'll knew from
her tensing fingers digging into my
arm, but they swept on too fast.
Through the upper hall, down two
fights of broad stairs, guarded by
quantity carved old balusters, along
the lower square entrance hall tc
wide old doube-doors we went. Grace
Draper and | were still behind Harry
Underwood and my father when the
double-doors swung open at our APP
proach and admitted us to room
which even through my terror, made
a rapturous appeal to my beauty
loving soul.
1t was a large room, which judged
was used for private theatricals. for
musical functions, for dancing, rs
need might require. A pipe organ
which many church might envy, two
grand pianos, a harp and two or three
exquisite music cabinets were tho
I,,,f
half dozen chairs in the great room.
The walls were almost completely
hidden by tapestries OF breath takins
beauty. and the polished floors were
covered with rugs so redolent of the
Orient that one almost instinctively
looked for figures OF the Arabian
Nights to rise from them.
Across the front of the room was a
low platform veritable dais
brought from medieval days-raised
but a sweeping step from the floor.
Old gold and blue velvet curtains
hung, at each side, presumably mask
ing the entrance to wings A similar
drapery was thrown over the back of
a tall throne-lke chair, and in this
was seated figure / recognized with
a renewed clutch of terror at my
heart.
A Vindictiyc Figure
Fer the man whom / had seen AZ
Smith, the arrogant landowner in the
Catskill mountains, as the supposedly
ignorant Anton, the farmland in Mr..
Briggs employ, and as the murderous
~ t-i. fa f1-
house sat facing me. And SO fan
tastic, yet so impressive a figure was
he that I felt my pulses thrill to the
colorful picture of old-word pagean-
try he presented, even though they
chilled at the malevolcnce in the
eyes which watched our entrance.
That he was a royal exile. Lillian
had discovered, aud above sne tufted
eyebrows which had given her the
first clue to his identity was a new
evidence of the rank to which he
still fondly clung. This was fiat
black velvet cap of the Kind | l1ac
seen in pictures of royal personages.
An deliberately embroidered robe or
purple velvet covered his really SUI
perb figure, and many jewelled dec
oratons blazed across his chest. One
had to admit that he was indeed a
kingly figure, though an evil one
Pride, cruelty and impcriousness
were in every line of his face. every
posture of his body. I could well be-
licve Lillian's statement that in his
own country he had been called THE
One and that the most
awful punishment he could receive
would be deportation to the land he
had misruled, and the vengeance of
the peasants there.
Beside him sat a man, evidently an
intimate, though of lesser rank, whom
l guessed to be the Otto who had
assisted Smiths escape from the Vi
cinity of Sag Harbar. He leaned de-
toward his chief and whis-
pcred something which evidently
pleased the former royal parsonage,
for a grim little smile touched his
lips as he looked at my father stane-
ing by the side of Harry Underwood. |
Then, as the stalwart men bearing
n stretcher with Joe on it came
through the doors. and katherine's
slender figure in her nurses garb fol- |
lowed it. so fierce and vindictive an
expression came over his features that
/ shuddercd and turned my own face
away.
The sudden movement focused my