Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1925-07-16


several people In II. was one"
"whyT said Tommy. "Why did you
make such an extraordinary arrange
mentf"
There were a good many reasons"
said the king. II couldn't go back TO
Lystria myself. The League Of Ma
tions wouldn't let me. I'm not sure
that I want TO even II they would.
I'm earning much more In the Mas
cote than you'Il ever get out of Lys-
tria. But I'd be glad 10 see Calypso
back on her ancestral throne. It'll be
some sort of provision for her. poor
girl. and she hates dancing In the
Mascotte. You may think ought to
provide for her: but / can't. Az least,
I'd much rather not. I'm earning a
good enough salary, but the cost Of
living Is terrific. We middle-class pro-
fessional men-that's the class be-
long to now--are being squeezed out
of existence everywhere In Europe.
That's the reason ! want to see Calyp-
80 safely married and on a throne"
But why did you choose met"
II didn't choose you. The fact Is
that the Lystrisns knew very well that
they couldn't get a king at all unless
he was an Englishman. The Entente
powers would have turned down any
one else. And the, Lystrians wanted
king, all OF them. There's the pa
trlarch, for instance He hates play
Ing second fiddle to a Megalian man
who's merely an archimandrite. but
has taken to wearing gold chain
round his neck much thicker than our
patriarch's. or course, as soon as Lys
tria gets back into the position Of an
Independent kingdom, our patriarch
will be top dog Of the two. Then
there are the CasimIrs There are
eight or. ten Casimirs, all counts. and
there's the rest OF the aristocracy.
They're nobodies In a large republic
like Megalia. but they're very impor-
tant people In Lystria. Besides, they
like having court to hang about.
You can't imagine how those fellows
love dressing up In uniforms, putting
on swords and attending state balls.
And the way they eat I assure you
that bullock roasted whole and a
couple Of pigs go no distance ut a sup
per table In Lystria. II used to be a
frightful expense to me- I needn't tell
you the Megalian President doesn't do
that kind OF thing. He can't. poor
fellow. His salary won't run to il.
That's another example Of the strait
ened circumstances OF the middle
classes"
Il still don't see why the Lystrians
chose me-" said Tommy, IF they did"
"Strictly speaking" said the king,
"they didn't choose you. Lord Ed
mund Troyte did that. he and Proco-
plus Cable between them. There had
10 be a revolution. OF course, and our
aristocracy couldn't afford to pay for
II. Nor could the patriarch. Revolu-
lions are appallingly expensive things,
far more expensive than you'd think.
Cable had the money and I'm bound
10 say he spent II generously. He
flooded Lystria with English money to
such an extent that the Megalian rate
Of exchange went up. which Of couyse
enraged the Megalians. who had been
making a very good thing out Of the
valuta by paying on their debts In de-
preciated currency. The Lystrians
are becoming actually rich. But neith-
or Cable nor the patriarch nor any Of
the rest OF us could have managed
without Lord Edmund Troyte. with
out his help we couldn't have got any
one to recognize the new king, and
then Of course we couldn't have had
any monarchy"
II suppose not" said Tommy. "But
even yet l don't quite see"
THAT gave Lord Edmund Troyte q
sort Of right TO nominate the king,
and But really they ought to have
explained all this TO you before you
left London"
Nobody explained anything to me-"
said Tommy.
well, I've explained II all now"
said the king. Lord Edmund Troyte
nominated you"
'rm perfectly certain he didn't. II
he nominated any one. Il must have
been Lord Norheys. and keep on tell
Ing you that Tn not Lord Norheys."
"And l keep ON forgetting" said the
king. "But that doesn't really matter
when were alone. does itY'
Tommy sat silent for q while. The
king had at last made the position
clear TO him. He saw exactly what
Casimir's original mistake had been.
He realized that for some reason
very likely because Of Miss Temple
the real marquis OF Norheys had not
arrived In Berlin. But even II he had
arrived. he could not have married the
princess. Miss Temples letter had set
tied that point Calypso was perfect
~ determined. and behind her was
the terrifying figure Of the puritan pa
triarch.
Why should he not step into Lord
Norheys' empty pcsitionf Casimir
was apparently quite ready to accept
any one rs king who would seat the
princess on the throne beside him. The
patriarch had no objection to q curate.
% long a. he was q respectable Gu
rate. And Tommy was perfectly re-
spectacle. The head waiter ex-king
WAS delighted IN accent him a. n sou-