Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1925-03-05

antee that the girl would marry Nor
heys.
Girls are dreadfully Independent
nowadays" ] said you can't be
sure"
shes dancing in a cabaret in Ber-
| lin. so Cable says
''She ought TO prefer being married,
to that" said. "StilI II were you
| I'd consult her. ! should certainly
consult Norheys."
Troyte took my advice about con-
sultlng Norheys; but he did not give
me the satisfaction of telling me he
meant to. He went on to discuss an
| other side OF the affair.
The main thing" he said, lis that
England should obtain control Of the
Lystrian oil. The civilization Of the
Twentieth century rests on oil pre-
clsely as that of the Nineteenth CEN
fury rested on coal"
lis that fellow Cable an English.
manf'
He's British subject" said Troy
| te, "naturnlized before the war"
After that had TO listen to an ac-
count Of the uses Of oil In peace and
war which bored me; to a descrip-
ton OF the distribution Of the pres
ent oil supply OF the world and the
small quantity of II controlled by
England.
There, think, lay the real motive
of Troyte's action. the explanation of
bis consent to the plan of setting
Norheys on the throne of Lystria. No
doubt II pleased him-Troyte has
great deal Of family pride--to think
Of his nephew being king. And the
Troytes had some slight connection
with the Lystrian royal fnmily. No
doubt he thought that marriage TO
the Princess Calypso would save Nor
heys from an undesirable entangle-
ment with Viola Temple. Troyte
hated the idea of having TO welcome
that young lady as the next marchion-
ess Of Norheys No doubt also Ca
ble's remarkable personality had some
influence with him. Procopius Cable
Ia accustomed to getting his own way
with all sorts Of people, and has per-
suaded several clever men to do
foolish things. Troyte likes and ad-
mires men Of the Cable kind. He
has theory that the British empire
has been built up by buccaneers In
the Elisabethan days by buccaneers
who went forth In ships and looted.
flying the British flag for their own
protection. leaving II stlll huttering In
the places which they sacked after
they sailed away. In the Eighteenth
century the empire building bucca-
neers called themselves merchants, or
merchant Adventures. but they acted
exactly rs their predecessors did.
footing, and then leaving the care of
the conquered provinces to embar-
rassed statesmen at home. At the
end Of the Nineteenth century the
buccaneers became fnanciers but
their methods and the results Of them
were the same "a before. Procopius
Cable was the latest and ablest OF
these nlibustering empire builders.
That was Troyte's theory about him.
And II influenced aim In favor OF any
scheme suggested by Cable.
But the main thing was England's
need Of oil. and the possibility Of OBJ
tanning an enormous supply OF II in
Lystria. For the sake Of England's
greatness he was ready TO sacrifice
Norheya II sacrifice had been neces-
sary.
There was also another considera.
ton which weighed with Troyte. He
came to Il when he had finished with
the oil.
The Germans," he said. "are
scheming 10 put up king OF their
own In Lystria. The man they have
in mind Is the Prinx Won Steinveldt."
Il used TO know him." said. "He
was In the foreign office In Berlin.
tie must be q bit too old for the prin-
cess, Do you think she'd marry
hlmf"
The princess" said Troyte, "wiil
marry the man she's told to-"
was not so sure about that. The
spirit q revolt against that doctrine
Of girls duty laid firm hold upon
the middle classes years ago, Since
then II has been spreading upward.
and. I dare say. downward. II would
not surprise me to hear that rebel
lion Is now openly advocated In the
schooirooms OF palaces. Besides. Ca
lypso appeared to he an emancipsted
woman. II she dances In cabaret
In Berlin she must have shed most
OF the garments Of conventionality in
which most princesses are wrapped
ny the way" I said. where's King
wladislaws nowf Az the girls faith
er he may want 60 have say about
her marriage"
"wladislaws has gone under utter
~" said Troyte. II don't know
where he Is or what he's doing. We
need not consider him."
CHAPTER iii