Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1931-12-17

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had taken to another at once, and
her portrait had been a great success,
Then after they left he had told her
with a beaming face how the princess
had also called him up that morning
to express her pleasure in their en-
gagement.
"She seems to be almost as crazy
about you as I am" he wound up. And
Susan thought, 20, she is deepl" but
only said: How charming of her!"
The first shock came when the after
noon sitting was over and they were
again having tea together. Andrew be-
gan fidgeting with the tea things, then
said abruptly.
Darling, I've got something rather
gloomy to tell you"
90, what?" asked Susan, her heart
beginning to go fast.
Don't look so scared, dear; it's only
that I've been promising for ages TO
paint two portraits in Cleveland, now
it seems I'll have to go there week after
next or lose them"
Susan saw everything in n quick
illumination. Has the princess already
cast the horoscope for the week after
next?" she asked.
Andrew admitted that she had done
so only last night, a rough sketch.
And 1t says that you must go?"
He admitted that, too. There was q
regretful obstinacy in his look that
made Susan feel remonstrance would bt
useless O, that clever. devilish woman.
The second shock came just as she
was preparing to leave the studio.
Darling" said he, do you happen
to know the exact hour of your birth
and in what place it happened-the
very house, / mean, and whether II
faced north, south, east or west?"
Susan made up her mind quickly
She felt that she had to know.
Did Princess Daguglia ask you tC
get my birth date for her?" she sale
innocently.
Andrew looked embarrassed. "Sht
wanted to give you a surprise. Sht
means to cast your horoscope at once
but it is to be a wedding present. Don't
let her know you guessed, will your"
"Of course not" said Susan. ut.
frightfuIIy kind of her" "Frightfully,
she thought was just the word.
Thursday evening came round. The
apartment of Princess Daguglia wa.
furnished with lavish yet excellent
taste.
The princess rose in her slow, I'M
folding way to greet them. She wa:
clad in some oriental fabric that made
her look dripping wet, and a long neck.
lace of carved red jade swung againsf
her knees as she came forward. In tht
carefully shaded light she did not lool
a day over thirty-five.
All through dinner Andrew kept try.
ing to draw his Egeria out about he
starry gifts, but it was not until after
wards that she consented, at Susani
request, to enlighten her. With a smile
and wave of her long, red jade cigare
holder she said.
II shall begin in the old fashioned
style Of fairy tales. Once upon q time
perhaps a hundred thousand, or ever
a million years ago, lived a great as
tronomer and astrologer called Asura
maya. The Hindu Purana gives hi
birthplace as Atlantis. =" She brokI
off to remark indulgently to Susan
Does the idea Of Atlantis make Vol
smile secretly, my dear?"
mo-" said Susan, I've read som
very interesting books on Atlantis"
The princess looked slightly sur
prised, then proceeded to give a littl
lecture on the antiquity of this mysti
but exact science" as she called it, com
ing down to the star Of Bethlehem an
from thence passing through medieva
times to the renaissance. "Astrolog
was taught as a pure science in tn
University of Bologna" she wound uI
But my chief source of knowledge
find in that great Leonardo da Vine
1 have a facsimile of his m~anuscrip
On the Secret Arts 1t is a strang
fact that not one person in-one Nigh
almost say in a million-has ever hear
Of that great work, much less read i
1t has opened a world Of vast an
prodigious mystery to me-"
20, God" thought Susan, what
crafty devil to choose a work so lttl
known as the chief authority" Alou
she said, to be saying something, I'D
you consider the famous Madame Ev
a really good astrologist?"
The princess blew a slow cloud c
smoke that yelled her face as with in
cense for a moment.
"She does not go deep enough. Fo
instance, she never casts pre-nats
horoscopes"
~"Pre-natal?" echoed Susan.
Eyes, the most important of all 70
the true occultist. But now" she con
cluded, rising and holding out her han
to Susan, we've had quite enough eve
of the stars, for one evening. Won