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+Project Gutenberg's The Prince of Graustark, by George Barr McCutcheon
+#17 in our series by George Barr McCutcheon
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+Title: The Prince of Graustark
+
+Author: George Barr McCutcheon
+
+Release Date: August, 2004 [EBook #6353]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on November 29, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Duncan Harrod, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK
+
+BY
+
+GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON
+
+Author of "Graustark", "Beverly of Graustark," etc.
+
+With Illustrations by
+A.I. KELLER
+
+1914
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I MR. AND MRS. BLITHERS DISCUSS MATRIMONY
+
+   II TWO COUNTRIES DISCUSS MARRIAGE
+
+  III MR. BLITHERS GOES VISITING
+
+   IV PROTECTING THE BLOOD
+
+    V PRINCE ROBIN is ASKED TO STAND UP
+
+   VI THE PRINCE AND MR. BLITHERS
+
+  VII A LETTER FROM MAUD
+
+ VIII ON BOARD THE JUPITER
+
+   IX THE PRINCE MEETS MISS GUILE
+
+    X AN HOUR ON DECK
+
+   XI THE LIEUTENANT RECEIVES ORDERS
+
+  XII THE LIEUTENANT REPORTS
+
+ XIII THE RED LETTER B
+
+  XIV THE CAT IS AWAY
+
+   XV THE MICE IN A TRAP
+
+  XVI THREE MESSAGES
+
+ XVII THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER
+
+XVIII A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT
+
+  XIX "WHAT WILL MY PEOPLE DO"
+
+   XX LOVE IN ABEYANCE
+
+  XXI MR. BLITHERS ARRIVES IN GRAUSTARK
+
+ XXII A VISIT TO THE CASTLE
+
+XXIII PINGARI'S
+
+  XIV JUST WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPECTED
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+Her eyes were starry bright, her red lips were parted.
+_Frontispiece_
+
+"You will be her choice," said the other, without the quiver of an
+eye-lash.
+
+"I shall pray for continuous rough weather."
+
+The dignified Ministry of Graustark sat agape.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+MR. AND MRS. BLITHERS DISCUSS MATRIMONY
+
+
+"My dear," said Mr. Blithers, with decision," you can't tell me."
+
+"I know I can't," said his wife, quite as positively. She knew when
+she could tell him a thing and when she couldn't.
+
+It was quite impossible to impart information to Mr. Blithers when he
+had the tips of two resolute fingers embedded in his ears. That
+happened to be his customary and rather unfair method of conquering
+her when an argument was going against him, not for want of logic on
+his part, but because it was easier to express himself with his ears
+closed than with them open. By this means he effectually shut out the
+voice of opposition and had the discussion all to himself. Of course,
+it would have been more convincing if he had been permitted to hear
+the sound of his own eloquence; still, it was effective.
+
+She was sure to go on talking for two or three minutes and then
+subside in despair. A woman will not talk to a stone wall. Nor will
+she wantonly allow an argument to die while there remains the
+slightest chance of its survival. Given the same situation, a man
+would get up and leave his wife sitting there with her fingers in her
+ears; and, as he bolted from the room in high dudgeon, he would be
+mean enough to call attention to her pig-headedness. In most cases, a
+woman is content to listen to a silly argument rather than to leave
+the room just because her husband elects to be childish about a
+perfectly simple elucidation of the truth.
+
+Mrs. Blithers had lived with Mr. Blithers, more or less, for twenty-
+five years and she knew him like a book. He was a forceful person who
+would have his own way, even though he had to put his fingers in his
+ears to get it. At one period of their joint connubial agreement,
+when he had succeeded in accumulating a pitiful hoard amounting to
+but little more than ten millions of dollars, she concluded to live
+abroad for the purpose of educating their daughter, allowing him in
+the meantime to increase his fortune to something like fifty millions
+without having to worry about household affairs. But she had
+sojourned with him long enough, at odd times, to realise that, so
+long as he lived, he would never run away from an argument--unless,
+by some dreadful hook or crook, he should be so unfortunate as to be
+deprived of the use of both hands. She found room to gloat, of
+course, in the fact that he was obliged to stop up his ears in order
+to shut out the incontrovertible.
+
+Moreover, when he called her "my dear" instead of the customary Lou,
+it was a sign of supreme obstinacy on his part and could not, by any
+stretch of the imagination, be regarded as an indication of placid
+affection. He always said "my dear" at the top of his voice and with
+a great deal of irascibility.
+
+Mr. William W. Blithers was a self-made man who had begun his career
+by shouting lustily at a team of mules in a railway construction
+camp. Other drivers had tried to improve on his vocabulary but even
+the mules were able to appreciate the futility of such an ambition,
+and later on, when he came to own two or three railroads, to say
+nothing of a few mines and a steam yacht, his ability to drive men
+was even more noteworthy than his power over the jackasses had been.
+But driving mules and men was one thing, driving a wife another. What
+incentive has a man, said he, when after he gets through bullying a
+creature that very creature turns in and caresses him? No self-
+respecting mule ever did such a thing as that, and no man would think
+of it except with horror. There is absolutely no defence against a
+creature who will rub your head with loving, gentle fingers after she
+has worked you up to the point where you could kill her with
+pleasure--or at least so said Mr. Blithers with rueful frequency.
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Blithers had been discussing royalty. Up to the previous
+week they had restricted themselves to the nobility, but as an event
+of unexampled importance had transpired in the interim, they now felt
+that it would be the rankest stupidity to consider any one short of a
+Prince Royal in picking out a suitable husband--or, more properly
+speaking, consort--for their only daughter, Maud Applegate Blithers,
+aged twenty.
+
+Mrs. Blithers long ago had convinced her husband that no ordinary
+human being of the male persuasion was worthy of their daughter's
+hand, and had set her heart on having nothing meaner than a Duke on
+the family roll,--(Blithers alluded to it for a while as the pay-
+roll)--, with the choice lying between England and Italy. At first,
+Blithers, being an honest soul, insisted that a good American
+gentleman was all that anybody could ask for in the way of a son-in-
+law, and that when it came to a grandchild it would be perfectly
+proper to christen him Duke--lots of people did!--and that was about
+all that a title amounted to anyway. She met this with the retort
+that Maud might marry a man named Jones, and how would Duke Jones
+sound? He weakly suggested that they could christen him Marmaduke
+and--but she reminded him of his oft-repeated boast that there was
+nothing in the world too good for Maud and instituted a pictorial
+campaign against his prejudices by painting in the most alluring
+colours the picture of a ducal palace in which the name of Jones
+would never be uttered except when employed in directing the fifth
+footman or the third stable-boy--or perhaps a scullery maid--to do
+this, that or the other thing at the behest of her Grace, the
+daughter of William W. Blithers. This eventually worked on his
+imagination to such an extent that he forgot his natural pride and
+admitted that perhaps she was right.
+
+But now, just as they were on the point of accepting, in lieu of a
+Duke, an exceptionally promising Count, the aforesaid event conspired
+to completely upset all of their plans--or notions, so to speak. It
+was nothing less than the arrival in America of an eligible Prince of
+the royal blood, a ruling Prince at that. As a matter of fact he had
+not only arrived in America but upon the vast estate adjoining their
+own in the Catskills.
+
+Fortunately nothing definite had been arranged with the Count. Mrs.
+Blithers now advised waiting a while before giving a definite answer
+to his somewhat eager proposal, especially as he was reputed to have
+sufficient means of his own to defend the chateau against any
+immediate peril of profligacy. She counselled Mr. Blithers to notify
+him that he deemed it wise to take the matter under advisement for a
+couple of weeks at least, but not to commit himself to anything
+positively negative.
+
+Mr. Blithers said that he had never heard anything so beautifully
+adroit as "positively negative," and directed his secretary to submit
+to him without delay the draft of a tactful letter to the anxious
+nobleman. They were agreed that a Prince was more to be desired than
+a Count and, as long as they were actually about it, they might as
+well aim high. Somewhat hazily Mr. Blithers had Inquired if it
+wouldn't be worth while to consider a King, but his wife set him
+straight in short order.
+
+Peculiarly promising their hopes was the indisputable fact that the
+Prince's mother had married an American, thereby establishing a
+precedent behind which no constitutional obstacle could thrive, and
+had lived very happily with the gentleman in spite of the critics.
+Moreover, she had met him while sojourning on American soil, and that
+was certainly an excellent augury for the success of the present
+enterprise. What could be more fitting than that the son should
+follow in the footsteps of an illustrious mother? If an American
+gentleman was worthy of a princess, why not the other way about?
+Certainly Maud Blithers was as full of attributes as any man in
+America.
+
+It appears that the Prince, after leisurely crossing the continent on
+his way around the world, had come to the Truxton Kings for a long-
+promised and much-desired visit, the duration of which depended to
+some extent on his own inclinations, and not a little on the outcome
+of the war-talk that affected two great European nations--Russia and
+Austria. Ever since the historic war between the Balkan allies and
+the Turks, in 1912 and 1913, there had been mutterings, and now the
+situation had come to be admittedly precarious. Mr. Blithers was in a
+position to know that the little principality over which the young
+man reigned was bound to be drawn into the cataclysm, not as a
+belligerent or an ally, but in the matter of a loan that
+inconveniently expired within the year and which would hardly be
+renewed by Russia with the prospect of vast expenditures of war
+threatening her treasury. The loan undoubtedly would be called and
+Graustark was not in a position to pay out of her own slender
+resources, two years of famine having fallen upon the people at a
+time when prosperity was most to be desired.
+
+He was in touch with the great financial movements in all the world's
+capitals, and he knew that retrenchment was the watchword. It would
+be no easy matter for the little principality to negotiate a loan at
+this particular time, nor was there even a slender chance that Russia
+would be benevolently disposed toward her debtors, no matter how
+small their obligations. They who owed would be called upon to pay,
+they who petitioned would be turned away with scant courtesy. It was
+the private opinion of Mr. Blithers that the young Prince and the
+trusted agents who accompanied him on his journey, were in the United
+States solely for the purpose of arranging a loan through sources
+that could only be reached by personal appeal. But, naturally, Mr.
+Blithers couldn't breathe this to a soul. Under the circumstances he
+couldn't even breathe it to his wife who, he firmly believed, was
+soulless.
+
+But all this is beside the question. The young Prince of Graustark
+was enjoying American hospitality, and no matter what he owed to
+Russia, America owed to him its most punctillious consideration. If
+Mr. Blithers was to have anything to say about the matter, it would
+be for the ear of the Prince alone and not for the busybodies.
+
+The main point is that the Prince was now rusticating within what you
+might call a stone's throw of the capacious and lordly country
+residence of Mr. Blithers; moreover, he was an uncommonly attractive
+chap, with a laugh that was so charged with heartiness that it didn't
+seem possible that he could have a drop of royal blood in his
+vigorous young body. And the perfectly ridiculous part of the whole
+situation was that Mr. and Mrs. King lived in a modest, vine-covered
+little house that could have been lost in the servants' quarters at
+Blitherwood. Especially aggravating, too, was the attitude of the
+Kings. They were really nobodies, so to speak, and yet they blithely
+called their royal guest "Bobby" and allowed him to fetch and carry
+for their women-folk quite as if he were an ordinary whipper-snapper
+up from the city to spend the week-end.
+
+The remark with which Mr. Blithers introduces this chapter was in
+response to an oft-repeated declaration made by his wife in the shade
+of the red, white and blue awning of the terrace overlooking, from
+its despotic heights, the modest red roof of the King villa in the
+valley below. Mrs. Blithers merely had stated--but over and over
+again--that money couldn't buy everything in the world, referring
+directly to social eminence and indirectly to their secret ambition
+to capture a Prince of the royal blood for their daughter Maud. She
+had prefaced this opinion, however, with the exceedingly irritating
+insinuation that Mr. Blithers was not in his right mind when he
+proposed inviting the Prince to spend a few weeks at Blitherwood,
+provided the young man could cut short his visit in the home of Mr.
+and Mrs. King, who, he had asseverated, were not in a position to
+entertain royalty as royalty was in the habit of being entertained.
+
+Long experience had taught Mr. Blithers to read the lip and eye
+language with some degree of certainty, so by watching his wife's
+indignant face closely he was able to tell when she was succumbing to
+reason. He was a burly, domineering person who reasoned for every one
+within range of his voice, and it was only when his wife became
+coldly sarcastic that he closed his ears and boomed his opinions into
+her very teeth, so to say, joyfully overwhelming her with facts which
+it were futile for her to attempt to deny. He was aware, quite as
+much so as if he had heard the words, that she was now saying:
+
+"Well, there is absolutely no use arguing with you, Will. Have it
+your way if it pleases you."
+
+Eying her with some uneasiness, he cautiously inserted his thumbs in
+the armholes of his brocaded waistcoat, and proclaimed:
+
+"As I said before, Lou, there isn't a foreign nobleman, from the
+Emperor down, who is above grabbing a few million dollars. They're
+all hard up, and what do they gain by marrying ladies of noble birth
+if said ladies are the daughters of noblemen who are as hard up as
+all the rest of 'em? Besides, hasn't Maud been presented at Court?
+Didn't you see to that? How about that pearl necklace I gave her when
+she was presented? Wasn't it the talk of the season? There wasn't a
+Duke in England who didn't figure the cost of that necklace to within
+a guinea or two. No girl ever had better advertising than--"
+
+"We were speaking of Prince Robin," remarked his wife, with a slight
+shudder. Mrs. Blithers came of better stock than her husband. His
+gaucheries frequently set her teeth on edge. She was born in
+Providence and sometimes mentioned the occurrence when particularly
+desirous of squelching him, not unkindly perhaps but by way of making
+him realise that their daughter had good blood in her veins. Mr.
+Blithers had heard, in a round-about way, that he first saw the light
+of day in Jersey City, although after he became famous Newark claimed
+him. He did not bother about the matter.
+
+"Well, he's like all the rest of them," said he, after a moment of
+indecision. Something told him that he really ought to refrain from
+talking about the cost of things, even in the bosom of his family. He
+had heard that only vulgarians speak of their possessions. "Now,
+there's no reason in the world why we shouldn't consider his offer.
+He--"
+
+"Offer?" she cried, aghast. "He has made no offer, Will. He doesn't
+even know that Maud is in existence. How can you say such a thing?"
+
+"I was merely looking ahead, that's all. My motto is 'Look Ahead.'
+You know it as well as I do. Where would I be to-day if I hadn't
+looked ahead and seen what was going to happen before the other
+fellow had his eyes open? Will you tell me that? Where, I say? What's
+more, where would I be now if I hadn't looked ahead and seen what a
+marriage with the daughter of Judge Morton would mean to me in the
+long run?" He felt that he had uttered a very pretty and convincing
+compliment." I never made a bad bargain in my life, Lou, and it
+wasn't guess-work when I married you. You, my dear old girl, you were
+the solid foundation on which I--"
+
+"I know," she said wearily; "you've said it a thousand times: 'The
+foundation on which I built my temple of posterity'--yes, I know,
+Will. But I am still unalterably opposed to making ourselves
+ridiculous in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. King."
+
+"Ridiculous? I don't understand you."
+
+"Well, you will after you think it over," she said quietly, and he
+scowled in positive perplexity.
+
+"Don't you think he'd be a good match for Maud?" he asked, after many
+minutes. He felt that he had thought it over.
+
+"Are you thinking of kidnapping him, Will?" she demanded.
+
+"Certainly not! But all you've got to do is to say that he's the man
+for Maud and I'll--I'll do the rest. That's the kind of a man I am,
+Lou. You say you don't want Count What's-His-Name,--that is, you
+don't want him as much as you did,--and you do say that it would be
+the grandest thing in the world if Maud could be the Princess of
+Grosstick--"
+
+"Graustark, Will."
+
+"That's what I said. Well, if you want her to be the Princess of
+_THAT_, I'll see that she is, providing this fellow is a gentleman and
+worthy of _her_. The only Prince I ever knew was a damned rascal, and
+I'm going to be careful about this one. You remember that measly--"
+
+"There is no question about Prince Robin," said she sharply.
+
+"I suppose the only question is, how much will he want?"
+
+"You mean--settlement?"
+
+"Sure."
+
+"Have you no romance in your soul, William Blithers?"
+
+"I never believed in fairy stories," said he grimly. "And what's
+more, I don't take any stock in cheap novels in which American heroes
+go about marrying into royal families and all that sort of rot. It
+isn't done, Lou. If you want to marry into a royal family you've got
+to put up the coin."
+
+"Prince Robin's mother, the poor Princess Yetive, married an American
+for love, let me remind you."
+
+"Umph! Where is this Groostock anyway?"
+
+"'Somewhere east of the setting sun,'" she quoted. "You _must_ learn
+how to pronounce it."
+
+"I never was good at foreign languages. By the way, where is Maud
+this afternoon?"
+
+"Motoring."
+
+He waited for additional information. It was not vouchsafed, so he
+demanded somewhat fearfully:
+
+"Who with?"
+
+"Young Scoville."
+
+He scowled. "He's a loafer, Lou. No good in the world. I don't like
+the way you let--"
+
+"He is of a very good family, my dear. I--"
+
+"Is he--er--in love with her?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Good Lord!"
+
+"And why not? Isn't every one she meets in love with her?"
+
+"I--I suppose so," he admitted sheepishly. His face brightened. "And
+there's no reason why this Prince shouldn't fall heels over head, is
+there? Well, there you are! That will make a difference in the
+settlement, believe me--a difference of a couple of millions at
+least, if--"
+
+She arose abruptly. "You are positively disgusting, Will. Can't you
+think of anything but--"
+
+"Say, ain't that Maudie coming up the drive now? Sure it is! By
+gracious, did you ever see anything to beat her? She's got 'em all
+beat a mile when it comes to looks and style and--Oh, by the way,"
+lowering his voice to a hoarse, confidential whisper, "--I wouldn't
+say anything to her about the marriage just yet if I were you. I want
+to look him over first."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+TWO COUNTRIES DISCUSS MARRIAGE
+
+
+Prince Robin of Graustark was as good-looking a chap as one would see
+in a week's journey. Little would one suspect him of being the
+descendant of a long and distinguished line of princes, save for the
+unmistakeable though indefinable something in his eye that exacted
+rather than invited the homage of his fellow man. His laugh was a
+free and merry one, his spirits as effervescent as wine, his manner
+blithe and boyish; yet beneath all this fair and guileless exposition
+of carelessness lay the sober integrity of caste. It looked out
+through the steady, unswerving eyes, even when they twinkled with
+mirth; it met the gaze of the world with a serene imperiousness that
+gave way before no mortal influence; it told without boastfulness a
+story of centuries. For he was the son of a princess royal, and the
+blood of ten score rulers of men had come down to him as a heritage
+of strength.
+
+His mother, the beautiful, gracious and lamented Yetive, set all
+royal circles by the ears when she married the American, Lorry, back
+in the nineties. A special act of the ministry had legalised this
+union and the son of the American was not deprived of his right to
+succeed to the throne which his forebears had occupied for centuries.
+From his mother he had inherited the right of kings, from his father
+the spirit of freedom; from his mother the power of majesty, from his
+father the power to see beyond that majesty. When little more than a
+babe in arms he was orphaned and the affairs of state fell upon the
+shoulders of three loyal and devoted men who served as regents until
+he became of age.
+
+Wisely they served both him and the people through the years that
+intervened between the death of the Princess and her consort and the
+day when he reached his majority. That day was a glorious one in
+Graustark. The people worshipped the little Prince when he was in
+knickerbockers and played with toys; they saw him grow to manhood
+with hearts that were full of hope and contentment; they made him
+their real ruler with the same joyous spirit that had attended him in
+the days when he sat in the great throne and "made believe" that he
+was one of the mighty, despite the fact that his little legs barely
+reached to the edge of the gold and silver seat,--and slept soundly
+through all the befuddling sessions of the cabinet. He was seven when
+the great revolt headed by Count Marlanx came so near to overthrowing
+the government, and he behaved like the Prince that he was. It was
+during those perilous times that he came to know the gallant Truxton
+King in whose home he was now a happy guest. But before Truxton King
+he knew the lovely girl who became the wife of that devoted
+adventurer, and who, to him, was always to be "Aunt Loraine."
+
+As a very small boy he had paid two visits to the homeland of his
+father, but after the death of his parents his valuable little person
+was guarded so jealously by his subjects that not once had he set
+foot beyond the borders of Graustark, except on two widely separated
+occasions of great pomp and ceremony at the courts of Vienna and St.
+Petersburgh, and a secret journey to London when he was seventeen.
+(It appears that he was determined to see a great football match.) On
+each of these occasions he was attended by watchful members of the
+cabinet and certain military units in the now far from insignificant
+standing army. As a matter of fact, he witnessed the football match
+from the ordinary stands, surrounded by thousands of unsuspecting
+Britons, but carefully wedged in between two generals of his own army
+and flanked by a minister of police, a minister of the treasury and a
+minister of war, all of whom were excessively bored by the contest
+and more or less appalled by his unregal enthusiasm. He had insisted
+on going to the match incog, to enjoy it for all it was worth to the
+real spectators--those who sit or stand where the compression is not
+unlike that applied to a box of sardines.
+
+The regency expired when he was twenty years of age, and he became
+ruler in fact, of himself as well as of the half-million subjects who
+had waited patiently for the great day that was to see him crowned
+and glorified. Not one was there in that goodly half million who
+stood out against him on that triumphant day; not one who possessed a
+sullen or resentful heart. He was their Prince, and they loved him
+well. After that wonderful coronation day he would never forget that
+he was a Prince or that the hearts of a half million were to throb
+with love for him so long as he was man as well as Prince.
+
+Mr. Blithers was very close to the truth when he said (to himself, if
+you remember) that the financial situation in the far-off
+principality was not all that could be desired. It is true that
+Graustark was in Russia's debt to the extent of some twenty million
+gavvos,--about thirty millions of dollars, in other words,--and that
+the day of reckoning was very near at hand. The loan was for a period
+of twelve years, and had been arranged contrary to the advice of John
+Tullis, an American financier who long had been interested in the
+welfare of the principality through friendship for the lamented
+Prince Consort, Lorry. He had been farsighted enough to realise that
+Russia would prove a hard creditor, even though she may have been
+sincere in her protestations of friendship for the modest borrower.
+
+A stubborn element in the cabinet overcame his opposition, however,
+and the debt was contracted, taxation increased by popular vote and a
+period of governmental thriftiness inaugurated. Railroads, highways,
+bridges and aqueducts were built, owned and controlled by the state,
+and the city of Edelweiss rebuilt after the devastation created
+during the revolt of Count Marlanx and his minions. There seemed to
+be some prospect of vindication for the ministry and Tullis, who
+lived in Edelweiss, was fair-minded enough to admit that their action
+appeared to have been for the best. The people had prospered and
+taxes were paid in full and without complaint. The reserve fund grew
+steadily and surely and there was every prospect that when the huge
+debt came due it would be paid in cash. But on the very crest of
+their prosperity came adversity. For two years the crops failed and a
+pestilence swept through the herds. The flood of gavvos that had been
+pouring into the treasury dwindled into a pitiful rivulet; the little
+that came in was applied, of necessity, to administration purposes
+and the maintenance of the army, and there was not so much as a penny
+left over for the so-called sinking fund.
+
+A year of grace remained. The minister of finance had long since
+recovered from the delusion that it would be easy to borrow from
+England or France to pay the Russians, there being small prospect of
+a renewal by the Czar even for a short period at a higher rate of
+interest. The great nations of Europe made it plain to the little
+principality that they would not put a finger in Russia's pie at this
+stage of the game. Russia was ready to go to war with her great
+neighbour, Austria. Diplomacy--caution, if you will,--made it
+imperative that other nations should sit tight and look to their own
+knitting, so to say. Not one could afford to be charged with
+befriending, even in a round-about way, either of the angry
+grumblers.
+
+It was only too well known in diplomatic circles that Russia coveted
+the railroads of Graustark, as a means of throwing troops into a
+remote and almost impregnable portion of Austria. If the debt were
+paid promptly, it would be impossible, according to international
+law, for the great White Bear to take over these roads and at least a
+portion of the western border of the principality. Obviously, Austria
+would be benefitted by the prompt lifting of the debt, but her own
+relations with Russia were so strained that an offer to come to the
+rescue of Graustark would be taken at once as an open affront and
+vigorously resented. Her hands were tied.
+
+The northern and western parts of Graustark were rich with productive
+mines. The government had built railroads throughout these sections
+so that the yield of coal and copper might be given an outlet to the
+world at large. In making the loan, Russia had demanded these
+prosperous sections as security for the vast sum advanced, and
+Graustark in an evil hour had submitted, little suspecting the trick
+that Dame Nature was to play in the end.
+
+Private banking institutions in Europe refused to make loans under
+the rather exasperating circumstances, preferring to take no chances.
+Money was not cheap in these bitter days, neither in Europe nor
+America. Caution was the watchword. A vast European war was not
+improbable, despite the sincere efforts on the part of the various
+nations to keep out of the controversy.
+
+Nor was Mr. Blithers far from right in his shrewd surmise that Prince
+Robin and his agents were not without hope in coming to America at
+this particular time. Graustark had laid by barely half the amount
+required to lift the debt to Russia. It was not beyond the bounds of
+reason to expect her Prince to secure the remaining fifteen millions
+through private sources in New York City.
+
+Six weeks prior to his arrival in New York, the young Prince landed
+in San Francisco. He had come by way of the Orient, accompanied by
+the Chief of Staff of the Graustark Army, Count Quinnox,--hereditary
+watch-dog to the royal family!--and a young lieutenant of the guard,
+Boske Dank. Two men were they who would have given a thousand lives
+in the service of their Prince. No less loyal was the body-servant
+who looked after the personal wants of the eager young traveller, an
+Englishman of the name of Hobbs. A very poor valet was he, but an
+exceptionally capable person when it came to the checking of luggage
+and the divining of railway time-tables. He had been an agent for
+Cook's. It was quite impossible to miss a train that Hobbs suspected
+of being the right one.
+
+Prince Robin came unheralded and traversed the breadth of the
+continent without attracting more than the attention that is bestowed
+upon good-looking young men. Like his mother, nearly a quarter of a
+century before, he travelled incognito. But where she had used the
+somewhat emphatic name of Guggenslocker, he was known to the hotel
+registers as "Mr. R. Schmidt and servant."
+
+There was romance in the eager young soul of Prince Robin. He
+revelled in the love story of his parents. The beautiful Princess
+Yetive first saw Grenfell Lorry in an express train going eastward
+from Denver. Their wonderful romance was born, so to speak, in a
+Pullman compartment car, and it thrived so splendidly that it almost
+upset a dynasty, for never--in all of nine centuries--had a ruler of
+Graustark stooped to marriage with a commoner.
+
+And so when the far-sighted ministry and House of Nobles in Graustark
+set about to select a wife for their young ruler, they made overtures
+to the Prince of Dawsbergen whose domain adjoined Graustark on the
+south. The Crown Princess of Dawsbergen, then but fifteen, was the
+unanimous choice of the amiable match-makers in secret conclave. This
+was when Robin was seventeen and just over being fatuously in love
+with his middle-aged instructress in French.
+
+The Prince of Dawsbergen despatched an embassy of noblemen to assure
+his neighbour that the match would be highly acceptable to him and
+that in proper season the betrothal might be announced. But alack!
+both courts overlooked the fact that there was independent American
+blood in the two young people. Neither the Prince of Graustark nor
+the Crown Princess of Dawsbergen,--whose mother was a Miss Beverly
+Calhoun of Virginia,--was disposed to listen to the voice of
+expediency; in fact, at a safe distance of three or four hundred
+miles, the youngsters figuratively turned up their noses at each
+other and frankly confessed that they hated each other and wouldn't
+be bullied into getting married, no matter what _anybody_ said, or
+something of the sort.
+
+"S'pose I'm going to say I'll marry a girl I've never seen?" demanded
+seventeen-year-old Robin, full of wrath. "Not I, my lords. I'm going
+to look about a bit, if you don't mind. The world is full of girls.
+I'll marry the one I happen to want or I'll not marry at all."
+
+"But, highness," they protested, "you must listen to reason. There
+must be a successor to the throne of Graustark. You would not have
+the name die with you. The young Princess is--"
+
+"Is fifteen you say," he interrupted loftily. "Come around in ten
+years and we'll talk it over again. But I'm not going to pledge
+myself to marry a child in short frocks, name or no name. Is she
+pretty?"
+
+The lords did not know. They had not seen the young lady.
+
+"If she is pretty you'd be sure to know it, my lords, so we'll assume
+she isn't. I saw her when she was three years old, and she certainly
+was a fright when she cried, and, my lords, she cried all the time.
+No, I'll not marry her. Be good enough to say to the Prince of
+Dawsbergen that I'm very much obliged to him, but it's quite out of
+the question."
+
+And the fifteen-year-old Crown Princess, four hundred miles away,
+coolly informed her doting parents that she was tired of being a
+Princess anyway and very much preferred marrying some one who lived
+in a cottage. In fine, she stamped her little foot and said she'd
+jump into the river before she'd marry the Prince of Graustark.
+
+"But he's a very handsome, adorable boy," began her mother.
+
+"And half-American just as you are, my child," put in her father
+encouragingly. "Nothing could be more suitable than--"
+
+"I don't intend to marry anybody until I'm thirty at least, so that
+ends it, daddy,--I mean, your poor old highness."
+
+"Naturally we do not expect you to be married before you are out of
+short frocks, my dear," said Prince Dantan stiffly. "But a betrothal
+is quite another thing. It is customary to arrange these marriages
+years before--"
+
+"Is Prince Robin in love with me?"
+
+"I--ahem!--that's a very silly question. He hasn't seen you since you
+were a baby. But he _will_ be in love with you, never fear."
+
+"He may be in love with some one else, for all we know, so where do I
+come in?"
+
+"Come in?" gasped her father.
+
+"She's part American, dear," explained the mother, with her prettiest
+smile.
+
+"Besides," said the Crown Princess, with finality, "I'm not even
+going to be engaged to a man I've never seen. And if you insist, I'll
+run away as sure as anything."
+
+And so the matter rested. Five years have passed since the initial
+overtures were made by the two courts, and although several sly
+attempts were made to bring the young people to a proper
+understanding of their case, they aroused nothing more than scornful
+laughter on the part of the belligerents, as the venerable Baron
+Dangloss was wont to call them, not without pride in his sharp old
+voice.
+
+"It all comes from mixing the blood," said the Prime Minister
+gloomily.
+
+"Or improving it," said the Baron, and was frowned upon.
+
+And no one saw the portentous shadow cast by the slim daughter of
+William W. Blithers, for the simple reason that neither Graustark nor
+Dawsbergen knew that it existed. They lived in serene ignorance of
+the fact that God, while he was about it, put Maud Applegate Blithers
+into the world on precisely the same day that the Crown Princess of
+Dawsbergen first saw the light of day.
+
+On the twenty-second anniversary of his birth, Prince Robin fared
+forth in quest of love and romance, not without hope of adventure,
+for he was a valorous chap with the heritage of warriors in his
+veins. Said he to himself in dreamy contemplation of the long journey
+ahead of him: "I will traverse the great highways that my mother trod
+and I will look for the Golden Girl sitting by the wayside. She must
+be there, and though it is a wide world, I am young and my eyes are
+sharp. I will find her sitting at the roadside eager for me to come,
+not housed in a gloomy; castle surrounded by the spooks of a hundred
+ancestors. They who live in castles wed to hate and they who wed at
+the roadside live to love. Fortune attend me! If love lies at the
+roadside waiting, do not let me pass it by. All the princesses are
+not inside the castles. Some sit outside the gates and laugh with
+glee, for love is their companion. So away I go, la, la! looking for
+the princess with the happy heart and the smiling lips! It is a wide
+world but my eyes are sharp. I shall find my princess."
+
+But, alas, for his fine young dream, he found no Golden Girl at the
+roadside nor anything that suggested romance. There were happy hearts
+and smiling lips--and all for him, it would appear--but he passed
+them by, for his eyes were _sharp_ and his wits awake. And so,
+at last, he came to Gotham, his heart as free as the air he breathed,
+confessing that his quest had been in vain. History failed to repeat
+itself. His mother's romance would stand alone and shine without a
+flicker to the end of time. There could be no counterpart.
+
+"Well, I had the fun of looking," he philosophised (to himself, for
+no man knew of his secret project) and grinned with a sort of amused
+tolerance for the sentimental side of his nature. "I'm a silly ass to
+have even dreamed of finding her as I passed along, and if I had
+found her what the deuce could I have done about it anyway? This
+isn't the day for mediaeval lady-snatching. I dare say I'm just as
+well off for not having found her. I still have the zest for hunting
+farther, and there's a lot in that." Then aloud: "Hobbs, are we on
+time?"
+
+"We are, sir," said Hobbs, without even glancing at his watch. The
+train was passing 125th Street. "To the minute, sir. We will be in in
+ten minutes, if nothing happens. Mr. King will be at the station to
+meet you, sir. Any orders, sir?"
+
+"Yes, pinch me, Hobbs."
+
+"Pinch your Highness?" in amazement. "My word, sir, wot--"
+
+"I just want to be sure that the dream is over, Hobbs. Never mind.
+You needn't pinch me. I'm awake," and to prove it he stretched his
+fine young body in the ecstasy of realisation.
+
+That night he slept soundly in the Catskills.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+MR. BLITHERS GOES VISITING
+
+
+I repeat: Prince Robin was as handsome a chap as you'll see in a
+week's journey. He was just under six feet, slender, erect and strong
+in the way that a fine blade is strong. His hair was dark and
+straight, his eyes blue-black, his cheek brown and ruddy with the
+health of a life well-ordered. Nose, mouth and chin were clean-cut
+and indicative of power, while his brow was broad and smooth, with a
+surface so serene that it might have belonged to a woman. At first
+glance you would have taken him for a healthy, eager American
+athlete, just out of college, but that aforementioned seriousness in
+his deep-set, thoughtful eyes would have caused you to think twice
+before pronouncing him a fledgling. He had enjoyed life, he had made
+the most of his play-days, but always there had hung over his young
+head the shadow of the cross that would have to be supported to the
+end of his reign, through thick and thin, through joy and sorrow,
+through peace and strife.
+
+He saw the shadow when he was little more than a baby; it was like a
+figure striding beside him always; it never left him. He could not be
+like other boys, for he was a prince, and it was a serious business
+being a prince! A thousand times, as a lad, he had wished that he
+could have a few "weeks off" from being what he was and be just a
+common, ordinary, harum scarum boy, like the "kids" of Petrove, the
+head stableman. He would even have put up with the thrashings they
+got from their father, just for the sake of enjoying the mischief
+that purchased the punishment. But alas! no one would ever dream of
+giving him the lovely "tannings" that other boys got when they were
+naughty. Such joys were not for him; he was mildly reproved and that
+was all. But his valiant spirit found release in many a glorious
+though secret encounter with boys both large and small, and not
+infrequently he sustained severe pummelings at the hands of plebeians
+who never were quite sure that they wouldn't be beheaded for obliging
+him in the matter of a "scrap," but who fought like little wild-cats
+while they were about it. They were always fair fights, for he fought
+as a boy and not as a prince. He took his lickings like a prince,
+however, and his victories like a boy. The one thing he wanted to do
+above all others was to play foot-ball. But they taught him fencing,
+riding, shooting and tennis instead, for, said they, foot-ball is
+only to be looked-at, not played,--fine argument, said Robin!
+
+Be that as it may, he was physically intact and bodily perfect. He
+had no broken nose, smashed ribs, stiff shoulder joints or weak
+ankles, nor was he toothless. In all his ambitious young life he had
+never achieved anything more enduring than a bloody nose, a cracked
+lip or a purple eye, and he had been compelled to struggle pretty
+hard for even those blessings. And to him the pity of it all was that
+he was as hard as nails and as strong as a bullock--a sad waste, if
+one were to believe him in his bitter lamentations.
+
+Toward the end of his first week at Red Roof, the summer home of the
+Truxton Kings, he might have been found on the broad lawn late one
+afternoon, playing tennis with his hostess, the lovely and vivacious
+"Aunt Loraine." To him, Mrs. King would always be "Aunt Loraine,"
+even as he would never be anything but Bobby to her.
+
+She was several years under forty and as light and active as a young
+girl. Her smooth cheek glowed with the happiness and thrill of the
+sport, and he was hard put to hold his own against her, even though
+she insisted that he play his level best.
+
+Truxton King, stalwart and lazy, lounged on the turf, umpiring the
+game, attended by two pretty young girls, a lieutenant in flannels
+and the ceremonious Count Quinnox, iron grey and gaunt-faced
+battleman with the sabre scars on his cheek and the bullet wound in
+his side.
+
+"Good work, Rainie," shouted the umpire as his wife safely placed the
+ball far out of her opponent's reach.
+
+"Hi!" shouted Robin, turning on him with a scowl. "You're not
+supposed to cheer anybody, d' you understand? You're only an umpire."
+
+"Outburst of excitement, Kid," apologised the umpire complacently.
+"Couldn't help it. Forty thirty. Get busy."
+
+"He called him 'kid,'" whispered one of the young girls to the other.
+
+"Well I heard the Prince call Mr. King 'Truck' a little while ago,"
+whispered the other.
+
+"Isn't he good-looking?" sighed the first one.
+
+They were sisters, very young, and lived in the cottage across the
+road with their widowed mother. Their existence was quite unknown to
+Mr. and Mrs. Blithers, although the amiable Maud was rather nice to
+them. She had once picked them up in her automobile when she
+encountered them walking to the station. After that she called them
+by their Christian names and generously asked them to call her Maud.
+It might appear from this that Maud suffered somewhat from loneliness
+in the great house on the hill. The Felton girls had known Robin a
+scant three-quarters of an hour and were deeply in love with him.
+Fannie was eighteen and Nellie but little more than sixteen. He was
+their first Prince.
+
+"Whee-ee!" shrilled Mrs. King, going madly after a return that her
+opponent had lobbed over the net. She missed.
+
+"Deuce," said her husband laconically. A servant was crossing the
+lawn with a tray of iced drinks. As he neared the recumbent group he
+paused irresolutely and allowed his gaze to shift toward the road
+below. Then he came on and as he drew alongside the interested umpire
+he leaned over and spoke in a low tone of voice.
+
+"What?" demanded King, squinting.
+
+"Just coming in the gate, sir," said the footman.
+
+King shot a glance over his shoulder and then sat up in astonishment.
+
+"Good Lord! Blithers! What the deuce can he be doing here? I say,
+Loraine! Hi!"
+
+"Vantage in," cried his pretty wife, dashing a stray lock from her
+eyes.
+
+Mr. King's astonishment was genuine. It might better have been
+pronounced bewilderment. Mr. Blithers was paying his first visit to
+Red Roof. Up to this minute it is doubtful if he ever had accorded it
+so much as a glance of interest in passing. He bowed to King
+occasionally at the station, but that was all.
+
+But now his manner was exceedingly friendly as he advanced upon the
+group. One might have been pardoned for believing him to be a most
+intimate friend of the family and given to constantly dropping in at
+any and all hours of the day.
+
+The game was promptly interrupted. It would not be far from wrong to
+say that Mrs. King's pretty mouth was open not entirely as an aid to
+breathing. She couldn't believe her eyes as she slowly abandoned her
+court and came forward to meet their advancing visitor.
+
+"Take my racket, dear," she said to one of the Peltons, It happened
+to be Fannie and the poor child almost fainted with joy.
+
+The Prince remained in the far court, idly twirling his racket.
+
+"Afternoon, King," said Mr. Blithers, doffing his panama--to fan a
+heated brow. "Been watching the game from the road for a spell. Out
+for a stroll. Couldn't resist running in for a minute. You play a
+beautiful game, Mrs. King. How do you do! Pretty hot work though,
+isn't it?"
+
+He was shaking hands with King and smiling genially upon the trim,
+panting figure of the Prince's adversary.
+
+"Good afternoon, Mr. Blithers," said King, still staring." You--you
+know my wife?"
+
+Mr. Blithers ignored what might have been regarded as an
+introduction, and blandly announced that tennis wasn't a game for fat
+people, patting his somewhat aggressive extension in mock dolefulness
+as he spoke.
+
+"You should see my daughter play," he went on, scarcely heeding Mrs.
+King's tactless remark that she affected the game because she had a
+horror of getting fat. "Corking, she is, and as quick as a cat. Got a
+medal at Lakewood last spring. I'll fix up a match soon, Mrs. King,
+between you and Maud. Ought to be worth going miles to see, eh,
+King?"
+
+"Oh, I am afraid, Mr. Blithers, that I am not in your daughter's
+class," said Loraine King, much too innocently.
+
+"We've got a pretty fair tennis court up at Blitherwood," said Mr.
+Blithers calmly. "I have a professional instructor up every week to
+play with Maud. She can trim most of the amateurs so--"
+
+"May I offer you a drink of some kind, Mr. Blithers?" asked King,
+recovering his poise to some extent. "We are having lemonades, but
+perhaps you'd prefer something--"
+
+"Lemonade will do for me, thanks," said the visitor affably. "We
+ought to run in on each other a little more often than--thanks! By
+jove, it looks refreshing. Your health, Mrs. King. Too bad to drink a
+lady's health in lemonade but--the sentiment's the same."
+
+He was looking over her shoulder at the bounding Prince in the far
+court as he spoke, and it seemed that he held his glass a trifle too
+high in proposing the toast.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Mr. Blithers," mumbled King. "Permit me to
+introduce Count Quinnox and Lieutenant Dank." Both of the foreigners
+had arisen and were standing very erect and soldierly a few yards
+away. "You know Miss Felton, of course."
+
+"Delighted to meet you, Count," said Mr. Blithers, advancing with
+outstretched hand. He shook the hand of the lieutenant with a shade
+less energy. "Enjoying the game?"
+
+"Immensely," said the Count." It is rarely played so well."
+
+Mr. Blithers affected a most degage manner, squinting carelessly at
+the Prince.
+
+"That young chap plays a nice game. Who is he?"
+
+The two Graustarkians stiffened perceptibly, and waited for King to
+make the revelation to his visitor.
+
+"That's Prince Robin of--" he began but Mr. Blithers cut him short
+with a genial wave of the hand.
+
+"Of course," he exclaimed, as if annoyed by his own stupidity. "I did
+hear that you were entertaining a Prince. Slipped my mind, however.
+Well, well, we're coming up in the world, eh?--having a real nabob
+among us." He hesitated for a moment. "But don't let me interrupt the
+game," he went on, as if expecting King to end the contest in order
+to present the Prince to him.
+
+"Won't you sit down, Mr. Blithers?" said Mrs. King. "Or would you
+prefer a more comfortable chair on the porch? We--"
+
+"No, thanks, I'll stay here if you don't mind," said he hastily, and
+dragged up the camp chair that Lieutenant Dank had been occupying.
+
+"Fetch another chair, Lucas," said King to the servant. "And another
+glass of lemonade for Miss Felton."
+
+"Felton?" queried Mr. Blithers, sitting down very carefully on the
+rather fragile chair, and hitching up his white flannel trousers at
+the knees to reveal a pair of purple socks, somewhat elementary in
+tone.
+
+"We know your daughter, Mr. Blithers," said little Miss Nellie
+eagerly.
+
+"I was just trying to remember--"
+
+"We live across the road--over there in the little white house with
+the ivy--"
+
+"--where I'd heard the name," proceeded Mr. Blithers, still looking
+at the Prince. "By jove, I should think my daughter and the Prince
+would make a rattling good match. I mean," he added, with a
+boisterous laugh, "a good match at tennis. We'll have to get 'em
+together some day, eh, up at Blitherwood. How long is the Prince to
+be with you, Mrs. King?"
+
+"It's rather uncertain, Mr. Blithers," said she, and no more.
+
+Mr. Blithers fanned himself in patience for a moment or two. Then he
+looked at his watch.
+
+"Getting along toward dinner-time up our way," he ventured. Everybody
+seemed rather intent on the game, which was extremely one-sided.
+
+"Good work!" shouted King as Fannie Felton managed to return an easy
+service.
+
+Lieutenant Dank applauded vigorously. "Splendid!" he cried out.
+"Capitally placed!"
+
+"They speak remarkably good English, don't they?" said Mr. Blithers
+in an audible aside to Mrs. King. "Beats the deuce how quickly they
+pick it up."
+
+She smiled. "Officers in the Graustark army are required to speak
+English, French and German, Mr., Blithers."
+
+"It's a good idea," said he. "Maud speaks French and Italian like a
+native. She was educated in Paris and Rome, you know. Fact is, she's
+lived abroad a great deal."
+
+"Is she at home now, Mr. Blithers?"
+
+"Depends on what you'd call home, Mrs. King. We've got so many I
+don't know just which is the real one. If you mean Blitherwood, yes,
+she's there. Course, there's our town house in Madison Avenue, the
+place at Newport, one at Nice and one at Pasadena--California, you
+know--and a little shack in London. By the way, my wife says you live
+quite near our place in New York."
+
+"We live in Madison Avenue, but it's a rather long street, Mr.
+Blithers. Just where is your house?" she inquired, rather spitefully.
+
+He looked astonished. "You surely must know where the Blithers house
+is at--"
+
+"Game!" shrieked Fannie Felton, tossing her racket in the air, a
+victor.
+
+"They're through," said Mr. Blithers in a tone of relief. He shifted
+his legs and put his hands on his knees, suggesting a readiness to
+arise on an instant's notice.
+
+"Shall we try another set?" called out the Prince.
+
+"Make it doubles," put in Lieutenant Dank, and turned to Nellie.
+"Shall we take them on?"
+
+And doubles it was, much to the disgust of Mr. Blithers. He sat
+through the nine games, manifesting an interest he was far from
+feeling, and then--as dusk fell across the valley--arose expectantly
+with the cry of "game and set." He had discoursed freely on the
+relative merits of various motor cars, stoutly maintaining that the
+one he drove was without question the best in the market (in fact,
+there wasn't another "make" that he would have as a gift); the clubs
+he belonged to in New York were the only ones that were worth
+belonging to (he wouldn't be caught dead in any of the others); his
+tailor was the only tailor in the country who knew how to make a
+decent looking suit of clothes (the rest of them were "the limit");
+the Pomeranian that he had given his daughter was the best dog of its
+breed in the world (he was looking at Mrs. King's Pomeranian as he
+made the remark); the tennis court at Blitherwood was pronounced by
+experts to be the finest they'd, ever seen--and so on and so on,
+until the long-drawn-out set was ended.
+
+To his utter amazement, at the conclusion of the game, the four
+players made a dash for the house without even so much as a glance in
+his direction. It was the Prince who shouted something that sounded
+like "now for a shower!" as he raced up the terrace, followed by the
+other participants.
+
+Mr. Blithers said something violent under his breath, but resolutely
+retained his seat. It was King who glanced slyly at his watch this
+time, and subsequently shot a questioning look at his wife. She was
+frowning in considerable perplexity, and biting her firm red lips.
+Count Quinnox coolly arose and excused himself with the remark that
+he was off to dress for dinner. He also looked at his watch, which
+certainly was an act that one would hardly have expected of a
+diplomat.
+
+"Well, well," said Mr. Blithers profoundly. Then he looked at his own
+watch--and settled back in his chair, a somewhat dogged compression
+about his jaws. He was not the man to be thwarted. "You certainly
+have a cosy little place here. King," he remarked after a moment or
+two.
+
+"We like it," said King, twiddling his fingers behind his back.
+"Humble but homelike."
+
+"Mrs. Blithers has been planning to come over for some time, Mrs.
+King. I told her she oughtn't to put it off--be neighbourly, don't
+you know. That's me. I'm for being neighbourly with my neighbours.
+But women, they--well, you know how it is, Mrs. King. Always
+something turning up to keep 'em from doing the things they want to
+do most. And Mrs. Blithers has so many sociable obli--I beg pardon?"
+
+"I was just wondering if you would stay and have dinner with us, Mr.
+Blithers," said she, utterly helpless. She wouldn't look her husband
+in the eye--and it was quite fortunate that she was unable to do so,
+for it would have resulted in a laughing duet that could never have
+been explained.
+
+"Why," said Mr. Blithers, arising and looking at his watch again,
+"bless my soul, it is _past_ dinner time, isn't it? I had no
+idea it was so late. 'Pon my soul, it's good of you, Mrs. King. You
+see, we have dinner at seven up at Blitherwood and--I declare it's
+half-past now. I don't see where the time has gone. Thanks, I
+_will_ stay if you really mean to be kind to a poor old beggar.
+Don't do anything extra on my account, though, just your regular
+dinner, you know. No frills, if you please. "He looked himself over
+in some uncertainty. "Will this rag of mine do?"
+
+"We shan't notice it, Mr. Blithers," said she, and he turned the
+remark over in his mind several times as he walked beside her toward
+the house. Somehow it didn't sound just right to him, but for the
+life of him he couldn't tell why. "We are quite simple folk, you
+see," she went on desperately, making note of the fact that her
+husband lagged behind like the coward he was. "Red Roof is as nothing
+compared to Blitherwood, with its army of servants and--"
+
+Mr. Blithers magnanimously said "Pooh!" and, continuing, remarked
+that he wouldn't say exactly how many they employed but he was sure
+there were not more than forty, including the gardeners. "Besides,"
+he added gallantly, "what is an army of servants compared to the army
+of Grasstock? You've got the real article, Mrs. King, so don't you
+worry. But, I say, if necessary, I can telephone up to the house and
+have a dress suit sent down. It won't take fifteen minutes, Lou--er--
+Mrs. Blithers always has 'em laid out for me, in case of an
+emergency, and--"
+
+"Pray do not think of it," she cried. "The men change, of course,
+after they've been playing tennis, but we--we--well, you see, you
+haven't been playing," she concluded, quite breathlessly.
+
+At that instant the sprightly Feltons dashed pell mell down the steps
+and across the lawn homeward, shrieking something unintelligible to
+Mrs. King as they passed.
+
+"Rather skittish," observed Mr. Blithers, glaring after them
+disapprovingly.
+
+"They are dears," said Mrs. King.
+
+"The--er--Prince attracted by either one of 'em?" he queried.
+
+"He barely knows them, Mr. Blithers."
+
+"I see. Shouldn't think they'd appeal to him. Rather light, I should
+say--I mean up here," and he tapped his forehead so that she wouldn't
+think that he referred to pounds and ounces. "I don't believe Maud
+knows 'em, as the little one said. Maud is rather--"
+
+"It is possible they have mistaken some one else for your daughter,"
+said she very gently.
+
+"Impossible," said he with force.
+
+"They are coming back here to dinner," she said, and her eyes
+sparkled with mischief. "I shall put you between them, Mr. Blithers.
+You will find that they are very bright, attractive girls."
+
+"We'll see," said he succinctly.
+
+King caught them up at the top of the steps. He seemed to be slightly
+out of breath.
+
+"Make yourself at home, Mr. Blithers. I must get into something
+besides these duds I'm wearing," he said. "Would you like to--er--
+wash up while we're--"
+
+"No, thanks," interposed Mr. Blithers. "I'm as clean as a whistle.
+Don't mind me, please. Run along and dress, both of you. I'll sit out
+here and--count the minutes," the last with a very elaborate bow to
+Mrs. King.
+
+"Dinner's at half-past eight," said she, and disappeared. Mr.
+Blithers recalled his last glance at his watch, and calculated that
+he would have at least fifty minutes to count, provided dinner was
+served promptly on the dot.
+
+"You will excuse me if I leave you--"
+
+"Don't mention it, old man," said the new guest, rather more curtly
+than he intended. "I'll take it easy."
+
+"Shall I have the butler telephone to Blitherwood to say that you
+won't be home to dinner?"
+
+"It would be better if he were to say that I wasn't home to dinner,"
+said Mr. Blithers. "It's over by this time."
+
+"Something to drink while you're--"
+
+"No, thanks. I can wait," and he sat down.
+
+"You don't mind my--"
+
+"Not at all."
+
+Mr. Blithers settled himself in the big porch chair and glowered at
+the shadowy hills on the opposite side of the valley. The little
+cottage of the Feltons came directly in his line of vision. He
+scowled more deeply than before. At the end of fifteen minutes he
+started up suddenly and, after a quick uneasy glance about him,
+started off across the lawn, walking more rapidly than was his wont.
+
+He had remembered that his chauffeur was waiting for him with the car
+just around a bend in the road--and had been waiting for two hours
+or more.
+
+"Go home," he said to the man. "Come back at twelve. And don't use
+the cut-out going up that hill, either."
+
+Later on, he met the Prince. Very warmly he shook the tall young
+man's hand,--he even gave it a prophetic second squeeze,--and said:
+
+"I am happy to welcome you to the Catskills, Prince."
+
+"Thank you," said Prince Robin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+PROTECTING THE BLOOD
+
+
+"A most extraordinary person," said Count Quinnox to King, after Mr.
+Blithers had taken his departure, close upon the heels of the Feltons
+who were being escorted home by the Prince and Dank. The venerable
+Graustarkian's heroic face was a study. He had just concluded a
+confidential hour in a remote corner of the library with the
+millionaire while the younger people were engaged in a noisy though
+temperate encounter with the roulette wheel at the opposite end of
+the room. "I've never met any one like him, Mr. King." He mopped his
+brow, and still looked a trifle dazed.
+
+King laughed. "There isn't any one like him, Count. He is the one and
+only Blithers."
+
+"He is very rich?"
+
+"Millions and millions," said Mrs. King. "Didn't he tell you how
+many?"
+
+"I am not quite sure. This daughter of his--is she attractive?"
+
+"Rather. Why?"
+
+"He informed me that her dot would be twenty millions if she married
+the right man. Moreover, she is his only heir. 'Pon my soul, Mrs.
+King, he quite took my breath away when he announced that he knew all
+about our predicament in relation to the Russian loan. It really
+sounded quite--you might say significant. Does--does he imagine that--
+good heaven, it's almost stupefying!"
+
+King smoked in silence for many seconds. There was a pucker of
+annoyance on his wife's fair brow as she stared reflectively through
+the window at the distant lights of Blitherwood, far up the mountain
+side.
+
+"Sounds ominous to me," said King drily. "Is Bobby for sale?"
+
+The Count favoured him with a look of horror. "My dear Mr. King!"
+Then as comprehension came, he smiled. "I see. No, he isn't for sale.
+He is a Prince, not a pawn. Mr. Blithers may be willing to buy but--"
+he proudly shook his head.
+
+"He was feeling you out, however," said King, ruminating. "Planting
+the seed, so to speak."
+
+"There is a rumour that she is to marry Count Lannet," said his wife.
+"A horrid creature. There was talk in the newspapers last winter of
+an Italian duke. Poor girl! From what I hear of her, she is rather a
+good sort, sensible and more genuinely American in her tastes than
+might be, expected after her bringing-up. And she _is_ pretty."
+
+"How about this young Scoville, Rainie?"
+
+"He's a nice boy but--he'll never get her. She is marked up too high
+for him. He doesn't possess so much as the title to an acre of land."
+
+"Extraordinary, the way you Americans go after our titles," said the
+Count good-naturedly.
+
+"No more extraordinary than the way you Europeans go after our
+money," was her retort.
+
+"I don't know which is the cheaper, titles or money in these days,"
+said King. "I understand one can get a most acceptable duke for three
+or four millions, a nice marquis or count for half as much, and a Sir
+on tick." He eyed the Count speculatively. "Of course a prince of the
+royal blood comes pretty high."
+
+"Pretty high," said the Count grimly. He seemed to be turning
+something over in his mind. "Your amazing Mr. Blithers further
+confided to me that he might be willing to take care of the Russian
+obligation for us if no one else turns up in time. As a matter of
+fact, without waiting for my reply, he said that he would have his
+lawyers look into the matter of security at once. I was somewhat
+dazed, but I think he said that it would be no trouble at all for him
+to provide the money himself and he would be glad to accommodate us
+if we had no other plan in mind. Amazing, amazing!"
+
+"Of course, you told him it was not to be considered," said King
+sharply.
+
+"I endeavoured to do so, but I fear he did not grasp what I was
+saying. Moreover, I tried to tell him that it was a matter I was not
+at liberty to discuss. He didn't hear that, either."
+
+"He is not in the habit of hearing any one but himself, I fear," said
+King.
+
+"I am afraid poor Robin is in jeopardy," said his wife, ruefully.
+"The Bogieman is after him."
+
+"Does the incomprehensible creature imagine--" began the Count
+loudly, and then found it necessary to pull his collar away from his
+throat as if to save himself from immediate strangulation.
+
+"Mr. Blithers is not blessed with an imagination, Count," said she.
+"He doesn't imagine anything."
+
+"If he should presume to insult our Prince by--" grated the old
+soldier, very red in the face and erect--"if he should presume to--"
+Words failed him and an instant later he was laughing, but somewhat
+uncertainly, with his amused host and hostess.
+
+Mr. Blithers reached home in high spirits. His wife was asleep, but
+he awoke her without ceremony.
+
+"I say, Lou, wake up. Got some news for you. We'll have a prince in
+the family before you can say Jack Robinson."
+
+She sat up in bed, blinking with dismay. "In heaven's name, Will,
+what have you been doing? What--_have_ you been--"
+
+"Cutting bait," said he jovially. "In a day or two I'll throw the
+hook in, and you'll see what I land. He's as good as caught right
+now, but we'll let him nibble a while before we jerk. And say, he's a
+corker, Lou. Finest young fellow I've seen in many a day. He--"
+
+"You don't mean to say that you--you actually said anything to him
+about--about--Oh, my God, Will, don't tell me that you were crazy
+enough to--" cried the poor woman, almost in tears.
+
+"Now cool down, cool down," he broke in soothingly. "I'm no fool,
+Lou. Trust me to do the fine work in a case like this. Sow the right
+kind of seeds and you'll get results every time. I merely dropped a
+few hints, that's all,--and in the right direction, believe me. Count
+Equinox will do the rest. I'll bet my head we'll have this prince
+running after Maud so--"
+
+"What _did_ you say?" she demanded. There was a fine moisture on
+her upper lip. He sat down on the edge of the bed and talked for half
+an hour without interruption. When he came to the end of his oration,
+she turned over with her face to the wall and fairly sobbed: "What
+will the Kings think of us? What will they think?"
+
+"Who the dickens cares what the Kings think?" he roared, perfectly
+aghast at the way she took it. "Who are the Kings? Tell me that! who
+are they?"
+
+"I--I can't bear to talk about it. Go to bed."
+
+He wiped his brow helplessly. "You beat anything I've ever seen.
+What's the matter with you? Don't you want this prince for Maud?
+Well, then, what the deuce are you crying about? You said you wanted
+him, didn't you? Well, I'm going to get him. If I say I'll do a
+thing, you can bet your last dollar I'll do it. That's the kind of a
+man William W. Blithers is. You leave it to me. There's only one way
+to land these foreign noblemen, and I'm--"
+
+She faced him once more, and angrily. "Listen to me," she said. "I've
+had a talk with Maud. She has gone to bed with a splitting headache
+and I'm not surprised. Don't you suppose the poor child has a
+particle of pride? She guessed at once just what you had gone over
+there for and she cried her eyes out. Now she declares she will never
+be able to look the Prince in the face, and as for the Kings--Oh,
+it's sickening. Why can't you leave these things to me? You go about
+like a bull in a china shop. You might at least have waited until the
+poor child had an opportunity to see the man before rushing in with
+your talk about money. She--"
+
+"Confound it, Lou, don't blame me for everything. We all three agreed
+at lunch that he was a better bargain than this measly count we've
+been considering. Maud says she won't marry the count, anyhow, and
+she _did_ say that if this prince was all that he's cracked up to be,
+she wouldn't mind being the Princess of Groostock. You can't deny
+that, Lou. You heard her say it. You--"
+
+"She didn't say Groostock," said his wife shortly. "And you forget
+that she said she wouldn't promise anything until she'd met him and
+decided whether she liked him."
+
+"She'll like him all right," said he confidently.
+
+"She will refuse to even meet him, if she hears of your silly blunder
+to-night."
+
+"Refuse to meet him?" gasped Mr. Blithers.
+
+"I may be able to reason with her, Will, but--but she's stubborn, as
+well you know. I'm afraid you've spoiled everything."
+
+His face brightened. Lowering his voice to a half-whisper, he said:
+"We needn't tell her what I said to that old chap, Lou. Just let her
+think I sat around like a gump and never said a word to anybody. We
+can--"
+
+"But she'll pin you down, Will, and you know you can't lie with a
+straight face."
+
+"Maybe--maybe I'd better run down to New York for a few days," he
+muttered unhappily. "You can square it better than I can."
+
+"In other words, I can lie with a straight face," she said
+ironically.
+
+"I never thought she'd balk like this," said he, ignoring the remark.
+
+"I fancy you'd better go to New York," she said mercilessly.
+
+"I've got business there anyhow," muttered he. "I--I think I'll go
+before she's up in the morning."
+
+"You can save yourself a bad hour or two if you leave before
+breakfast," said she levelly.
+
+"Get around her some way, Lou," he pleaded. "Tell her I'm sorry I had
+to leave so early, and--and that I love her better than anything on
+earth, and that I'll be back the end of the week. If--if she wants
+anything in New York, just have her wire me. You say she cried?"
+
+"She did, and I don't blame her."
+
+Mr. Blithers scowled. "Well--well, you see if you can do any better
+than I did. Arrange it somehow for them to meet. She'll--she'll like
+him and then--by George, she'll thank us both for the interest we
+take in her future. It wouldn't surprise me if she fell in love with
+him right off the reel. And you may be sure he'll fall in love with
+her. He can't help it. The knowledge that she'll have fifty millions
+some day won't have anything to do with his feeling for her, once he--
+"
+
+"Don't mention the word millions again. Will Blithers."
+
+"All right," said he, more humbly than he knew, "But listen to this,
+old girl; I'm going to get this prince for her if it's the last act
+of my life. I never failed in anything and I won't fail in this."
+
+"Well, go to bed, dear, and don't worry. I may be able to undo the
+mischief. It--it isn't hopeless, of course."
+
+"I'll trust you, Lou, to do your part. Count on me to do mine when
+the time comes. And I still insist that I have sowed the right sort
+of seed to-night. You'll see. Just wait."
+
+Sure enough, Mr. Blithers was off for New York soon after daybreak
+the next morning, and with him went a mighty determination to justify
+himself before the week was over. His wily brain was working as it
+had never worked before.
+
+Two days later, Count Quinnox received a message from New York
+bearing the distressing information that the two private banking
+institutions on which he had been depending for aid in the hour of
+trouble had decided that it would be impossible for them to make the
+loan under consideration. The financial agents who had been operating
+in behalf of the Graustark government confessed that they were unable
+to explain the sudden change of heart on the part of the bankers,
+inasmuch as the negotiations practically had been closed with them.
+The decision of the directors was utterly incomprehensible under the
+circumstances.
+
+Vastly disturbed, Count Quinnox took the first train to New York,
+accompanied by Truxton King, who was confident that outside
+influences had been brought to bear upon the situation, influences
+inimical to Graustark. Both were of the opinion that Russia had
+something to do with it, although the negotiations had been conducted
+with all the secrecy permissible in such cases.
+
+"We may be able to get to the banks through Blithers," said King.
+
+"How could he possibly be of assistance to us?" the Count inquired.
+
+"He happens to be a director in both concerns, besides being such a
+power in the financial world that his word is almost law when it
+comes to the big deals."
+
+All the way down to the city Count Quinnox was thoughtful, even pre-
+occupied. They were nearing the Terminal when he leaned over and,
+laying his hand on King's knee, said, after a long interval of
+silence between them:
+
+"I suppose you know that Graustark has not given up hope that Prince
+Robin may soon espouse the daughter of our neighbour, Dawsbergen."
+
+King gave him a queer look. "By jove, that's odd. I was thinking of
+that very thing when you spoke."
+
+"The union would be of no profit to us in a pecuniary way, my
+friend," explained the Count. "Still it is most desirable for other
+reasons. Dawsbergen is not a rich country, nor are its people
+progressive. The reigning house, however, is an old one and rich in
+traditions. Money, my dear King, is not everything in this world.
+There are some things it cannot buy. It is singularly ineffective
+when opposed to an honest sentiment. Even though the young Princess
+were to come to Graustark without a farthing, she would still be
+hailed with the wildest acclaim. We are a race of blood worshippers,
+if I may put it in that way. She represents a force that has
+dominated our instincts for a great many centuries, and we are bound
+hand and foot, heart and soul, by the so-called fetters of
+imperialism. We are fierce men, but we bend the knee and we wear the
+yoke because the sword of destiny is in the hand that drives us. To-
+day we are ruled by a prince whose sire was not of the royal blood. I
+do not say that we deplore this infusion, but it behooves us to
+protect the original strain. We must conserve our royal blood. Our
+prince assumes an attitude of independence that we find difficult to
+overcome. He is prepared to defy an old precedent in support of a new
+one. In other words, he points out the unmistakably happy union of
+his own mother, the late Princess Yetive, and the American Lorry, and
+it is something we cannot go behind. He declares that his mother set
+an example that he may emulate without prejudice to his country if he
+is allowed a free hand in choosing his mate.
+
+"But we people of Graustark cannot look with complaisance on the
+possible result of his search for a sharer of the throne. Traditions
+must be upheld--or we die. True, the Crown Princess of Dawsbergen
+has American blood in her veins but her sire is a prince royal. Her
+mother, as you know, was an American girl. She who sits on the throne
+with Robin must be a princess by birth or the grip on the sword of
+destiny is weakened and the dynasty falters. I know what is in your
+mind. You are wondering why our Prince should not wed one of your
+fabulously rich American girls--"
+
+"My dear Count," said King warmly, "I am not thinking anything of the
+sort. Naturally I am opposed to your pre-arranged marriages and all
+that sort of thing, but still I appreciate what it means as a safe-
+guard to the crown you support. I sincerely hope that Robin may find
+his love-mate in the small circle you draw for him, but I fear it
+isn't likely. He is young, romantic, impressionable, and he abhors
+the thought of marriage without love. He refuses to even consider the
+princess you have picked out for him. Time may prove to him that his
+ideals are false and he may resign himself to the--I was about to say
+the inevitable."
+
+"Inevitable is the word, Mr. King," said Count Quinnox grimly. "'Pon
+my word, sir, I don't know what our princes and princesses are coming
+to in these days. There seems to be a perfect epidemic of
+independence among them. They marry whom they please in spite of
+royal command, and the courts of Europe are being shorn of half their
+glory. It wouldn't surprise me to see an American woman on the throne
+of England one of these days. 'Gad, sir, you know what happened in
+Axphain two years ago. Her crown prince renounced the throne and
+married a French singer."
+
+"And they say he is a very happy young beggar," said King drily.
+
+"It is the prerogative of fools to be happy," said Count Quinnox.
+
+"Not so with princes, eh?"
+
+"It is a duty with princes, Mr. King."
+
+They had not been in New York City an hour before they discovered
+that William W. Blithers was the man to whom they would have to
+appeal if they expected to gain a fresh hearing with the banks. The
+agents were in a dismal state of mind. The deal had been blocked no
+later than the afternoon of the day before and at a time when
+everything appeared to be going along most swimmingly. Blithers was
+the man to see; he and he alone could bring pressure to bear on the
+directorates that might result in a reconsideration of the surprising
+verdict. Something had happened during the day to alter the friendly
+attitude of the banks; they were now politely reluctant, as one of
+the agents expressed it, which really meant that opposition to the
+loan had appeared from some unexpected source, as a sort of eleventh
+hour obstacle. The heads of the two banks had as much as said that
+negotiations were at an end, that was the long and short of it; it
+really didn't matter what was back of their sudden change of front,
+the fact still remained that the transaction was as "dead as a door
+nail" unless it could be revived by the magnetic touch of a man like
+Blithers.
+
+"What can have happened to cause them to change their minds so
+abruptly?" cried the perplexed Count. "Surely our prime minister and
+the cabinet have left nothing undone to convince them of Graustark's
+integrity and--"
+
+"Pardon me. Count," interrupted one of the brokers, "shall I try to
+make an appointment for you with Mr. Blithers? I hear he is in town
+for a few days."
+
+Count Quinnox looked to Truxton King for inspiration and that
+gentleman favoured him with a singularly dis-spiriting nod of the
+head. The old Graustarkian cleared his throat and rather stiffly
+announced that he would receive Mr. Blithers if he would call on him
+at the Ritz that afternoon.
+
+"What!" exclaimed both agents, half-starting from their chairs in
+amazement.
+
+The Count stared hard at them. "You may say to him that I will be in
+at four."
+
+"He'll tell you to go to--ahem!" The speaker coughed just in time.
+"Blithers isn't in the habit of going out of his way to--to oblige
+anybody. He wouldn't do it for the Emperor of Germany."
+
+"But," said the Count with a frosty smile, "I am not the Emperor of
+Germany."
+
+"Better let me make an appointment for you to see him at his office.
+It's just around the corner." There was a pleading note in the
+speaker's voice.
+
+"You might save your face, Calvert, by saying that the Count will be
+pleased to have him take tea with him at the Ritz," suggested King.
+
+"Tea!" exclaimed Calvert scornfully. "Blithers, doesn't drink the
+stuff."
+
+"It's a figure of speech," said King patiently.
+
+"All right, I'll telephone," said the other dubiously.
+
+He came back a few minutes later with a triumphant look in his eye.
+
+"Blithers says to tell Count Quinnox he'll see him to-morrow morning
+at half-past eight at his office. Sorry he's engaged this afternoon."
+
+"But did you say I wanted him to have tea with us!" demanded the
+Count, an angry flush leaping to his cheek.
+
+"I did. I'm merely repeating what he said in reply. Half-past eight,
+at his office, Count. Those were his words."
+
+"It is the most brazen exhibition of insolence I've ever--" began the
+Count furiously, but checked himself with an effort. "I--I hope you
+did not say that I would come, sir!"
+
+"Yes. It's the only way--"
+
+"Well, be good enough to call him up again and say to him that I'll--
+I'll see him damned before I'll come to his office to-morrow at
+eight-thirty or at any other hour." And with that the Count got up
+and stalked out of the office, putting on his hat as he did so.
+
+"Count," said King, as they descended in the elevator, "I've got an
+idea in my head that Blithers will be at the Ritz at four."
+
+"Do you imagine, sir, that I will receive him?"
+
+"Certainly. Are you not a diplomat?"
+
+"I am a Minister of War," said the Count, and his scowl was an
+indication of absolute proficiency in the science.
+
+"And what's more," went on King, reflectively, "it wouldn't in the
+least surprise me if Blithers is the man behind the directors in this
+sudden move of the banks."
+
+"My dear King, he displayed the keenest interest and sympathy the
+other night at your house. He--"
+
+"Of course I may be wrong," admitted King, but his brow was clouded.
+
+Shortly after luncheon that day, Mrs. Blithers received a telegram
+from her husband. It merely stated that he was going up to have tea
+with the Count at four o'clock, and not to worry as "things were
+shaping themselves nicely."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+PRINCE ROBIN IS ASKED TO STAND UP
+
+
+Late the same evening. Prince Robin, at Red Roof, received a long
+distance telephone communication from New York City. The Count was on
+the wire. He imparted the rather startling news that William W.
+Blithers had volunteered to take care of the loan out of his own
+private means! Quinnox was cabling the Prime Minister for advice and
+would remain in New York for further conference with the capitalist,
+who, it was to be assumed, would want time to satisfy himself as to
+the stability of Graustark's resources.
+
+Robin was jubilant. The thought had not entered his mind that there
+could be anything sinister in this amazing proposition of the great
+financier.
+
+If Count Quinnox himself suspected Mr. Blithers of an ulterior
+motive, the suspicion was rendered doubtful by the evidence of
+sincerity on the part of the capitalist who professed no sentiment in
+the matter but insisted on the most complete indemnification by the
+Graustark government. Even King was impressed by the absolute
+fairness of the proposition. Mr. Blithers demanded no more than the
+banks were asking for in the shape of indemnity; a first lien
+mortgage for 12 years on all properties owned and controlled by the
+government and the deposit of all bonds held by the people with the
+understanding that the interest would be paid to them regularly, less
+a small per cent as commission. His protection would be complete,--
+for the people of Graustark owned fully four-fifths of the bonds
+issued by the government for the construction of public service
+institutions; these by consent of Mr. Blithers were to be limited to
+three utilities: railroads, telegraph and canals. These properties,
+as Mr. Blithers was by way of knowing, were absolutely sound and
+self-supporting. According to his investigators in London and Berlin,
+they were as solid as Gibraltar and not in need of one-tenth the
+protection required by the famous rock.
+
+Robin inquired whether he was to come to New York at once in relation
+to the matter, and was informed that it would not be necessary at
+present. In fact, Mr. Blithers preferred to let the situation remain
+in statu quo (as he expressed it to the Count), until it was
+determined whether the people were willing to deposit their bonds, a
+condition which was hardly worth while worrying about in view of the
+fact that they had already signified their readiness to present them
+for security in the original proposition to the banks. Mr. Blithers,
+however, would give himself the pleasure of calling upon the Prince
+at Red Roof later in the week, when the situation could be discussed
+over a dish of tea or a cup of lemonade. That is precisely the way
+Mr. Blithers put it.
+
+The next afternoon Mrs. Blithers left cards at Red Roof--or rather,
+the foot-man left them--and on the day following the Kings and their
+guests received invitations to a ball at Blitherwood on the ensuing
+Friday, but four days off. While Mrs. King and the two young men were
+discussing the invitation the former was called to the telephone.
+Mrs. Blithers herself was speaking.
+
+"I hope you will pardon me for calling you up, Mrs. King, but I
+wanted to be sure that you can come on the seventeenth. We want so
+much to have the Prince and his friends with us. Mr. Blithers has
+taken a great fancy to Prince Robin and Count Quinnox, and he
+declares the whole affair will be a fiasco if they are not to be
+here."
+
+"It is good of you to ask us, Mrs. Blithers. The Prince is planning
+to leave for Washington within the next few days and I fear--"
+
+"Oh, you must prevail upon him to remain over, my Dear Mrs. King. We
+are to have a lot of people up from Newport and Tuxedo--you know the
+crowd--it's the _real_ crowd--and I'm sure he will enjoy meeting them.
+Mr. Blithers has arranged for a special train to bring them up--a
+train de luxe, you may be sure, both as to equipment and occupant.
+Zabo's orchestra, too. A notion seized us last night to give the ball,
+which accounts for the short notice. It's the way we do everything--on
+a minute's notice. I think they're jollier if one doesn't go through
+the agony of a month's preparation, don't you? Nearly every one has
+wired acceptance, so we're sure to have a lot of nice people. Loads of
+girls,--you know the ones I mean,--and Mr. Blithers is trying to
+arrange a sparring match between those two great prizefighters,--you
+know the ones, Mrs. King,--just to give us poor women a chance to see
+what a real man looks like in--I mean to say, what marvellous
+specimens they are, don't you know. Now please tell the Prince that he
+positively cannot afford to miss a real sparring match. Every one is
+terribly excited over it, and naturally we are keeping it very quiet.
+Won't it be a lark? My daughter thinks it's terrible, but she is
+finicky. One of them is a negro, isn't he?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't know."
+
+"You can imagine how splendid they must be when I tell you that Mr.
+Blithers is afraid they won't come up for less than fifteen thousand
+dollars. Isn't it ridiculous?"
+
+"Perfectly," said Mrs. King.
+
+"Of course, we shall insist on the Prince receiving with us. He is
+our _piece de resistance_. You--"
+
+"I'm sure it will be awfully jolly, Mrs. Blithers. What did you say?"
+
+"I beg pardon?"
+
+"I'm sorry. I was speaking to the Prince. He just called up stairs to
+me."
+
+"What does he say?"
+
+"It was really nothing. He was asking about Hobbs."
+
+"Hobbs? Tell him, please, that if he has any friends he would like to
+have invited we shall be only too proud to--"
+
+"Oh, thank you! I'll tell him."
+
+"You must not let him go away before--"
+
+"I shall try my best, Mrs. Blithers. It is awfully kind of you to ask
+us to--"
+
+"You must all come up to dinner either to-morrow night or the night
+after. I shall be so glad if you will suggest anything that can help
+us to make the ball a success. You see, I know how terribly clever
+you are, Mrs. King."
+
+"I am dreadfully stupid."
+
+"Nonsense!"
+
+"I'm sorry to say we're dining out to-morrow night and on Thursday we
+are having some people here for--"
+
+"Can't you bring them all up to Blitherwood? We'd be delighted to
+have them, I'm sure."
+
+"I'm afraid I couldn't manage it. They--well, you see, they are in
+mourning."
+
+"Oh, I see. Well, perhaps Maud and I could run in and see you for a
+few minutes to-morrow or next day, just to talk things over a little--
+what's that, Maud? I beg your pardon, Mrs. King. Ahem! Well, I'll
+call you up to-morrow, if you don't mind being bothered about a silly
+old ball. Good-bye. Thank you so much."
+
+Mrs. King confronted Robin in the lower hall a few seconds later and
+roundly berated him for shouting up the steps that Hobbs ought to be
+invited to the ball. Prince Robin rolled on a couch and roared with
+delight. Lieutenant Dank, as became an officer of the Royal Guard,
+stood at attention--in the bow window with his back to the room, very
+red about the ears and rigid to the bursting point.
+
+"I suppose, however, we'll have to keep on the good side of the
+Blithers syndicate," said Robin soberly, after his mirth and subsided
+before her wrath. "Good Lord, Aunt Loraine, I simply cannot go up
+there and stand in line like a freak in a side show for all the
+ladies and girls to gape at I'll get sick the day of the party,
+that's what I'll do, and you can tell 'em how desolated I am over my
+misfortune."
+
+"They've got their eyes on you, Bobby," she said flatly. "You can't
+escape so easily as all that. If you're not very, very careful
+they'll have you married to the charming Miss Maud before you can say
+Jack Rabbit."
+
+"Think that's their idea?"
+
+"Unquestionably."
+
+He stretched himself lazily. "Well, it may be that she's the very one
+I'm looking for, Auntie. Who knows?"
+
+"You silly boy!"
+
+"She may be the Golden Girl in every sense of the term," said he
+lightly. "You say she's pretty?"
+
+"My notion of beauty and yours may not agree at all."
+
+"That's not an answer."
+
+"Well, I consider her to be a very good-looking girl."
+
+"Blonde?"
+
+"Mixed. Light brown hair and very dark eyes and lashes. A little
+taller than I, more graceful and a splendid horse-woman. I've seen
+her riding."
+
+"Astride?"
+
+"No. I've seen her in a ball gown, too. Most men think she's
+stunning."
+
+"Well, let's have a game of billiards," said he, dismissing Maud in a
+way that would have caused the proud Mr. Blithers to reel with
+indignation.
+
+A little later on, at the billiard table, Mrs. King remarked, apropos
+of nothing and quite out of a clear sky, so to speak:
+
+"And she'll do anything her parents command her to do, that's the
+worst of it."
+
+"What are you talking about? It's your shot."
+
+"If they order her to marry a title, she'll do it. That's the way
+she's been brought up, I'm afraid."
+
+"Meaning Maud?"
+
+"Certainly. Who else? Poor thing, she hasn't a chance in the world,
+with that mother of hers."
+
+"Shoot, please. Mark up six for me, Dank."
+
+"Wait till you see her, Bobby."
+
+"All right. I'll wait," said he cheerfully.
+
+The next day Count Quinnox and King returned from the city, coming up
+in a private car with Mr. Blithers himself.
+
+"I'll have Maud drive me over this afternoon," said Mr. Blithers, as
+they parted at the station.
+
+But Maud did not drive him over that afternoon. The pride, joy and
+hope of the Blithers family flatly refused to be a party of any such
+arrangement, and set out for a horse-back ride in a direction that
+took her as far away from Red Roof as possible.
+
+"What's come over the girl?" demanded Mr. Blithers, completely non-
+plused. "She's never acted like this before, Lou."
+
+"Some silly notion about being made a laughingstock, I gather," said
+his wife. "Heaven knows I've talked to her till I'm utterly worn out.
+She says she won't be bullied into even meeting the Prince, much less
+marrying him. I've never known her to be so pig-headed. Usually I can
+make her see things in a sensible way. She would have married the
+duke, I'm sure, if--if you hadn't put a stop to it on account of his
+so-called habits. She--"
+
+"Well, it's turned out for the best, hasn't it? Isn't a prince better
+than a duke?"
+
+"You've said all that before, Will. I wanted her to run down with me
+this morning to talk the ball over with Mrs. King, and what do you
+think happened?"
+
+"She wouldn't go?"
+
+"Worse than that. She wouldn't let _me_ go. Now, things are coming to
+a pretty pass when--"
+
+"Never mind. I'll talk to her," said Mr. Blithers, somewhat bleakly
+despite his confident front. "She loves her old dad. I can do
+_anything_ with her."
+
+"She's on a frightfully high horse lately," sighed Mrs. Blithers
+fretfully. "It--it can't be that young Scoville, can it?"
+
+"If I thought it was, I'd--I'd--" There is no telling what Mr.
+Blithers would have done to young Scoville, at the moment, for he
+couldn't think of anything dire enough to inflict upon the suspected
+meddler.
+
+"In any event, it's dreadfully upsetting to me, Will. She--she won't
+listen to anything. And here's something else: She declares she won't
+stay here for the ball on Friday night."
+
+Mr. Blithers had her repeat it, and then almost missed the chair in
+sitting down, he was so precipitous about it.
+
+"Won't stay for her own ball?" he bellowed.
+
+"She says it isn't her ball," lamented his wife.
+
+"If it isn't hers, in the name of God whose is it?"
+
+"Ask her, not me," flared Mrs. Blithers. "And don't glare at me like
+that. I've had nothing but glares since you went away. I thought I
+was doing the very nicest thing in the world when I suggested the
+ball. It would bring them together--"
+
+"The only two it will actually bring together, it seems, are those
+damned prize-fighters. They'll get together all right, but what good
+is it going to do us, if Maud's going to act like this? See here,
+Lou, I've got things fixed so that the Prince of Groostuck can't very
+well do anything but ask Maud to--"
+
+"That's just it!" she exclaimed. "Maud sees through the whole
+arrangement, Will. She said last night that she wouldn't be at all
+surprised if you offered to assume Graustark's debt to Russia in
+order to--"
+
+"That's just what I've done, old girl," said he in triumph. "I'll
+have 'em sewed up so tight by next week that they can't move without
+asking me to loosen the strings. And you can tell Maud once more for
+me that I'll get this Prince for her if--"
+
+"But she doesn't want him!"
+
+"She doesn't know what she wants!" he roared. "Where is she going?"
+
+"You saw her start off on Katydid, so why--"
+
+"I mean on the day of the ball."
+
+"To New York."
+
+"By gad, I'll--I'll see about _that_," he grated. "I'll see that
+she doesn't leave the grounds if I have to put guards at every gate.
+She's got to be reasonable. What does she think I'm putting sixteen
+millions into the Grasstork treasury for? She's got to stay here for
+the ball. Why, it would be a crime for her to--but what's the use
+talking about it? She'll be here and she'll lead the grand march with
+the Prince. I've got it all--"
+
+"Well, you'll have to talk to her. I've done all that I can do. She
+swears she won't marry a man she's never seen."
+
+"Ain't we trying to show him to her?" he snorted. "She won't have to
+marry him till she's seen him, and when she does see him she'll
+apologise to me for all the nasty things she's been saying about me."
+For a moment it looked as though Mr. Blithers would dissolve into
+tears, so suddenly was he afflicted by self-pity. "By the way, didn't
+she like the necklace I sent up to her from Tiffany's?"
+
+"I suppose so. She said you were a dear old foozler."
+
+"Foozler? What's that mean?" He wasn't quite sure, but somehow it
+sounded like a term of opprobrium.
+
+"I haven't the faintest idea," she said shortly.
+
+"Well, why didn't you ask her? You've had charge of her bringing up.
+If she uses a word that you don't know the meaning of, you ought to--
+"
+
+"Are you actually going to lend all that money to Graustark?" she cut
+in.
+
+He glared at her uncertainly for a moment and then nodded his head.
+The words wouldn't come.
+
+"Are you not a trifle premature about it?" she demanded with deep
+significance in her manner.
+
+This time he did not nod his head, nor did he shake it. He simply got
+up and walked out of the room. Half way across the terrace he stopped
+short and said it with a great fervour and instantly felt very much
+relieved. In fact, the sensation of relief was so pleasant that he
+repeated it two or three times and then had to explain to a near by
+gardener that he didn't mean him at all. Then he went down to the
+stables. All the grooms and stableboys came tumbling into the stable
+yard in response to his thunderous shout.
+
+"Saddle Red Rover, and be quick about it," he commanded.
+
+"Going out, sir?" asked the head groom, touching his fore-lock.
+
+"I am," said Mr. Blithers succinctly and with a withering glare. Red
+Rover must have been surprised by the unusual celerity with which he
+was saddled and bridled. If there could be such a thing as a horse
+looking shocked, that beast certainly betrayed himself as he was
+yanked away from his full manger and hustled out to the mounting
+block.
+
+"Which way did Miss Blithers go?" demanded Mr. Blithers, in the
+saddle. Two grooms were clumsily trying to insert his toes into the
+stirrups, at the same time pulling down his trousers legs, which had
+a tendency to hitch up in what seemed to them a most exasperating
+disregard for form. To their certain knowledge, Mr. Blithers had
+never started out before without boot and spur; therefore, the
+suddenness of his present sortie sank into their intellects with
+overwhelming impressiveness.
+
+"Down the Cutler road, sir, three quarters of an hour ago. She
+refused to have a groom go along, sir."
+
+"Get ap!" said Mr. Blithers, and almost ran down a groom in his rush
+for the gate. For the information of the curious, it may be added
+that he did not overtake his daughter until she had been at home for
+half an hour, but he was gracious enough to admit to himself that he
+had been a fool to pursue a stern chase rather than to intercept her
+on the back road home, which _any_ fool might have known she would
+take.
+
+His wife came upon him a few minutes later while he was feverishly
+engaged in getting into his white flannels.
+
+"Tell Maud I'm going over to have tea with the Prince," he grunted,
+without looking up from the shoe lace he was tying in a hard knot. "I
+want her to go with me in fifteen minutes. Told 'em I would bring her
+over to play tennis. Tell her to put on tennis clothes. Hurry up,
+Lou. Where's my watch? What time is it? For God's sake, look at the
+watch, not at me! I'm not a clock! What?"
+
+"Mrs. King called up half an hour ago to say that they were all
+motoring over to the Grandby Tavern for tea and wouldn't be back till
+half-past seven--"
+
+He managed to look up at that. For a moment he was speechless. No one
+had ever treated him like this before.
+
+"Well, I'll be--hanged! Positive engagement. But's it's all right,"
+he concluded resolutely. "I can motor to Grandby Tavern, too, can't
+I? Tell Maud not to mind tennis clothes, but to hurry. Want to go
+along?"
+
+"No, I don't," she said emphatically. "And Maud isn't going, either."
+
+"She isn't, eh?"
+
+"No, she isn't. Can't you leave this affair to me?"
+
+"I'm pretty hot under the collar," he warned her, and it was easy to
+believe that he was.
+
+"Don't rush in where angels fear to tread, Will dear," she pleaded.
+It was so unusual for her to adopt a pleading tone that he overlooked
+the implication. Besides he had just got through calling himself a
+fool, so perhaps she was more or less justified. Moreover, at that
+particular moment she undertook to assist him with his necktie. Her
+soft, cool fingers touched his double chin and seemed to caress it
+lovingly. He lifted his head very much as a dog does when he is being
+tickled on that velvety spot under the lower jaw.
+
+"Stuff and nonsense," he murmured throatily.
+
+"I thought you would see it that way," she said so calmly that he
+blinked a couple of times in sheer perplexity and then diminished his
+double chin perceptibly by a very helpful screwing up of his lower
+lip. He said nothing, preferring to let her think that the most
+important thing in the world just then was the proper adjustment of
+the wings of his necktie. "There!" she said, and patted him on the
+cheek, to show that the task had been successfully accomplished.
+
+"Better come along for a little spin," he said, readjusting the tie
+with man-like ingenuousness. "Do you good, Lou."
+
+"Very well," she said. "Can you wait a few minutes?"
+
+"Long as you like," said he graciously. "Ask Maud if she wants to
+come, too."
+
+"I am sure she will enjoy it," said his wife, and then Mr. Blithers
+descended to the verandah to think. Somehow he felt if he did a
+little more thinking perhaps matters wouldn't be so bad. Among other
+things, he thought it would be a good idea not to motor in the
+direction of Grandby Tavern. And he also thought it was not worth
+while resenting the fact that his wife and daughter took something
+over an hour to prepare for the little spin.
+
+In the meantime, Prince Robin was racing over the mountain roads in a
+high-power car, attended by a merry company of conspirators whose
+sole object was to keep him out of the clutches of that far-reaching
+octopus, William W. Blithers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE PRINCE AND MR. BLITHERS
+
+
+In order to get on with the narrative, I shall be as brief as
+possible in the matter of the Blitherwood ball. In the first place,
+mere words would prove to be not only feeble but actually out of
+place. Any attempt to define the sensation of awe by recourse to a
+dictionary would put one in the ridiculous position of seeking the
+unattainable. The word has its meaning, of course, but the sensation
+itself is quite another thing. As every one who attended the ball was
+filled with awe, which he tried to put forward as admiration, the
+attitude of the guest was no more limp than that of the chronicler.
+In the second place, I am not qualified by experience or imagination
+to describe a ball that stood its promoter not a penny short of one
+hundred thousand dollars. I believe I could go as high as a fifteen
+or even twenty thousand dollar affair with some sort of intelligence,
+but anything beyond those figures renders me void and useless.
+
+Mr. Blithers not only ran a special train de luxe from New York City,
+but another from Washington and still another from Newport, for it
+appears that the Newporters at the last minute couldn't bear the idea
+of going to the Metropolis out of season. He actually had to take
+them around the city in such a way that they were not even obliged to
+submit to a glimpse of the remotest outskirts of the Bronx.
+
+From Washington came an amazing company of foreign ladies and
+gentlemen, ranging from the most exalted Europeans to the lowliest of
+the yellow races. They came with gold all over them; they tinkled
+with the clash of a million cymbals. The President of the United
+States almost came. Having no spangles of his own, he delegated a
+Major-General and a Rear-Admiral to represent Old Glory, and no doubt
+sulked in the White House because a parsimonious nation refuses to
+buy braid and buttons for its chief executive.
+
+Any one who has seen a gentleman in braid, buttons and spangles will
+understand how impossible it is to describe him. One might enumerate
+the buttons and the spangles and even locate them precisely upon his
+person, but no mortal intellect can expand sufficiently to cope with
+an undertaking that would try even the powers of Him who created the
+contents of those wellstuffed uniforms.
+
+A car load of orchids and gardenias came up, fairly depleting the
+florists' shops on Manhattan Island, and with them came a small army
+of skilled decorators. In order to deliver his guests at the doors of
+Blitherwood, so to speak, the incomprehensible Mr. Blithers had a
+temporary spur of track laid from the station two miles away,
+employing no fewer than a thousand men to do the work in forty-eight
+hours. (Work on a terminal extension in New York was delayed for a
+week or more in order that he might borrow the rails, ties and
+worktrains!)
+
+Two hundred and fifty precious and skillfully selected guests ate two
+hundred and fifty gargantuan dinners and twice as many suppers; drank
+barrels of the rarest of wines; smoked countless two dollar Perfectos
+and stuffed their pockets with enough to last them for days to come;
+burnt up five thousand cigarettes and ate at least two dozen eggs for
+breakfast, and then flitted away with a thousand complaints in two
+hundred and fifty Pullman drawing-rooms, Nothing could have been more
+accurately pulled-off than the wonderful Blitherwood ball. (The
+sparring match on the lawn, under the glare of a stupendous cluster
+of lights, resulted in favour of Mr. Bullhead Brown, who
+successfully--if accidentally--landed with considerably energy on the
+left lower corner of Mr. Sledge-hammer Smith's diaphragm, completely
+dividing the purse with him in four scientifically satisfactory
+rounds, although they came to blows over it afterwards when Mr. Smith
+told Mr. Brown what he thought of him for hitting with such fervour
+just after they had eaten a hearty meal.)
+
+A great many mothers inspected Prince Robin with interest and
+confessed to a really genuine enthusiasm: something they had not
+experienced since one of the German princes got close enough to
+Newport to see it quite clearly through his marine glasses from the
+bridge of a battleship. The ruler of Graustark--(four-fifths of the
+guests asked where in the world it was!)--was the lion of the day.
+Mr. Blithers was annoyed because he did not wear his crown, but was
+somewhat mollified by the information that he had neglected to bring
+it along with him in his travels. He was also considerably put out by
+the discovery that the Prince had left his white and gold uniform at
+home and had to appear in an ordinary dress-suit, which, to be sure,
+fitted him perfectly but did not achieve distinction. He did wear a
+black and silver ribbon across his shirt front, however, and a tiny
+gold button in the lapel of his coat; otherwise he might have been
+mistaken for a "regular guest," to borrow an expression from Mr.
+Blithers. The Prince's host manoeuvred until nearly one o'clock in
+the morning before he succeeded in getting a close look at the little
+gold button, and then found that the inscription thereon was in some
+sort of hieroglyphics that afforded no enlightenment whatsoever.
+
+Exercising a potentate's prerogative, Prince Robin left the scene of
+festivity somewhat earlier than was expected. As a matter of fact, he
+departed shortly after one. Moreover, being a prince, it did not
+occur to him to offer any excuse for leaving so early, but gracefully
+thanked his host and hostess and took himself off without the
+customary assertion that he had had a splendid time. Strange to say,
+he did not offer a single comment on the sumptuousness of the affair
+that had been given in his honor. Mr. Blithers couldn't get over
+that. He couldn't help thinking that the fellow had not been properly
+brought-up, or was it possible that he was not in the habit of going
+out in good society?
+
+Except for one heart-rending incident, the Blitherwood ball was the
+most satisfying event in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. William W.
+Blithers. That incident, however, happened to be the hasty and well-
+managed flight of Maud Applegate Blithers at an hour indefinitely
+placed somewhere between four and seven o'clock on the morning of the
+great day.
+
+Miss Blithers was not at the ball. She was in New York City serenely
+enjoying one of the big summer shows, accompanied by young Scoville
+and her onetime governess, a middle-aged gentlewoman who had seen
+even better days than those spent in the employ of William W.
+Blithers. The resolute young lady had done precisely what she said
+she would do, and for the first time in his life Mr. Blithers
+realised that his daughter was a creation and not a mere condition.
+He wilted like a famished water-lily and went about the place in a
+state of bewilderment so bleak that even his wife felt sorry for him
+and refrained from the "I told you so" that might have been expected
+under the circumstances.
+
+Maud's telegram, which came at three o'clock in the afternoon, was
+meant to be reassuring but it failed of its purpose. It said: "Have a
+good time and don't lose any sleep over me. I shall sleep very
+soundly myself at the Ritz to-night and hope you will be doing the
+same when I return home to-morrow afternoon, for I know you will be
+dreadfully tired after all the excitement. Convey my congratulations
+to the guest of honor and believe me to be your devoted and obedient
+daughter."
+
+The co-incidental absence of young Mr. Scoville from the ball was a
+cause of considerable uneasiness on the part of the agitated Mr.
+Blithers, who commented upon it quite expansively in the seclusion of
+his own bed-chamber after the last guest had sought repose. Some of
+the things that Mr. Blithers said about Mr. Scoville will never be
+forgotten by the four walls of that room, if, as commonly reported,
+they possess auricular attachments.
+
+Any one who imagines that Mr. Blithers accepted Maud's defection as a
+final disposition of the cause he had set his heart upon is very much
+mistaken in his man. Far from receding so much as an inch from his
+position, he at once set about to strengthen it in such a way that
+Maud would have to come to the conclusion that it was useless to
+combat the inevitable, and ultimately would heap praises upon his
+devoted head for the great blessing he was determined to bestow upon
+her in spite of herself.
+
+The last of the special coaches was barely moving on its jiggly way
+to the main line, carrying the tag end of the revellers, when he set
+forth in his car for a mid-day visit to Red Roof. Already the huge
+camp of Slavs and Italians was beginning to jerk up the borrowed
+rails and ties; the work trains were rumbling and snorting in the
+meadows above Blitherwood, tottering about on the uncertain road-bed.
+He gave a few concise and imperative orders to obsequious
+superintendents and foremen, who subsequently repeated them with even
+greater freedom to the perspiring foreigners, and left the scene of
+confusion without so much as a glance behind. Wagons, carts,
+motortrucks and all manner of wheeled things were scuttling about
+Blitherwood as he shot down the long, winding avenue toward the lodge
+gates, but he paid no attention to them. They were removing the
+remnants of a glory that had passed at five in the morning. He was
+not interested in the well-plucked skeleton. It was a nuisance
+getting rid of it, that was all, and he wanted it to be completely
+out of sight when he returned from Red Roof. If a vestige of the
+ruins remained, some one would hear from him! That was understood.
+And when Maud came home on the five-fourteen she would not find him
+asleep--not by a long shot!
+
+Half-way to Red Roof, he espied a man walking briskly along the road
+ahead of him. To be perfectly accurate, he was walking in the middle
+of the road and his back was toward the swift-moving, almost
+noiseless Packard.
+
+"Blow the horn for the dam' fool," said Mr. Blithers to the
+chauffeur. A moment later the pedestrian leaped nimbly aside and the
+car shot past, the dying wail of the siren dwindling away in the
+whirr of the wheels. "Look where you're going!" shouted Mr. Blithers
+from the tonneau, as if the walker had come near to running him down
+instead of the other way around. "Whoa! Stop 'er, Jackson!" he called
+to the driver. He had recognised the pedestrian.
+
+The car came to a stop with grinding brakes, and at the same time the
+pedestrian halted a hundred yards away.
+
+"Back up," commanded Mr. Blithers in some haste, for the Prince
+seemed to be on the point of deserting the highway for the wood that
+lined it. "Morning, Prince!" he shouted, waving his hat vigorously.
+"Want a lift?"
+
+The car shot backward with almost the same speed that it had gone
+forward, and the Prince exercised prudence when he stepped quickly up
+the sloping bank at the roadside.
+
+"Were you addressing me," he demanded curtly, as the car came to a
+stop.
+
+"Yes, your highness. Get in. I'm going your way," said Mr. Blithers
+beamingly.
+
+"I mean a moment ago, when you shouted 'Look where you are going,'"
+said Robin, an angry gleam in his eye.
+
+Mr. Blithers looked positively dumbfounded. "Good Heavens, no!" he
+cried. "I was speaking to the chauffeur." (Jackson's back seemed to
+stiffen a little.) "I've told him a thousand times to be careful
+about running up on people like that. Now this is the last time I'll
+warn you, Jackson. The next time you go. Understand? Just because you
+happen to be driving for me doesn't signify that you can run over
+people who--"
+
+"It's all right, Mr. Blithers," interrupted Robin, with his fine
+smile. "No harm done. I'll walk if you don't mind. Out for a bit of
+exercise, you know. Thank you just the same."
+
+"Where are you bound for?" asked Mr. Blithers.
+
+"I don't know. I ramble where my fancy leads me."
+
+"I guess I'll get out and stroll along with you. God knows I need
+more exercise than I get. Is it agreeable?" He was on the ground by
+this time. Without waiting for an answer, he directed Jackson to run
+on to Red Roof and wait for him.
+
+"I shall be charmed," said Robin, a twinkle in the tail of his eye.
+"An eight or ten mile jaunt will do you a world of good, I'm sure.
+Shall we explore this little road up the mountain and then drop down
+to Red Roof? I don't believe it can be more than five or six miles."
+
+"Capital," said Mr. Blithers with enthusiasm. He happened to know
+that it was a "short cut" to Red Roof and less than a mile as the
+crow flies. True, there was something of an ascent ahead of them, but
+there was also a corresponding descent at the other end. Besides, he
+was confident he could keep up with the long-legged youngster by the
+paradoxical process of holding back. The Prince, having suggested the
+route, couldn't very well be arbitrary in traversing it. Mr. Blithers
+regarded the suggestion as an invitation.
+
+They struck off into the narrow woodland road, not precisely side by
+side, but somewhat after the fashion of a horseback rider and his
+groom, or, more strictly speaking, as a Knight and his vassal. Robin
+started off so briskly that Mr. Blithers fell behind a few paces and
+had to exert himself considerably to keep from losing more ground as
+they took the first steep rise. The road was full of ruts and cross
+ruts and littered with boulders that had ambled down the mountain-
+side in the spring moving. To save his life, Mr. Blithers couldn't
+keep to a straight course. He went from rut to rut and from rock to
+rock with the fidelity of a magnetised atom, seldom putting his foot
+where he meant to put it, and never by any chance achieving a steady
+stride. He would take one long, purposeful step and then a couple of
+short "feelers," progressing very much as a man tramps over a newly
+ploughed field.
+
+At the top of the rise, Robin considerately slackened his pace and
+the chubby gentleman drew alongside, somewhat out of breath but as
+cheerful as a cricket.
+
+"Going too fast for you, Mr. Blithers?" inquired Robin.
+
+"Not at all," said Mr. Blithers. "By the way, Prince," he went on,
+cunningly seizing the young man's arm and thereby putting a check on
+his speed for the time being at least, "I want to explain my
+daughter's unfortunate absence last night. You must have thought it
+very strange. Naturally it was unavoidable. The poor girl is really
+quite heart-broken. I beg pardon!" He stepped into a rut and came
+perilously near to going over on his nose. "Beastly road! Thanks.
+Good thing I took hold of you. Yes, as I was saying, it was really a
+most unfortunate thing; missed the train, don't you see. Went down
+for the day--just like a girl, you know--and missed the train."
+
+"Ah, I see. She missed it twice."
+
+"Eh? Oh! Ha ha! Very good! She might just as well have missed it a
+dozen times as once, eh? Well, she could have arranged for a special
+to bring her up, but she's got a confounded streak of thriftiness in
+her. Couldn't think of spending the money. Silly idea of--I beg your
+pardon, did I hurt you? I'm pretty heavy, you know, no light weight
+when I come down on a fellow's toe like that. What say to sitting
+down on this log for a while? Give your foot a chance to rest a bit.
+Deucedly awkward of me. Ought to look out where I'm stepping, eh?"
+
+"It really doesn't matter, Mr. Blithers," said Robin hastily. "We'll
+keep right on if it's all the same to you. I'm due at home in--in
+half an hour. We lunch very punctually."
+
+"I was particularly anxious for you and Maud to meet under the
+conditions that obtained last night," went on Mr. Blithers, with a
+regretful look at the log they were passing. "Nothing could have been
+more--er--ripping."
+
+"I hear from every one that your daughter is most attractive," said
+Robin. "Sorry not to have met her, Mr. Blithers."
+
+"Oh, you'll meet her all right. Prince. She's coming home to-day. I
+believe Mrs. Blithers is expecting you to dinner to-night. She--"
+
+"I'm sure there must be some mistake," began Robin, but was cut
+short.
+
+"I was on my way to Red Roof to ask you and Count Quiddux to give us
+this evening in connection with that little affair we are arranging.
+It is most imperative that it should be to-night, as my attorney is
+coming up for the conference."
+
+"I fear that Mrs. King has planned something--"
+
+Mr. Blithers waved his hand deprecatingly. "I am sure Mrs. King will
+let you off when she knows how important it is. As a matter of fact,
+it has to be tonight or not at all."
+
+There was a note in his voice that Robin did not like. It savoured of
+arrogance.
+
+"I daresay Count Quinnox can attend to all the details, Mr. Blithers.
+I have the power of veto, of course, but I shall be guided by the
+counsel of my ministers. You need have no hesitancy in dealing with--
+"
+
+"That's not the point, Prince. I am a business man,--as perhaps you
+know. I make it a point never to deal with any one except the head of
+a concern, if you'll pardon my way of putting it. It isn't right to
+speak of Growstock as a concern, but you'll understand, of course.
+Figure of speech."
+
+"I can only assure you, sir, that Graustark is in a position to
+indemnify you against any possible chance of loss. You will be amply
+secured. I take it that you are not coming to our assistance through
+any desire to be philanthropic, but as a business proposition, pure
+and simple. At least, that is how we regard the matter. Am I not
+right?"
+
+"Perfectly," said Mr. Blithers. "I haven't got sixteen millions to
+throw away. Still I don't see that that has anything to do with my
+request that you be present at the conference to-night. To be
+perfectly frank with you, I don't like working in the dark. You have
+the power of veto, as you say. Well, if I am to lend Groostork a good
+many millions of hard-earned dollars, I certainly don't relish the
+idea that you may take it into your head to upset the whole
+transaction merely because you have not had the matter presented to
+you by me instead of by your cabinet, competent as its members may
+be. First hand information on any subject is my notion of
+simplicity."
+
+"The integrity of the cabinet is not to be questioned, Mr. Blithers.
+Its members have never failed Graustark in any--"
+
+"I beg your pardon, Prince," said Mr. Blithers firmly, "but I
+certainly suspect that they failed her when they contracted this debt
+to Russia. You will forgive me for saying it, but it was the most
+asinine bit of short-sightedness I've ever heard of. My office boys
+could have seen farther than your honourable ministers."
+
+To his utter amazement, Robin turned a pair of beaming, excited eyes
+upon him.
+
+"Do you really mean that, Mr. Blithers?" he cried eagerly.
+
+"I certainly do!"
+
+"By jove, I--I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you say it. You
+see it is exactly what John Tullis said from the first. He was
+bitterly opposed to the loan. He tried his best to convince the prime
+minister that it was inadvisable. I granted him the special privilege
+of addressing the full House of Nobles on the question, an honour
+that no alien had known up to that time. Of course I was a boy when
+all this happened, Mr. Blithers, or I might have put a stop to the--
+but I'll not go into that. The House of Nobles went against his
+judgment and voted in favour of accepting Russia's loan. Now they
+realise that dear old John Tullis was right. Somehow it gratifies me
+to hear you say that they were--ahem!--shortsighted."
+
+"What you need in Groostock is a little more good American blood,"
+announced Mr. Blithers, pointedly. "If you are going to cope with the
+world, you've got to tackle the job with brains and not with that
+idiotic thing called faith. There's no such thing in these days as
+charity among men, good will, and all that nonsense. Now, you've got
+a splendid start in the right direction, Prince. You've got American
+blood in your veins and that means a good deal. Take my advice and
+increase the proportion. In a couple of generations you'll have
+something to brag about. Take Tullis as your example. Beget sons that
+will think and act as he is capable of doing. Weed out the thin blood
+and give the crown of Grasstick something that is thick and red. It
+will be the making of your--"
+
+"I suppose you are advising me to marry an American woman, Mr.
+Blithers," said Robin drily.
+
+Mr. Blithers directed a calculating squint into the tree-tops. "I am
+simply looking ahead for my own protection, Prince," said he.
+
+"In what respect?"
+
+"Well I am putting a lot of money into the hands of your people.
+Isn't it natural that I should look ahead to some extent?"
+
+"But my people are honest. They will pay."
+
+"I understand all that, but at the same time I do not relish the idea
+of some day being obliged to squeeze blood from a turnip. Now is the
+time for you to think for the future. Your people are honest, I'll
+grant. But they also are poor. And why? Because no one has been able
+to act for them as your friend Tullis is capable of acting. The day
+will come when they will have to settle with me, and will it be any
+easier to pay William W. Blithers than it is to pay Russia? Not a bit
+of it. As you have said, I am not a philanthropist. I shall exact
+full and prompt payment. I prefer to collect from the prosperous,
+however, and not from the poor. It goes against the grain. That's why
+I want to see you rich and powerful--as well as honest."
+
+"I grant you it is splendid philosophy," said Robin. "But are you not
+forgetting that even the best of Americans are sometimes failures
+when it comes to laying up treasure?"
+
+"As individuals, yes; but not as a class. You will not deny that we
+are the richest people in the world. On the other hand I do not
+pretend to say that we are a people of one strain of blood. We
+represent a mixture of many strains, but underneath them all runs the
+full stream that makes us what we are: Americans. You can't get away
+from that. Yes, I _do_ advise you to marry an American girl."
+
+"In other words, I am to make a business of it," said Robin,
+tolerantly.
+
+"It isn't beyond the range of possibility that you should fall in
+love with an American girl, is it? You wouldn't call that making a
+business of it, would you?"
+
+"You may rest assured, Mr. Blithers, that I shall marry to please
+myself and no one else," said Robin, regarding him with a coldness
+that for an instant affected the millionaire uncomfortably.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Blithers, after a moment of hard thinking, "it may
+interest you to know that I married for love."
+
+"It _does_ interest me," said Robin. "I am glad that you did."
+
+"I was a comparatively poor man when I married. The girl I married
+was well-off in her own right. She had brains as well. We worked
+together to lay the foundation for a--well, for the fortune we now
+possess. A fortune, I may add, that is to go, every dollar of it, to
+my daughter. It represents nearly five hundred million dollars. The
+greatest king in the world to-day is poor in comparison to that vast
+estate. My daughter will one day be the richest woman in the world."
+
+"Why are you taking the pains to enlighten me as to your daughter's
+future, Mr. Blithers?"
+
+"Because I regard you as a sensible young man, Prince."
+
+"Thank you. And I suppose you regard your daughter as a sensible
+young woman?"
+
+"Certainly!" exploded Mr. Blithers.
+
+"Well, it seems to me, she will be capable of taking care of her
+fortune a great deal more successfully than you imagine, Mr.
+Blithers. She will doubtless marry an excellent chap who has the
+capacity to increase her fortune, rather than to let it stand at a
+figure that some day may be surpassed by the possessions of an
+ambitious king."
+
+There was fine irony in the Prince's tone but no trace of
+offensiveness. Nevertheless, Mr. Blithers turned a shade more purple
+than before, and not from the violence of exercise. He was having
+some difficulty in controlling his temper. What manner of fool was
+this fellow who could sneer at five hundred million dollars? He
+managed to choke back something that rose to his lips and very
+politely remarked:
+
+"I am sure you will like her, Prince. If I do say it myself, she is
+as handsome as they grow."
+
+"So I have been told."
+
+"You will see her to-night."
+
+"Really, Mr. Blithers, I cannot--"
+
+"I'll fix it with Mrs. King. Don't you worry."
+
+"May I be pardoned for observing that Mrs. King, greatly as I love
+her, is not invested with the power to govern my actions?" said Robin
+haughtily.
+
+"And may I be pardoned for suggesting that it is your duty to your
+people to completely understand this loan of mine before you agree to
+accept it?" said Mr. Blithers, compressing his lips.
+
+"Forgive me, Mr. Blithers, but it is not altogether improbable that
+Graustark may secure the money elsewhere."
+
+"It is not only improbable but impossible," said Mr. Blithers flatly.
+
+"Impossible?"
+
+"Absolutely," said the millionaire so significantly that Robin would
+have been a dolt not to grasp the situation. Nothing could have been
+clearer than the fact that Mr. Blithers believed it to be in his
+power to block any effort Graustark might make in other directions to
+secure the much-needed money.
+
+"Will you come to the point, Mr. Blithers?" said the young Prince,
+stopping abruptly in the middle of the road and facing his companion.
+"What are you trying to get at?"
+
+Mr. Blithers was not long in getting to the point. In the first
+place, he was hot and tired and his shoes were hurting; in the second
+place, he felt that he knew precisely how to handle these money-
+seeking scions of nobility. He planted himself squarely in front of
+the Prince and jammed his hands deep into his coat pockets.
+
+"The day my daughter is married to the man of my choice, I will hand
+over to that man exactly twenty million dollars," he said slowly,
+impressively.
+
+"Yes, go on."
+
+"The sole object I have in life is to see my girl happy and at the
+same time at the top of the heap. She is worthy of any man's love.
+She is as good as gold. She--"
+
+"The point is this, then: You would like to have me for a son-in-
+law."
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Blithers.
+
+Robin grinned. He was amused in spite of himself. "You take it for
+granted that I can be bought?"
+
+"I have not made any such statement."
+
+"And how much will you hand over to the man of _her_ choice when
+she marries him?" enquired the young man.
+
+"You will be her choice," said the other, without the quiver of an
+eye-lash.
+
+"How can you be sure of that? Has she no mind of her own?"
+
+"It isn't incomprehensible that she should fall in love with you, is
+it?"
+
+"It might be possible, of course, provided she is not already in love
+with some one else."
+
+Mr. Blithers started. "Have you heard any one say that--but, that's
+nonsense! She's not in love with any one, take it from me. And just
+to show you how fair I am to her--and to you--I'll stake my head you
+fall in love with each other before you've been together a week."
+
+"But we're not going to be together for a week."
+
+"I should have said before you've known each other a week. You will
+find--"
+
+"Just a moment, please. We can cut all this very short, and go about
+our business. I've never seen your daughter, nor, to my knowledge,
+has she ever laid eyes on me. From what I've heard of her, she _has_ a
+mind of her own. You will not be able to force her into a marriage
+that doesn't appeal to her, and you may be quite sure, Mr. Blithers,
+that you can't force me into one. I do not want you to feel that I
+have a single disparaging thought concerning Miss Blithers. It is
+possible that I could fall in love with her inside of a week, or
+even sooner. But I don't intend to, Mr. Blithers, any more than she
+intends to fall in love with me. You say that twenty millions will go
+to the man she marries, if he is your choice. Well, I don't give a
+hang, sir, if you make it fifty millions. The chap who gets it will
+not be me, so what's the odds? You--"
+
+"Wait a minute, young man," said Mr. Blithers coolly. (He was never
+anything but cool when under fire.) "Why not wait until you have met
+my daughter before making a statement like that? After all, am I not
+the one who is taking chances? Well, I'm willing to risk my girl's
+happiness with you and that's saying everything when you come right
+down to it. She will make you happy in--"
+
+[Illustration: "You will be her choice," said the other, without the
+quiver of an eye-lash ]
+
+"I am not for sale. Mr. Blithers," said Robin abruptly. "Good
+morning." He turned into the wood and was sauntering away with his
+chin high in the air when Mr. Blithers called out to him from behind.
+
+"I shall expect you to-night, just the same."
+
+Robin halted, amazed by the man's assurance. He retraced his steps to
+the roadside.
+
+"Will you pardon a slight feeling of curiosity on my part, Mr.
+Blithers, if I ask whether your daughter consents to the arrangement
+you propose. Does she approve of the scheme?"
+
+Mr. Blithers was honest. "No, she doesn't," he said succinctly. "At
+least, not at present. I'll be honest with you. She stayed away from
+the ball last night simply because she did not want to meet you.
+That's the kind of a girl _she_ is."
+
+"By jove, I take off my hat to her," cried Robin. "She is a brick,
+after all. Take it from me, Mr. Blithers, you will not be able to
+hand over twenty millions without her consent. I believe that I
+should enjoy meeting her, now that I come to think of it. It would be
+a pleasure to exchange confidences with a girl of that sort."
+
+Mr. Blithers betrayed agitation. "See here, Prince, I don't want her
+to know that I've said anything to you about this matter," he said,
+unconsciously lowering his voice as if fearing that Maud might be
+somewhere within hearing distance. "This is between you and me. Don't
+breathe a word of it to her. 'Gad, she'd--she'd skin me alive!" At
+the very thought of it, he wiped his forehead with unusual vigour.
+
+Robin laughed heartily. "Rest easy, Mr. Blithers. I shall not even
+think of your proposition again, much less speak of it."
+
+"Come now, Prince; wait until you've seen her. I know you'll get on
+famously--"
+
+"I should like her to know that I consider her a brick, Mr. Blithers.
+Is it too much to ask of you? Just tell her that I think she's a
+brick."
+
+"Tell her yourself," growled Mr. Blithers, looking very black. "You
+will see her this evening," he added levelly.
+
+"Shall I instruct your chauffeur to come for you up here or will you
+walk back to--"
+
+"I'll walk to Red Roof," said Mr. Blithers doggedly. "I'm going to
+ask Mrs. King to let you off for to-night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A LETTER FROM MAUD
+
+
+Mr. Blithers, triumphant, left Red Roof shortly after luncheon; Mr.
+Blithers, dismayed, arrived at Blitherwood a quarter of an hour
+later. He had had his way with Robin, who, after all, was coming to
+dinner that evening with Count Quinnox. The Prince, after a few words
+in private with the Count, changed his mind and accepted Mr.
+Blithers' invitation with a liveliness that was mistaken for
+eagerness by that gentleman, who had made very short work of subduing
+Mrs. King when she tried to tell him that her own dinner-party would
+be ruined if the principal guest defaulted. He was gloating over his
+victory up to the instant he reached his own lodge gates. There
+dismay sat patiently waiting for him in the shape of a messenger from
+the local telegraph office in the village below. He had seen Mr.
+Blithers approaching in the distance, and, with an astuteness that
+argued well for his future success in life, calmly sat down to wait
+instead of pedaling his decrepit bicycle up the long slope to the
+villa.
+
+He delivered a telegram and kindly vouchsafed the information that it
+was from New York.
+
+Mr. Blithers experienced a queer sinking of the heart as he gazed at
+the envelope. Something warned him that if he opened it in the
+presence of the messenger he would say something that a young boy
+ought not to hear.
+
+"It's from Maud," said the obliging boy, beaming good-nature. It cost
+him a quarter, that bit of gentility, for Mr. Blithers at once said
+something that a messenger boy ought to hear, and ordered Jackson to
+go ahead.
+
+It was from Maud and it said: "I shall stay in town a few days
+longer. It is delightfully cool here. Dear old Miranda is at the Ritz
+with me and we are having a fine spree. Don't worry about money. I
+find I have a staggering balance in the bank. The cashier showed me
+where I had made a mistake in subtraction of an even ten thousand. I
+was amazed to find what a big difference a little figure makes. Have
+made no definite plans but will write Mother to-night. Please give my
+love to the Prince. Have you seen to-day's _Town Truth_? Or worse, has
+he seen it? Your loving daughter, Maud."
+
+The butler was sure it was apoplexy, but the chauffeur, out of a wide
+experience, announced, behind his hand, that he would be all right
+the instant the words ceased to stick in his throat. And he was
+right. Mr. Blithers _was_ all right. Not even the chauffeur had
+seen him when he was more so.
+
+A little later on, after he had cooled off to a quite considerable
+extent, Mr. Blithers lighted a cigar and sat down in the hall outside
+his wife's bed-chamber door. She was having her beauty nap. Not even
+he possessed the temerity to break in upon that. He sat and listened
+for the first sound that would indicate the appeasement of beauty,
+occasionally hitching his chair a trifle nearer to the door in the
+agony of impatience. By the time Jackson returned from the village
+with word that a copy of _Town Truth_ was not to be had until
+the next day, he was so close to the door that if any one had
+happened to stick a hat pin through the keyhole at precisely the
+right instant it would have punctured his left ear with appalling
+results.
+
+"What are we going to do about it?" he demanded three minutes after
+entering the chamber. His wife was prostrate on the luxurious couch
+from which she had failed to arise when he burst in upon her with the
+telegram in his hand.
+
+"Oh, the foolish child," she moaned. "If she only knew how adorable
+he is she wouldn't be acting in this perfectly absurd manner. Every
+girl who was here last night is madly in love with him. Why must Maud
+be so obstinate?"
+
+Mr. Blithers was very careful not to mention his roadside experience
+with the Prince, and you may be sure that he said nothing about his
+proposition to the young man. He merely declared, with a vast
+bitterness in his soul, that the Prince was coming to dinner, but
+what the deuce was the use?
+
+"She ought to be soundly--spoken to," said he, breaking the sentence
+with a hasty gulp. "Now, Lou, there's just one thing to do. I must go
+to New York on the midnight train and get her. That woman was all
+right as a tutor, but hanged if I like to see a daughter of mine
+traipsing around New York with a school teacher. She--"
+
+"You forget that she has retired on a competence. She is not in
+active employment. Will. You forget that she is one of the Van
+Valkens."
+
+"There you go, talking about good old families again. Why is it that
+so blamed many of your fine old blue stockings are hunting jobs--"
+
+"Now don't be vulgar, Will," she cut in. "Maud is quite safe with
+Miranda, and you know it perfectly well, so don't talk like that. I
+think it would be a fearful mistake for you to go to New York. She
+would never forgive you and, what is more to the point, she wouldn't
+budge a step if you tried to bully her into coming home with you. You
+know it quite as well as I do."
+
+He groaned. "Give me a chance to think, Lou. Just half a chance,
+that's all I ask. I'll work out some--"
+
+"Wait until her letter comes. We'll see what she has to say. Perhaps
+she intends coming home tomorrow, who can tell? This may be a pose on
+her part. Give her free rein and she will not pull against the bit.
+It may surprise her into doing the sensible thing if we calmly ignore
+her altogether. I've been thinking it over, and I've come to the
+conclusion that we'll be doing the wisest thing in the world if we
+pay absolutely no attention to her."
+
+"By George, I believe you've hit it, Lou! She'll be looking for a
+letter or telegram from me and she'll not receive a word, eh? She'll
+be expecting us to beg her to come back and all the while we just sit
+tight and say not a word. We'll fool her, by thunder. By to-morrow
+afternoon she'll be so curious to know what's got into us that she'll
+come home on a run. You're right. It takes a thief to catch a thief,
+--which is another way of saying that it takes a woman to understand a
+woman. We'll sit tight and let Maud worry for a day or two. It will
+do her good."
+
+Maud's continued absence was explained to Prince Robin that evening,
+not by the volcanic Mr. Blithers but by his practised and adroit
+better-half who had no compunction in ascribing it to the alarming
+condition of a very dear friend in New York,--one of the Van Valkens,
+you know.
+
+"Maud is so tender-hearted, so loyal, so really sweet about her
+friends, that nothing in the world could have induced her to leave
+this dear friend, don't you know."
+
+"I am extremely sorry not to have met your daughter," said Robin very
+politely.
+
+"Oh, but she will be here in a day or two, Prince."
+
+"Unfortunately, we are leaving to-morrow, Mrs. Blithers."
+
+"To-morrow?" murmured Mrs. Blithers, aghast.
+
+"I received a cablegram to-day advising me to return to Edelweiss at
+once. We are obliged to cut short a very charming visit with Mr. and
+Mrs. King and to give up the trip to Washington. Lieutenant Dank left
+for New York this afternoon to exchange our reservations for the
+first ship that we can--"
+
+"What's this?" demanded Mr. Blithers, abruptly withdrawing his
+attention from Count Quinnox who was in the middle of a sentence when
+the interruption came. They were on the point of going out to dinner.
+"What's this?"
+
+"The Prince says that he is leaving to-morrow--"
+
+"Nonsense!" exploded Mr. Blithers, with no effort toward geniality.
+"He doesn't mean it. Why,--why, we haven't signed a single
+agreement--"
+
+"Fortunately it isn't necessary for me to sign anything, Mr.
+Blithers," broke in Robin hastily. "The papers are to be signed by
+the Minister of Finance, and afterwards my signature is attached in
+approval. Isn't that true, Count Quinnox?"
+
+"I daresay Mr. Blithers understands the situation perfectly," said
+the Count.
+
+Mr. Blithers looked blank. He _did_ understand the situation,
+that was the worst of it. He knew that although the cabinet had
+sanctioned the loan by cable, completing the transaction so far as it
+could be completed at this time, it was still necessary for the
+Minister of Finance to sign the agreement under the royal seal of
+Graustark.
+
+"Of course I understand it," he said bluntly. "Still I had it in mind
+to ask the Prince to put his signature to a sort of preliminary
+document which would at least assure me that he would sign the final
+agreement when the time comes. That's only fair, isn't it?"
+
+"Quite fair, Mr. Blithers. The Prince will sign such an article to-
+morrow or the next day at your office in the city. Pray have no
+uneasiness, sir. It shall be as you wish. By the way, I understood
+that your solicitor--your lawyer, I should say,--was to be here this
+evening. It had occurred to me that he might draw up the statement,--
+if Mrs. Blithers will forgive us in our haste--"
+
+"He couldn't get here," said Mr. Blithers, and no more. He was
+thinking too intently of something more important. "What's turned
+up?"
+
+"Turned up, Mr. Blithers?"
+
+"Yes--in Groostock. What's taking you off in such a hurry?"
+
+"The Prince has been away for nearly six months," said the Count, as
+if that explained everything.
+
+"Was it necessary to cable for him to come home?" persisted the
+financier.
+
+"Graustark and Dawsbergen are endeavouring to form an alliance, Mr.
+Blithers, and Prince Robin's presence at the capitol is very much to
+be desired in connection with the project."
+
+"What kind of an alliance?"
+
+The Count looked bored. "An alliance prescribed for the general
+improvement of the two races, I should say, Mr. Blithers." He smiled.
+"It would in no way impair the credit of Graustark, however. It is
+what you might really describe as a family secret, if you will pardon
+my flippancy."
+
+The butler announced dinner.
+
+"Wait for a couple of days. Prince, and I'll send you down to New
+York by special train," said Mr. Blithers.
+
+"Thank you. It is splendid of you. I daresay everything will depend
+on Dank's success in--"
+
+"Crawford," said Mr. Blithers to the butler, "ask Mr. Davis to look
+up the sailings for next week and let me know at once, will you?"
+Turning to the Prince, he went on: "We can wire down to-night and
+engage passage for next week. Davis is my secretary. I'll have him
+attend to everything. And now let's forget our troubles."
+
+A great deal was said by her parents about Maud's unfortunate
+detention in the city. Both of them were decidedly upset by the
+sudden change in the Prince's plans. Once under pretext of whispering
+to Crawford about the wine, Mr. Blithers succeeded in transmitting a
+question to his wife. She shook her head in reply, and he sighed
+audibly. He had asked if she thought he'd better take the midnight
+train.
+
+Mr. Davis found that there were a dozen ships sailing the next week,
+but nothing came of it, for the Prince resolutely declared he would
+be obliged to take the first available steamer.
+
+"We shall go down to-morrow," he said, and even Mr. Blithers
+subsided. He looked to his wife in desperation. She failed him for
+the first time in her life. Her eyes were absolutely messageless.
+
+"I'll go down with you," he said, and then gave his wife a look of
+defiance.
+
+The next morning brought Maud's letter to her mother. It said:
+"Dearest Mother: I enclose the cutting from _Town Truth_. You
+may see for yourself what a sickening thing it is. The whole world
+knows by this time that the ball was a joke--a horrible joke.
+Everybody knows that you are trying to hand me over to Prince Robin
+neatly wrapped up in bank notes. And everybody knows that he is
+laughing at us, and he isn't alone in his mirth either. What must the
+Truxton Kings think of us? I can't bear the thought of meeting that
+pretty, clever woman face to face. I know I should die of
+mortification, for, of course, she must believe that I am dying to
+marry anything on earth that has a title and a pair of legs. Somehow
+I don't blame you and dad. You really love me, I know, and you want
+to give me the best that the world affords. But why, oh why, can't
+you let me choose for myself? I don't object to having a title, but I
+do object to having a husband that I don't want and who certainly
+could not, by any chance, want me. You think that I am in love with
+Channie Scoville. Well, I'm not. I am very fond of him, that's all,
+and if it came to a pinch I would marry him in preference to any
+prince on the globe. To-day I met a couple of girls who were at the
+ball. They told me that the Prince is adorable. They are really quite
+mad about him, and one of them had the nerve to ask what it was going
+to cost dad to land him. _Town Truth_ says he is to cost ten
+millions! Well, you may just tell dad that I'll help him to practice
+economy. He needn't pay a nickle for my husband--when I get him. The
+world is small. It may be that I shall come upon this same Prince
+Charming some place before it is too late, and fall in love with him
+all of a heap. Loads of silly girls do fall in love with fairy
+princes, and I'm just as silly as the rest of them. Ever since I was
+a little kiddie I've dreamed of marrying a real, lace-and-gold
+Prince, the kind Miranda used to read about in the story books. But I
+also dreamed that he loved me. There's the rub, you see. How could
+any prince love a girl who set out to buy him with a lot of silly
+millions? It's not to be expected. I know it is done in the best
+society, but I should want my prince to be happy instead of merely
+comfortable. I should want both of us to live happy ever afterwards.
+
+"So, dearest mother, I am going abroad to forget. Miranda is going
+with me and we sail next Saturday on the _Jupiter_ I think. We
+haven't got our suite, but Mr. Bliss says he is sure he can arrange
+it for me. If we can't get one on the _Jupiter_, we'll take some
+other boat that is just as inconspicuous. You see, I want to go on a
+ship that isn't likely to be packed with people I know, for it is my
+intention to travel incog, as they say in the books. No one shall
+stare at me and say: 'There is that Maud Blithers we were reading
+about in _Town Truth_--and all the other papers this week. Her
+father is going to buy a prince for her.'
+
+"I know dad will be perfectly furious, but I'm going or die, one or
+the other. Now it won't do a bit of good to try to stop me, dearest.
+The best thing for you and dad to do is to come down at once and say
+goodbye to me--but you are not to go to the steamer! Never! Please,
+please come, for I love you both and I do so want you to love me.
+Come to-morrow and kiss your horrid, horrid, disappointing, loathsome
+daughter--and forgive her, too."
+
+Mr. Blithers was equal to the occasion. His varying emotions
+manifested themselves with peculiar vividness during the reading of
+the letter by his tearful wife. At the outset he was frankly humble
+and contrite; he felt bitterly aggrieved over the unhappy position in
+which they innocently had placed their cherished idol. Then came the
+deep breath of relief over the apparent casting away of young
+Scoville, followed by an angry snort when Maud repeated the remark of
+her girl friend. His dismay was pathetic while Mrs. Blithers was
+fairly gasping out Maud's determination to go abroad, but before she
+reached the concluding sentences of the extraordinary missive, he was
+himself again. As a matter of fact, he was almost jubilant. He
+slapped his knee with resounding force and uttered an ejaculation
+that caused his wife to stare at him as if the very worst had
+happened: he was a chuckling lunatic!
+
+"Immense!" he exclaimed. "Immense!"
+
+"Oh, Will!" she sobbed.
+
+"Nothing could be better! Luck is with me, Lou. It always is."
+
+"In heaven's name, what are you saying, Will?"
+
+"Great Scott, can't you see? He goes abroad, she goes abroad. See?
+Same ship. See what I mean? Nothing could be finer. They--"
+
+"But I do not want my child to go abroad," wailed the unhappy mother.
+"I cannot bear--"
+
+"Stuff and nonsense! Brace up! Grasp the romance. Both of 'em sailing
+under assumed names. They see each other on deck. Mutual attraction.
+Love at first sight. Both of 'em. Money no object. There you are.
+Leave it to me."
+
+"Maud is not the kind of girl to take up with a stranger on board--"
+
+"Don't glare at me like that! Love finds the way, it doesn't matter
+what kind of a girl she is. But listen to me, Lou; we've got to be
+mighty careful that Maud doesn't suspect that we're putting up a job
+on her. She'd balk at the gang-plank and that would be the end of it.
+She must not know that he is on board. Now, here's the idea," and he
+talked on in a strangely subdued voice for fifteen minutes, his
+enthusiasm mounting to such heights that she was fairly lifted to the
+seventh heaven he produced, and, for once in her life, she actually
+submitted to his bumptious argument without so much as a single
+protesting word.
+
+The down train at two-seventeen had on board a most distinguished
+group of passengers, according to the Pullman conductor whose skilful
+conniving resulted in the banishment of a few unimportant creatures
+who had paid for chairs in the observation coach but who had to get
+out, whether or no, when Mr. Blithers loudly said it was a nuisance
+having everything on the shady side of the car taken "on a hot day
+like this." He surreptitiously informed the conductor that there was
+a prince in his party, and that highly impressed official at once
+informed ten other passengers that they had no business in a private
+car and would have to move up to the car ahead--and rather quickly at
+that.
+
+The Prince announced that Lieutenant Dank had secured comfortable
+cabins on a steamer sailing Saturday, but he did not feel at liberty
+to mention the name of the boat owing to his determination to avoid
+newspaper men, who no doubt would move heaven and earth for an
+interview, now that he had become a person of so much importance in
+the social world. Indeed, his indentity was to be more completely
+obscured than at any time since he landed on American soil. He
+thanked Mr. Blithers for his offer to command the "royal suite" on
+the _Jupiter_, but declined, volunteering the somewhat curt remark
+that it was his earnest desire to keep as far away from royalty as
+possible on the voyage over. (A remark that Mr. Blithers couldn't
+quite fathom, then or afterward.)
+
+Mrs. Blithers' retort to her husband's shocked comment on the un-
+princely appearance of the young man and the wofully ordinary suit of
+clothes worn by the Count, was sufficiently caustic, and he was
+silenced--and convinced. Neither of the distinguished foreigners
+looked the part of a nobleman.
+
+"I wouldn't talk about clothes if I were you," Mrs. Blithers had said
+on the station platform. "Who would suspect you of being one of the
+richest men in America?" She sent a disdainful glance at his baggy
+knees and bulging coat pockets, and for the moment he shrank into the
+state of being one of the poorest men in America.
+
+They were surprised and not a little perplexed by the fact that the
+Prince and his companion arrived at the station quite alone. Neither
+of the Kings accompanied them. There was, Mrs. Blithers admitted,
+food for thought in this peculiar omission on the part of the
+Prince's late host and hostess, and she would have given a great deal
+to know what was back of it. The "luggage" was attended to by the
+admirable Hobbs, there being no sign of a Red Roof servant about the
+place. Moreover, there seemed to be considerable uneasiness
+noticeable in the manner of the two foreigners. They appeared to be
+unnecessarily impatient for the train to arrive, looking at their
+watches now and again, and frequently sending sharp glances down the
+village street in the direction of Red Roof. Blithers afterwards
+remarked that they made him think of a couple of absconding cashiers.
+The mystery, however, was never explained.
+
+Arriving at the Grand Central Terminal, Prince Robin and the Count
+made off in a taxi-cab, smilingly declining to reveal their hotel
+destination.
+
+"But where am I to send my attorney with the agreement you are to
+sign, Prince?" asked Mr. Blithers, plainly irritated by the young
+man's obstinacy in declining to be "dropped" at his hotel by the
+Blithers motor.
+
+"I shall come to your office at eleven to-morrow morning, Mr.
+Blithers," said Robin, his hat in his hand. He had bowed very deeply
+to Mrs. Blithers.
+
+"But that's not right," blustered the financier. "A prince of royal
+blood hadn't ought to visit a money-grubber's office. It's not--"
+
+"_Noblesse oblige_," said Robin, with his hand on his heart. "It
+has been a pleasure to know you, Mrs. Blithers. I trust we may meet
+again. If you should ever come to Graustark, please consider that the
+castle is yours--as you hospitable Americans would say."
+
+"We surely will," said Mrs. Blithers. Both the Prince and Count
+Quinnox bowed very profoundly, and did not smile.
+
+"And it will be ours," added Mr. Blithers, more to himself than to
+his wife as the two tall figures moved off with the throng. Then to
+his wife: "Now to find out what ship they're sailing on. I'll fix it
+so they'll _have_ to take the _Jupiter_, whether they want to or not."
+
+"Wouldn't it be wisdom to find out what ship Maud is sailing on,
+Will? It seems to me that she is the real problem."
+
+"Right you are!" said he instantly. "I must be getting dotty in my
+old age, Lou."
+
+They were nearing the Ritz when she broke a prolonged period of
+abstraction by suddenly inquiring: "What did you mean when you said
+to him on the train: 'Better think it over, Prince,' and what did he
+mean by the insolent grin he gave you in reply?"
+
+Mr. Blithers looked straight ahead.
+
+"Business," said he, answering the first question but not the last.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+ON BOARD THE "JUPITER"
+
+
+A grey day at sea. The _Jupiter_ seemed to be slinking through the
+mist and drizzle, so still was the world of waters. The ocean was
+as smooth as a mill pond; the reflected sky came down bleak and drab
+and no wind was stirring. The rush of the ship through the glassy,
+sullen sea produced a fictitious gale across the decks; aside from
+that there was dead calm ahead and behind.
+
+A threat seemed to lurk in the smooth, oily face of the Atlantic. Far
+ahead stretched the grey barricade that seemed to mark the spot where
+the voyage was to end. There was no going beyond that clear-cut line.
+When the ship came up to it, there would be no more water beyond;
+naught but a vast space into which the vessel must topple and go on
+falling to the end of time. The great sirens were silent, for the fog
+of the night before had lifted, laying bare a desolate plain. The
+ship was sliding into oblivion, magnificently indifferent to the
+catastrophe that awaited its arrival at the edge of the universe. And
+she was sailing the sea alone. All other ships had passed over that
+sinister line and were plunging toward a bottom that would never be
+reached, so long is eternity.
+
+The decks of the _Jupiter_ were wet with the almost invisible drizzle
+that filled the air, yet they were swarming with the busy pedestrians
+who never lose an opportunity to let every one know that they are on
+board. No ship's company is complete without its leg-stretchers. They
+who never walk a block on dry land without complaining, right manfully
+lop off miles when walking on the water, and get to be known--at least
+visually--to the entire first cabin before they have paraded half way
+across the Atlantic. (There was once a man who had the strutting
+disease so badly that he literally walked from Sandy Hook to Gaunt's
+Rock, but, who, on getting to London, refused to walk from the Savoy
+to the Cecil because of a weak heart.) The worst feature about these
+inveterate water-walkers is that they tread quite as proudly upon
+other people's feet as they do upon their own, and as often as not
+they appear to do it from choice. Still, that is another story. It has
+nothing to do with the one we are trying to tell.
+
+To resume, the decks of the _Jupiter_ were wet and the sky was drab.
+New York was twenty-four hours astern and the brief Sunday service had
+come to a peaceful end. It died just in time to escape the horrors of
+a popular programme by the band amidships. The echo of the last amen
+was a resounding thump on the big bass drum.
+
+Three tall, interesting looking men stood leaning against the
+starboard rail of the promenade deck, unmindful of the mist, watching
+the scurrying throng of exercise fiends. Two were young, the third
+was old, and of the three there was one who merited the second glance
+that invariably was bestowed upon him by the circling passers-by.
+Each succeeding revolution increased the interest and admiration and
+people soon began to favour him with frankly unabashed stares and
+smiles that could not have been mistaken for anything but tribute to
+his extreme good looks.
+
+He stood between the gaunt, soldierly old man with the fierce
+moustache, and the trim, military young man with one that was close
+cropped and smart. Each wore a blue serge suit and affected a short
+visored cap of the same material, and each lazily puffed at a very
+commonplace briar pipe. They in turn were watching the sprightly
+parade with an interest that was calmly impersonal. They saw no one
+person who deserved more than a casual glance, and yet the motley
+crowd passed before them, apparently without end, as if expecting a
+responsive smile of recognition from the tall young fellow to whom it
+paid the honest tribute of curiosity.
+
+The customary he-gossip and perennial snooper who is always making
+the voyage no matter what ship one takes or the direction one goes,
+nosed out the purser and discovered that the young man was R. Schmidt
+of Vienna. He was busy thereafter mixing with the throng,
+volunteering information that had not been solicited but which
+appeared to be welcome. Especially were the young women on board
+grateful to the he-gossip, when he accosted them as a perfect
+stranger to tell them the name of another and even more perfect
+stranger.
+
+"Evidently an Austrian army officer," he always proclaimed, and that
+seemed to settle it.
+
+Luckily he did not overhear R. Schmidt's impassive estimate of the
+first cabin parade, or he might have had something to repeat that
+would not have pleased those who took part in it.
+
+"Queer looking lot of people," said R. Schmidt, and his two
+companions moodily nodded their heads.
+
+"I am sorry we lost those rooms on the _Salammbo_," said the younger
+of his two companions. "I had them positively engaged, money paid
+down."
+
+"Some one else came along with more money, Dank," observed R.
+Schmidt. "We ought to be thankful that we received anything at all.
+Has it occurred to you that this boat isn't crowded?"
+
+"Not more than half full," said the older man. "All of the others
+appeared to be packed from hold to funnel. This must be an unpopular
+boat."
+
+"I don't know where we'd be, however, if Mr. Blithers hadn't thought
+of the _Jupiter_ almost at the last minute," said R. Schmidt.
+
+"Nine day boat, though," growled the old man.
+
+"I don't mind that in the least. She's a steady old tub and that's
+something."
+
+"Hobbs tells me that it is most extraordinary to find the east bound
+steamers crowded at this season of the year," said Dank. "He can't
+understand it at all. The crowds go over in June and July and by this
+time they should be starting for home. I thought we'd have no
+difficulty in getting on any one of the big boats, but, by jove,
+everywhere I went they said they were full up."
+
+"It was uncommonly decent of Blithers not coming down to see us off,"
+said the elderly man, who was down on the passenger list as Totten.
+"I was apprehensive, 'pon my soul. He stuck like a leech up to the
+last minute."
+
+R. Schmidt was reflecting. "It struck me as queer that he had not
+heard of the transfer of our securities in London."
+
+I cannot understand Bernstein & Sons selling out at a time when the
+price of our bonds is considerably below their actual value," said
+Totten, frowning." A million pounds sterling is what their holdings
+really represented; according to the despatches they must have sold
+at a loss of nearly fifty thousand pounds. It is unbelievable that
+the house can be hard-pressed for money. There isn't a sounder
+concern in Europe than Bernstein's."
+
+"We should have a Marconi-gram to-night or tomorrow in regard to the
+bid made in Paris for the bonds held by the French syndicate," said
+Dank, pulling at his short moustache." Mr. Blithers is investigating."
+
+"There is something sinister in all this," said R. Schmidt. "Who is
+buying up all of the out-standing bonds and what is behind the
+movement? London has sold all that were held there and Paris is
+approached on the same day. If Paris and Berlin should sell, nearly
+four million pounds in Graustark bonds will be in the hands of people
+whose identity and motives appear to be shrouded in the deepest
+mystery."
+
+"And four million pounds represents the entire amount of our bonds
+held by outside parties," said Totten, with a significant shake of
+his grizzled head. "The remainder are in the possession of our own
+institutions and the people themselves. We should hear from
+Edelweiss, too, in response to my cablegram. Perhaps Romano may be
+able to throw light on the situation. I confess that I am troubled."
+
+"Russia would have no object in buying up our general bonds, would
+she?" inquired R. Schmidt.
+
+"None whatever. She would have nothing to gain. Mr. Blithers assured
+me that he was not in the least apprehensive. In fact, he declared
+that Russia would not be buying bonds that do not mature for twelve
+years to come. There must be some private--eh?"
+
+A steward was politely accosting the trio.
+
+"I beg pardon, is this Mr. Totten?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Message for you, sir, at the purser's."
+
+"Bring it to my stateroom, Totten," said R. Schmidt briefly, and the
+old man hurried away on the heels of the messenger.
+
+The two young men sauntered carelessly in an opposite direction and
+soon disappeared from the deck. A few minutes later, Totten entered
+the luxurious parlour of R. Schmidt and laid an unopened wireless
+message on the table at the young man's elbow.
+
+"Open it, Totten."
+
+The old man slit the envelope and glanced at the contents. He nodded
+his head in answer to an unspoken question.
+
+"Sold?" asked R. Schmidt.
+
+"Paris and Berlin, both of them, Prince. Every bond has been gobbled
+up."
+
+"Does he mention the name of the buyer?"
+
+"Only by the use of the personal pronoun. He says--'I have taken over
+the Paris and Berlin holdings. All is well.' It is signed 'B.' So!
+Now we know."
+
+"By jove!" fell from the lips of both men, and then the three
+Graustarkians stared in speechless amazement at each other for the
+space of a minute before another word was spoken.
+
+"Blithers!" exclaimed Dank, sinking back into his chair.
+
+"Blithers," repeated Totten, but with an entirely different
+inflection. The word was conviction itself as he pronounced it.
+
+R. Schmidt indulged in a wry little smile. "It amounts to nearly
+twenty million dollars, Count. That's a great deal of money to spend
+in the pursuit of an idle whim."
+
+"Humph!" grunted the old Count, and then favoured the sunny-faced
+Prince with a singularly sharp glance. "Of course, you understand his
+game?"
+
+"Perfectly. It's as clear as day. He intends to be the crown father-
+in-law. I suppose he will expect Graustark to establish an Order of
+Royal Grandfathers."
+
+"It may prove to be no jest, Robin," said the Count seriously.
+
+"My dear Quinnox, don't look so sad," cried the Prince. "He may have
+money enough to buy Graustark but he hasn't enough to buy
+grandchildren that won't grow, you know. He is counting chickens
+before they're hatched, which isn't a good business principle, I'd
+have you to know."
+
+"What was it he said to you at Red Roof?"
+
+"That was nothing. Pure bluster."
+
+"He said he had never set his heart on anything that he didn't get in
+the end, wasn't that it?"
+
+"I think so. Something of the sort. I took it as a joke."
+
+"Well, I took it as a threat."
+
+"A threat?"
+
+"A pleasant, agreeable threat, of course. He has set his heart on
+having the crown of Graustark worn by a Blithers. That is the long
+and short of it."
+
+"I believe he did say to me in the woods that day that he could put
+his daughter on any throne in Europe if he set his mind to the job,"
+said the Prince carelessly. "But you see, the old gentleman is not
+counting on two very serious sources of opposition when it comes to
+this particular case. There is Maud, you see,--and me."
+
+"I am not so sure of the young lady," said the Count sententiously.
+"The opposition may falter a bit there, and half of his battle is
+won."
+
+"You seem to forget, Quinnox, that such a marriage is utterly
+impossible," said the Prince coldly, "Do you imagine that I would
+marry--"
+
+"Pardon me, highness, I said _half_ the battle would be won. I
+do contemplate a surrender on your part. You are a very pig-headed
+young man. The most pig-headed I've ever known, if you will forgive
+me for expressing myself so--"
+
+"You've said it a hundred times," laughed the Prince, good-naturedly.
+"Don't apologise. Not only you but the entire House of Nobles have
+characterised me as pig-headed and I have never even thought of
+resenting it, so it must be that I believe it to be true."
+
+"We have never voiced the opinion, highness, except in reference to
+our own great desire to bring about the union between our beloved
+ruler and the Crown Princess of--"
+
+"So," interrupted R. Schmidt, "it ought to be very clear to you that
+if I will not marry to please my loyal, devoted cabinet I certainly
+shall not marry to please William W. Blithers. No doubt the excellent
+Maud is a most desirable person. In any event, she has a mind of her
+own. I confess that I am sorry to have missed seeing her. We might
+have got on famously together, seeing that our point of view is
+apparently unique in this day and age of the world, No, my good
+friends, Mr. Blithers is making a poor investment. He will not get
+the return for his money that he is expecting. If it pleases him to
+buy our securities, all well and good. He shall lose nothing in the
+end. But he will find that Graustark is not a toy, nor the people
+puppets. More than all that, I am not a bargain sale prince with
+Christmas tree aspirations, but a very unamiable devil who cultivates
+an ambition to throw stones at the conventions. Not only do I intend
+to choose my wife but also the court grandfather. And now let us
+forget the folly of Mr. Blithers and discuss his methods of business.
+What does he expect to gain by this extraordinary investment?"
+
+Count Quinnox looked at him rather pityingly. "It appears to be his
+way of pulling the strings, my boy. He has loaned us something like
+sixteen millions of dollars. We have agreed to deposit our public
+service bonds as security against the loan, so that practically
+equalises the situation. It becomes a purely business transaction.
+But he sees far ahead. This loan of his matures at practically the
+same time that our first series of government bonds are due for
+payment. It will be extremely difficult for a small country, such as
+Graustark, to raise nearly forty millions of dollars in, say ten
+years. The European syndicates undoubtedly would be willing to renew
+the loan under a new issue--I think it is called refunding, or
+something of the sort. But Mr. Blithers will be in a position to say
+no to any such arrangement. He holds the whip hand and--"
+
+"But, my dear Count," interrupted the Prince, "what if he does hold
+it? Does he expect to wait ten years before exercising his power? You
+forget that marriage is his ambition. Isn't he taking a desperate
+risk in assuming that I will not marry before the ten years are up?
+And, for that matter, his daughter may decide to wed some other chap
+who--"
+
+"That's just the point," said Quinnox. "He is arranging it so that
+you _can't_ marry without his consent."
+
+"The deuce you say!"
+
+"I am not saying that he can carry out his design, my dear boy, but
+it is his secret hope, just the same. So far as Graustark is
+concerned, she will stand by you no matter what betides. As you know,
+there is nothing so dear to our hearts as the proposed union of
+Dawsbergen's Crown Princess and--"
+
+"That's utterly out of the question, Count," said the Prince, setting
+his jaws.
+
+The count sighed patiently. "So you say, my boy, so you say. But you
+are not reasonable. How can you know that the Crown Princess of
+Dawsbergen is not the very mate your soul has been craving--"
+
+"That's not the point. I am opposed to this miserable custom of
+giving in marriage without the consent of the people most vitally
+concerned, and I shall never recede from my position."
+
+"You are very young, my dear Prince."
+
+"And I intend to remain young, my dear Count. Loveless marriages make
+old men and women of youths and maidens. I remember thinking that
+remark out for myself after a great deal of effort, and you may
+remember that I sprung it with considerable effect on the cabinet
+when the matter was formally discussed a year or two ago. You heard
+about it, didn't you, Dank?"
+
+"I did, highness."
+
+"And every newspaper in the world printed it as coming from me,
+didn't they? Well, there you are. I can't go behind my publicly
+avowed principles."
+
+The young fellow stretched his long body in a sort of luxurious
+defiance, and eyed his companions somewhat combatively.
+
+"Sounds very well," growled the Count, with scant reverence for
+royalty, being a privileged person.
+
+"Now, Dank here can marry any one he likes--if she'll have him--and
+he is only a lieutenant of the guard. Why should I,--prince royal and
+master of all he surveys, so to speak,--why should I be denied a
+privilege enjoyed by every good-looking soldier who carries a sword
+in my army--_my_ army, do you understand? I leave it to you, Dank, is
+it fair? Who are you that you should presume to think of a happy
+marriage while I, your Prince, am obliged to twiddle my thumbs and say
+'all right, bring any old thing along and I'll marry her'? Who are
+you, Dank, that's what I'd like to know."
+
+His humour was so high-handed that the two soldiers laughed and Dank
+ruefully admitted that he was a lucky dog.
+
+"You shall not marry into the Blithers family, my lad, if we can help
+it," said the Count, pulling at his moustaches.
+
+"I should say not!" said Dank, feeling for his.
+
+"I should as soon marry a daughter of Hobbs," said R. Schmidt,
+getting up from his chair with restored sprightliness. "If he had
+one, I mean."
+
+"The bonds of matrimony and the bonds of government are by no means
+synonymous," said Dank, and felt rather proud of himself when his
+companions favoured him with a stare of amazement. The excellent
+lieutenant was not given to persiflage. He felt that for a moment he
+had scintillated.
+
+"Shall we send a wireless to Blithers congratulating him on his
+coup?" enquired the Prince gaily.
+
+"No," said the Count. "Congratulating ourselves on his coup is
+better."
+
+"Good! And you might add that we also are trusting to luck. It may
+give him something to think about. And now where is Hobbs?" said
+royalty.
+
+"Here, sir," said Hobbs, appearing in the bed-room door, but not
+unexpectedly. "I heard wot you said about my daughter, sir. It may
+set your mind at rest, sir, to hear that I am childless."
+
+"Thank you, Hobbs. You are always thinking of my comfort. You may
+order luncheon for us in the Ritz restaurant. The head steward has
+been instructed to reserve the corner table for the whole voyage."
+
+"The 'ead waiter, sir," corrected Hobbs politely, and was gone.
+
+In three minutes he was back with the information that two ladies had
+taken the table and refused to be dislodged, although the head waiter
+had vainly tried to convince them that it was reserved for the
+passage by R. Schmidt and party.
+
+"I am quite sure, sir, he put it to them very hagreeably and
+politely, but the young lady gave 'im the 'aughtiest look I've ever
+seen on mortal fice, sir, and he came back to me so 'umble that I
+could 'ardly believe he was an 'ead waiter."
+
+"I hope he was not unnecessarily persistent," said the Prince,
+annoyed. "It really is of no consequence where we sit."
+
+"Ladies first, world without end," said Dank. "Especially at sea."
+
+"He was not persistent, sir. In fact he was hextraordinary subdued
+all the time he was hexplaining the situation to them. I could tell
+by the way his back looked, sir."
+
+"Never mind, Hobbs. You ordered luncheon?"
+
+"Yes, your 'ighness. Chops and sweet potatoes and--"
+
+"But that's what we had yesterday, Hobbs."
+
+A vivid red overspread the suddenly dismayed face of Hobbs. "'Pon my
+soul, sir, I--I clean forgot that it was yesterday I was thinking of.
+The young lady gave me such a sharp look, sir, when the 'ead waiter
+pointed at me that I clean forgot wot I was there for. I will 'urry
+back and--"
+
+"Do, Hobbs, that's a good fellow. I'm as hungry as a bear. But no
+chops!"
+
+"Thank you, sir. No chops. Absolutely, sir." He stopped in the
+doorway. "I daresay it was 'er beauty, sir, that did it. No chops.
+Quite so, sir."
+
+"If Blithers were only here," sighed Dank. "He would make short work
+of the female invasion. He would have them chucked overboard."
+
+"I beg pardon, sir," further adventured Hobbs, "but I fancy not even
+Mr. Blithers could move that young woman, sir, if she didn't 'appen
+to want to be moved. Never in my life, sir, have I seen--"
+
+"Run along, Hobbs," said the Prince. "Boiled guinea hen."
+
+"And cantaloupe, sir. Yes, sir, I quite remember everything now,
+sir."
+
+Twenty minutes later, R. Schmidt, seated in the Ritz restaurant,
+happened to look fairly into the eyes of the loveliest girl he had
+ever seen, and on the instant forgave the extraordinary delinquency
+of the hitherto infallible Hobbs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE PRINCE MEETS MISS GUILE
+
+
+Later on R. Schmidt sat alone in a sheltered corner of the promenade
+deck, where chairs had been secured by the forehanded Hobbs. The thin
+drizzle now aspired to something more definite in the shape of a
+steady downpour, and the decks were almost deserted, save for the few
+who huddled in the unexposed nooks where the sweep and swish of the
+rain failed to penetrate. There was a faraway look in the young man's
+eyes, as of one who dreams pleasantly, with little effort but
+excellent effect. His pipe had gone out, so his dream must have been
+long and uninterrupted. Eight bells sounded, but what is time to a
+dreamer? Then came one bell and two, and now his eyes were closed.
+
+Two women came and stood over him, but little did they suspect that
+his dream was of one of them: the one with the lovely eyes and the
+soft brown hair. They surveyed him, whispering, the one with a little
+perplexed frown on her brow, the other with distinct signs of
+annoyance in her face. The girl was not more than twenty, her
+companion quite old enough to be her mother: a considerate if not
+complimentary estimate, for a girl's mother may be either forty,
+fifty or even fifty-five, when you come to think of it.
+
+They were looking for something. That was quite clear. And it was
+deplorably clear that whatever it was, R. Schmidt was sitting upon
+it. They saw that he was asleep, which made the search if not the
+actual recovery quite out of the question. The older woman was on the
+point of poking the sleeper with the toe of her shoe, being a matter-
+of-fact sort of person, when the girl imperatively shook her head and
+frowned upon the lady in a way to prove that even though she was old
+enough to be the mother of a girl of twenty she was by no means the
+mother of this one.
+
+At that very instant, R. Schmidt opened his eyes. It must have been a
+kindly poke by the god of sleep that aroused him so opportunely, but
+even so, the toe of a shoe could not have created a graver
+catastrophe than that which immediately befell him. He completely
+lost his head. If one had suddenly asked what had become of it, he
+couldn't have told, not for the life of him. For that matter, he
+couldn't have put his finger, so to speak, on any part of his person
+and proclaimed with confidence that it belonged to R. Schmidt of
+Vienna. He was looking directly up into a pair of dark, startled
+eyes, in which there was a very pretty confusion and a far from
+impervious blink.
+
+"I beg your pardon," said the older woman, without the faintest trace
+of embarrassment,--indeed, with some asperity,--"I think you are
+occupying one of our chairs."
+
+He scrambled out of the steamer rug and came to his feet, blushing to
+the roots of his hair.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he stammered, and found his awkwardness rewarded
+by an extremely sweet smile--in the eyes of the one he addressed.
+
+"We were looking for a letter that I am quite sure was left in my
+chair," said she.
+
+"A letter?" he murmured vaguely, and at once began to search with his
+eyes.
+
+"From her father," volunteered the elderly one, as if it were a
+necessary bit of information. Then she jerked the rug away and three
+pairs of eyes examined the place where R. Schmidt had been reclining.
+"That's odd. Did you happen to see it when you sat down, sir?"
+
+"I am confident that there was no letter--" began he, and then
+allowed his gaze to rest on the name-card at the top of the chair.
+"This happens to be _my_ chair, madam," he went on, pointing to
+the card. "'R. Schmidt.' I am very sorry."
+
+"The steward must have put that card there while you were at
+luncheon, dear. What right has he to sell our chairs over again? I
+shall report this to the Captain--"
+
+"I am quite positive that this is my chair, sir," said the girl, a
+spot of red in each cheek. "It was engaged two days ago. I have been
+occupying it since--but it really doesn't matter. It has your name
+on it now, so I suppose I shall have to--"
+
+"Not at all," he made haste to say. "It's yours. There has been some
+miserable mistake. These deck stewards are always messing things up.
+Still, it is rather a mystery about the letter. I assure you I saw
+no--"
+
+"No doubt the steward who changed the cards had sufficient
+intelligence to remove all incriminating evidence," said she coolly.
+"We shall find it among the lost, strayed and stolen articles, no
+doubt. Pray retain the chair, Mr.--" She peered at the name-card--
+"Mr. Schmidt."
+
+Her cool insolence succeeded in nettling a nature that was usually
+most gentle. He spoke with characteristic directness.
+
+"Thank you, I shall do so. We thereby manage to strike a fair
+average. I seize your deck chair, you seize my table. We are quits."
+
+She smiled faintly. "R. Schmidt did not sound young and gentle, but
+old and hateful. That is why I seized the table. I expected to find
+R. Schmidt a fat, old German with very bad manners. Instead, you are
+neither fat, old, nor disagreeable. You took it very nicely, Mr.
+Schmidt, and I am undone. Won't you permit me to restore your table
+to you?"
+
+The elderly lady was tapping the deck with a most impatient foot.
+"Really my dear, we were quite within our rights in approaching the
+head waiter. He--"
+
+"He said it was engaged," interrupted the young lady. "R. Schmidt was
+the name he gave and I informed him it meant nothing to me. I am very
+sorry, Mr. Schmidt. I suppose it was all because I am so accustomed
+to having my own way."
+
+"In that case, it is all very easy to understand," said he, "for I
+have always longed to be in a position where I could have my own way.
+I am sure that if I could have it, I would be a most overbearing,
+selfish person."
+
+"We must enquire at the office for the letter, my dear, before--"
+
+"It may have dropped behind the chair," said the girl.
+
+"Right!" cried R. Schmidt, dragging the chair away and pointing in
+triumph at the missing letter. He stooped to recover the missive, but
+she was quick to forestall him. With a little gasp she pounced upon
+it and, like a child proceeded to hold it behind her back. He
+stiffened. "I remember that you said it was from your father."
+
+She hesitated an instant and then held it forth for his inspection,
+rather adroitly concealing the postmark with her thumb. It was
+addressed to "Miss B. Guile, S. S. _Jupiter_, New York City, N. Y.,"
+and type-written.
+
+"It is only fair that we should be quits in every particular," she
+said, with a frank smile.
+
+He bowed. "A letter of introduction," he said, "in the strictest
+sense of the word. You have already had my card thrust upon you, so
+everything is quite regular. And now it is only right and proper that
+I should see what has become of your chairs. Permit me--"
+
+"Really, Miss Guile," interposed her companion, "this is quite
+irregular. I may say it is unusual. Pray allow me to suggest--"
+
+"I think it is only right that Mr. Schmidt should return good for
+evil," interrupted the girl gaily. "Please enquire, Mr. Schmidt. No
+doubt the deck steward will know."
+
+Again the Prince bowed, but this time there was amusement instead of
+uncertainty in his eyes. It was the first time that any one had ever
+urged him, even by inference, to "fetch and carry." Moreover, she was
+extremely cool about it, as one who exacts much of young men in serge
+suits and outing-caps. He found himself wondering what she would say
+if he were to suddenly announce that he was the Prince of Graustark.
+The thought tickled his fancy, accounting, no doubt, for the even
+deeper bow that he gave her.
+
+"They can't be very far away," he observed quite meekly. "Oh, I say,
+steward! One moment, here." A deck steward approached with alacrity.
+"What has become of Miss Guile's chair?"
+
+The man touched his cap and beamed joyously upon the fair young lady.
+
+"Ach! See how I have forgot! It is here! The best place on the deck--
+on any deck. See! Two--side by side,--above the door, away from the
+draft--see, in the corner, ha, ha! Yes! Two by side. The very best.
+Miss Guile complains of the draft from the door. I exchanged the
+chairs. See! But I forgot to speak. Yes! See!"
+
+And, sure enough, there were the chairs of Miss Guile and her
+companion snugly stowed away in the corner, standing at right angles
+to the long row that lined the deck, the foot rests pointed directly
+at the chair R. Schmidt had just vacated, not more than a yard and a
+half away.
+
+"How stupid!" exclaimed Miss Guile. "Thank you, steward. This is much
+better. So sorry, Mr. Schmidt, to have disturbed you. I abhor drafts,
+don't you?"
+
+"Not to the extent that I shall move out of this one," he replied
+gallantly, "now that I've got an undisputed claim to it. I intend to
+stand up for my rights, Miss Guile, even though you find me at your
+feet."
+
+"How perfectly love--" began Miss Guile, a gleam of real enthusiasm
+in her eyes. A sharp, horrified look from her companion served as a
+check, and she became at once the coolly indifferent creature who
+exacts everything. "Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, for being so nice when we
+were trying so hard to be horrid."
+
+"But you don't know how nice you are when you are trying to be
+horrid," he remarked. "Are you not going to sit down, now that we've
+captured the disappearing chair?"
+
+"No," she said, and he fancied he saw regret in her eyes. "I am going
+to my room,--if I can find it. No doubt it also is lost. This seems
+to be a day for misplacing things."
+
+"At any rate, permit me to thank you for discovering me, Miss Guile."
+
+"Oh, I daresay I shall misplace you, too, Mr. Schmidt." She said it
+so insolently that he flushed as he drew himself up and stepped aside
+to allow her to pass. For an instant their eyes met, and the sign of
+the humble was not to be found in the expression of either.
+
+"Even _that_ will be something for me to look forward to, Miss Guile,"
+said he. Far from being vexed, she favoured him with a faint smile
+of--was it wonder or admiration?
+
+Then she moved away, followed by the uneasy lady--who was old enough
+to be her mother and wasn't.
+
+Robin remained standing for a moment, looking after her, and somehow
+he felt that his dream was not yet ended. She turned the corner of
+the deck building and was lost to sight. He sat down, only to arise
+almost instantly, moved by a livelier curiosity than he ever had felt
+before. Conscious of a certain feeling of stealth, he scrutinised the
+cards in the backs of the two chairs. The steward was collecting the
+discarded steamer-rugs farther down the deck, and the few passengers
+who occupied chairs, appeared to be snoozing,--all of which he took
+in with his first appraising glance. "Miss Guile" and "Mrs. Gaston"
+were the names he read.
+
+"Americans," he mused. "Young lady and chaperone, that's it. A real
+American beauty! And Blithers loudly boasts that his daughter is the
+prettiest girl in America! Shades of Venus! Can there be such a thing
+on earth as a prettier girl than this one? Can nature have performed
+the impossible? Is America so full of lovely girls that this one must
+take second place to a daughter of Blithers? I wonder if she knows
+the imperial Maud. I'll make it a point to inquire."
+
+Moved by a sudden restlessness, he decided that he was in need of
+exercise. A walk would do him good. The same spirit of restlessness,
+no doubt, urged him to walk rather rapidly in the direction opposite
+to that taken by the lovely Miss Guile. After completely circling the
+deck once he decided that he did not need the exercise after all. His
+walk had not benefitted him in the least. She _had_ gone to her room.
+He returned to his chair, conscious of having been defeated but
+without really knowing why or how. As he turned into the dry, snug
+corner, he came to an abrupt stop and stared. Miss Guile was sitting
+in her chair, neatly encased in a mummy-like sheath of grey that
+covered her slim body to the waist.
+
+She was quite alone in her nook, and reading. Evidently the book
+interested her, for she failed to look up when he clumsily slid into
+his chair and threw the rug over his legs--dreadfully long,
+uninteresting legs, he thought, as he stretched them out and found
+that his feet protruded like a pair of white obelisks.
+
+Naturally he looked seaward, but in his mind's eye he saw her as he
+had seen her not more than ten minutes before: a slim, tall girl in a
+smart buff coat, with a limp white hat drawn down over her hair by
+means of a bright green veil; he had had a glimpse of staunch tan
+walking-shoes. He found himself wondering how he had missed her in
+the turn about the deck, and how she could have ensconced herself so
+snugly during his brief evacuation of the spot. Suddenly it occurred
+to him that she had returned to the chair only after discovering that
+his was vacant. It wasn't a very gratifying conclusion.
+
+An astonishing intrepidity induced him to speak to her after a lapse
+of five or six minutes, and so surprising was the impulse that he
+blurted out his question without preamble.
+
+"How did you manage to get back so quickly?" he inquired.
+
+She looked up, and for an instant there was something like alarm in
+her lovely eyes, as of one caught in the perpetration of a guilty
+act.
+
+"I beg your pardon," she said, rather indistinctly.
+
+"I was away less than eight minutes," he declared, and she was
+confronted by the wonderfully frank smile that never failed to work
+its charm. To his surprise, a shy smile grew in her eyes, and her
+warm red lips twitched uncertainly. He had expected a cold rebuff.
+"You must have dropped through the awning."
+
+"Your imagination is superior to that employed by the author of this
+book," she said, "and that is saying a good deal, Mr.--Mr.--"
+
+"Schmidt," he supplied cheerfully. "May I inquire what book you are
+reading?"
+
+"You would not be interested. It is by an American."
+
+"I have read a great many American novels," said he stiffly. "My
+father was an American. Awfully jolly books, most of them."
+
+"I looked you up in the passenger list a moment ago," she said
+coolly. "Your home is in Vienna. I like Vienna."
+
+He was looking rather intently at the book, now partly lowered.
+"Isn't that the passenger list you have concealed in that book?" he
+demanded.
+
+"It is," she replied promptly. "You will pardon a natural curiosity?
+I wanted to see whether you were from New York."
+
+"May I look at it, please?"
+
+She closed the book. "It isn't necessary. I _am_ from New York."
+
+"By the way, do you happen to know a Miss Blithers,--Maud Blithers?"
+
+Miss Guile frowned reflectively. "Blithers? The name is a familiar
+one. Maud Blithers? What is she like?"
+
+"She's supposed to be very good-looking. I've never seen her."
+
+"How queer to be asking me if I know her, then. Why _do_ you ask?"
+
+"I've heard so much about her lately. She is the daughter of William
+Blithers, the great capitalist."
+
+"Oh, I know who he is," she exclaimed. "Perfect roodles of money,
+hasn't he?"
+
+"Roodles?"
+
+"Loads, if it means more to you. I forgot that you are a foreigner.
+He gave that wonderful ball last week for the Prince of--of--Oh, some
+insignificant little place over in Europe. There are such a lot of
+queer little duchies and principalities, don't you know; it is quite
+impossible to tell one from the other. They don't even appear on the
+maps."
+
+He took it with a perfectly straight face, though secretly annoyed.
+"It was the talk of the town, that ball. It must have cost roodles of
+money. Is that right?"
+
+"Yes, but it doesn't sound right when you say it. Naturally one
+doesn't say roodles in Vienna."
+
+"We say noodles," said he. "I am very fond of them. But to resume; I
+supposed every one in New York knew Miss Blithers. She's quite the
+rage, I'm told."
+
+"Indeed? I should think she might be, Mr. Schmidt, with all those
+lovely millions behind her."
+
+He smiled introspectively. "Yes; and I am told that, in spite of
+them, she is the prettiest girl in New York."
+
+She appeared to lose interest in the topic. "Oh, indeed?"
+
+"But," he supplemented gracefully, "it isn't true."
+
+"What isn't true?"
+
+"The statement that she is the prettiest girl in New York."
+
+"How can you say that, when you admit you've never seen her?"
+
+"I can say it with a perfectly clear conscience, Miss Guile," said
+he, and was filled with delight when she bit her lip as a sign of
+acknowledgment.
+
+"Oh, here comes the tea," she cried, with a strange eagerness in her
+voice. "I am so glad." She scrambled gracefully out of her rug and
+arose to her feet.
+
+"Aren't you going to have some?" he cried.
+
+"Yes," she said, quite pointedly. "In my room, Mr. Schmidt," and
+before he could get to his feet she was moving away without so much
+as a nod or smile for him. Indeed, she appeared to have dismissed him
+from her thoughts quite as completely as from her vision. He
+experienced a queer sensation of shrivelling.
+
+At dinner that night, she failed to look in his direction, a
+circumstance that may not appear extraordinary when it is stated that
+she purposely or inadvertently exchanged seats with Mrs. Gaston and
+sat with her back to the table occupied by R. Schmidt and his
+friends. He had to be content with a view of the most exquisite back
+and shoulders that good fortune had ever allowed him to gaze upon.
+And then there was the way that her soft brown hair grew above the
+slender neck, to say nothing of--but Mrs. Gaston was watching him
+with most unfriendly eyes, so the feast was spoiled.
+
+The following day was as unlike its predecessor as black is like
+white. During the night the smooth grey pond had been transformed
+into a turbulent, storm-threshed ocean; the once gentle wind was now
+a howling gale that swept the decks with a merciless lash in its grip
+and whipped into submission all who vaingloriously sought to defy its
+chill dominion. Not rain, but spray from huge, swashing billows,
+clouded the decks, biting and cutting like countless needles, each
+drop with the sting of a hornet behind it. Now the end of the world
+seemed far away, and the jumping off place was a rickety wall of
+white and black, leaning against a cold, drear sky.
+
+Only the hardiest of the passengers ventured on deck; the
+exhilaration they professed was but another name for bravado. They
+shivered and gasped for breath as they forged their bitter way into
+the gale, and few were they who took more than a single turn of the
+deck. Like beaten cowards they soon slunk into the sheltered spots,
+or sought even less heroic means of surrender by tumbling into bed
+with the considerate help of unsmiling stewards. The great ship went
+up and the great ship came down: when up so high that the sky seemed
+to be startlingly near and down so horribly low that the bottom of
+the ocean was even nearer. And it creaked and groaned and sighed even
+above the wild monody of the wind, like a thing in misery, yet all
+the while holding its sides to keep from bursting with laughter over
+the plight of the little creature whom God made after His own image
+but not until after all of the big things of the universe had been
+designed.
+
+R. Schmidt, being a good sailor and a hardy young chap, albeit a
+prince of royal blood, was abroad early, after a breakfast that
+staggered the few who remained unstaggered up to that particular
+crisis. A genial sailor-man and an equally ungenial deck swabber
+advised him, in totally different styles of address, to stay below if
+he knew what was good for him, only to be thanked with all the
+blitheness of a man who jolly well knows what is good for him, or who
+doesn't care whether it is good for him or not so long as he is doing
+the thing that he wants to do.
+
+He took two turns about the deck, and each time as he passed the spot
+he sent a covert glance into the corner where Miss Guile's chair was
+standing. Of course he did not expect to find her there in weather
+like this, but--well, he looked and that is the end to the argument.
+The going was extremely treacherous and unpleasant he was free to
+confess to the genial sailor-man after the second breathless turn,
+and gave that worthy a bright silver dollar upon receiving a further
+bit of advice: to sit down somewhere out of the wind, sir.
+
+Quinnox and Dank were hopelessly bed-ridden, so to speak. They were
+very disagreeable, cross and unpleasant, and somehow he felt that
+they hated their cheerful, happy-faced Prince. Never before had Count
+Quinnox scowled at him, no matter how mad his pranks as a child or
+how silly his actions as a youth. Never before had any one told him
+to go to the devil. He rather liked it. And he rather admired poor
+Dank for ordering him out of his cabin, with a perfectly astounding
+oath as a climax to the command. Moreover, he thought considerably
+better of the faithful Hobbs for an amazing exposition of human
+equality in the matter of a pair of boots that he desired to wear
+that morning but which happened to be stowed away in a cabin trunk.
+He told Hobbs to go to the devil and Hobbs repeated the injunction,
+with especial heat, to the boots, when he bumped his head in hauling
+them out of the trunk. Whereupon R. Schmidt said to Hobbs: "Good for
+you. Hobbs. Go on, please. Don't mind me. It was quite a thump,
+wasn't it?" And Hobbs managed, between other words, to say that it
+was a whacking thump, and one he would not forget to his dying day--
+(if he lived through this one!).
+
+"And you'd do well to sit in the smoke-room, sir," further advised
+the sailor-man, clinging to the rail with one hand and pocketing the
+coin with the other.
+
+"No," said R. Schmidt resolutely. "I don't like the air in the smoke-
+room."
+
+"There's quite a bit of air out 'ere, sir."
+
+"I need quite a bit."
+
+"I should think you might, sir, being a 'ealthy, strappin' sort of a
+chap, sir. 'Elp yourself. All the chairs is yours if you'll unpile
+'em."
+
+The young man battled his way down the deck and soon found himself in
+the well-protected corner. A half-dozen unoccupied chairs were
+cluttered about, having been abandoned by persons who over-estimated
+their hardiness. One of the stewards was engaged in stacking them up
+and making them fast.
+
+Miss Guile's chair and that of Mrs. Gaston were staunchly fastened
+down and their rugs were in place. R. Schmidt experienced an
+exquisite sensation of pleasure. Here was a perfect exemplification
+of that much-abused thing known as circumstantial evidence. She
+contemplated coming on deck. So he had his chair put in place, called
+for his rug, shrugged his chin down into the collar of his thick
+ulster, and sat down to wait.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+AN HOUR ON DECK
+
+
+She literally was blown into his presence. He sprang to his feet to
+check her swift approach before she could be dashed against the wall
+or upon the heap of chairs in the corner. The deep roll of the vessel
+had ended so suddenly that she was thrown off her balance, at best
+precariously maintained in the hurricane that swept her along the
+deck. She was projected with considerable violence against the
+waiting figure of R. Schmidt, who had hastily braced himself for the
+impact of the slender body in the thick sea-ulster. She uttered an
+excited little shriek as she came bang up against him and found his
+ready arms closing about her shoulders.
+
+"Oh, goodness!" she gasped, with what little breath she had left, and
+then began to laugh as she freed herself in confusion--a very pretty
+confusion he recalled later on, after he had recovered to some extent
+from the effects of an exceedingly severe bump on the back of his
+head. "How awkward!"
+
+"Not at all," he proclaimed, retaining a grip on one of her arms
+until the ship showed some signs of resuming its way eastward instead
+of downward.
+
+"I am sure it must have hurt dreadfully," she cried. "Nothing hurts
+worse than a bump. It seemed as though you must have splintered the
+wall."
+
+"I have a singularly hard head," said he, and forthwith felt of the
+back of it.
+
+"Will you please stand ready to receive boarders? My maid is
+following me, poor thing, and I can't afford to have her smashed to
+pieces. Here she is!"
+
+Quite a pretty maid, with wide, horrified eyes and a pale green
+complexion came hustling around the corner. R. Schmidt, albeit a
+prince, received her with open arms.
+
+"Merci, M'sieur!" she squealed and added something in muffled French
+that strangely reminded him of what Hobbs had said in English. Then
+she deposited an armful of rugs and magazines at Robin's feet, and
+clutched wildly at a post actually some ten feet away but which
+appeared to be coming toward her with obliging swiftness, so nicely
+was the deck rotating for her. "Mon dieu! Mon dieu!"
+
+"You may go back to bed, Marie," cried her mistress in some haste.
+
+"But ze rug, I feex it--" groaned the unhappy maid, and then once
+more: "Merci, M'sieur!" She clung to the arm he extended, and tried
+bravely to smile her thanks.
+
+"Here! Go in through this door," he said, bracing the door open with
+his elbow. "You'll be all right in a little while. Keep your nerve."
+He closed the door after her and turned to the amused Miss Guile.
+"Well, it's an ill wind that blows no good," he said enigmatically,
+and she flushed under the steady smile in his eyes. "Allow me to
+arrange your rug for you. Miss Guile."
+
+"Thank you, no. I think I would better go inside. It is really too
+windy--"
+
+"The wind can't get at you back here in this cubbyhole," he
+protested. "Do sit down. I'll have you as snug as a bug in a rug
+before you can say Jack Robinson. See! Now stick 'em out and I'll
+wrap it around them. There! You're as neatly done up as a mummy and a
+good deal better off, because you are a long way short of being two
+thousand years old."
+
+"How is your head, Mr. Schmidt?" she inquired with grave concern.
+"You seem to be quite crazy. I hope--"
+
+"Every one is a little bit mad, don't you think? Especially in
+moments of great excitement. I daresay my head _has_ been turned
+quite appreciably, and I'm glad that you've been kind enough to
+notice it. Where is Mrs. Gaston?" He was vastly exhilarated.
+
+She regarded him with eyes that sparkled and belied the unamiable
+nature of her reply.
+
+"The poor lady is where she is not at all likely to be annoyed, Mr.
+Schmidt."
+
+Then she took up a magazine and coolly began to run through the
+pages. He waited for a moment, considerably dashed, and then said
+"Oh," in a very unfriendly manner. She found her place in the
+magazine, assumed a more comfortable position, and, with noteworthy
+resolution, set about reading as if her life depended upon it.
+
+He sat down, pulled the rug up to his chin, and stared out at the
+great, heaving billows. Suddenly remembering another injury, he felt
+once more of the back of his head.
+
+"By jove!" he exclaimed. "There _is_ a lump there."
+
+"I can't hear you," she said, allowing the magazine to drop into her
+lap, but keeping her place carefully marked with one of her fingers.
+
+"I can hear you perfectly," he said.
+
+"It's the way the wind blows," she explained.
+
+"Easily remedied," said he. "I'll move into Mrs. Gaston's chair if
+you think it will help any."
+
+"Do!" she said promptly. "You will not disturb me in the least,--
+unless you talk." She resumed her reading, half a page above the
+finger tip.
+
+He moved over and arranged himself comfortably, snugly in Mrs.
+Gaston's chair. Their elbows almost met. He was prepared to be very
+patient. For a long time she continued to read, her warm, rosy cheek
+half-averted, her eyes applied to their task with irritating
+constancy. He did not despair. Some wise person once had told him
+that it was only necessary to give a woman sufficient time and she
+would be the one to despair.
+
+A few passengers possessed of proud sea-legs, staggered past the snug
+couple on their ridiculous rounds of the ship. If they thought of
+Miss Guile and R. Schmidt at all it was with the scorn that is
+usually devoted to youth at its very best. There could be no doubt in
+the passing mind that these two were sweethearts who managed to
+thrive on the smallest of comforts.
+
+At last his patience was rewarded. She lowered the magazine and
+stifled a yawn--but not a real one.
+
+"Have you read it?" she inquired composedly.
+
+"A part of it," he said. "Over your shoulder."
+
+"Is that considered polite in Vienna?"
+
+"If you only knew what a bump I've got on the back of my head you
+wouldn't be so ungracious." he said.
+
+"I couldn't possibly know, could I?"
+
+He leaned forward and indicated the spot on the back of his head,
+first removing his cap. She laughed nervously, and then gently rubbed
+her fingers over the thick hair.
+
+"There is a dreadful lump!" she exclaimed. "Oh, how sorry I am. Do--
+do you feel faint or--or--I mean, is it very painful?"
+
+"Not now," he replied, replacing his cap and favouring her with his
+most engaging smile.
+
+She smiled in response, betraying not the slightest sign of
+embarrassment. As a matter of fact, she was, if anything, somewhat
+too self-possessed.
+
+"I remember falling down stairs once," she said, "and getting a
+stupendous bump on my forehead. But that was a great many years ago
+and I cried. How was I to know that it hurt you, Mr. Schmidt, when
+you neglected to cry?"
+
+"Heroes never cry," said he. "It isn't considered first-class
+fiction, you know."
+
+"Am I to regard you as a hero?"
+
+"If you will be so kind, please."
+
+She laughed outright at this. "I think I rather like you, Mr.
+Schmidt," she said, with unexpected candour.
+
+"Oh, I fancy I'm not at all bad," said he, after a momentary stare of
+astonishment. "I am especially good in rough weather," he went on,
+trying to forget that he was a prince of the royal blood, a rather
+difficult matter when one stops to consider he was not in the habit
+of hearing people say that they rather liked him.
+
+"Do your friends come from Vienna?" she inquired abruptly.
+
+"Yes," he said, and then saved his face as usual by adding under his
+breath: "but they don't live there." It was not in him to lie
+outright, hence the handy way of appeasing his conscience.
+
+"They are very interesting looking men, especially the younger. I
+cannot remember when I have seen a more attractive man."
+
+"He is a splendid chap," exclaimed Robin, with genuine enthusiasm. "I
+am very fond of Dank."
+
+She was silent for a moment. Something had failed, and she was rather
+glad of it.
+
+"Do you like New York?" she asked.
+
+"Immensely. I met a great many delightful people there. Miss Guile.
+You say you do not know the Blithers family? Mr. Blithers is a rare
+old bird."
+
+"Isn't there some talk of his daughter being engaged to the Prince of
+Graustark?"
+
+He felt that his ears were red. "The newspapers hinted at something
+of the sort, I believe." He was suddenly possessed by the curious
+notion that he was being "pumped" by his fair companion. Indeed, a
+certain insistent note had crept into her voice and her eyes were
+searching his with an intentness that had not appeared in them until
+now.
+
+"Have you seen him?"
+
+"The Prince?"
+
+"Yes. What is he like?"
+
+"I've seen pictures of him," he equivocated. "Rather nice looking, I
+should say."
+
+"Of course he is like all foreign noblemen and will leap at the
+Blithers millions if he gets the chance. I sometimes feel sorry for
+the poor wretches." There was more scorn than pity in the way she
+said it, however, and her velvety eyes were suddenly hard and
+uncompromising.
+
+He longed to defend himself, in the third person, but could not do so
+for very strong and obvious reasons. He allowed himself the
+privilege, however, of declaring that foreign noblemen are not always
+as black as they are painted. And then, for a very excellent reason,
+he contrived to change the subject by asking where she was going on
+the continent.
+
+"I may go to Vienna," she said, with a smile that served to puzzle
+rather than to delight him. He was more than ever convinced that she
+was playing with him. "But pray do not look so gloomy, Mr. Schmidt, I
+shall not make any demands upon your time while I am there. You may--
+"
+
+"I am quite sure of that," he interrupted, with his ready smile. "You
+see, I am a person of no consequence in Vienna, while you--Ah, well,
+as an American girl you will be hobnobbing with the nobility while
+the humble Schmidt sits afar off and marvels at the kindness of a
+fate that befell him in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and yet
+curses the fate that makes him unworthy of the slightest notice from
+the aforesaid American girl. For, I daresay, Miss Guile, you, like
+all American girls, are ready to leap at titles."
+
+"That really isn't fair, Mr. Schmidt," she protested, flushing. "Why
+should you and I quarrel over a condition that cannot apply to either
+of us? You are not a nobleman, and I am not a title-seeking American
+girl. So, why all this beautiful irony?"
+
+"It only remains for me to humbly beg your pardon and to add that if
+you come to Vienna my every waking hour shall be devoted to the
+pleasure of--"
+
+"I am sorry I mentioned it, Mr. Schmidt," she interrupted coldly.
+"You may rest easy, for I shall not keep you awake for a single hour.
+Besides, I may not go to Vienna at all."
+
+"I am sure you would like Vienna," he said, somewhat chilled by her
+manner.
+
+"I have been there, with my parents, but it was a long time ago. I
+once saw the Emperor and often have I seen the wonderful Prince
+Liechtenstein."
+
+"Have you travelled extensively in Europe?"
+
+She was smiling once more. "I don't know what you would consider
+extensively," she said. "I was educated in Paris, I have spent
+innumerable winters in Rome and quite as many summers in Scotland,
+England, Switzerland, Germ--"
+
+"I know who you are!" he cried out enthusiastically. To his
+amazement, a startled expression leaped into her eyes. "You are
+travelling under an assumed name." She remained perfectly still,
+watching him with an anxious smile on her lips. "You are no other
+than Miss Baedeker, the well-known authoress."
+
+It seemed to him that she breathed deeply. At any rate, her brow
+cleared and her smile was positively enchanting. Never, in all his
+life, had he gazed upon a lovelier face. His heart began to beat with
+a rapidity that startled him, and a queer little sensation, as of
+smothering, made it difficult for him to speak naturally in his next
+attempt.
+
+"In that case, my pseudonym should be Guide, not Guile," she cried
+merrily. The dimples played in her cheeks and her eyes were dancing.
+
+"B. stands for Baedeker, I'm sure. Baedeker Guide. If the B. isn't
+for Baedeker, what is it for?"
+
+"Are you asking what the B. really stands for, Mr. Schmidt?"
+
+"In a round-about way, Miss Guile," he admitted.
+
+"My name is Bedelia," she said, with absolute sincerity. "Me mither
+is Irish, d'ye see?"
+
+"By jove, it's worth a lot of trouble to get you to smile like that,"
+he cried admiringly. "It is the first really honest smile you've
+displayed. If you knew how it improves you, you'd be doing it all of
+the time."
+
+"Smiles are sometimes expensive."
+
+"It depends on the market."
+
+"I never take them to a cheap market. They are not classed as
+necessities."
+
+"You couldn't offer them to any one who loves luxuries more than I
+do."
+
+"You pay for them only with compliments, I see, and there is nothing
+so cheap."
+
+"Am I to take that as a rebuke?"
+
+"If possible," she said sweetly.
+
+At this juncture, the miserable Hobbs hove into sight, not
+figuratively but literally. He came surging across the deck in a mad
+dash from one haven to another, or, more accurately, from post to
+post.
+
+"I beg pardon, sir," he gasped, finally steadying himself on wide-
+spread legs within easy reach of Robin's sustaining person. "There is
+a wireless for Mr. Totten, sir, but when I took it to 'im he said to
+fetch it to you, being unable to hold up 'is head, wot with the
+wretched meal he had yesterday and the--"
+
+"I see, Hobbs. Well, where is it?"
+
+Hobbs looked embarrassed. "Well, you see, sir, I 'esitated about
+giving it to you when you appear to be so--"
+
+"Never mind. You may give it to me. Miss Guile will surely pardon me
+if I devote a second or two to an occupation she followed so
+earnestly up to a very short time ago."
+
+"Pray forget that I am present, Mr. Schmidt," she said, and smiled
+upon the bewildered Hobbs, who after an instant delivered the message
+to his master.
+
+Robin read it through and at the end whistled softly.
+
+"Take it to Mr. Totten, Hobbs. and see if it will not serve to make
+him hold up his head a little."
+
+"Very good, sir. I hope it will. Wouldn't it be wise for me to
+hannounce who it is from, sir, to sort of prepare him for--"
+
+"He knows who it is from, Hobbs, so you needn't worry. It is from
+home, if it will interest you, Hobbs."
+
+"Thank you, sir, it does interest me. I thought it might be from Mr.
+Blithers."
+
+Robin's scowl sent him scuttling away a great deal more rigidly than
+when he came.
+
+"Idiot!" muttered the young man, still scowling.
+
+There was silence between the two for a few seconds. Then she spoke
+disinterestedly:
+
+"Is it from the Mr. Blithers who has the millions and the daughter
+who wants to marry a prince?"
+
+"Merely a business transaction, Miss Guile," he said absently. He was
+thinking of Romano's message.
+
+"So it would appear."
+
+"I beg pardon? I was--er--thinking--"
+
+"It was of no consequence, Mr. Schmidt," she said airily.
+
+He picked up the thread once more. "As a matter of fact, I've heard
+it said that Miss Blithers refused to marry the Prince."
+
+"Is it possible?" with fine irony. "Is he such a dreadful person as
+all that?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't know," murmured Robin uncomfortably. "He may be no
+more dreadful than she."
+
+"I cannot hear you, Mr. Schmidt," she persisted, with unmistakeable
+malice in her lovely eyes.
+
+"I'm rather glad that you didn't," he confessed. "Silly remark, you
+know."
+
+"Well, I hope she doesn't marry him," said Miss Guile.
+
+"So do I," said R. Schmidt, and their eyes met. After a moment, she
+looked away, her first surrender to the mysterious something that lay
+deep in his.
+
+"It would prove that all American girls are not so black as they're
+painted, wouldn't it?" she said, striving to regain the ground she
+had lost by that momentary lapse.
+
+"Pray do not overlook the fact that I am half American," he said.
+"You must not expect me to say that they paint at all."
+
+"Schmidt is a fine old American name," she mused, the mischief back
+in her eyes.
+
+"And so is Bedelia," said he.
+
+"Will you pardon me, Mr. Schmidt, if I express surprise that you
+speak English without the tiniest suggestion of an accent?"
+
+"I will pardon you for everything and anything, Miss Guile," said he,
+quite too distinctly. She drew back in her chair and the light of
+raillery died in her eyes.
+
+"What an imperial sound it has!"
+
+"And why not? The R stands for Rex."
+
+"Ah, that accounts for the King's English!"
+
+"Certainly," he grinned. "The king can do no wrong, don't you see?"
+
+"Your servant who was here speaks nothing but the King's English, I
+perceive. Perhaps that accounts for a great deal."
+
+"Hobbs? I mean to say,'Obbs? I confess that he has taught me many
+tricks of the tongue. He is one of the crown jewels."
+
+Suddenly, and without reason, she appeared to be bored. As a matter
+of fact, she hid an incipient yawn behind her small gloved hand.
+
+"I think I shall go to my room. Will you kindly unwrap me, Mr.
+Schmidt?"
+
+He promptly obeyed, and then assisted her to her feet, steadying her
+against the roll of the vessel.
+
+"I shall pray for continuous rough weather," he announced, with as
+gallant a bow as could be made under the circumstances.
+
+"Thank you," she said, and he was pleased to take it that she was not
+thanking him for a physical service.
+
+A few minutes later he was in his own room, and she was in hers, and
+the promenade deck was as barren as the desert of Sahara.
+
+He found Count Quinnox stretched out upon his bed, attended not only
+by Hobbs but also the reanimated Dank. The crumpled message lay on
+the floor.
+
+"I'm glad you waited awhile," said the young lieutenant, getting up
+from the trunk on which he had been sitting. "If you had come any
+sooner you would have heard words fit only for a soldier to hear. It
+really was quite appalling."
+
+"He's better now," said Hobbs, more respectfully than was his wont.
+It was evident that he had sustained quite a shock.
+
+"Well, what do you think of it?" demanded the Prince, pointing to the
+message.
+
+"Of all the confounded impudence--" began the Count healthily, and
+then uttered a mighty groan of impotence. It was clear that he could
+not do justice to the occasion a second time.
+
+Robin picked up the Marconigram, and calmly smoothed out the
+crinkles. Then he read it aloud, very slowly and with extreme disgust
+in his fine young face. It was a lengthy communication from Baron
+Romano, the Prime Minister in Edelweiss.
+
+"'Preliminary agreement signed before hearing Blithers had bought
+London, Paris, Berlin. He cables his immediate visit to G. Object now
+appears clear. All newspapers in Europe print despatches from America
+that marriage is practically arranged between R. and M. Interviews
+with Blithers corroborate reported engagement. Europe is amused.
+Editorials sarcastic. Price on our securities advance two points on
+confirmation of report. We are bewildered. Also vague rumour they
+have eloped, but denied by B. Dawsbergen silent. What does it all
+mean? Wire truth to me. People are uneasy. Gourou will meet you in
+Paris.'"
+
+[Illustration: "I shall pray for continuous rough weather"]
+
+In the adjoining suite, Miss Guile was shaking Mrs. Gaston out of a
+long-courted and much needed sleep. The poor lady sat up and blinked
+feebly at the excited, starry-eyed girl.
+
+"Wake up!" cried Bedelia impatiently. "What do you think? I have a
+perfectly wonderful suspicion--perfectly wonderful."
+
+"How can you be so unfeeling?" moaned the limp lady.
+
+"This R. Schmidt is Prince Robin of Graustark!" cried the girl
+excitedly. "I am sure of it--just as sure as can be."
+
+Mrs. Gaston's eyes were popping, not with amazement but alarm.
+
+"Do lie down, child," she whimpered. "Marie! The sleeping powders at
+once! Do--"
+
+"Oh, I'm not mad," cried the girl. "Now listen to me and I'll tell
+you why I believe--yes, actually believe him to be the--"
+
+"Marie, do you hear me?"
+
+Miss Guile shook her vigorously. "Wake up! It isn't a nightmare. Now
+listen!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE LIEUTENANT RECEIVES ORDERS
+
+
+The next day brought not only an agreeable change in the weather but
+a most surprising alteration in the manner of Mrs. Gaston, whose
+attitude toward R. Schmidt and his friends had been anything but
+amicable up to the hour of Miss Guile's discovery. The excellent
+lady, recovering very quickly from her indisposition became
+positively polite to the hitherto repugnant Mr. Schmidt. She melted
+so abruptly and so completely that the young man was vaguely
+troubled. He began to wonder if his incognito had been pierced, so to
+speak.
+
+It was not reasonable to suppose that Miss Guile was personally
+responsible for this startling transition from the inimical to the
+gracious on the part of her companion; the indifference of Miss Guile
+herself was sufficient proof to the contrary. Therefore, when Mrs.
+Gaston nosed him out shortly after breakfast and began to talk about
+the beautiful day in a manner so thoroughly respectful that it
+savoured of servility, he was taken-aback, flabbergasted. She seemed
+to be on the point of dropping her knee every time she spoke to him,
+and there was an unmistakable tremor of excitement in her voice even
+when she confided to him that she adored the ocean when it was calm.
+He forbore asking when Miss Guile might be expected to appear on deck
+for her constitutional but she volunteered the information, which was
+neither vague nor yet definite. In fact, she said that Miss Guile
+would be up soon, and soon is a word that has a double meaning when
+applied to the movements of capricious womanhood. It may mean ten
+minutes and it may mean an hour and a half.
+
+Mrs. Gaston's severely critical eyes were no longer severe, albeit
+they were critical. She took him in from head to foot with the eye of
+an appraiser, and the more she took him in the more she melted, until
+at last in order to keep from completely dissolving, she said good-
+bye to him and hurried off to find Miss Guile.
+
+Now it is necessary to relate that Miss Guile had been particularly
+firm in her commands to Mrs. Gaston. She literally had stood the
+excellent lady up in a corner and lectured her for an hour on the
+wisdom of silence. In the first place, Mrs. Gaston was given to
+understand that she was not to breathe it to a soul that R. Schmidt
+was not R. Schmidt, and she was not to betray to him by word or sign
+that he was suspected of being the Prince of Graustark. Moreover, the
+exacting Miss Guile laid great stress upon another command: R.
+Schmidt was never to know that she was _not_ Miss Guile, but some one
+else altogether.
+
+"You're right, my dear," exclaimed Mrs. Gaston in an excited whisper
+as she burst in upon her fair companion, who was having coffee and
+toast in her parlour. The more or less resuscitated Marie was waiting
+to do up her mistress's hair, and the young lady herself was
+alluringly charming in spite of the fact that it was not already
+"done up." "He is the--er--he is just what you think."
+
+"Good heavens, you haven't gone and done it, have you," cried the
+girl, a slim hand halting with a piece of toast half way to her lips.
+
+"Gone and done it?"
+
+"You haven't been blabbing, have you?"
+
+"How can you say that to me? Am I not to be trusted? Am I so weak
+and--"
+
+"Don't cry, you old dear! Forgive me. But now tell me--absolutely--
+just what you've been up to. Don't mind Marie. She is French. She can
+always hold her tongue."
+
+"Well, I've been talking with him, that's all. I'm sure he is the
+Prince. No ordinary male could be as sweet and agreeable and sunny
+as--"
+
+"Stop!" cried Miss Guile, with a pretty moue, putting the tips of her
+fingers to her ears after putting the piece of toast into her mouth.
+"One would think you were a sentimental old maid instead of a cold-
+blooded, experienced, man-hating married woman."
+
+"You forget that I am a widow, my dear. Besides, it is disgusting for
+one to speak with one's mouth full of buttered toast. It--"
+
+"Oh, how I used to loathe you when you kept forever ding-donging at
+me about the way I ate when I was almost starving. Were you never a
+hungry little kid? Did you never lick jam and honey off your fingers
+and--"
+
+"Many and many a time," confessed Mrs. Gaston, beaming once more and
+laying a gentle, loving hand on the girl's shoulder. Miss Guile
+dropped her head over until her cheek rested on the caressing hand,
+and munched toast with blissful abandon.
+
+"Now tell me what you've been up to," she said, and Mrs. Gaston
+repeated every word of the conversation she had had with R. Schmidt,
+proving absolutely nothing but stoutly maintaining that her intuition
+was completely to be depended upon.
+
+"And, oh," she whispered in conclusion, "wouldn't it be perfectly
+wonderful if you two should fall in love with each other--"
+
+"Don't be silly!"
+
+"But you have said that if he should fall in love with you for
+yourself and not because--"
+
+"I have also said that I will not marry any man, prince, duke, king,
+count or anything else unless I am in love with him. Don't overlook
+that, please."
+
+"But he is really very nice. I should think you _could_ fall in love
+with him. Just think how it would please your father and mother.
+Just think--"
+
+"I won't be bullied!"
+
+"Am I bullying you?" in amazement.
+
+"No; but father tries to bully me, and you know it."
+
+"You must admit that the--this Mr. Schmidt is handsome, charming,
+bright--"
+
+"I admit nothing," said Miss Guile resolutely, and ordered Marie to
+dress her hair as carefully as possible. "Take as long as you like,
+Marie. I shall not go on deck for hours."
+
+"I--I told him you would be up soon," stammered the poor, man-hating
+ex-governess.
+
+"You did?" said Miss Guile, with what was supposed to be a deadly
+look in her eyes.
+
+"Well, he enquired," said the other.
+
+"Anything else?" domineered the beauty.
+
+"I forgot to mention one thing. He _did_ ask me if your name was
+really Bedelia."
+
+"And what did you tell him?" cried the girl, in sudden agitation.
+
+"I managed to tell him that it was," said Mrs. Gaston stiffly.
+
+"Good!" cried Miss Guile, vastly relieved, and not at all troubled
+over the blight that had been put upon a very worthy lady's
+conscience.
+
+When she appeared on deck long afterward, she found every chair
+occupied. A warm sun, a far from turbulent sea, and a refreshing
+breeze had brought about a marvellous transformation. Every one was
+happy, every one had come back from the grave to gloat over the grim
+reaper's failure to do his worst, although in certain cases he had
+been importuned to do it without hesitation.
+
+She made several brisk rounds of the deck; then, feeling that people
+were following her with their eyes,--admiringly, to be sure, but what
+of that?--she abandoned the pleasant exercise and sought the
+seclusion of the sunless corner where her chair was stationed. The
+ship's daily newspaper was just off the press and many of the
+loungers were reading the brief telegraphic news from the capitals of
+the world.
+
+During her stroll she passed several groups of men and women who were
+lightly, even scornfully employed in discussing an article of news
+which had to do with Mr. Blithers and the Prince of Graustark. Filled
+with an acute curiosity, she procured a copy of the paper from a
+steward, and was glancing at the head lines as she made her way into
+her corner. Double-leaded type appeared over the rumoured engagment
+of Miss Maud Applegate Blithers, the beautiful and accomplished
+daughter of the great capitalist, and Robin, Prince of Graustark. A
+queer little smile played about her lips as she folded the paper for
+future perusal. Turning the earner of the deck-building she almost
+collided with R. Schmidt, who stood leaning against the wall,
+scanning the little newspaper with eyes that were blind to everything
+else.
+
+"Oh!" she gasped.
+
+"I'm sorry," he exclaimed, crumpling the paper in his hand as he
+backed away, flushing. "Stupid of me. Good morning."
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt. It wasn't your fault. I should have
+looked where I was going. 'Stop, look and listen,' as they say at the
+railway crossing."
+
+"'Danger' is one of the commonest signs, Miss Guile. It lurks
+everywhere, especially around corners. I see you have a paper. It
+appears that Miss Blithers and the Prince are to be married after
+all."
+
+"Yes; it is quite apparent that the Blithers family intends to have a
+title at any cost," she said, and her eyes flashed.
+
+"Would you like to take a few turns, Miss Guile?" he inquired, a
+trace of nervousness in his manner. "I think I can take you safely
+over the hurdles and around the bunkers." He indicated the
+outstretched legs along the promenade deck and the immovable groups
+of chatterers along the rail.
+
+Before deciding, she shot an investigating glance into the corner.
+Mrs. Gaston was not only there but was engaged in conversation with
+the grey-moustached gentleman in a near-by chair. It required but
+half a glance to show that Mr. Totten was unmistakably interested in
+something the voluble lady had just said to him.
+
+"No, thank you, Mr. Schmidt," said Miss Guile hastily, and then
+hurried over to her chair, a distinct cloud on her smooth brow.
+Robin, considering himself dismissed, whirled and went his way, a
+dark flush spreading over his face. Never, in all his life, had he
+been quite so out of patience with the world as on this bright, sunny
+morning.
+
+Miss Guile's frown deepened when her abrupt appearance at Mrs.
+Gaston's side caused that lady to look up with a guilty start and to
+break off in the middle of a sentence that had begun with:
+"International marriages, as a rule, are--Oh!"
+
+Mr. Totten arose and bowed with courtly grace to the new arrival on
+the scene. He appeared to be immensely relieved.
+
+"A lovely morning, Miss Guile," he said as he stooped to arrange her
+rug. "I hear that you were not at all disturbed by yesterday's blow."
+
+"I was just telling Mr. Totten that you are a wonderful sailor," said
+Mrs. Gaston, a note of appeal in her voice. "He says his friend, Mr.
+Schmidt, is also a good sailor. Isn't it perfectly wonderful?"
+
+"I can't see anything wonderful about it," said Miss Guile, fixing
+the ex-governess with a look that seared.
+
+"We were speaking of this rumoured engagement of the Prince of
+Graustark and--er--what's the name?" He glanced at his newspaper.
+"Miss Blithers, of course. I enquired of Mrs.--er--Gaston if she
+happens to know the young lady. She remembers seeing her frequently
+as a very small child."
+
+"In Paris," said Mrs. Gaston. "One couldn't very well help seeing
+her, you know. She was the only child of the great Mr. Blithers,
+whose name was on every one's lips at the--"
+
+Miss Guile interrupted. "It would be like the great Mr. Blithers to
+buy this toy prince for his daughter--as a family plaything or human
+lap-dog, or something of the sort, wouldn't it?"
+
+Mr. Totten betrayed no emotion save amusement. Miss Guile was
+watching through half-closed eyes. There was a noticeable stiffening
+of the prim figure of Mrs. Gaston.
+
+"I've no doubt Mr. Blithers can afford to buy the most expensive of
+toys for his only child. You Americans go in for the luxuries of
+life. What could be more extravagant than the purchase of a royal
+lap-dog? The only drawback I can suggest is that the Prince might
+turn out to be a cur, and then where would Mr. Blithers be?"
+
+"It is more to the point to ask where Miss Blithers would be, Mr.
+Totten," said Miss Guile, with a smile that caused the fierce old
+warrior to afterwards declare to Dank that he never had seen a
+lovelier girl in all his life.
+
+"Ah, but we spoke of the Prince as a lap-dog or a cur, Miss Guile,
+not as a watch-dog," said he.
+
+"I see," said Miss Guile, after a moment. "He wouldn't sleep with one
+eye open. I see."
+
+"The lap of luxury is an enviable resting-place. I know of no prince
+who would despise it."
+
+"But a wife is sometimes a thing to be despised," said she.
+
+"Quite true," said Mr. Totten. "I've no doubt that the Prince of
+Graustark will despise his wife, and for that reason will be quite
+content to close both eyes and let her go on searching for her
+heart's desire."
+
+"She would be his Princess. Could he afford to allow his love of
+luxury to go as far as that?"
+
+"Quite as justifiably, I should say, as Mr. Blithers when he delivers
+his only child into--into bondage."
+
+"You were about to use another term."
+
+"I was, but I thought in time, Miss Guile."
+
+R. Schmidt sauntered briskly past at this juncture, looking neither
+to the right nor left. They watched him until he disappeared down the
+deck.
+
+"I think Mr. Schmidt is a perfectly delightful young man," said Mrs.
+Gaston, simply because she couldn't help it.
+
+"You really think he will marry Miss Blithers, Mr. Totten?" ventured
+Miss Guile.
+
+"He? Oh, I see--the Prince?" Mr. Totten came near to being no
+diplomat. "How should I know, Miss Guile?"
+
+"Of course! How _should_ you know?" she cried.
+
+Mr. Totten found something to interest him in the printed sheet and
+proceeded to read it with considerable avidity. Miss Guile smiled to
+herself and purposely avoided the shocked look in Mrs. Gaston's eyes.
+
+"Bouillon at last," cried the agitated duenna, and peremptorily
+summoned one of the tray-bearing stewards. "I am famished."
+
+Evidently Mr. Totten did not care for his mid-morning refreshment,
+for, with the most courtly of smiles, he arose and left them to their
+bouillon.
+
+"Here comes Mr. Schmidt," whispered Mrs. Gaston excitedly, a few
+moments later, and at once made a movement indicative of hasty
+departure.
+
+"Sit still," said Miss Guile peremptorily.
+
+R. Schmidt again passed them by without so much as a glance in their
+direction. There was a very sweet smile on Miss Guile's lips as she
+closed her eyes and lay back in her chair. Once, twice, thrice, even
+as many as six times R. Schmidt strode rapidly by their corner, his
+head high and his face aglow.
+
+At last a queer little pucker appeared on the serene brow of the far
+from drowsy young lady whose eyes peeped through half closed lids.
+Suddenly she threw off her rug and with a brief remark to her
+companion arose and went to her cabin. Mrs. Gaston followed, not from
+choice but because the brief remark was in the form of a command.
+
+Soon afterward, R. Schmidt who had been joined by Dank, threw himself
+into his chair with a great sigh of fatigue and said:
+
+"'Gad, I've walked a hundred miles since breakfast. Have you a
+match?"
+
+"Hobbs has made a very curious discovery," said the young lieutenant,
+producing his match-box. There was a perturbed look in his eyes.
+
+"If Hobbs isn't careful he'll discover a new continent one of these
+days. He is always discovering something," said Robin, puffing away
+at his pipe.
+
+"But this is really interesting. It seems that he was in the hold
+when Miss Guile's maid came down to get into one of her mistress's
+trunks. Now, the first letter in Guile is G, isn't it? Well, Hobbs
+says there are at least half-a-dozen trunks there belonging to the
+young lady and that all of them are marked with a large red B. What
+do you make of it?"
+
+The Prince had stopped puffing at his pipe.
+
+"Hobbs may be mistaken in the maid. Dank. It is likely that they are
+not Miss Guile's trunks, at all."
+
+"He appears to be absolutely sure of his ground. He heard the maid
+mention Miss Guile's name when she directed the men to get one of the
+trunks out of the pile. That's what attracted his attention. He
+confided to me that you are interested in the young lady, and
+therefore it was quite natural for him to be similarly affected.
+'Like master, like man,' d'ye see?"
+
+"Really, you know, Dank, I ought to dismiss Hobbs," said Robin
+irritably. "He is getting to be a dreadful nuisance. Always nosing
+around, trying to--"
+
+"But after all, sir, you'll have to admit that he has made a puzzling
+discovery. Why should her luggage be marked with a B?"
+
+"I should say because her name begins with a B," said Robin shortly.
+
+"In that case, it isn't Guile."
+
+"Obviously." The young man was thinking very hard.
+
+"And if it isn't Guile, there must be an excellent reason for her
+sailing under a false name. She doesn't look like an adventuress."
+
+R. Schmidt rewarded this remark with a cold stare. "Would you mind
+telling me what she does look like, Dank?" he enquired severely.
+
+The lieutenant flushed. "I have not had the same opportunity for
+observation that you've enjoyed, sir, but I should say, off-hand,
+that she looks like a very dangerous young person."
+
+"Do you mean to imply that she is--er--not altogether what one would
+call right?"
+
+Dank grinned. "Don't you regard her as rather perilously beautiful?"
+
+"Oh, I see. That's what you mean. I suppose you got _that_ from Hobbs,
+too."
+
+"Not at all. I have an excellent pair of eyes."
+
+"What are you trying to get at, Dank?" demanded Robin abruptly.
+
+"I'm trying to get to the bottom of Miss Guile's guile, if it please
+your royal highness," said the lieutenant coolly. "It is hard to
+connect the B and the G, you know."
+
+"But why should we deny her a privilege that we are enjoying, all
+three of us? Are we not in the same boat?"
+
+"Literally and figuratively. That explains nothing, however."
+
+"Have you a theory?"
+
+"There are many that we could advance, but, of course, only one of
+them could be the right one, even if we were acute enough to include
+it in our list of guesses. She may have an imperative reason for not
+disclosing her identity. For instance, she may be running away to get
+married."
+
+"That's possible," agreed Robin.
+
+"But not probable. She may be a popular music-hall favourite, or one
+of those peculiarly clever creatures known as the American newspaper
+woman, against whom we have been warned. Don't you regard it as
+rather significant that of all the people on this ship she should be
+one to attach herself to the unrecognised Prince of Graustark? Put
+two and two together, sir, and--"
+
+"I find it singularly difficult to put one and one together, Dank,"
+said the Prince ruefully. "No; you are wrong in both of your guesses.
+I've encountered music-hall favourites and I can assure you she isn't
+one of them. And as for your statement that she attached herself to
+me, you were never so mistaken in your life. I give you my word, she
+doesn't care a hang whether I'm on the ship or clinging to a life
+preserver out there in the middle of the Atlantic. I have reason to
+know, Dank."
+
+"So be it," said Dank, but with doubt in his eyes. "You ought to
+know. I've never spoken to her, so--"
+
+"She thinks you are a dreadfully attractive chap, Dank," said Robin
+mischievously. "She said so only yesterday."
+
+Dank gave his prince a disgusted look, and smoked on in silence. His
+dignity was ruffled.
+
+"Her Christian name is Bedelia," ventured Robin, after a pause.
+
+"That doesn't get us anywhere," said Dank sourly.
+
+"And her mother is Irish."
+
+"Which accounts for those wonderful Irish blue eyes that--"
+
+"So you've noticed them, eh?"
+
+"Naturally."
+
+"I consider them a very dark grey."
+
+"I think we'd better get back to the luggage," said Dank hastily."
+Hobbs thinks that she--"
+
+"Oh, Lord, Dank, don't tell me what Hobbs thinks," growled Robin.
+"Let her make use of all the letters in the alphabet if it pleases
+her. What is it to us? Moreover, she may be utilising a lot of
+borrowed trunks, who knows? Or B may have been her initial before she
+was divorced and--"
+
+"Divorced?"
+
+"--her maiden name restored," concluded Robin airily. "Simple
+deduction, Dank. Don't bother your head about her any longer. What we
+know isn't going to hurt us, and what we don't know isn't--"
+
+"Has it occurred to you that Russia may have set spies upon you--"
+
+"Nonsense!"
+
+"It isn't as preposterous as you--"
+
+"Come, old fellow, let's forget Miss Guile," cried Robin, slapping
+the lieutenant on the shoulder. "Let's think of the real peril,--Maud
+Applegate Blithers." He held up the ship's paper for Dank to see and
+then sat back to enjoy his companion's rage.
+
+An hour later Dank and Count Quinnox might have been seen seated side
+by side on the edge of a skylight at the tip-top of the ship's
+structure, engaged in the closest conversation. There was a troubled
+look in the old man's eyes and the light of adventure in those of his
+junior. The sum and substance of their discussion may be given in a
+brief sentence: Something would have to be done to prevent Robin from
+falling in love with the fascinating Miss Guile.
+
+"He is young enough and stubborn enough to make a fool of himself
+over her," the Count had said. "I wouldn't blame him, 'pon my soul I
+wouldn't. She is very attractive--ahem! You must be his safeguard,
+Dank. Go in and do as I suggest. You are a good looking chap and
+you've nothing to lose. So far as she is concerned, you are quite as
+well worth while as the fellow known as R. Schmidt. There's no reason
+why you shouldn't make the remainder of the passage pleasant for her,
+and at the same time enjoy yourself at nobody's expense."
+
+"They know by instinct, confound 'em," lamented Dank; "they know the
+real article, and you can't fool 'em. She knows that he is the high
+muck-a-muck in this party and she won't even look at me, you take my
+word for it."
+
+"At any rate, you can try, can't you?" said the Count impatiently.
+
+"Is it a command, sir?"
+
+"It is."
+
+"Very well, sir. I shall do my best."
+
+"We can't afford to have him losing his head over a pretty--er--a
+nobody, perhaps an adventuress,--at this stage of the game. I much
+prefer the impossible Miss Blithers, Dank, to this captivating
+unknown. At least we know who and what she is, and what she
+represents. But we owe it to our country and to Dawsbergen to see
+that he doesn't do anything--er--foolish. We have five days left of
+this voyage, Dank. They may be fatal days for him, if you do not come
+to the rescue."
+
+"They may be fatal days for me," said Dank, looking out over the
+ocean.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE LIEUTENANT REPORTS
+
+
+Five days later as the _Jupiter_ was discharging passengers at
+Plymouth, Count Quinnox and Lieutenant Dank stood well forward on the
+promenade deck watching the operations. The younger man was moody and
+distrait, an unusual condition for him but one that had been
+noticeably recurrent during the past two or three days. He pulled at
+his smart little moustache and looked out upon the world through
+singularly lack-lustre eyes. Something had gone wrong with him, and
+it was something that he felt in duty bound to lay before his
+superior, the grim old Minister of War and hereditary chief of the
+Castle Guard. Occasionally his sombre gaze shifted to a spot farther
+down the deck, where a young man and woman leaned upon the rail and
+surveyed the scene of activity below.
+
+"What is on your mind, Dank?" asked the Count abruptly. "Out with
+it."
+
+Dank started. "It's true, then? I _do_ look as much of a fool as I
+feel, eh?" There was bitterness in his usually cheery voice.
+
+"Feel like a fool, eh?" growled the old soldier.
+
+"Pretty mess I've made of the business," lamented Dank surlily.
+"Putting myself up as a contender against a fellow like Robin, and
+dreaming that I could win out, even for a minute! Good Lord, what an
+ass I am! Why we've only made it worse, Count. We've touched him with
+the spur of rivalry, and what could be more calamitous than that?
+From being a rather matter-of-fact, indifferent observer, he becomes
+a bewildering cavalier bent on conquest at any cost. I am swept aside
+as if I were a parcel of rags. For two days I stood between him and
+the incomparable Miss Guile. Then he suddenly arouses himself. My
+cake is dough. I am nobody. My feet get cold, as they say in
+America,--although I don't know why they say it. What has the
+temperature of one's feet to do with it? See! There they are. They
+are constantly together, walking, sitting, standing, eating,
+drinking, reading--_Eh bien!_ You have seen with your own eyes.
+The beautiful Miss Guile has bewitched our Prince, and my labour is
+not only lost but I myself am lost. _Mon dieu!_"
+
+The Count stared at him in perplexity for a moment. Then a look of
+surprise came into his eyes,--surprise not unmingled with scorn.
+
+"You don't mean to say, Dank, that you've fallen in love with her?
+Oh, you absurd fledgelings. Will you--"
+
+"Forgive my insolence, Count, but it is forty years since you were a
+fledgeling. You don't see things as you saw them forty years ago.
+Permit me to remind you that you are a grandfather."
+
+"Your point is well taken, my lad," said the Count, with a twinkle in
+his eye. "You can't help being young any more than I can help being
+old. Youth is perennial, old age a winding-sheet. I am to take it,
+then, that you've lost your heart to the fair--"
+
+"Why not?" broke in Dank fiercely. "Why should it appear incredible
+to you? Is she not the most entrancing creature in all the world? Is
+she not the most appealing, the most adorable, the most feminine of
+all her sex? Is it possible that one can be so old that it is
+impossible for him to feel the charm, the loveliness, the--"
+
+"For heaven's sake, Dank," said the old man in alarm, "don't
+gesticulate so wildly. People will think we are quarrelling. Calm
+yourself, my boy."
+
+"You set a task for me and I obey. You urge me to do my duty by
+Graustark. You tell me I am a handsome dog and irresistible. She will
+be overwhelmed by my manly beauty, my valour, my soldierly bearing,--
+so say you! And what is the outcome? I--I, the vain-glorious,--I am
+wrapped around her little finger so tightly that all the king's
+horses and all the king's men--"
+
+"Halt!" commanded his general softly. "You are turning tail like the
+veriest coward. Right about, face! Would you surrender to a slip of a
+girl whose only weapons are a pair of innocent blue eyes and a
+roguish smile? Be a man! Stand by your guns. Outwardly you are the
+equal of R. Schmidt, whose sole--"
+
+"That sounds very well, sir, but how can I take up arms against my
+Prince? He stands by _his_ guns--as you may see, sir,--and, dammit
+all, I'm no traitor. I've just got to stand by 'em with him. That rot
+about all being fair in love and war is the silliest--Oh, well,
+there's no use whining about it. I'm mad about her, and so is he. You
+can't--"
+
+The Count stopped him with a sharp gesture. A look of real concern
+appeared in his eyes.
+
+"Do you believe that he is actually in love with this girl?"
+
+"Heels over head," barked the unhappy lieutenant. "I've never seen a
+worse case."
+
+"This is serious--more serious than I thought."
+
+"It's horrible," declared Dank, but not thinking of the situation
+from the Count's point of view.
+
+"We do not know who or what she is. She may be--"
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir, but we do know what she is," said the other
+firmly. "You will not pretend to say that she is not a gentlewoman.
+She is cultured, refined--"
+
+"I grant all of that," said the Count. "I am not blind, Dank, But it
+seems fairly certain that her name is not Guile. We--"
+
+"Nor is his name Schmidt. That's no argument, sir."
+
+"Still we cannot take the chance, my lad. We must put an end to this
+fond adventure. Robin is our most precious possession. We must not--
+Why do you shake your head?"
+
+"We are powerless, sir. If he makes up his mind to marry Miss Guile,
+he'll do it in spite of anything we can do. That is, provided she is
+of the same mind."
+
+"God defend us, I fear you are right," groaned the old Count. "He has
+declared himself a hundred times, and he is a wilful lad. I recall
+the uselessness of the opposition that was set up against his
+lamented mother when she decided to marry Grenfell Lorry. 'Gad, sir,
+it was like butting into a stone wall. She said she _would_ and she
+did. I fear me that Robin has much of his mother in him."
+
+"Behold in me the first sacrifice," declaimed Dank, lifting his eyes
+heavenward.
+
+"Oh, you will recover," was the unsympathetic rejoinder. "It is for
+him that I fear, not for you."
+
+"Recover, sir?" in despair. "I fear you misjudge my humble heart--"
+
+"Bosh! Your heart has been through a dozen accidents of this
+character, Dank, and it is good for a hundred more. I'll rejoice when
+this voyage is ended and we have him safe on his way to Edelweiss."
+
+"That will not make the slightest difference, sir. If he sets his
+head to marry her he'll do it if we take him to the North Pole. All
+Graustark can't stop him,--nor old man Blithers either. Besides, he
+says he isn't going to Edelweiss immediately."
+
+"That is news to me."
+
+"I thought it would be. He came to the decision not more than two
+hours ago. He is determined to spend a couple of weeks at
+Interlaken."
+
+"Interlaken?"
+
+"Yes. Miss Guile expects to stop there for a fortnight after leaving
+Paris."
+
+"I must remonstrate with Robin--at once," declared the old man. "He
+is needed in Graustark. He must be made to realise the importance of--
+"
+
+"And what are you going to do if he declines to realise anything but
+the importance of a fortnight in the shadow of the Jungfrau?"
+
+"God help me, I don't know, Dank." The Count's brow was moist, and he
+looked anything but an unconquerable soldier.
+
+"I told him we were expected to reach home by the end of next week,
+and he said that a quiet fortnight in the Alps would make new men of
+all of us."
+
+"Do you mean to say he expects me to dawdle--"
+
+"More than that, sir. He also expects me to dawdle too. I shall
+probably shoot myself before the two weeks are over."
+
+"I have it! I shall take Mrs. Gaston into my confidence. It is the
+only hope, I fear. I shall tell her that he is--"
+
+"No hope there," said Dank mournfully.
+
+"Haven't you noticed how keen she is to have them together all the
+time? She's as wily as a fox. Never misses a chance. Hasn't it
+occurred to you to wonder why she drags you off on the slightest
+pretext when you happen to be in the way? She's done it a hundred
+times. Always leaving them alone together. My God, how I despise that
+woman! Not once but twenty times a day she finds an excuse to
+interfere when I am trying to get in a few words with Miss Guile.
+She's forever wanting me to show her the engine-room or the Captain's
+bridge or the wireless office or--why, by Jove, sir, it was only
+yesterday that she asked me to come and look at the waves. Said she'd
+found a splendid place to see them from, just as if the whole damned
+Atlantic wasn't full of 'em. And isn't she always looking for
+porpoises on the opposite side of the ship? And how many whales and
+ice-bergs do you think she's been trying to find in the last five
+days? No, sir! There's no hope there!"
+
+"'Pon my soul!" was all that the poor Minister of War, an adept in
+strategy, was able to exclaim.
+
+The _Jupiter_ disgorged most of her passengers at Cherbourg and
+the descent upon Paris had scarcely begun when the good ship steamed
+away for Antwerp, Bremen and Hamburg. She was one of the older
+vessels in the vast fleet of ships controlled by the American All-
+Seas and All-Ports Company, and she called wherever there was a port
+open to trans-Atlantic navigation. She was a single factor in the
+great monopoly described as the "Billion Dollar Boast." The United
+States had been slow to recognise the profits of seas that were free,
+but when she did wake up she proceeded to act as if she owned them
+and all that therein lay. Her people spoke of the Gulf Stream as
+"ours"; of the Banks of Newfoundland as "ours"--or in some instances
+as "ourn"; of Liverpool, Hamburg, London, Bremen and other such
+places as "our European terminals"; and of the various oceans, seas
+and navigable waters as "a part of the system." Where once the Stars
+and Stripes were as rare as hummingbirds in Baffin's Bay, the flags
+were now so thick that they resembled Fourth of July decorations on
+Fifth avenue, and it was almost impossible to cross the Atlantic
+without dodging a hundred vessels on which Dixie was being played,
+coming and going. A man from New Hampshire declared, after one of his
+trips over and back, that he cheered the good old tune so incessantly
+that his voice failed on the third day out, both ways, and he had to
+voice his patriotism with a tin horn.
+
+Ships of the All-Seas and All-Ports Company fairly stuffed the
+harbours of the world. America was awake at last--wide awake!--and
+the necessity for prodding her was now limited to the task of putting
+her to sleep long enough to allow other nations a chance to scrape
+together enough able bodied seamen to man the ships.
+
+William W. Blithers was one of the directors of the All-Seas and All-
+Ports Company. He was the first American to awake.
+
+For some unaccountable reason Miss Guile and her companion preferred
+to travel alone to Paris. They had a private compartment, over which
+a respectful but adamantine conductor exercised an authority that
+irritated R. Schmidt beyond expression. The rest of the train was
+crowded to its capacity, and here was desirable space going to waste
+in the section occupied by the selfish Miss Guile. He couldn't
+understand it in her. Was it, after all, to be put down as a simple
+steamer encounter? Was she deliberately snubbing him, now that they
+were on land? Was he, a prince of the royal blood, to be tossed aside
+by this purse-proud American as if he were the simplest of
+simpletons? And what did she mean by stationing an officious hireling
+before her door to order him away when he undertook to pay her a
+friendly visit?--to offer his own and Hobbs' services in case they
+were needed in Paris. Why should she lock her confounded door
+anyway,--and draw the curtains? There were other whys too numerous to
+mention, and there wasn't an answer to a single one of them. The
+whole proceeding was incomprehensible.
+
+To begin with, she certainly made no effort to conceal the fact that
+she was trying to avoid him from the instant the tender drew
+alongside to take off the passengers. As a matter of fact, she seemed
+to be making a point of it. And yet, the evening before, she had
+appeared rather enchanted with the prospect of seeing him at
+Interlaken.
+
+It was not until the boat-train was nearing the environs of Paris
+that Hobbs threw some light over the situation, with the result that
+it instantly became darker than ever before. It appears that Miss
+Guile was met at the landing by a very good-looking young man who not
+only escorted her to the train but actually entered it with her, and
+was even now enjoying the luxury of a private compartment as well as
+the contents of a large luncheon hamper, to say nothing of an
+uninterrupted view of something far more inspiring than the scenery.
+
+"Frenchman?" inquired Dank listlessly.
+
+"American, I should say, sir," said Hobbs, balancing himself in the
+corridor outside the door and sticking his head inside with more
+confidence than a traveller usually feels when travelling from
+Cherbourg to Paris. "But I wouldn't swear to it, sir. I didn't 'ear a
+word he said, being quite some distance away at the time.
+Happearances are deceptive, as I've said a great many times. A man
+may look like an American and still be almost anything else, see wot
+I mean? On the other hand, a man may look like almost nothing and
+still be American to his toes. I remember once saying to--"
+
+"That's all right, Hobbs," broke in R. Schmidt sternly. "We also
+remember what you said, so don't repeat it. How soon do we get in?"
+
+Hobbs cheerfully looked at his watch. "I couldn't say positive, sir,
+but I should think in about fourteen and a 'alf minutes, or maybe a
+shade under--between fourteen and fourteen and a 'alf, sir. As I was
+saying, he was a most intelligent looking chap, sir, and very
+'andsome of face and figger. Between twenty-four and twenty-five, I
+dare say. Light haired, smooth-faced, quite tall and dressed in dark
+blue with a cravat, sir, that looked like cerise but may have been--"
+
+"For heaven's sake, Hobbs, let up!" cried Robin, throwing up his
+hands.
+
+"Yes, sir; certainly, sir. Did I mention that he wears a straw 'at
+with a crimson band on it? Well, if I didn't, he does. Hincidentally,
+they seemed greatly pleased to see each other. He kissed her hand,
+and looked as though he might have gone even farther than that if it
+'adn't been for the crowd--"
+
+"That will do!" said Robin sharply, a sudden flush mounting to his
+cheek.
+
+"Very good, sir. Shall I get the bags down for the porters, sir? I
+beg pardon, sir,--" to one of the three surly gentlemen who sat
+facing the travellers from Graustark,--"my fault entirely. I don't
+believe it is damaged, sir. Allow me to--"
+
+"Thank you," growled the stranger. "I can put it on myself," and he
+jerked his hat out of Hobbs' hand and set it at a rather forbidding
+angle above a lowering brow. "Look what you're doing after this, will
+you?"
+
+"Certainly, sir," said Hobbs agreeably. "It's almost impossible to
+see without eyes in the back of one's head, don't you know. I 'ope--"
+
+"All right, _all_ right!" snapped the man, glaring balefully. "And let
+me tell you something else, my man. Don't go about knocking Americans
+without first taking a look. Just bear that in mind, will you?"
+
+"The surest way is to listen," began Hobbs loftily, but, catching a
+look from his royal master, desisted. He proceeded to get down the
+hand luggage.
+
+At the Gare St. Lazare, Robin had a brief glimpse of Miss Guile as
+she hurried with the crowd down to the cab enclosure, where her
+escort, the alert young stranger, put her into a waiting limousine,
+bundled Mrs. Gaston and Marie in after her, and then dashed away,
+obviously to see their luggage through the _douane_.
+
+She espied the tall figure of her fellow voyager near the steps and
+leaned forward to wave a perfunctory farewell to him. The car was
+creeping out toward the packed thoroughfare. It is possible that she
+expected him to dash among the chortling machines, at risk of life or
+limb, for a word or two at parting. If so, she was disappointed. He
+remained perfectly still, with uplifted hat, a faint smile on his
+lips and not the slightest sign of annoyance in his face. She smiled
+securely to herself as she leaned back in the seat, and was
+satisfied! Curiosity set its demand upon her an instant later,
+however, and she peered slyly through the little window in the back.
+He lifted his hat once more and she flushed to her throat as she
+quickly drew back into the corner. How in the world could he have
+seen her through that abominable slit in the limousine? And why was
+he now grinning so broadly?
+
+Count Quinnox found him standing there a few minutes later, twirling
+his stick and smiling with his eyes. Accompanying the old soldier was
+a slight, sharp-featured man with keen black eyes and a thin, pointed
+moustache of grey.
+
+This man was Gourou, Chief of Police and Commander of the Tower in
+Edelweiss, successor to the celebrated Baron Dangloss. After he had
+greeted his prince, the quiet little man announced that he had
+reserved for him an apartment at the Bristol.
+
+"I am instructed by the Prime Minister, your highness, to urge your
+immediate return to Edelweiss," he went on, lowering his voice. "The
+people are disturbed by the reports that have reached us during the
+past week or two, and Baron Romano is convinced that nothing will
+serve to subdue the feeling of uneasiness that prevails except your
+own declaration--in person--that these reports arc untrue."
+
+"I shall telegraph at once to Baron Romano that it is all poppy-
+cock," said Robin easily. "I refer, of course, to the reported
+engagement. I am not going to marry Miss Blithers and that's all
+there is to be said. You may see to it, baron, that a statement is
+issued to all of the Paris newspapers to-day, and to the
+correspondents for all the great papers in Europe and America. I have
+prepared this statement, under my own signature, and it is to be the
+last word in the matter. It is in my pocket at this instant. You
+shall have it when we reach the hotel--And that reminds me of another
+thing. I'm sorry that I shall have to ask you to countermand the
+reservation for rooms at the hotel you mention. I have already
+reserved rooms at the Ritz,--by wireless. We shall stop there. Where
+is Dank?"
+
+"The Ritz is hardly the place for--"
+
+But Robin clapped him on the back and favoured him with the good-
+natured, boyish smile that mastered even the fiercest of his
+counsellors, and the Minister of Police, being an astute man, heaved
+a deep sigh of resignation.
+
+"Dank is looking after the trunks, highness, and Hobbs is coming
+along with the hand luggage," he said. "The Ritz, you say? Then I
+shall have to instruct Lieutenant Dank to send the luggage there
+instead of to the Bristol. Pardon, your highness." He was off like a
+flash.
+
+Count Quinnox was gnawing his moustache. "See here, Robin," he said,
+laying his hand on the young man's shoulder, "you are in Paris now
+and not on board a ship at sea. Miss Guile is a beautiful, charming,
+highly estimable young woman, and, I might as well say it straight
+out to your face, you ought not to subject her to the notoriety that
+is bound to follow if the newspapers learn that she is playing around
+Paris, no matter how innocently, with a prince whom--"
+
+"Just a moment, Count," interrupted Robin, a cold light in his now
+unsmiling eyes. "You are getting a little ahead of the game. Miss
+Guile is not going to the Ritz, nor do I expect her to play around
+Paris with me. As a matter of fact, she refused to tell me where she
+is to stop while here, and I am uncomfortably certain that I shall
+not see her unless by chance. On the other hand, I may as well be
+perfectly frank with you and say it straight out to _your_ face
+that I am going to try to find her if possible, but I am not mean
+enough to employ the methods common to such enterprises. I could have
+followed her car in another when she left here a few minutes ago; I
+could manage in a dozen ways to run her to earth, as the detectives
+do in the books, but I'd be ashamed to look her in the face if I did
+any of these things. I shall take a gentleman's chance, my dear
+Count, and trust to luck and the generosity of fate. You may be sure
+that I shall not annoy Miss Guile, and you may be equally sure that
+she--"
+
+"I beg your pardon, Robin, but I did not employ the word annoy,"
+protested the Count.
+
+"--that she takes me for a gentleman if not for a prince," went on
+Robin, deliberately completing the sentence before he smiled his
+forgiveness upon the old man. "I selected the Ritz because all rich
+Americans go there, I'm told. I'm taking a chance."
+
+Quinnox had an obstinate strain in his make-up. He continued: "There
+is another side to the case, my boy. As a gentleman, you cannot allow
+this lovely girl to--er--well, to fall in love with you. That would
+be cruel, wantonly cruel. And it is just the thing that is bound to
+happen if you go on with--"
+
+"My dear Count, you forget that I am only R. Schmidt to her and but
+one of perhaps a hundred young men who have placed her in the same
+perilous position. Moreover, it's the other way 'round, sir. It is I
+who take the risk, not Miss Guile. I regret to say, sir, that if
+there is to be any falling in love, I am the one who is most likely
+to fall, and to fall hard. You assume that Miss Guile is heart-whole
+and fancy free. 'Gad, I wish that I could be sure of it!" He spoke
+with such fervour that the Count was indeed dismayed.
+
+"Robin, my lad, I beg of you to consider the consequences that--"
+
+"There's no use discussing it, old friend. Trust to luck. There is a
+bully good chance that she will send me about my business when the
+time comes and then the salvation of Graustark will be assured." He
+said it lightly but there was a dark look in his eyes that belied the
+jaunty words.
+
+"Am I to understand that you intend to--to ask her to marry you?"
+demanded the Count, profoundly troubled. "Remember, boy, that you are
+the Prince of Graustark, that you--"
+
+"But I'm not going to ask her to marry the Prince of Graustark. I'm
+going to ask her to marry R. Schmidt," said Robin composedly.
+
+"God defend us, Robin, I--I--"
+
+"God has all he can do to defend us from William W. Blithers, Count.
+Don't ask too much of him. What kind of a nation are we if we can't
+get along without asking God to defend us every time we see trouble
+ahead? And do you suppose he is going to defend us against a slip of
+a girl--"
+
+"Enough! Enough!" cried the Count, compressing his lips and glaring
+straight ahead.
+
+"That's the way to talk," cried Robin enthusiastically. "By the way,
+I hope Dank is clever enough to find out who that young fellow is
+while they are clearing the luggage in there. I had a good look at
+him just now. He is all that Hobbs describes and a little more. He is
+a hustler."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE RED LETTER B
+
+
+In the Baron's room at the Ritz late that night there was held a
+secret conference. Two shadowy figures stole down the corridor at
+midnight and were admitted to the room, while Prince Robin slept
+soundly in his remote four-poster and dreamed of something that
+brought a gentle smile to his lips.
+
+The three conspirators were of the same mind: it was clear that
+something must be done. But what? That was the question. Gourou
+declared that the people were very much disturbed over the trick the
+great capitalist had played upon the cabinet; there were sullen
+threats of a revolt if the government insisted on the deposit of
+bonds as required by the agreement. More than that, there were open
+declarations that the daughter of Mr. Blithers would never be
+permitted to occupy the throne of Graustark. Deeply as his subjects
+loved the young Prince, they would force him to abdicate rather than
+submit to the desecration of a throne that had never been
+dishonoured. They would accept William W. Blithers' money, but they
+would have none of William W. Blithers' daughter. That was more than
+could be expected of any self-respecting people! According to the
+Minister of Police, the name of Blithers was already a common synonym
+for affliction--and frequently employed in supposing a malediction.
+It signified all that was mean, treacherous, scurrilous. He was
+spoken of through clenched teeth as "the blood sucker." Children were
+ominously reproved by the threatening use of the word Blithers.
+"Blithers will get you if you don't wash your face," and all that
+sort of thing.
+
+There was talk in some circles of demanding the resignation of the
+cabinet, but even the pessimistic Gourou admitted that it was idle
+talk and would come to nothing if the menacing shadow of Maud
+Applegate Blithers could be banished from the vicinity of the throne.
+Graustarkians would abide by the compact made by their leading men
+and would be content to regard Mr. Blithers as a bona fide creditor.
+They would pay him in full when the loan matured, even though they
+were compelled to sacrifice their houses in order to accomplish that
+end. But, like all the rest of the world, they saw through the rich
+American's scheme.
+
+The world knew, and Graustark knew, just what Mr. Blithers was after,
+and the worst of it all was that Mr. Blithers also knew, which was
+more to the point. But, said Baron Gourou, Graustark knew something
+that neither the world nor Mr. Blithers knew, and that was its own
+mind. Never, said he, would Maud Applegate be recognised as the
+Princess of Graustark, not if she lived for a thousand years and
+married Robin as many times as she had hairs on her head. At least,
+he amended, that was the way every one felt about it at present.
+
+The afternoon papers had published the brief statement prepared by
+Robin in the seclusion of his stateroom on board the _Jupiter_
+immediately after a most enjoyable hour with Miss Guile. It was a
+curt and extremely positive denial of the rumoured engagement, with
+the additional information that he never had seen Miss Blithers and
+was more or less certain that she never had set eyes on him.
+
+A rather staggering co-incidence appeared with the published report
+that Miss Blithers herself was supposed to be somewhere in Europe,
+word having been received that day from sources in London that she
+had sailed from New York under an assumed name. The imaginative
+French journals put two and two together and dwelt upon the
+possibility that the two young people who had never seen each other
+might have crossed the Atlantic on the same steamer, seeing each
+other frequently and yet remaining entirely in the dark, so to speak.
+Inspired writers began to weave a romance out of the probabilities.
+
+On one point Robin was adamantine. He refused positively to have his
+identity disclosed at this time, and Gourou had to say to the
+newspapers that the Prince was even then on his way to Vienna,
+hurrying homeward as fast as steel cars could carry him. He admitted
+that the young man had arrived on the _Jupiter_ that morning,
+having remained in the closest seclusion all the way across the
+Atlantic.
+
+This equivocation necessitated the most cautious rearrangement of
+plans on the part of the Baron. He was required to act as though he
+had no acquaintance with either of the three travellers stopping at
+the Ritz, although for obvious reasons he took up a temporary abode
+there himself. Moreover, he had to telegraph the Prime Minister in
+Edelweiss that the Prince was not to be budged, and would in all
+likelihood postpone his return to the capitol. All of which stamped
+the honest Baron as a most prodigious liar, if one stops to think of
+what he said to the reporters.
+
+The newspapers also printed a definite bit of news in the shape of a
+despatch from New York to the effect that Mr. and Mrs. William W.
+Blithers were sailing for Europe on the ensuing day, bound for
+Graustark!
+
+However, the chief and present concern of the three loyal gentlemen
+in midnight conclave was not centred in the trouble that Mr. Blithers
+had started, but in the more desperate situation created by Miss
+Guile. She was the peril that now confronted them, and she was indeed
+a peril. Quinnox and Dank explained the situation to the Minister of
+Police, and the Minister of Police admitted that the deuce was to
+pay.
+
+"There is but one way out of it," said he, speaking officially, "and
+that is the simplest one I know of."
+
+"Assassination, I suppose," said Dank scornfully.
+
+"It rests with me, gentlemen," said the Baron, ignoring the
+lieutenant's remark, "to find Miss Guile and take her into my
+confidence in respect--"
+
+"No use," said Dank, and, to his surprise, the Count repeated the
+words after him.
+
+"Miss Guile is a lady. Baron," said the latter gloomily. "You cannot
+go to her with a command to clear out, keep her hands off, or any
+such thing. She would be justified in having you kicked out of the
+house. We must not annoy Miss Guile. That is quite out of the
+question."
+
+"By jove!" exclaimed Dank, so loudly that his companions actually
+jumped in their seats. They looked at him in amazement,--the Count
+with something akin to apprehension in his eyes. Had the fellow lost
+his mind over the girl? Before they could ask what he meant by
+shouting at the top of his voice, he repeated the ejaculation, but
+less explosively. His eyes were bulging and his mouth remained agape.
+
+"What ails you, Dank?" demanded the Baron, removing his eyes from the
+young man's face long enough to glance fearfully at the transom.
+
+"I've--I've got it!" cried the soldier, and then sank back in his
+chair, quite out of breath. The Baron got up and took a peep into the
+hallway, and then carefully locked the door. "What are you locking
+the door for?" demanded Dank, sitting up suddenly. "It's only a
+theory that I've got--but it is wonderful. Absolutely staggering."
+
+"Oh!" said Gourou, but he did not unlock the door. "A theory, eh?" He
+came back and stood facing the young man.
+
+"Count," began Dank excitedly, "you remember the big red letter B on
+all of her trunks, don't you? Hobbs is positive he--"
+
+Count Quinnox sprang to his feet and banged the table with his fist.
+
+"By jove!" he shouted, suddenly comprehending.
+
+"The letter B?" queried Gourou, perplexed.
+
+"The newspapers say that she sailed from New York under an assumed
+name," went on Dank, thrilled by his own amazing cleverness. "There
+you are! Plain as day. The letter B explains everything. Now we know
+who Miss Guile really is. She's--"
+
+"Maud" exclaimed Quinnox, sinking back into his chair.
+
+"Miss Blithers!" cried Gourou, divining at last. "By jove!" And thus
+was the jovian circle completed.
+
+It was two o'clock before the three gentlemen separated and retired
+to rest, each fully convinced that the situation was even more
+complicated than before, for in view of this new and most convincing
+revelation there now could be no adequate defence against the
+alluring Miss Guile.
+
+Robin was informed bright and early the next morning. In fact, he was
+still in his pajamas when the news was carried to him by the
+exhausted Dank, who had spent five hours in bed but none in slumber.
+Never in all his ardent career had the smart lieutenant been so
+bitterly afflicted with love-sickness as now.
+
+"I don't believe a word of it," said the Prince. promptly. "You've
+been dreaming, old chap."
+
+"That letter B isn't a dream, is it?"
+
+"No, it isn't," said Robin, and instantly sat up in bed, his face
+very serious. "If she should turn out to be Miss Blithers, I've
+cooked my goose to a crisp. Good Lord, when I think of some of the
+things I said to her about the Blithers family! But wait! If she is
+Miss Blithers do you suppose she'd sit calmly by and hear the family
+ridiculed? No, sir! She would have taken my head off like a flash.
+She--"
+
+"I've no doubt she regarded the situation as extremely humorous,"
+said Dank, "and laughed herself almost sick over the way she was
+fooling you."
+
+"That might sound reasonable enough, Dank, if she had known who I
+was. But where was the fun in fooling an utter outsider like R.
+Schmidt? It doesn't hold together."
+
+"Americans have an amazing notion of humour, I am reliably informed.
+They appear to be able to see a joke under the most distressing
+circumstances. I'll stake my head that she is Miss Blithers."
+
+"I can't imagine anything more terrible," groaned Robin, lying down
+flat again and staring at the ceiling.
+
+"I shouldn't call her terrible," protested Dank, rather stiffly.
+
+"I refer to the situation, Dank,--the mess, in other words. It
+_is_ a mess, isn't it?"
+
+"I suppose you'll see nothing more of her, your highness," remarked
+Dank, a sly hope struggling in his breast.
+
+"You'd better put it the other way. She'll see nothing more of me,"
+lugubriously.
+
+"I mean to say, sir, you can't go on with it, can you?"
+
+"Go on with what?"
+
+"The--er--you know," floundered Dank.
+
+"If there is really anything to go on with, Dank, I'll go on with it,
+believe me."
+
+The lieutenant stared. "But if she _should_ be Miss Blithers, what
+then?"
+
+"It might simplify matters tremendously," said Robin, but not at all
+confidently. "I think I'll get up, Dank, if you don't mind. Call
+Hobbs, will you? And, I say, won't you have breakfast up here with
+me?"
+
+"I had quite overlooked breakfast, 'pon my soul, I had," said Dank, a
+look of pain in his face. "No wonder I have a headache, going without
+my coffee so long."
+
+Later on, while they were breakfasting in Robin's sitting room, Hobbs
+brought in the morning newspapers. He laid one of them before the
+Prince, and jabbed his forefinger upon a glaring headline.
+
+"I beg pardon, sir; I didn't mean to get it into the butter. Very
+awkward, I'm sure. Hi, _garcon!_ Fresh butter 'ere, and lively about
+it, too. _Buerre!_ That's the word--buttah."
+
+Robin and Dank were staring at the headline as if fascinated. Having
+successfully managed the butter, Hobbs at once restored his attention
+to the headline, reading it aloud, albeit both of the young men were
+capable of reading French at sight. He translated with great
+profundity.
+
+"'Miss Blithers Denies Report. Signed Statement Mysteriously
+Received. American Heiress not to wed Prince of Graustark.' Shall I
+read the harticle, sir?"
+
+Robin snatched up the paper and read aloud for himself. Hobbs merely
+wiped a bit of butter from his finger and listened attentively.
+
+The following card appeared at the head of the column, and was
+supplemented by a complete resume of the Blithers-Graustark muddle:
+
+"Miss Blithers desires to correct an erroneous report that has
+appeared in the newspapers. She is not engaged to be married to the
+Prince of Graustark, nor is there even the remotest probability that
+such will ever be the case. Miss Blithers regrets that she has not
+the honour of Prince Robin's acquaintance, and the Prince has
+specifically stated in the public prints that he does not know her by
+sight. The statements of the two persons most vitally affected by
+this disturbing rumour should be taken as final. Sufficient pain and
+annoyance already has been caused by the malicious and utterly
+groundless report." The name of Maud Applegate Blithers was appended
+to the statement, and it was dated Paris, August 29.
+
+Thereafter followed a lengthy description of the futile search for
+the young lady in Paris, and an interview with the local
+representatives of Mr. Blithers, all of whom declared that the
+signature was genuine, but refused to commit themselves further
+without consulting their employer. They could throw no light upon the
+situation, even going so far as to declare that they were unaware of
+the presence of Miss Blithers in Paris.
+
+It appears that the signed statement was left in the counting-rooms
+of the various newspapers by a heavily veiled lady at an hour agreed
+upon as "about ten o'clock." There was absolutely no clue to the
+identity of this woman.
+
+Instead of following the suggestion of Miss Blithers that "sufficient
+pain and annoyance already had been caused," the journalists
+proceeded to increase the agony by venturing the hope that fresh
+developments would materialise before the day was done.
+
+"Well, she appears to be here," said Robin, as he laid down the last
+of the three journals and stared at Dank as if expecting hope from
+that most unreliable source.
+
+"I suppose you will now admit that I am right about the letter B,"
+said Dank sullenly.
+
+"When I see Miss Guile I shall ask point blank if she is Maud
+Applegate, Dank, and if she says she isn't, I'll take her word for
+it," said Robin.
+
+"And if she says she is?"
+
+"Well," said the Prince, ruefully, "I'll still take her word for it."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"Then I shall be equally frank and tell her that I am Robin of
+Graustark. That will put us all square again, and we'll see what
+comes of it in the end."
+
+"You don't mean to say you'll--you'll continue as you were?" gasped
+Dank.
+
+"That depends entirely on Miss Guile, Boske."
+
+"But you wouldn't dare to marry Maud Applegate Blithers, sir. You
+would be driven out of Graustark and--"
+
+"I think that would depend a good deal on Miss Guile, too, old chap,"
+said Robin coolly.
+
+Dank swallowed very hard. "I want to be loyal to you, your highness,"
+he said as if he did not think it would be possible to remain so.
+
+"I shall count on you, Dank," said Robin earnestly.
+
+"But--" began the lieutenant, and then stopped short.
+
+"Let me finish it for you. You don't feel as though you could be
+loyal to Miss Blithers, is that it?"
+
+"I think that would depend on Miss Blithers," said Dank, and then
+begged to be excused. He went out of the room rather hurriedly.
+
+"Well, Hobbs," said Robin, after his astonishment had abated, "what
+do _you_ think of it?"
+
+"I think he's in love with her, sir," said Hobbs promptly.
+
+"Good Lord! with--with Miss Guile?"
+
+"Precisely so, sir."
+
+"Well, I'll be _darned!_" said the American half of Prince Robin with
+great fervour.
+
+"Tut, tut, sir," reproved Hobbs, who, as has been said before, was a
+privileged character by virtue of long service and his previous
+calling as a Cook's interpreter. "Are you going out, sir?"
+
+"Yes. I'm going out to search the highways and by-ways for Bedelia,"
+said Robin, a gay light in his eyes. "By the way, did you, by any
+chance, learn the name of the 'andsome young gent as went away with
+'er, 'Obbs?"
+
+"I did not, sir. I stood at his helbow for quite some time at the
+Gare St. Lazare and the only words he spoke that I could hear
+distinctly was 'wot the devil do you mean, me man? Ain't there room
+enough for you here without standing on my toes like that? Move
+hover.' Only, of course, sir, he used the haspirates after a fashion
+of his own. The haitches are mine, sir."
+
+"Is he an American?"
+
+"It's difficult to say, sir. He may be from Boston, but you never can
+tell, sir."
+
+"Do you know Boston, Hobbs?" inquired the Prince, adjusting his tie
+before the mirror.
+
+"Not to speak it, sir," said Hobbs.
+
+The day was warm and clear, and Paris was gleaming. Robin stretched
+his long legs in a brisk walk across the Place Vendome and up the Rue
+de la Paix to the Boulevard. Here he hesitated and then retraced his
+steps slowly down the street of diamonds, for he suspected Miss Guile
+of being interested in things that were costly. Suddenly inspired, he
+made his way to the Place de la Concorde and settled himself on one
+of the seats near the entrance to the Champs Elysees. It was his
+shrewd argument that if she planned a ride on that exquisite morning
+it naturally would be along the great avenue, and in that event he
+might reasonably hope to catch her coming or going. A man came up and
+took a seat beside him.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt," said the newcomer, and Robin somewhat
+gruffly demanded what the deuce he meant by following him. "I have
+some interesting news," said Baron Gourou quietly, removing his hat
+to wipe a damp brow. He also took the time to recover his breath
+after some rather sharp dodging of automobiles in order to attain his
+present position of security. Even a Minister of Police has to step
+lively in Paris.
+
+"From home?" asked Robin carelessly.
+
+"Indirectly. It comes through Berlin. Our special agent there wires
+me that the offices of Mr. Blithers in that city have received
+instructions from him to send engineers to Edelweiss for the purpose
+of estimating the cost of remodelling and rebuilding the castle,--in
+other words to restore it to its condition prior to the Marlanx
+rebellion fifteen years ago."
+
+There was a tantalising smile on the Baron's face as he watched the
+changing expressions in that of his Prince.
+
+"Are you in earnest?" demanded Robin, a bright red spot appearing in
+each cheek. The Baron nodded his head. "Well, he's got a lot of
+nerve!"
+
+"I shudder when I think of what is likely to happen to those
+architects when they begin snooping around the castle," said Gourou
+drily. "By the way, have you seen Miss Guile this morning?"
+
+Robin's cheeks were now completely suffused. "Certainly not."
+
+"She was in the Rue de la Paix half an hour ago. I thought you might--
+"
+
+"You saw her, Baron?"
+
+"Yes, highness, and it may interest you to know that she saw you."
+
+"The deuce you say! But how do you know that it was Miss Guile.
+You've no means of knowing."
+
+"It is a part of my profession to recognise people from given
+descriptions. In this case, however, the identification was rendered
+quite simple by the actions of the young lady herself. She happened
+to emerge from a shop just as you were passing and I've never seen
+any one, criminal or otherwise, seek cover as quickly as she did. She
+darted back into the shop like one pursued by the devil. Naturally I
+hung around for a few minutes to see the rest of the play. Presently
+she peered forth, looked stealthily up and down the street, and then
+dashed across the pavement to a waiting taxi-metre. It affords me
+pleasure to inform your highness that I took the number of the
+machine." He glanced at his cuff-band.
+
+"Where did she go from the Rue de la Paix?" asked Robin impatiently.
+
+"To the Ritz. I was there almost as soon as she. She handed an
+envelope--containing a letter, I fancy--to the carriage man and
+drove away in the direction of the Place de l'Opera. I have a sly
+notion, my Prince, that you will find a note awaiting you on your
+return to the hotel. Ah, you appear to be in haste, my young hunter."
+
+"I am in haste. If you expect to keep alongside, Baron, you'll have
+to run I'm afraid," cried the Prince, and was instantly in his seven-
+league boots.
+
+There was a note in Robin's rooms when he reached the hotel. It was
+not the delicately perfumed article that usually is despatched by
+fictional heroines but a rather business-like envelope bearing the
+well-known words "The New York Herald" in one corner and the name "R.
+Schmidt, Hotel Ritz," in firm but angular scrawl across its face. As
+Robin ripped it open with his finger, Baron Gourou entered the room,
+but not without giving vent to a slight cough in the way of an
+announcement.
+
+"You forget, highness, that I am a short man and not possessed of
+legs that travel by yards instead of feet," he panted. "Forgive me
+for lagging behind. I did my best to keep up with you."
+
+Robin stared at his visitor haughtily for a moment and then broke
+into a good-humoured laugh.
+
+"Won't you sit down, Baron? I'll be at liberty in a minute or two,"
+he said, and coolly proceeded to scan the brief message from Miss
+Guile.
+
+"Well," said Gourou, as the young man replaced the letter in the
+envelope and stuck it into his pocket.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE CAT IS AWAY
+
+
+Robins's face was glowing with excitement. He put his hands in his
+trousers pockets and nervously jingled the coins therein, all the
+while regarding his Minister of Police with speculative eyes. Then he
+turned to the window and continued to stare down into the Place
+Vendome for several minutes, obviously turning something over in his
+mind before coming to a decision. The Baron waited. None knew better
+than he how to wait. He realised that a great deal hung upon the next
+few sentences to be uttered in that room, and yet he could be
+patient.
+
+At last Robin faced him, but without speaking. An instant later he
+impulsively withdrew the letter from his pocket and held it out to
+the Baron, who strode across the room and took it from his hand.
+Without a word, he extracted the single sheet of paper and read what
+was written thereon.
+
+"I gather from the nature of the invitation that you are expected to
+enjoy stolen fruit, if I may be so bold as to put it in just that
+way," said he grimly. "Apparently Miss Guile finds the presence of a
+duenna unnecessarily wise."
+
+"There's no harm in a quiet little excursion such as she suggests,
+Baron," said Robin, defensively.
+
+"You forget that I have seen the beautiful Miss Guile," said Gourou
+drily. "I take it, then, that you approve of the young lady's
+scheme."
+
+"Scheme sounds rather sinister, doesn't it?"
+
+"Trick, if it please you more than the other. Moreover, I cannot say
+that she _suggests_ the quiet little excursion. It occurs to me
+that she commands, your highness." He held the missive to the light
+and read, a tender irony in his voice: "'My motor will call for you
+at three this afternoon, and we will run out to St. Cloud for tea; at
+the Pavilion Bleu. Mrs. Gaston is spending the day with relatives at
+Champigny, and we may as well be mice under the circumstances. If you
+have another engagement, pray do not let it interfere with the
+pleasure I am seeking.' Nothing could be more exacting, my dear
+Prince. She signs herself 'B. Guile,' and I am sure she is
+magnificently beguiling, if you will pardon the play on words."
+
+"You wouldn't adopt that tone of suspicion if you knew Miss Guile,"
+said Robin stiffly. "I am sure nothing could be more frank and above-
+board than her manner of treating the--"
+
+"And nothing so cock-sure and confident," put in the Baron. "It would
+serve her right if you ignored the letter altogether."
+
+"If I were as old as you, Baron, I haven't the least doubt that I
+should do so," said Robin coolly. "And by the same token, if you were
+as young as I, you'd do precisely the thing that I intend to do. I'm
+going to St. Cloud with her."
+
+"Oh, I haven't been in doubt about that for an instant," said Gourou.
+"At your age I greatly favoured the clandestine. You will not pretend
+to assume that this is not a clandestine excursion."
+
+"It's a jolly little adventure," was all that Robin could say, in his
+youthfulness.
+
+The Baron was thoughtful. "There is something behind this
+extraordinary behaviour on the part of a lady generally accredited
+with sense and refinement," said he after a moment. "I think I have
+it, too. She is deliberately putting you to a rather severe test."
+
+"Test? What do you mean?"
+
+"She is trying you out, sir. Miss Guile,--or possibly Miss Blithers,
+--is taking a genuine risk in order to determine whether you are a
+real gentleman or only a make-believe. She is taking a chance with
+you. You may call it a jolly little adventure, but I call it the acid
+test. Young women of good breeding and refinement do not plan such
+adventures with casual, ship-board acquaintances. She intends to find
+out _what_, not _who_, you are. I must say she's exceedingly clever
+and courageous."
+
+Robin laughed. "Thank you, Baron. Forewarned is forearmed. I shall
+remain a gentleman at any cost."
+
+"She is so shrewd and resourceful that I am almost convinced she can
+be no other than the daughter of the amazing Mr. Blithers. I believe
+he achieved most of his success through sheer impudence, though it is
+commonly described as daring."
+
+"In any case. Baron, I shall make it a point to find out whether she
+is the lady who defies the amazing Mr. Blithers, and goes into print
+about it."
+
+"She has merely denied that she is engaged to the Prince of
+Graustark. Pray do not come back to us with the news that she is
+engaged to R. Schmidt," said Gourou significantly.
+
+Robin smiled reflectively. "That _would_ make a jolly adventure of it,
+wouldn't it?"
+
+At three o'clock, a big limousine swung under the porte cochere at
+the Ritz and a nimble footman hopped down and entered the hotel.
+Robin was waiting just inside the doors. He recognised the car as the
+one that had taken Miss Guile away from the Gare St. Lazare, and
+stepped forward instantly to intercept the man.
+
+"For Mr. Schmidt?" he inquired.
+
+"Oui, M'sieur."
+
+Thrilled by a pleasurable sense of excitement, the Prince of
+Graustark entered the car. He was quick to observe that the curtains
+in the side windows were partially drawn across the glass. The fact
+that she elected to journey to the country in a limousine on this hot
+day did not strike him as odd, for he knew that the comfort loving
+French people prefer the closed vehicle to the wind-inviting, dust-
+gathering touring body of the Americans and British. He observed the
+single letter L in gold in the panel of the door, and made mental
+note of the smart livery of the two men on the front seat.
+
+A delicate perfume lingered in the car, convincing proof that Miss
+Guile had left it but a few minutes before its arrival at the Ritz.
+As a matter of fact, she was nearer than he thought, for the car
+whirled into the Rue de la Paix and stopped at the curb not more than
+a hundred yards from the Place Vendome.
+
+Once more the nimble footman hopped down and threw open the door. A
+slender, swift-moving figure in a blue linen gown and a wide hat from
+which sprung two gorgeous blue plumes, emerged from the door of a
+diamond merchant's shop, and, before Robin could move from his
+corner, popped into the car and sat down beside him with a nervous
+little laugh on her lips--red lips that showed rose-like and tempting
+behind a thick chiffon veil, obviously donned for an excellent
+reason. The exquisite features of Miss Guile were barely
+distinguishable beneath the surface of this filmy barrier. The door
+closed sharply and, almost before the Prince had recovered from his
+surprise, the car glided off in the direction of the Place de
+l'Opera.
+
+"Isn't it just like an elopement?" cried Miss Guile, and it was quite
+plain to him that she was vastly pleased with the sprightly
+introduction to the adventure. Her voice trembled slightly and she
+sat up very straight in the wide, comfortable seat.
+
+"Is it really you?" cried Robin, and he was surprised to find that
+his own voice trembled.
+
+"Oh," she said, with a sudden diffidence, "how do you do? What must
+you think of me, bouncing in like that and never once speaking to
+you?"
+
+"If I were to tell you what I think of you, you'd bounce right out
+again without speaking to me," said he, smiling. "How do you do?" He
+extended his hand, but it was ignored. She sank back into the corner
+and looked at him for a moment as if uncertain what to say or do
+next. The shadowy red lips were smiling and the big dark eyes were
+eloquent, even through the screen.
+
+"I may as well tell you at the outset, Mr. Schmidt, that I've never--
+_never_--done a thing like this before," she said, an uneasy note in
+her voice.
+
+"I am quite sure of that," said he, "and therefore confess to a vast
+wealth of satisfaction."
+
+"What _do_ you think of me?"
+
+"I think that you are frightened almost out of your boots," said he
+boldly.
+
+"No, I'm not," said she resolutely. "I am only conscious of feeling
+extremely foolish."
+
+"I shouldn't feel that way about stealing off for a cup of tea," said
+he. "It's all quite regular, you know, and is frequently done in the
+very best circles when the cat's away."
+
+"You see, I couldn't quite scrape up the courage to go directly to
+the hotel for you," she said. "I know several people who are stopping
+there and I--I--well, you won't think I'm a dreadful person, will
+you?"
+
+"Not at all," he declared promptly. Then he resolved to put one of
+the questions he had made up his mind to ask at the first
+opportunity. "Do you mind telling me why you abandoned me so
+completely, so heartlessly on the day we landed?"
+
+"Because there was no reason why I should act otherwise, Mr.
+Schmidt," she said, the tremor gone from her voice.
+
+"And yet you take me to St. Cloud for tea," he said pointedly.
+
+"Ah, but no one is to know of this," she cried warmly. "This is a
+secret, a very secret adventure."
+
+He could not help staring. "And that is just why I am mystified. Why
+is to-day so different from yesterday?"
+
+"It isn't," she said. "Doesn't all this prove it?"
+
+His face fell. "Don't you want to be seen with me, Miss Guile? Am I
+not--"
+
+"Wait! Will you not be satisfied with things as they are and refrain
+from asking unnecessary questions?"
+
+"I shall have to be satisfied," said he ruefully.
+
+"I am sorry I said that, Mr. Schmidt," she cried, contrite at once.
+"There is absolutely no reason why I should not be seen with you. But
+won't you be appeased when I say that I wanted to be with you alone
+to-day?"
+
+He suddenly remembered the Baron's shrewd conjecture and let the
+opportunity to say something banal go by without a word. Perhaps it
+was a test, after all. He merely replied that she was paying him a
+greater compliment than he deserved.
+
+"There are many things I want to speak about, Mr. Schmidt, and--and
+you know how impossible it is to--to get a moment to one's self when
+one is being watched like a child, as I am being watched over by dear
+Mrs. Gaston. She is my shield and armour, my lovely one-headed
+dragon. I placed myself in her care and--well, she is a very
+dependable person. You _will_ understand, won't you?"
+
+"Pray do not distress yourself, Miss Guile," he protested. "The last
+word is spoken. I am too happy to spoil the day by doubting its
+integrity. Besides, I believe I know you better than you think I do."
+
+He expected her to reveal some sign of dismay, but she was suddenly
+on guard.
+
+"Then you will not mind my eccentricities," she said calmly, "and we
+shall have a very nice drive, some tea and a--lark in place of the
+more delectable birds prescribed by the chef at the Pavilion Bleu."
+
+As the car turned into the Boulevard des Capucines Robin suppressed
+an exclamation of annoyance on beholding Baron Gourou and Dank
+standing on the curb almost within arm's length of the car as it
+passed. The former was peering rather intently at the two men on the
+front seat, and evinced little or no interest in the occupants of the
+tonneau.
+
+"Wasn't that your friend Mr. Dank?" inquired Miss Guile with
+interest. He felt that she was chiding him.
+
+"Yes," said he, and then turned for another look at his compatriots.
+Gourou was jotting something down on his cuff-band. The Prince
+mentally promised him something for his pains. "But let us leave dull
+care behind," he went on gaily.
+
+"He isn't at all dull," said she.
+
+"But he _is_ a care," said he. "He is always losing his heart, Miss
+Guile."
+
+"And picking up some one else's, I fancy," said she.
+
+"By the way, who was the good-looking chap that came to Cherbourg to
+meet you?"
+
+"A very old friend, Mr. Schmidt. I've known him since I was that
+high." (That high was on a line with her knee.)
+
+"Attractive fellow," was his comment.
+
+"Do you think so?" she inquired innocently, and he thought she over-
+played it a little. He was conscious of an odd sense of
+disappointment in her. "Have you never been out to St. Cloud? No? I
+never go there without feeling a terrible pity for those poor
+prodigals who stood beside its funeral pyre and saw their folly
+stripped down to the starkest of skeletons while they waited. The day
+of glory is short, Mr. Schmidt, and the night that follows is
+bitterly long. They say possession is nine points of the law, but
+what do nine points mean to the lawless? The rich man of to-day may
+be the beggar of to-morrow, and the rich man's sons and daughters may
+be serving the beggars of yesterday. I have been told that in the
+lower east side of New York City there are men and women who were
+once princes and princesses, counts and countesses, dukes and
+duchesses. Why doesn't some one write a novel about the royalty that
+hides its beggary in the slums of that great city?"
+
+"What's this? Epigrams and philosophy, Miss Guile?" he exclaimed
+wonderingly. "You amaze me. What are you trying to convey? That some
+day you may be serving yesterday's beggar?"
+
+"Who knows!" she said cryptically. "I am not a philosopher, and I'm
+sorry about the epigrams. I loathe people who make use of them. They
+are a cheap substitution for wisdom. Do you take sugar in your tea?"
+It was her way of abandoning the topic, but he looked his perplexity.
+"I thought I'd ask now, just for the sake of testing my memory later
+on." She was laughing.
+
+"Two lumps and cream," he said. "Won't you be good enough to take off
+that veil? It seriously obstructs the view."
+
+She complacently shook her head. "It doesn't obstruct mine," she
+said. "Have you been reading what the papers are saying about your
+friend Mr. Blithers and his obstreperous Maud?"
+
+Robin caught his breath. In a flash he suspected an excellent reason
+for keeping the veil in place. It gave her a distinct advantage over
+him.
+
+"Yes. I see that she positively denies the whole business."
+
+"Likewise the prospective spouse," she added. "Isn't it sickening?"
+
+"I wonder what Mr. Blithers is saying to-day," said he audaciously.
+"Poor old cock, he must be as sore as a crab. By the way, it is
+reported that she crossed on the steamer with us."
+
+"I am quite certain that she did, Mr. Schmidt," said she.
+
+"You really think so?" he cried, regarding her keenly.
+
+"The man who came to meet me knows her quite well. He is confident
+that he saw her at Cherbourg."
+
+"I see," said he, and was thoroughly convinced. "I may as well
+confess to you. Miss Guile, that I also know her when I see her."
+
+"But you told me positively that you had never seen her, Mr.
+Schmidt," she said quickly.
+
+"I had not seen her up to the second day out on the _Jupiter_," he
+explained, enjoying himself immensely.
+
+"It was after that that you--"
+
+"I know," he said, as she hesitated; "but you see I didn't know she
+was Miss Blithers until sometime after I had met you." There was a
+challenge in his manner amounting almost to a declaration.
+
+She leaned forward to regard him more intently.
+
+"Is it possible, Mr. Schmidt, that you suspect _me_ of being
+that horrid, vulgar creature?"
+
+Robin was not to be trapped. There was something in the shadowy eyes
+that warned him.
+
+"At least, I may say that I do not suspect you of being a horrid,
+vulgar creature," he said evasively.
+
+"What else can this Miss Blithers be if not that?"
+
+"Would you say that she is vulgar because she refuses to acknowledge
+a condition that doesn't exist? I think she did perfectly right in
+denying the engagement."
+
+"You haven't answered my question, Mr. Schmidt."
+
+"Well," he began slowly, "I don't suspect you of being Miss
+Blithers."
+
+"But you did suspect it."
+
+"I was pleasantly engaged in speculation, that's all. It is generally
+believed that Miss Blithers sailed under an assumed name--literally,
+not figuratively."
+
+"Is there any reason why you should imagine that my name is not
+Guile?"
+
+"Yes. Your luggage is resplendently marked with the second letter in
+the alphabet--a gory, crimson B."
+
+"I see," she said reflectively. "You examined my luggage, as they say
+in the customs office. And you couldn't put B and G together, is that
+it?"
+
+"Obviously."
+
+"If you had taken the trouble to look, you would have found an
+equally resplendent G on the opposite end of each and every trunk,
+Mr. Schmidt," she said quietly.
+
+"I did not examine your luggage, Miss Guile," said he stiffly. She
+hadn't left much for him to stand upon. "Rather unique way to put
+one's initials on a trunk, isn't it?"
+
+"It possesses the virtue of originality," she admitted, "and it never
+fails to excite curiosity. I am sorry you were misled. Nothing could
+be more distressing than to be mistaken for the heroine of a story
+and then turn out to be a mere nobody in the end. I've no doubt that
+if the amiable Miss Blithers were to hear of it, she'd rush into
+print and belabour me with the largest type that money could buy."
+
+"Oh, come now, Miss Guile," he protested, "it really isn't fair to
+Miss Blithers. She was justified in following an illustrious example.
+You forget that the Prince of Graustark was the first to rush into
+print with a flat denial. What else could the poor girl do?"
+
+"Oh, I am not defending the Prince of Graustark. He behaved
+abominably, rushing into print as you say. Extremely bad taste, I
+should call it."
+
+Robin's ears burned. He could not defend himself. There was nothing
+left for him to do but to say that it "served him jolly well right,
+the way Miss Blithers came back at him."
+
+"Still," she said, "I would be willing to make a small wager that the
+well-advertised match comes off in spite of all the denials. Given a
+determined father, an ambitious mother, a purse-filled daughter and
+an empty-pursed nobleman, and I don't see how the inevitable can be
+avoided."
+
+His face was flaming. It was with difficulty that he restrained the
+impulse to put her right in the matter without further ado.
+
+"Are you sure that the Prince is so empty of purse as all that?" he
+managed to say, without betraying himself irretrievably.
+
+"There doesn't seem to be any doubt that he borrowed extensively of
+Mr. Blithers," she said scornfully. "He is under some obligations to
+his would-be-father-in-law, I submit, now isn't he?"
+
+"I suppose so, Miss Guile," he admitted uncomfortably.
+
+"And therefore owes him something more than a card in the newspapers,
+don't you think?"
+
+"Really, Miss Guile, I--I--"
+
+"I beg your pardon. The Prince's affairs are of no importance to you,
+so why should I expect you to stand up for him?"
+
+"I confess that I am a great deal more interested in Miss Blithers
+than I am in the Prince. By the way, what would you have done had you
+been placed in her position?"
+
+"I think I should have acted quite as independently as she."
+
+"If your father were to pick out a husband for you, whether or no,
+you would refuse to obey the paternal command?"
+
+"Most assuredly. As a matter of fact, Mr. Schmidt, my father has
+expressed a wish that I should marry a man who doesn't appeal to me
+at all."
+
+"And you refuse?"
+
+"Absolutely."
+
+"More or less as Miss Blithers has done," he said pointedly.
+
+"Miss Blithers, I understand, has the advantage of me in one respect.
+I am told that she wants to marry another man and is very much in
+love with him."
+
+"A chap named Scoville," said Robin, unguardedly.
+
+"You know him, Mr. Schmidt?"
+
+"No. I've merely heard of him. I take it from your remark that you
+don't want to marry anybody--at present."
+
+"Quite right. Not at present. Now let us talk of something else. _A
+bas_ Blithers! Down with the plutocrats! Stamp out the vulgarians!
+Is there anything else you can suggest?" she cried gaily.
+
+"Long live the Princess Maud!" said he, and doffed his hat. The
+satirical note in his voice was not lost on her. She started
+perceptibly, and caught her breath. Then she sank back into the
+corner with a nervous, strained little laugh.
+
+"You think she will marry him?"
+
+"I think as you do about it, Miss Guile," said he, and she was
+silenced.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE MICE IN A TRAP
+
+
+They had a table in a cool, shady corner of the broad porch
+overlooking the Place d'Armes and the Seine and its vociferous
+ferries. To the right runs the gleaming roadway that leads to the
+hills and glades through which pomp and pride once strode with such
+fatal arrogance. Blue coated servitors attended them on their
+arrival, and watched over them during their stay. It was as if Miss
+Guile were the fairy princess who had but to wish and her slightest
+desire was gratified. Her guest, a real prince, marvelled not a
+little at the complete sway she exercised over this somewhat
+autocratic army of menials. They bowed and scraped, and fetched, and
+carried, and were not Swiss but slaves in Bagdad during the reign of
+its most illustrious Caliph, Al-haroun Raschid the great. The magic
+of Araby could have been no more potent than the spell this beautiful
+girl cast over the house of Mammon. She laid her finger upon a purse
+of gold and wished, and lo! the wonders of the magic carpet were
+repeated.
+
+Robin remembered that Maud Applegate Blithers had spent the greater
+part of her life in Paris, and it was therefore not unreasonable to
+suppose that she had spent something else as well. At any rate, the
+Pavilion Bleu was a place where it _had_ to be spent if one wanted the
+attention accorded the few.
+
+She had removed her veil, but he was not slow to perceive that she
+sat with her back to the long stretch of porch.
+
+"Do you prefer this place to Armenonville or the Paillard at Pre
+Catelan, Miss Guile?" he inquired, quite casually, but with a secret
+purpose.
+
+"No, it is stupid here, as a rule, and common. Still every one goes
+to the other places in the afternoon and I particularly wanted to be
+as naughty as possible, so I came here to-day."
+
+"It doesn't strike me as especially naughty," he remarked.
+
+"But it was very, very naughty before you and I were born, Mr.
+Schmidt. The atmosphere still remains, if one possesses a
+comprehensive imagination."
+
+"I daresay," said he, "but the imagination doesn't thrive on tea.
+Those were the days of burgundy and a lot of other red things."
+
+"One doesn't need to be in shackles, to expatiate on the terrors of
+the Bridge of Sighs," she said.
+
+"Are you going to take me up to the park?"
+
+"Yes. Into the Shadows."
+
+"Oh, that's good! I'm sure my imagination will work beautifully when
+it isn't subdued by all these blue devils. I--_Que voulez vous?_" The
+question was directed rather sharply to a particularly deferential
+"blue devil" who stood at his elbow.
+
+"Monsieur Schmidt?"
+
+"Yes. What's this? A letter! 'Pon my soul, how the deuce could any
+one--" He got no farther, for Miss Guile's action in pulling down her
+veil and the subsequent spasmodic glance over her shoulder betrayed
+such an agitated state of mind on her part that his own sensations
+were checked at the outset.
+
+"There must be some one here who knows you, Mr. Schmidt," she said
+nervously. "See what it says, please,--at once. I--perhaps we should
+be starting home immediately."
+
+Robin tore open the envelope. A glance showed him that the brief note
+was from Gourou. A characteristic G served as a signature. As he
+read, a hard line appeared between his eyes and his expression grew
+serious.
+
+"It is really nothing, Miss Guile," he said and prepared to tear the
+sheet into many pieces. "A stupid, alleged joke of a fellow who
+happens to know me, that's all."
+
+"Don't tear it up!" she cried sharply. "What does it say? I have a
+right to know, Mr. Schmidt, even though it is only a joke. What has
+this friend of yours to say about me? What coarse, uncalled-for
+comment has he to make about--"
+
+"Let me think for a moment, Miss Guile," he interrupted, suddenly
+realising that it was time for reflection. After a moment he said
+soberly: "I think it would be wise if we were to leave instantly.
+There is nothing to be alarmed about, I assure you, but--well, we'd
+better go."
+
+"Will you allow me to see that letter?" she asked, extending her
+hand.
+
+"I'd rather not, if you don't mind."
+
+"But I insist, sir! I'll not go a step from this place until I know
+what all this is about."
+
+"As it happens to concern you even more than it does me, I suppose
+you'd better see what it says." He passed the letter over to her and
+watched her narrowly as she read. Again the veil served as a
+competent mask.
+
+"Who wrote this letter, Mr. Schmidt?" she demanded. Even through the
+veil he could see that her eyes were wide with--was it alarm or
+anger?
+
+"A man named Gourou. He is a detective engaged on a piece of work for
+Mr. Totten."
+
+"Is it a part of his duty to watch your movements?" she asked,
+leaning forward.
+
+"No. He is my friend, however," said Robin steadily." According to
+this epistle, it would appear that it is a part of his duty to keep
+track of you, not me. May I ask why you should be shadowed by two of
+his kind?"
+
+She did not answer at once. When she spoke, it was with a determined
+effort to maintain her composure.
+
+"I am sorry to have subjected you to all this, Mr. Schmidt. We will
+depart at once. I find that the cat is never away, so we can't be
+mice. What a fool I've been." There was something suspiciously
+suggestive of tears in her soft voice.
+
+He laid a hand upon the small fingers that clutched the crumpled
+sheet of paper. To have saved his life, he could not keep the choked,
+husky tremor out of his voice.
+
+"The day is spoiled for you. That is my only regret. As for me, Miss
+Guile, I am not without sin, so I may cast no stones. Pray regard me
+as a fellow culprit, and rest assured that I have no bone to pick
+with you. I too am watched and yet I am no more of a criminal than
+you. Will you allow me to say that I am a friend whose devotion
+cannot be shaken by all the tempests in the world?"
+
+"Thank you," she said, and turned her hand under his to give it a
+quick, convulsive clasp. Her spirits seemed to revive under the
+responsive grip. "You might have said all the tempests in a tea pot,
+for that is really what it amounts to. My father is a very foolish
+man. Will you send for the car?"
+
+He called an attendant and ordered him to find Miss Guile's footman
+at once. When he returned to the table, she was reading the note once
+more.
+
+"It is really quite thrilling, isn't it?" she said, and there was
+still a quaver of indignation in her voice. "Are you not mystified?"
+
+"Not in the least," said he promptly, and drew a chair up close
+beside hers. "It's as plain as day. Your father has found you out,
+that's all. Let's read it again," and they read it together.
+
+"A word to the wise," it began. "Two men from a private detective
+concern have been employed since yesterday in watching the movements
+of your companion, for the purpose of safe-guarding her against good-
+looking young men, I suspect. I have it from the most reliable of
+sources that her father engaged the services of these men almost
+simultaneously with the date of our sailing from New York. It may
+interest you to know that they followed you to St. Cloud in a high-
+power car and no doubt are watching you as you read this message from
+your faithful friend, who likewise is not far away."
+
+"I should have anticipated this, Mr. Schmidt," she said ruefully. "It
+is just the sort of thing my father would do."
+
+"You seem to take it calmly enough."
+
+"I am quite used to it. I would be worth a great deal to any
+enterprising person who made it his business to steal me. There is no
+limit to the ransom he could demand."
+
+"You alarm me," he declared. "No doubt these worthy guardians look
+upon me as a kidnapper. I am inclined to shiver."
+
+"'All's well that ends well,'" quoth she, pulling on her gloves, "I
+shall restore you safely to the bosom of the Ritz and that will be
+the end of it."
+
+"I almost wish that some one would kidnap you, Miss Guile. It would
+afford me the greatest pleasure in the world to snatch you from their
+clutches. Your father would be saved paying the ransom but I should
+have to be adequately rewarded. I fancy, however, that he wouldn't
+mind paying the reward I should hold out for."
+
+"I am quite sure he would give you anything you were to ask for, Mr.
+Schmidt," said she gaily. "You would be reasonable, of course."
+
+"I might ask for the most precious of his possessions," said he,
+leaning forward to look directly into eyes that wavered and refused
+to meet his.
+
+"Curiosity almost makes me wish that I might be kidnapped. I should
+then find out what you consider to be his most precious possession,"
+she said, and her voice was perilously low.
+
+"I think I could tell you in advance," said he, his eyes shining.
+
+"I--I prefer to find out in my own way, Mr. Schmidt," she stammered
+hurriedly. Her confusion was immensely gratifying to him. There is no
+telling what might have happened to the Prince of Graustark at that
+moment if an obsequious attendant had not intervened with the earthly
+information that the car was waiting.
+
+"Good Lord," Robin was saying to himself as he followed her to the
+steps, "was I about to go directly against the sage advice of old
+Gourou? Was I so near to it as that? In another minute--Gee, but it
+was a close shave. She is adorable, she is the most adorable creature
+in the world, even though she is the daughter of old man Blithers,
+and I--'gad I wonder what will come of it in the end? Keep a tight
+grip on yourself, Bobby, or you're a goner, sure as fate."
+
+They were painfully aware of the fact that their progress down the
+long verandah was made under the surveillance of two, perhaps three
+pairs of unwavering eyes, and because of it they looked neither to
+right nor left but as those who walk tight-ropes over dangerous
+places. There was something positively uncanny in the feeling that
+their every movement was being watched by secret observers. Once
+inside the car, Miss Guile sank back with a long sigh of relief.
+
+"Did you feel it, too?" she asked, with a nervous little catch in her
+voice.
+
+"I did," said he, passing his hand over his brow. "It was like being
+alone in the dark with eyes staring at one from all sides of the
+room."
+
+The car shot across the bridge and was speeding on its way toward
+the Bois when Robin ventured a glance behind. Through the little
+window in the back of the car he saw a big, swift-moving automobile
+not more than a quarter of a mile in their rear.
+
+"Would you like to verify the report of my friend Gourou?" he asked,
+his voice quick with exhilaration. She knelt with one knee upon the
+seat and peered back along the road.
+
+"There they are!" she cried. She threw the veil back over her hat as
+she resumed her seat in the corner. Her eyes were fairly dancing with
+excitement. The warm red lips were parted and she was breathing
+quickly. Suddenly she laid her hand over her heart as if to check its
+lively thumping. "Isn't it splendid? We are being pursued--actually
+chased by the man-hunters of Paris! Oh, I was never so happy in my
+life. Isn't it great?"
+
+"It is glorious!" he cried exultantly. "Shall I tell the chauffeur to
+hit it up a bit? Let's make it a real chase."
+
+"Yes, do! We'll see if we can foil them, as they say in the books.
+Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if we were to--to--what do you call it?
+Give them the slip, isn't that it?"
+
+"I'm game," said he, with enthusiasm. For a second or two they looked
+straight into each other's eyes and a message was exchanged that
+never could have been put into words. No doubt it was the flush of
+eager excitement that darkened their cheeks. In any case, it came
+swiftly and went as quickly, leaving them paler than before and
+vastly self-conscious. And after that brief, searching look they knew
+that they could never be as they were before the exchange. They were
+no longer strangers to each other, but shy comrades and filled with a
+delicious sense of wonder.
+
+Robin gave hurried directions through the speaking tube to the
+attentive footman, and so explicit were these directions that the
+greatest excitement prevailed upon the decorous front seat of the
+car--first the footman looked back along the road, then the
+chauffeur, after which a thrill of excitement seemed to fairly race
+up and down their liveried backs. The car itself took a notion to
+quiver with the promise of joy unrestrained. In less than a minute
+they were going more than a mile a minute over a short stretch of the
+Avenue de Longchamp. At the Porte de Hippodrome they slowed down and
+ran into the Bois, taking the first road to the left. In a few
+minutes they were scudding past Longchamp at a "fair clip" to quote
+R. Schmidt. Instead of diverging into the Allee de Longchamp, the car
+took a sharp turn into the Avenue de l'Hippodrome and, at the
+intersection, doubled back over the Allee de la Heine Marguerite,
+going almost to the Boulogne gate, where again it was sent Parisward
+over the Avenue de St. Cloud.
+
+Miss Guile was in command of the flight. She called out the
+instructions to the driver and her knowledge of the intricate routes
+through the park stood them well in hand. Purposely she evaded the
+Cascades, circling the little pools by narrow, unfrequented roads,
+coming out at last to the Porte de la Muette, where they left the
+park and took to the Avenue Henri Martin. It was her design to avoid
+the customary routes to the heart of the city, and all would have
+gone well with them had not fate in the shape of two burly
+_sergents de ville_ intervened at a time when success seemed
+most certain. It was quite clear to the pursued that the car
+containing their followers had been successfully eluded and was no
+doubt in the Champs Elysees by this time. For some time there had
+been a worried look in the Prince's eyes. Once he undertook to
+remonstrate with his fair companion.
+
+"My dear Miss Guile, we'll land in jail if we keep up this hair-
+raising speed. There wouldn't be any fun in that, you know."
+
+She gave him a scornful look. "Are you afraid, Mr. Schmidt?"
+
+"Not on my own account," said he, "but yours. I've heard that the new
+regulations are extremely rigid."
+
+"Pooh! I'm not afraid of the police. They--why, what's the matter?
+Oh, goodness!"
+
+The car had come to a somewhat abrupt stop. Two policemen, dismounted
+from their bicycles, formed an insurmountable obstruction. They were
+almost in the shade of the Trocadero.
+
+"Do not be alarmed," whispered Robin to the fast paling girl, into
+whose eyes the most abject misery had leaped at the sight of the two
+officers. "Leave it to me. I can fix them all right. There's nothing
+to be worried about--well, _sergent_, what is it?"
+
+The polite officers came up to the window with their little note-
+books.
+
+"I regret, m'sieur, that we shall be obliged to conduct yourself and
+mademoiselle to the office of a magistrate. Under the new regulations
+set forth in the order of last May, motorists may be given a hearing
+at once. I regret to add that m'sieur has been exceeding the speed
+limit. A complaint came in but a few minutes ago from the Porte de la
+Muette and we have been ordered to intercept the car. You may follow
+us to the office of the magistrate, m'sieur. It will soon be over,
+mademoiselle."
+
+"But we can explain--" she began nervously.
+
+The _sergent_ held up his hand. "It is not necessary to explain,
+mademoiselle. Too many motorists have explained in the past but that
+does not restore to life the people they have killed in the pursuit
+of pleasure. Paris is enforcing her laws."
+
+"But, _sergent_, I alone am to blame for any violation of the law,"
+said Robin suavely. "Surely it is only necessary that I should
+accompany you to the magistrate. The young lady is in no way
+responsible--"
+
+"Alas, m'sieur," said the man firmly but as if he were quite broken-
+hearted, "it is not for me to disobey the law, even though you may do
+so. It is necessary for the lady to appear before the Judge, and it
+is our duty to convey her there. The new law explicitly says that all
+occupants of said car shall be subject to penalty under the law
+without reprieve or pardon!"
+
+"Where are your witnesses?" demanded Robin.
+
+The two men produced their watches and their notebooks, tapping them
+significantly.
+
+"M'sieur will not think of denying that he has been running more
+rapidly than the law allows," said the second officer. "It will go
+harder with him if he should do so."
+
+"I shall insist upon having an advocate to represent me before--"
+
+"As you like, m'sieur," said the first officer curtly. "Proceed!" he
+uttered as a command to the chauffeur, and forthwith mounted his
+wheel. A score of people had gathered round them by this time, and
+Miss Guile was crouching back in her corner. Her veil was down. In
+single file, so to speak, they started off for the office of the
+nearest magistrate appointed under the new law governing automobiles.
+A policeman pedaled ahead of the car and another followed.
+
+"Isn't it dreadful?" whispered Miss Guile. "What do you think they
+will do to us? Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Schmidt, to have dragged you
+into this horrid--"
+
+"I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world," said he so
+earnestly that she sat up a little straighter and caught her breath.
+"After all, they will do no more than assess a fine against us. A
+hundred francs, perhaps. That is nothing."
+
+"I am not so sure of that," said she gloomily. "My friends were
+saying only yesterday that the new law provides for imprisonment as
+well. Paris has constructed special prisons for motorists, and people
+are compelled to remain in them for days and weeks at a time. Oh, I
+hope--"
+
+"I'll inquire of the footman," said Robin. "He will know." The
+footman, whose face was very long and serious, replied through the
+tube that very few violators escaped confinement in the "little
+prisons." He also said "Mon dieu" a half dozen times, and there was a
+movement of the driver's pallid lips that seemed to indicate a
+fervent echo.
+
+"I shall telephone at once--to my friends," said Miss Guile, a note
+of anger in her voice. "They are very powerful in Paris. We shall put
+those miserable wretches in their proper places. They--"
+
+"We must not forget. Miss Guile, that we _were_ breaking the law,"
+said Robin, who was beginning to enjoy the discomfiture of this
+spoiled beauty, this girl whose word was a sort of law unto itself.
+
+"It is perfect nonsense," she declared. "We did no harm. Goodness!
+What is this?"
+
+Four or five policemen on wheels passed by the car, each with a
+forbidding glance through the windows.
+
+"They are the boys we left behind us," paraphrased Robin soberly.
+"The park policemen. They've just caught us up, and, believe me, they
+look serious, too. I dare say we are in for it."
+
+In a very few minutes the procession arrived at a low, formidable
+looking building on a narrow side street. The cavalcade of policemen
+dismounted and stood at attention while Mademoiselle and Monsieur got
+down from the car and followed a polite person in uniform through the
+doors. Whereupon the group of _sergents de ville_ trooped in behind,
+bringing with them the neatly liveried servants with the golden letter
+L on their cuffs.
+
+"I believe there is a jail back there," whispered the slim culprit, a
+quaver in her voice. She pointed down the long, narrow corridor at
+the end of which loomed a rather sinister looking door with thick
+bolt-heads studding its surface.
+
+An instant later they were ushered into a fair-sized room on the left
+of the hall, where they were commanded to sit down. A lot of chairs
+stood about the room, filling it to the farthest corners, while at
+the extreme end was the Judge's bench.
+
+"I insist on being permitted to telephone to friends--to my legal
+advisors,--"began Miss Guile, with praiseworthy firmness, only to be
+silenced by the attendant, who whispered shrilly that a trial was in
+progress, couldn't she see?
+
+Two dejected young men were standing before the Judge, flanked by
+three _sergents de ville_. Robin and Miss Guile stared wide-eyed
+at their fellow criminals and tried to catch the low words spoken by
+the fat Magistrate. Once more they were ordered to sit down, this
+time not quite so politely, and they took seats in the darkest corner
+of the room, as far removed from justice as possible under the
+circumstances.
+
+Presently a young man approached them. He was very nice looking and
+astonishingly cheerful. The hopes of the twain went up with a bound.
+His expression was so benign, so bland that they at once jumped to
+the conclusion that he was coming to tell them that they were free to
+go, that it had all been a stupid mistake. But they were wrong. He
+smilingly introduced himself as an advocate connected with the court
+by appointment and that he would be eternally grateful to them if
+they would tell him what he could do for them.
+
+"I'd like to have a word in private with the Magistrate," said the
+Prince of Graustark eagerly.
+
+"Impossible!" said the advocate, lifting his eyebrows and his smart
+little mustachios in an expression of extreme amazement. "It is
+imposs--" A sharp rapping on the Judge's desk reduced the remainder
+of the sentence to a delicate whisper--"ible. M'sieur."
+
+"Will you conduct me to a telephone booth?" whispered Miss Guile,
+tearfully.
+
+"Pray do not weep, Mademoiselle," implored the advocate, profoundly
+moved, but at the same time casting a calculating eye over the
+luckless pair.
+
+"Well, what's to be done?" demanded Robin. "We insist on having our
+own legal advisors here."
+
+"The court will not delay the hearing, M'sieur," explained the young
+man. "Besides, the best legal advisor in Paris could do no more than
+to advise you to plead guilty. I at least can do that quite as ably
+as the best of them. No one ever pretends to defend a case in the
+automobile courts, M'sieur. It is a waste of time, and the court does
+not approve of wasting time. Perhaps you will feel more content if I
+introduce the assistant public prosecutor, who will explain the law.
+That is his only duty. He does not prosecute. There is no need. The
+_sergents_ testify and that is all there is to the case."
+
+"May I inquire what service you can be to us if the whole business is
+cut and dried like that?" asked Robin.
+
+"Not so loud, M'sieur. As I said before, I can advise you in respect
+to your plea, and I can tell you how to present your statement to the
+court. I can caution you in many ways. Sometimes a prisoner, who is
+well-rehearsed, succeeds in affecting the honourable Magistrate
+nicely, and the punishment is not so severe."
+
+"So you advise us to plead guilty as delicately as possible?"
+
+"I shall not advise you, M'sieur, unless it pleases you to retain me
+as your counsellor. The fee is small. Ten francs. Inasmuch as the
+amount is charged against you in the supplemental costs, it seems
+foolish not to take advantage of what you are obliged to pay for in
+any event. You will have to pay my fee, so you may as well permit me
+to be of service to you."
+
+"My only concern is over Mademoiselle," said the Prince. "You may
+send me to jail if you like, if you'll only--"
+
+"Mon dieu! I am not the one who enjoys the distinguished honour of
+being permitted to send people to jail, but the Judge, M'sieur."
+
+"It is ridiculous to submit this innocent young lady to the
+humiliation of--"
+
+"It is not only ridiculous but criminal," said the advocate, with a
+magnificent bow. "But what is one to do when it is the law? Of late,
+the law is peculiarly sexless. And now here is where I come in. It is
+I who shall instruct you--both of you, Mademoiselle--how to conduct
+yourselves before the Magistrate. Above all things, do not attempt to
+contradict a single statement of the police. Admit that all they say
+is true, even though they say that you have run over a child or an
+old woman with mortal results. It will go much easier with you.
+Exercise the gravest politeness and deference toward the honourable
+Magistrate and to every officer of the court. You are Americans, no
+doubt. The courts are prone to be severe with the Americans because
+they sometimes undertake to tell them how easy it is to get the right
+kind of justice in your wonderfully progressive United States. Be
+humble, contrite, submissive, for that is only justice to the court.
+If you have killed some one in your diversions, pray do not try to
+tell the magistrate that the idiot ought to have kept his eyes open.
+Another thing: do not inform the court that you require a lawyer.
+That is evidence of extreme culpability and he will consider you to
+be inexcusably guilty. Are you attending? Pray do not feel sorry for
+the two young men who are now being led away. See! They are weeping.
+It is as I thought. They are going to prison for--But that is their
+affair, not ours. I advised them as I am advising you, but they
+insisted on making a statement of their case. That was fatal, for it
+failed in many respects to corroborate the information supplied by
+the police. It-"
+
+"What was the charge against them?" whispered Miss Guile, quaking.
+She had watched the exit of the tearful young men, one of whom was
+sobbing bitterly, and a great fear possessed her.
+
+"Of that, Mademoiselle, I am entirely ignorant, but they were
+unmistakably guilty of denying it, whatever it was."
+
+"Are they going to prison?" she gasped.
+
+"It is not that which causes them to weep so bitterly, but the
+knowledge that their names are to be posted on the bulletin boards in
+the Place de l'Opera, the Place de l'Concorde, the--"
+
+"Good Lord!" gasped Robin. "Is _that_ being done?"
+
+"It is M'sieur, and the effect is marvellous. Three months ago the
+boards were filled with illustrious names; to-day there are but few
+to be found upon them. The people have discovered that the courts are
+in earnest. The law is obeyed as it never was before. The prisons
+were crowded to suffocation at one time; now they are almost empty.
+It is a good law. To-day a mother can wheel her baby carriage in the
+thickest of the traffic and run no risk of--Ah, but here is the
+assistant prosecutor coming. Permit me to further warn you that you
+will be placed under oath to tell the absolute truth. The prosecutor
+will ask but three questions of you: your age, your name and your
+place of residence. All of them you must answer truthfully,
+especially as to your names. If it is discovered that you have
+falsely given a name not your own, the lowest penalty is sixty days
+in prison, imposed afterwards in addition to the sentence you will
+receive for violating the traffic laws. I have performed my duty as
+required by the commissioner. My fee is a fixed one, so you need not
+put your hand into your pocket, M'sieur. Good day. Mademoiselle--good
+day, M'sieur." He bowed profoundly and gave way to the impatient
+prosecutor, who had considerately held himself aloof while the final
+words were being uttered, albeit he glanced at his watch a couple of
+times.
+
+"Come," he said, and he did not whisper; "let us be as expeditious as
+possible. Approach the court. It is--"
+
+"See here," said Robin savagely, "this is too damned high-handed. Are
+we to have no chance to defend ourselves? We--"
+
+"Just as you please, M'sieur," interrupted the prosecutor patiently.
+"It is nothing to me. I receive my fee in any event. If you care to
+defy the law in addition to what you have already done, it is not for
+me to object."
+
+"Well, I insist on having--"
+
+A thunderous pounding on the bench interrupted his hot-headed speech.
+
+"Attend!" came in a sharp, uncompromising voice from the bench. "What
+is the delay? This is no time to think. All that should have been
+done before. Step forward! _Sergent_, see that the prisoners step
+forward."
+
+Robin slipped his arm through Miss Guile's, expecting her to droop
+heavily upon it for support. To his surprise she drew herself up,
+dis-engaged herself, and walked straight up to the bench, without
+fear or hesitation. It was Robin who needed an example of courage and
+fortitude, not she. The chauffeur and footman, shivering in their
+elegance, already stood before the bench.
+
+"Will you be so kind as to raise your veil, Madam?" spake the court.
+
+She promptly obeyed. He leaned forward with sudden interest. The
+prosecutor blinked and abruptly overcame the habitual inclination to
+appear bored. Such ravishing beauty had never before found its way
+into that little court-room. Adjacent moustaches were fingered
+somewhat convulsively by several _sergents de ville._
+
+"Ahem!" said the court, managing with some difficulty to regain his
+judicial form. "I am compelled by law, Mademoiselle, to warn you
+before you are placed under oath that the lowest penalty for giving a
+false name in answer to the charge to be brought against you is
+imprisonment for not less than sixty days. I repeat this warning to
+you, young man. Be sworn, if you please."
+
+Robin experienced a queer sense of exultation, not at all lessened by
+the knowledge that he would be forced to reveal his own identity.
+Would she call herself Bedelia Guile or would she--"
+
+"State your name, Mademoiselle," said the prosecutor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THREE MESSAGES
+
+
+Miss Guile lowered her head for an instant. Robin could see that her
+lip was quivering. A vast pity for her took possession of him and he
+was ashamed of what he now regarded as unexampled meanness of spirit
+on his own part. She lifted her shamed, pleading eyes to search his,
+as if expecting to find succour in their fearless depths. She found
+them gleaming with indignation, suddenly aroused, and was instantly
+apprehensive. There was a look in those eyes of his that seemed
+prophetic of dire results unless she checked the words that were
+rising to his lips. She shook her head quickly and, laying a hand
+upon his arm, turned to the waiting magistrate.
+
+"My name is--Oh, is there no way to avoid the publicity--" she sighed
+miserably--"the publicity that--"
+
+"I regret, Mademoiselle, that there is no alternative--" began the
+Judge, to be interrupted by the banging of the court-room door. He
+looked up, glaring at the offender with ominous eyes. The polite
+attendant from the outer corridor was advancing in great haste. He
+was not only in haste but vastly perturbed.
+
+Despite the profound whack of the magistrate's paper weight on the
+hollow top of the desk and the withering scowl that went with it, the
+attendant rushed forward, forgetting his manners, his habits and his
+power of speech in one complete surrender to nature. He thrust into
+the hand of the Judge a slip of paper, at the same time gasping
+something that might have been mistaken for an appeal for pardon but
+which more than likely was nothing of the sort.
+
+"What is this?" demanded the Judge ferociously.
+
+"Mon dieu!" replied the attendant, rolling his eyes heavenward.
+
+The magistrate was impressed. He took up the slip of paper and read
+what was written thereon. Then he was guilty of a start. The next
+instant he had the prosecutor up beside him and then the advocate.
+Together they read the message from the outside and together they
+lifted three pairs of incredulous eyes to stare at the culprits
+below. There was a hurried consultation in excited whisperings,
+intermittent stares and far from magisterial blinkings.
+
+Robin bent close to Bedelia's ear and whispered: "We must have killed
+some one, the way they are acting."
+
+Her face was glowing with triumph. "No. Luck is with us, Mr. Schmidt.
+You'll see!"
+
+The magistrate cleared his throat and beamed upon them in a most
+friendly fashion.
+
+Robin grasped the situation in a flash. His own identity had been
+revealed to the Judge. It was not likely that the daughter of William
+Blithers could create such lively interest in a French court of
+justice, so it _must_ be that Gourou or Quinnox had come to the
+rescue. The court would not think of fining a prince of the royal
+blood, law or no law!
+
+"M'sieur, Mademoiselle, will you be so good as to resume your seats?
+An extraordinary condition has arisen. I shall be obliged to
+investigate. The trial must be interrupted for a few minutes. Pardon
+the delay. I shall return as quickly as possible. _Sergent!_ See
+that Mademoiselle and M'sieur are made comfortable."
+
+He descended from the bench and hurried into the corridor, followed
+closely by the prosecutor and the advocate, both of whom almost trod
+on his heels. This may have been due to the fact that they were
+slighter men and more sprightly, but more than likely it was because
+they were unable to see where they were going for the excellent
+reason that they were not looking in that direction at all.
+
+Policemen and attendants, mystified but impressed, set about to make
+the culprits comfortable. They hustled at least a half dozen roomy
+chairs out of an adjoining chamber; they procured palm-leaf fans and
+even proffered the improbable--ice-water!--after which they betook
+themselves to a remote corner and whispered excitedly at each other,
+all the while regarding the two prisoners with intense interest. Even
+the despairing footman and chauffeur exhibited unmistakable signs of
+life.
+
+"I fancy my friends have heard of our plight, Mr. Schmidt," she said,
+quite composedly. "We will be released in a very few minutes."
+
+He smiled complacently. He could afford to let her believe that her
+friends and not his were performing a miracle.
+
+"Your friends must be very powerful," he said.
+
+"They are," said she, with considerable directness.
+
+"Still, we are not out of the scrape yet, Miss Guile," he remarked,
+shaking his head. "It may be a flash in the pan."
+
+"Oh, please don't say that," she cried in quick alarm. "I--I should
+die if--if we were to be sent to--"
+
+"Listen to me," he broke in eagerly, for an inspiration had come to
+him. "There's no reason why you should suffer, in any event.
+Apparently I am a suspected person. I may just as well be a kidnapper
+as not. You must allow me to inform the Judge that I was abducting
+you, so that he--"
+
+"How absurd!"
+
+"I don't in the least mind. Besides, I too have powerful friends who
+will see that I am released in a day or two. You--"
+
+"You cannot hope to convince the Judge that you were abducting me in
+my own automobile--or at least in one belonging to my friends, who
+are irreproachable. I am very much obliged to you for thinking of it,
+Mr. Schmidt, but it is out of the question. I couldn't allow you to
+do it in the first place, and in the second I'm sure the court
+wouldn't believe you."
+
+"It was I who suggested running away from those detectives," he
+protested.
+
+"But I jumped at the chance, didn't I?" she whispered triumphantly.
+"I am even guiltier than thou. Can you ever forgive me for--"
+
+"Hush!" he said, in a very low voice. His hand fell upon hers as it
+rested on the arm of the chair. They were in the shadows. She looked
+up quickly and their eyes met. After a moment hers fell, and she
+gently withdrew her hand from its place of bondage. "We are pals,
+Bedelia," he went on softly. "Pals never go back on each other. They
+sink or swim together, and they never stop to inquire the reason why.
+When it comes to a pinch, one or the other will sacrifice himself
+that his pal may be saved. I--"
+
+"Please do not say anything more," she said, her eyes strangely
+serious and her voice vibrant with emotion. "Please!"
+
+"I have a confession to make to you," he began, leaning still closer.
+"You have taken me on faith. You do not know who or what I am. I--"
+
+She held up her hand, an engaging frown in her eyes. "Stop! This is
+no place for confessions. I will not listen to you. Save your
+confessions for the magistrate. Tell him the truth, Mr. Schmidt. I am
+content to wait."
+
+He stared for an instant, perplexed. "See here, Miss Guile,--
+Bedelia,--I've just got to tell you something that--"
+
+"You may tell me at Interlaken," she interrupted, and she was now
+quite visibly agitated.
+
+"At Interlaken? Then you mean to carry out your plan to spend--"
+
+"Sh! Here they come. Now we shall see."
+
+The magistrate and his companions re-entered the room at that
+instant, more noticeably excited than when they left it. The former,
+rubbing his hands together and smiling as he had never smiled before,
+approached the pair. It did not occur to him to resent the fact that
+they remained seated in his august presence.
+
+"A lamentable mistake has been made," he said. "I regret that M'sieur
+and Mademoiselle have been subjected to so grave an indignity. Permit
+me to apologise for the misguided energy of our excellent
+_sergents_. They--"
+
+"But we were exceeding the speed limit," said Robin comfortably, now
+that the danger was past. "The officers were acting within their
+rights."
+
+"I know, I know," exclaimed the magistrate. "They are splendid
+fellows, all of them, and I beg of you to overlook their unfortunate
+--er--zealousness. Permit me to add that you are not guilty--I should
+say, that you are honourably discharged by this humble court. But
+wait! The _sergents_ shall also apologise. Here! Attend. It devolves
+upon you--"
+
+"Oh, I beg of you--" began Robin, but already the policemen, who had
+been listening open-mouthed to the agitated prosecutor, were bowing
+and scraping and muttering their apologies for enforcing a cruel and
+unjust law.
+
+"And we are not obliged to give our names, _M'sieur le judge?_" cried
+Miss Guile gladly.
+
+"Mademoiselle," said he, with a profound bow, "it is not necessary to
+acquaint me with something I already know. Permit me to again express
+the most unbounded regret that--"
+
+"Oh, thank you," she cried. "We have had a really delightful
+experience. You owe us no apology, M'sieur. And now, may we depart?"
+
+"Instantly! LaChance, conduct M'sieur and Mademoiselle into the
+fresh, sweet, open air and discover their car for them without delay.
+_Sergents_, remain behind. Let there be nothing to indicate that
+there has been detention. Mademoiselle, you have been merely making a
+philanthropic visit to our prison. There has been no arrest."
+
+Robin and Miss Guile emerged from the low, forbidding door and stood
+side by side on the pavement looking up and down the street in search
+of the car. It was nowhere in sight. The chauffeur gasped with
+amazement--and alarm. He had left it standing directly in front of
+the door, and now it was gone.
+
+"It is suggested, M'sieur," said the polite LaChance, "that you walk
+to the corner beyond, turn to the left and there you will find the
+car in plain view. It was removed by two gentlemen soon after you
+condescended to honour us with a visit of inspection, and thereby you
+have escaped much unnecessary attention from the curious who always
+infest the vicinity of police offices." He saluted them gravely and
+returned at once to the corridor.
+
+Following leisurely in the wake of the hurrying servants, Robin and
+Bedelia proceeded down the narrow street to the corner indicated.
+They were silent and preoccupied. After all, _who_ was to be thanked
+for the timely escape, his god or hers?
+
+And here it may be said that neither of them was ever to know who
+sent that brief effective message to the magistrate, nor were they
+ever to know the nature of its contents.
+
+The men were examining the car when they came up. No one was near.
+There was no one to tell how it came to be there nor whither its
+unknown driver had gone. It stood close to the curb and the engine
+was throbbing, proof in itself that some one had but recently
+deserted his post as guardian.
+
+"The obliging man-hunters," suggested Robin in reply to a low-voiced
+question.
+
+"Or your guardian angel, the great Gourou!" she said, frowning
+slightly. "By the way, Mr. Schmidt. do you expect to be under
+surveillance during your stay at Interlaken?"
+
+There was irony in her voice. "Not if I can help it," he said. "And
+you, Miss Guile? Is it possible that two of the best detectives in
+Paris are to continue treading on your heels all the time you are in
+Europe? Must we go about with the uncomfortable feeling that some one
+is staring at us from behind, no matter where we are? Are we to be
+perpetually attended by the invisible? If so, I am afraid we will
+find it very embarrassing."
+
+They were in the car now and proceeding at a snail's pace toward the
+Arc de Triomphe. Her eyes narrowed. He was sure that she clutched her
+slim fingers tightly although, for an excellent reason, he was not by
+way of knowing. He was rapturously watching those expressive eyes.
+
+"I shall put a stop to this ridiculous espionage at once, Mr.
+Schmidt. These men shall be sent kiting--I mean, about their
+business before this day is over. I do not intend to be spied upon an
+instant longer."
+
+"Still they may have been instruments of providence to-day," he
+reminded her. "Without them, we might now be languishing in jail and
+our spotless names posted in the Place de l'Opera. Bedelia Guile and
+Rex Schmidt, malefactors. What would your father say to that?"
+
+She smiled--a ravishing smile, it was. His heart gave a stupendous
+jump. "He would say that it served me right," said she, and then:
+"But what difference can it possibly make to you, Mr. Schmidt, if the
+detectives continue to watch over me?"
+
+"None," said he promptly. "I suppose they are used to almost anything
+in the way of human nature, so if they don't mind, I'm sure I
+sha'n't. I haven't the slightest objection to being watched by
+detectives, if we can only keep other people from seeing us."
+
+"Don't be silly," she cried. "And let me remind you while I think of
+it: You are not to call me Bedelia."
+
+"Bedelia," he said deliberately.
+
+She sighed. "I am afraid I have been mistaken in you," she said. He
+recalled Gourou's advice. Had he failed in the test? "But don't do it
+again."
+
+"Now that I think of it," he said soberly, "you are not to call me
+Mr. Schmidt. Please bear that in mind, Bedelia."
+
+"Thank you. I don't like the name. I'll call you--"
+
+Just then the footman turned on the seat and excitedly pointed to a
+car that had swung into the boulevard from a side street.
+
+"The man-hunters!" exclaimed Robin. "By jove, we didn't lose them
+after all."
+
+"To the Ritz, Pierre," she cried out sharply. Once more she seemed
+perturbed and anxious.
+
+"What are you going to call me?" he demanded, insistently.
+
+"I haven't quite decided," she replied, and lapsed into moody
+silence.
+
+Her nervousness increased as they sped down the Champs Elysees and
+across the Place de la Concorde. He thought that he understood the
+cause and presently sought to relieve her anxiety by suggesting that
+she set him down somewhere along the Rue de Rivoli. She flushed
+painfully.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, I--are you sure you will not mind?"
+
+"May I ask what it is that you are afraid of, Miss Guile?" he
+inquired seriously.
+
+She was lowering her veil. "I am not afraid, Mr. Schmidt," she said.
+"I am a very, very guilty person, that's all. I've done something I
+ought not to have done, and I'm--I'm ashamed. You don't consider me a
+bold, silly--"
+
+"Good Lord, no!" he cried fervently.
+
+"Then why do you call me Bedelia?" she asked, shaking her head.
+
+"If you feel that way about it, I--I humbly implore you to overlook
+my freshness," he cried in despair.
+
+"Will you get out here, Mr. Schmidt?" She pressed a button and the
+car swung alongside the curb.
+
+"When am I to see you again?" he asked, holding out his hand. She
+gave it a firm, friendly grip and said:
+
+"I am going to Switzerland the day after tomorrow. Good-bye."
+
+In a sort of daze, he walked up the Rue Castiliogne to the Place
+Vendome. His heart was light and his eyes were shining with a flame
+that could have but one origin. He was no longer in doubt. He was in
+love. He had found the Golden Girl almost at the end of his journey,
+and what cared he if she did turn out to be the daughter of old man
+Blithers? What cared he for _anything_ but Bedelia? There would
+be a pretty howdy-do when he announced to his people that their
+Princess had been selected for them, whether or no, and there might
+be such a thing as banishment for himself. Even at that, he would be
+content, for Bedelia was proof against titles. If she loved him, it
+would be for himself. She would scorn the crown and mock the throne,
+and they would go away together and live happily ever afterward, as
+provided by the most exacting form of romance. And Blithers? What a
+joke it would be on Blithers if he gave up the throne!
+
+As he approached the Ritz, a tall young man emerged from the
+entrance, stared at him for an instant, and then swung off at a rapid
+pace in the direction of the Rue de la Paix. The look he gave Robin
+was one of combined amazement and concern, and the tail end of it
+betrayed unmistakable annoyance,--or it might have been hatred. He
+looked over his shoulder once and found Robin staring after him. This
+time there could be no mistake. He was furious, but whether with
+Robin or himself there was no means of deciding from the standpoint
+of an observer. At any rate, he quickened his pace and soon
+disappeared.
+
+He was the good-looking young fellow who had met her at the steamship
+landing, and it was quite obvious that he had been making
+investigations on his own account.
+
+Robin permitted himself a sly grin as he sauntered into the hotel. He
+had given _that_ fellow something to worry about, if he had
+accomplished nothing else. Then he found himself wondering if, by any
+chance, it could be the Scoville fellow. That would be a facer!
+
+He found Quinnox and Dank awaiting him in the lobby. They were
+visibly excited.
+
+"Did you observe the fellow who just went out?" inquired Robin,
+assuming a most casual manner.
+
+"Yes," said both men in unison.
+
+"I think we've got some interesting news concerning that very chap,"
+added the Count, glancing around uneasily.
+
+"Perhaps I may be able to anticipate it, Count," ventured Robin.
+"I've an idea he is young Scoville, the chap who is supposed to be in
+love with Miss Blithers--and _vice versa_," he concluded, with a
+chuckle.
+
+"What have you heard?" demanded the Count in astonishment.
+
+"Let's sit down," said Robin, at once convinced that he had stumbled
+upon an unwelcome truth.
+
+They repaired to the garden and were lucky enough to find a table
+somewhat removed from the crowd of tea-drinkers. Robin began fanning
+himself with his broad straw-hat. He felt uncomfortably warm. Quinnox
+gravely extracted two or three bits of paper from his pocket, and
+spread them out in order before his sovereign.
+
+"Read this one first," said he grimly.
+
+It was a cablegram from their financial agents in New York City, and
+it said: "Mr. B. making a hurried trip to Paris. Just learned
+Scoville preceded Miss B. to Europe by fast steamer and has been seen
+with her in Paris. B. fears an elopement. Make sure papers are signed
+at once as such contingency might cause B. to change mind and
+withdraw if possible."
+
+Robin looked up. "I think this may account for the two man-hunters,"
+said he. His companions stared. "You will hear all about them from
+Gourou. We were followed this afternoon."
+
+"Followed?" gasped Quinnox.
+
+"Beautifully," said the Prince, with his brightest smile.
+"Detectives, you know. It was ripping."
+
+"My God!" groaned the Count.
+
+"I fancy you'll now agree with me that she is Miss Blithers," said
+Dank forlornly.
+
+"Cheer up, Boske," cried Robin, slapping him on the shoulder. "You'll
+meet another fate before you're a month older. The world is
+absolutely crowded with girls."
+
+"You can't crowd the world with one girl," said Dank, and it was
+quite evident from his expression that he believed the world
+contained no more than one.
+
+"I had the feeling that evil would be the result of this foolish trip
+to-day," groaned Quinnox. "I should not have permitted you to--"
+
+"The result is still in doubt," said Robin enigmatically. "And now,
+what comes next?"
+
+"Read this one. It is from Mr. Blithers. I'll guarantee that you do
+not take this one so complacently."
+
+He was right in his surmise. Robin ran his eye swiftly over the
+cablegram and then started up from his chair with a muttered
+imprecation.
+
+"Sh!" cautioned the Count,--and just in time, for the young man was
+on the point of enlarging upon his original effort. "Calm yourself,
+Bobby, my lad. Try taking six or seven full, deep inhalations, and
+you'll find that it helps wonderfully as a preventive. It saves many
+a harsh word. I've--"
+
+"You needn't caution me," murmured the Prince. "If I had the tongue
+of a pirate I couldn't begin to do justice to _this_," and he
+slapped his hand resoundingly upon the crumpled message from William
+W. Blithers.
+
+The message had been sent by Mr. Blithers that morning, evidently
+just before the sailing of the fast French steamer on which he and
+his wife were crossing to Havre. It was directed to August Totten and
+read as follows:
+
+"Tell our young friend to qualify statement to press at once.
+Announce reconsideration of hasty denial and admit engagement. This
+is imperative. I am not in mood for trifling. Have wired Paris papers
+that engagement is settled. Have also wired daughter. The sooner we
+get together on this the better. Wait for my arrival in Paris." It
+was signed "W. B."
+
+"There's Blitherskite methods for you," said Dank. "Speaking of
+pirates, he's the king of them all. Did you ever hear of such
+confounded insolence? The damned--"
+
+"Wait a second, Dank," interrupted the Count. "There is still another
+delectable communication for you, Robin. It was directed to R.
+Schmidt and I took the liberty of opening it, as authorised. Read
+it."
+
+This was one of the ordinary "_petits bleu_," dropped into the
+pneumatic tube letter-box at half-past two that afternoon, shortly
+before Robin ventured forth on his interesting expedition in quest of
+tea, and its contents were very crisp and to the point:
+
+"Pay no attention to any word you may have received from my father.
+He cables a ridiculous command to me which I shall ignore. If you
+have received a similar message I implore you to disregard it
+altogether. Let's give each other a fighting chance."
+
+It was signed "Maud Blithers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE PRODIGAL DAUGHTER
+
+
+Mr. Blithers received a marconigram from the _Jupiter_ when the ship
+was three days out from New York. It was terse but sufficient.
+
+"Have just had a glimpse of Prince Charming. He is very good-looking.
+Love to mother. Maud."
+
+He had barely settled into a state of complete satisfaction with
+himself over the successful inauguration of a shrewd campaign to get
+the better of the recalcitrant Maud and the incomprehensible Robin,
+when he was thrown into a panic by the discovery that young Chandler
+Scoville had sailed for Europe two days ahead of Maud and her elderly
+companion. The gratification of knowing that the two young people had
+sailed away on the same vessel was not in the least minimised by
+Maud's declaration that she intended to remain in her cabin all the
+way across in order to avoid recognition, for he knew her too well to
+believe it possible that she could stay out of sight for any length
+of time, fair weather or foul. He even made a definite wager with his
+wife that the two would become acquainted before they were half-way
+across the Atlantic, and he made a bet with himself that nature would
+do the rest. And now here came the staggering suspicion that
+Scoville's hasty departure was the result of a pre-arranged plan
+between him and Maud, and that, after all, the silly girl might spoil
+everything by marrying the confounded rascal before he could do
+anything to prevent the catastrophe.
+
+He even tried to engineer a scheme whereby young Scoville might be
+arrested on landing and detained on one pretext or another until he
+could reach Europe and put an end to the fellow's vain-glorious
+conniving.
+
+But after consulting with his lawyers he abandoned the plan because
+they succeeded in proving to him that Maud certainly would marry the
+fellow if she had the least ground for believing that he was being
+oppressed on her account. The cables were kept very busy, however,
+for the next twenty-four hours, and it is certain that Scoville was a
+marked man from the moment he landed.
+
+Newspaper reporters camped on the trail of Mr. Blithers. He very
+obligingly admitted that there was something in the report that his
+daughter was to marry the Prince of Graustark, although he couldn't
+say anything definite at the time. It wouldn't be fair to the parties
+concerned, he explained. He gave away a great many boxes of cigars,
+and not a few of the more sagacious reporters succeeded in getting at
+least three boxes by interviewing him on as many separate occasions
+without being detected in the act of repeating. Then came the
+disgusting denials in Paris by his daughter and the ungrateful
+Prince. This was too much. He couldn't understand such unfilial
+behaviour on the part of one, and he certainly couldn't forgive the
+ingratitude of the other.
+
+Instead of waiting until Saturday to sail, he changed ships and left
+New York on Friday, thereby gaining nothing by the move except relief
+from the newspapers, for it appears that he gave up a five day boat
+for one that could not do it under six. Still he was in active
+pursuit, which was a great deal better than sitting in New York
+twiddling his thumbs or looking at his watch and berating the
+pernicious hours that stood between him and Saturday noon.
+
+"There will be something doing in Europe the day I land there, Lou,"
+he said to his wife as they stood on deck and watched the Statue of
+Liberty glide swiftly back toward Manhattan Island. "I've got all the
+strings working smoothly. We've got Groostock where it can't peep any
+louder than a freshly hatched chicken, and we'll soon bring Maud to
+her senses. I tell you, Lou, there is nothing that makes a girl
+forget her lofty ideals so quickly as the chance to go shopping for
+princess gowns. She's seen the prince and I'll bet she won't be so
+stubborn as she was before. And if he has had a good, square look at
+her,--if he's had a chance to gaze into those eyes of hers,--why, I
+--well, I leave it to you. He can't help getting off his high horse,
+can he?"
+
+Mrs. Blithers favoured him with a smile. It was acknowledged that
+Maud was the living image of what her mother had been at the age of
+twenty.
+
+"I hope the child hasn't made any silly promise to Channie Scoville,"
+she sighed.
+
+"I've been thinking of that, Lou," said he, wiping his brow, "and
+I've come to one conclusion: Scoville can be bought off. He's as poor
+as Job and half a million will look like the Bank of England to him.
+I'll--"
+
+"You are not to attempt anything of the kind, Will," she cried
+emphatically. "He would laugh in your face, poor as he is. He comes
+from one of the best families in New York and--"
+
+"And I don't know where the best families need money any more than
+they do in New York," he interrupted irritably. "'Gad, if the worst
+families need it as badly as they do, what must be the needs of the
+best? You leave it to me. It may be possible to insult him with a
+half million, so if he feels that way about it I'll apologise to him
+again with another half million. You'll see that he won't be capable
+of resenting two insults in succession. He'll--"
+
+"He isn't a fool," said she significantly.
+
+"He'd be a fool if he refused to take--"
+
+"Are you losing your senses, Will?" she cried impatiently. "Why
+should he accept a million to give up Maud, when he can be sure of
+fifty times that much if he marries her?"
+
+"But I'll cut Maud off with a dollar if she marries him, so help me
+Moses!" exclaimed Mr. Blithers, but he went a little pale just the
+same. "That will fix him!"
+
+"You are talking nonsense," said she sharply. He put his fingers to
+his ears somewhat earlier than usual, and she turned away with a
+tantalising laugh. "I'm going inside," and inside she went. When he
+followed a few minutes later he was uncommonly meek.
+
+"At any rate," he said, seating himself on the edge of a chair in her
+parlour, "I guess those cablegrams this morning will make 'em think
+twice before they go on denying things in the newspapers."
+
+"Maud will pay no attention to your cablegram, and, if I am any judge
+of human nature, the Prince will laugh himself sick over the one you
+sent to Count Quinnox. I told you not to send them. You are not
+dealing with Wall Street. You are dealing with a girl and a boy who
+appear to have minds of their own."
+
+He ventured a superior sniff. "I guess you don't know as much about
+Wall Street as you think you do."
+
+"I only know that it puts its tail between its legs and howls every
+time some one points a finger at it," she observed scornfully.
+
+"Now let's be sensible, Lou," he said, sitting back a little further
+in the chair, relieved to find that she was at least willing to
+tolerate his presence,--a matter on which he was in some doubt when
+he entered the room. There were times when he was not quite certain
+whether he or she was the brains of the family. "We'll probably have
+a wireless from Maud before long. Then we'll have something tangible
+to discuss. By the way, did I tell you that I've ordered some Dutch
+architects from Berlin to go--"
+
+"The Dutch are from Holland," she said wearily.
+
+"--to go over to Growstock and give me a complete estimate on
+repairing and remodelling the royal castle? I dare say we'll have to
+do a good deal to the place. It's several hundred years old and must
+require a lot of conveniences. Such as bath-rooms, electric lights,
+steam heating appar--"
+
+"Better make haste slowly, Will," she said, and he ought to have been
+warned by the light in her eye. "You are taking a great deal for
+granted, aren't you?"
+
+"It's got to be fixed up some time, so we might just as well do it in
+the beginning," said he, failing utterly to grasp her meaning.
+"Probably needs refurnishing from top to bottom, too, and a new roof.
+I never saw a ruin yet that didn't leak. Remember those castles on
+the Rhine? Will you ever forget how wet we got the day we went
+through the one at--"
+
+"They were abandoned, tumble-down castles," she reminded him.
+
+"There isn't a castle in Europe that's any good in a rain-storm," he
+proclaimed. "A mortgage can't keep out the rain and that's what every
+one of 'em is covered with. Why old man Quiddox himself told me that
+their castle had been shot to pieces in one of the revolutions and--"
+
+"It is time you informed yourself about the country you are trying to
+annex to the Blithers estate," she said sarcastically. "I can assist
+you to some extent if you will be good enough to listen. In the first
+place, the royal castle at Edelweiss is one of the most substantial
+in the world. It has not been allowed to fall into decay. In fact, it
+is inhabitated from top to bottom by members of the royal household
+and the court, and I fancy they are not the sort of people who take
+kindly to a wetting. It is not a ruin, Will, such as you have been
+permitted to visit, but a magnificent building with all of the modern
+improvements. The only wettings that the inmates sustain are of a
+daily character and due entirely to voluntary association with
+porcelain bath-tubs and nickle-plated showers, and they never get
+anything wet but their skins. As for the furnishings, I can assure
+you that the entire Blithers fortune could not replace them if they
+were to be destroyed by fire or pillage. They are priceless and they
+are unique. I have read that the hangings in the bed-chamber of the
+late Princess Yetive are the most wonderful in the whole world. The
+throne chair in the great audience chamber is of solid gold and
+weighs nearly three thousand pounds. It is studded with diamonds,
+rubies--"
+
+"Great Scott, Lou, where did you learn all this?" he gasped, his eyes
+bulging.
+
+"--emeralds and other precious stones. There is one huge carpet in
+the royal drawing-room that the Czar of Russia is said to have
+offered one hundred thousand pounds for and the offer was scorned.
+The park surrounding the castle is said to be beautiful beyond the
+power of description. The--"
+
+"I asked you where you got all this information. Can't you answer
+me?"
+
+"I obtained all this and a great deal more from a lady who spent a
+year or two inside the castle walls. I refer to Mrs. Truxton King,
+who might have told you as much if you had possessed the intelligence
+to inquire."
+
+"Gee whiz!" exclaimed Mr. Blithers, going back to his buoyant boyhood
+days for an adequate expression. "What a wonder you are, Lou. But
+that's the woman of it, always getting at the inside of a thing while
+a man is standing around looking at the outside. Say, but won't it
+make a wonderful home for you and me to spend a peaceful old age in
+when we get ready to lay aside the--"
+
+He stopped short, for she had arisen and was standing over him with a
+quivering forefinger levelled at his nose,--and not more than six
+inches away from it,--her handsome eyes flashing with fury.
+
+"You may walk in where angels fear to tread, but you will walk alone,
+Will Blithers. I shall not be with you, and you may as well
+understand it now. I've told you a hundred times that money isn't
+everything, and it is as cheap as dirt when you put it alongside of
+tradition, honour, pride and loyalty. Those Graustarkians would take
+you by the nape of the neck and march you out of their castle so
+quick that your head would swim. You may be able to buy their prince
+for Maudie to exhibit around the country, but you can't buy the
+intelligence of the people. They won't have you at any price and they
+won't have me, so there is the situation in a nutshell. They will
+hate Maudie, of course, but they will endure her for obvious reasons.
+They may even come to love and respect her in the end, for she is
+worthy. But as for you and me, William,--with all our money,--we
+will find every hand against us--even the hand of our daughter, I
+prophesy. I am not saying that I would regret seeing Maud the
+Princess of Graustark--far from it. But I do say that you and I will
+be expected to know our places. If you attempt to spend your
+declining years in the castle at Edelweiss you will find them reduced
+to days, and short ones at that. The people of Graustark will see to
+it that you die before your time."
+
+"Bosh!" said Mr. Blithers. "Mind if I smoke?" He took out a cigar and
+began searching for matches.
+
+"No," she said, "I don't mind. It is a sign that you need something
+to steady your nerves. I know you, Will Blithers. You don't want to
+smoke. You want to gain a few minutes of time, that's all."
+
+He lit a cigar. "Right you are," was his unexpected admission. "I
+wonder if you really have the right idea about this business. What
+objection could any one have to a poor, tired old man sitting in
+front of his daughter's fireside and--and playing with her kiddies?
+It seems to me that--"
+
+"You will never be a tired old man, that's the trouble," she said,
+instantly touched.
+
+"Oh, yes, I will," said he slowly. "I'm rather looking forward to it,
+too."
+
+"It will be much nicer to have the kiddies come to your own fireside,
+Will. I used to enjoy nothing better than going to spend a few days
+with my grandfather."
+
+"But what's the use of going to all this trouble and expense if we
+are not to enjoy some of the fruits?" he protested, making a
+determined stand. "If these people can't be grateful to the man who
+helps 'em out in their time of trouble,--and who goes out of his way
+to present 'em with a bright, capable posterity,--I'd like to know
+what in thunder gratitude really means."
+
+"Oh, there isn't such a thing as gratitude," she said. "Obligation,
+yes,--and ingratitude most certainly, but gratitude,--no. You are in
+a position to know that gratitude doesn't exist. Are you forgetting
+the private advices we already have had from Graustark? Does it
+indicate that the people are grateful? There are moments when I fear
+that we are actually placing Maud's life in peril, and I have had
+some wretched dreams. They do not want her. They speak of exile for
+the Prince if he marries her. And now I repeat what I have said
+before:--the people of Graustark must have an opportunity to see and
+become acquainted with Maud before the marriage is definitely
+arranged. I will not have my daughter cast into a den of lions.
+Will,--for that is what it may amount to. The people will adore her,
+they will welcome her with open arms if they are given the chance.
+But they will have none of her if she is forced upon them in the way
+you propose."
+
+"I'll--I'll think it over," said Mr. Blithers, and then discovered
+that his cigar had gone out. "I think I'll go on deck and smoke, Lou.
+Makes it stuffy in here. We'll lunch in the restaurant at half-past
+one, eh?"
+
+"Think hard, Will," she recommended, with a smile.
+
+"I'll do that," he said, "but there's nothing on earth that can alter
+my determination to make Maud the Princess of Groostork.
+_That's_ settled."
+
+"Graustark, Will."
+
+"Well, whatever it is," said he, and departed.
+
+He did think hard, but not so much about a regal home for aged people
+as about Channie Scoville who had now become a positive menace to all
+of his well-ordered and costly plans. The principal subject for
+thought just now was not Graustark but this conniving young gentleman
+who stood ready to make a terrible mess of posterity. Mr. Blithers
+was sufficiently fair-minded to concede that the fellow was good-
+looking, well-bred and clever, just the sort of chap that any girl
+might fall in love with like a shot. As a matter of fact, he once had
+admired Scoville, but that was before he came to look upon him as a
+menace. He would make a capital husband for any girl in the world,
+except Maud. He could say that much for him, without reserve.
+
+He thought hard until half-past one and then went to the wireless
+office, where he wrote out a message in cipher and directed the
+operator to waste no time in relaying it to his offices in Paris. His
+wife was right. It would be the height of folly to offer Scoville
+money and it would be even worse to inspire the temporary
+imprisonment of the young man.
+
+But there was a splendid alternative. He could manage to have his own
+daughter abducted,--chaperon included,--and held for ransom!
+
+The more he thought of it the better it seemed to him, and so he sent
+a cipher message that was destined to throw his Paris managers into a
+state of agitation that cannot possibly be measured by words. In
+brief, he instructed them to engage a few peaceable, trustworthy and
+positively respectable gentlemen,--he was particularly exacting on
+the score of gentility,--with orders to abduct the young lady and
+hold her in restraint until he arrived and arranged for her
+liberation! They were to do the deed without making any fuss about
+it, but at the same time they were to do it effectually.
+
+He had the foresight to suggest that the job should be undertaken by
+the very detective agency he had employed to shadow young Scoville
+and also to keep an eye on Maud. Naturally, she was never to know the
+truth about the matter. She was to believe that her father came up
+with a huge sum in the shape of ransom, no questions asked. He also
+remembered in time and added the imperative command that she was to
+be confined in clean, comfortable quarters and given the best of
+nourishment. But, above all else, it was to be managed in a decidedly
+realistic way, for Maud was a keen-witted creature who would see
+through the smallest crack in the conspiracy if there was a single
+false movement on the part of the plotters. It is also worthy of
+mention that Mrs. Blithers was never--_decidedly never_--to know the
+truth about the matter.
+
+He went in to luncheon in a very amiable, even docile frame of mind.
+
+"I've thought the matter over, Lou," he said, "and I guess you are
+right, after all. We will make all the repairs necessary, but we
+won't consider living in it ourselves. We'll return good for evil and
+live in a hotel when we go to visit the royal family. As for--"
+
+"I meant that you were to think hard before attempting to force Maud
+upon Prince Robin's subjects without preparing them for the--"
+
+"I thought of that, too," he interrupted cheerfully. "I'm not going
+to cast my only child into the den of lions, so that's the end of it.
+Have you given the order, my dear?"
+
+"No," she said; "for I knew you would change it when you came in."
+
+Late that evening he had a reply from his Paris managers. They
+inquired if he was responsible for the message they had received. It
+was a ticklish job and they wanted to be sure that the message was
+genuine. He wired back that he was the sender and to go ahead. The
+next morning they notified him that his instructions would be carried
+out as expeditiously as possible.
+
+He displayed such a beaming countenance all that day that his wife
+finally demanded an explanation. It wasn't like him to beam when he
+was worried about anything, and she wanted to know what had come over
+him.
+
+"It's the sea-air, Lou," he exclaimed glibly. "It always makes me
+feel like a fighting-cock. I--"
+
+"Rubbish! You detest the sea-air. It makes you feel like fighting, I
+grant, but not like a fighting-cock."
+
+"There you go, trying to tell me how I feel. I've never known any one
+like you, Lou. I can't say a word that--"
+
+"Have you had any news from Maud?" she broke in suspiciously.
+
+"Not a word," said he.
+
+"What have you done to Channie Scoville?" she questioned, fixing him
+with an accusing eye.
+
+"Not a thing," said he.
+
+"Then, what is it?"
+
+"You won't believe me if I tell you," said he warily.
+
+"Yes, I will."
+
+"No, you won't."
+
+"Tell me this instant why you've been grinning like a Cheshire cat
+all day."
+
+"It's the sea-air," said he, and then: "I said you wouldn't believe
+me, didn't I?"
+
+"Do you think I'm a fool, Will Blithers?" she flashed, and did not
+wait for an answer. He chuckled to himself as she swept imperiously
+out of sight around a corner of the deck-building.
+
+He was up bright and early the next morning, tingling with
+anticipation. There ought to be word from Paris before noon, and it
+might come earlier. He kept pretty close to the wireless operator's
+office, and was particularly attentive to the spitting crackle of the
+instrument.
+
+About eleven o'clock an incomprehensibly long message began to rattle
+out of the air. He contained himself in patience for the matter of
+half an hour or longer, and then, as the clatter continued without
+cessation, he got up and made his way to the door of the operator's
+office.
+
+"What is it? The history of England?" he demanded sarcastically.
+
+"Message for you, Mr. Blithers. It's a long one and I'm having a hard
+time picking it up. Everybody seems to be talking at once. Do you
+want the baseball scores, Mr. Blithers?"
+
+"Not unless they come in cipher," said Mr. Blithers acidly.
+
+"Some of 'em do. Six to nothing in favor of the Giants, two to
+nothing--Here we are at last. I've picked up the _Mauretania_ again.
+She's relaying."
+
+Mr. Blithers sat down on the steps and looked at his watch. It would
+be five o'clock in Paris. He wondered if they were giving Maud her
+afternoon tea, and then choked up with a sudden pity for the
+terrified captive. It was all he could do to keep from jumping up and
+ordering the operator to drop everything and take a message
+countermanding his inhuman instructions to those asses in Paris.
+Tears gushed from his eyes. He brushed them away angrily and tried to
+convince himself that it served Maud right for being so obstinate.
+Still the tears came. The corners of his mouth drooped and his chin
+began to quiver. It was too much! The poor child was--
+
+But just then the operator sat back with a sigh of relief, mopped his
+brow, and said:
+
+"Good thing you're a rich man, Mr. Blithers. It came collect and--"
+
+"Never mind," blurted Mr. Blithers. "Hand it over."
+
+There were four sheets of writing at some outlandish price per word,
+but what cared he? He wanted to get back to his stateroom and his
+cipher code as quickly--but his eyes almost started from his head as
+he took in the name at the bottom of the message. It was "Maud."
+
+He did not require the cipher book. A fourth reader child could have
+read the message without a halt. Maud had taken his request
+literally. He had asked her to send him a nice long message, but he
+did not expect her to make a four-page letter of it. She was paying
+him out with a vengeance!
+
+He took the precaution to read it before handing it over to his wife,
+to whom it was addressed in conjunction with himself:
+
+"Dear father and mother," it began--(and he looked at the date line
+again to make sure it was from Paris)--"in reply to your esteemed
+favour of the nineteenth, or possibly the twentieth, I beg to inform
+you that I arrived safely in Paris as per schedule. Regarding the
+voyage, it was delightful. We had one or two rough days. The rest of
+the time it was perfectly heavenly. I met two or three interesting
+and amusing people on board and they made the time pass most
+agreeably. I think I wired you that I had a glimpse of a certain
+person. On my arrival in Paris I was met at the station by friends
+and taken at once to the small, exclusive hotel where they are
+stopping for the summer. It is so small and exclusive that I'm sure
+you have never heard of it. I may as well tell you that I have seen
+Channie,--you know who I mean,--Chandler Scoville, and he has been
+very nice to me. Concerning your suggestion that I reconsider the
+statement issued to the press, I beg to state that I don't see any
+sense in taking the world into my confidence any farther than it has
+been taken already, if that is grammatically correct. I have also
+sent word to a certain person that he is not to pay any attention to
+the report that we are likely to change our minds in order to help
+out the greedy newspapers who don't appear to know when they have had
+enough. I hope that the voyage will benefit both of you as much as it
+did me. If I felt any better than I do now I'd call for the police as
+a precaution. Let me suggest that you try the chicken a la Bombardier
+in the Ritz restaurant. I found it delicious. I daresay they serve it
+as nicely on your ship as they do on the _Jupiter_. as the management
+is the same. Of course one never can tell about chefs. My plans are a
+trifle indefinite. I may leave here at any moment. It is very hot and
+muggy and nearly every one is skipping off to the mountains or
+seashore. If I should happen to be away from Paris when you arrive
+don't worry about me. I shall be all right and in safe hands. I will
+let you know where I am just as soon as I get settled somewhere. I
+must go where it is quiet and peaceful. I am so distressed over what
+has occurred that I don't feel as though I could ever be seen in
+public again without a thick veil and a pair of goggles. I have plenty
+of money for immediate use, but you might deposit something to my
+credit at the Credit Lyonnais as I haven't the least idea how long I
+shall stay over here. Miranda is well and is taking good care of me.
+She seldom lets me out of her sight if that is any comfort to you. I
+hope you will forgive the brevity of this communication and believe me
+when I say that it is not lack of love for you both that curtails its
+length but the abominably hot weather. With endless love from your
+devoted daughter--Maud."
+
+The tears had dried in Mr. Blithers' eyes but he wiped them time and
+again as he read this amazing letter,--this staggering exhibition of
+prodigality. He swore a little at first, but toward the end even that
+prerogative failed him. He set out in quest of his wife. Not that he
+expected her to say any more than he had said, but that he wanted her
+to see at a glance what kind of a child she had brought into the
+world and to forever hold her peace in future when he undertook to
+speak his mind.
+
+He could not understand why his wife laughed softly to herself as she
+read, and he looked on in simple amazement when she deliberately
+undertook to count the words. She counted them in a whisper and he
+couldn't stand it. He went down where the children were shrieking
+over a game of quoits and felt singularly peaceful and undisturbed.
+
+It was nearly bed-time before word came from his managers in Paris.
+Bed-time had no meaning for him after he had worked out the message
+by the code. It is true that he observed a life-long custom and went
+to bed, but he did not do it for the purpose of going to sleep.
+
+"Your daughter has disappeared from Paris. All efforts to locate her
+have failed. Friends say she left ostensibly for the Pyrenees but
+inquiries at stations and along line fail to reveal trace of her.
+Scoville still here and apparently in the dark. He is being watched.
+Her companion and maid left with her last night. Prince of Graustark
+and party left for Edelweiss to-day."
+
+So read the message from Paris.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT
+
+
+One usually has breakfast on the porch of the Hotel Schweizerhof at
+Interlaken. It is not the most fashionable hostelry in the quaint
+little town at the head of the Lake of Thun, but it is of an
+excellent character, and the rolls and honey to be had with one's
+breakfast can not be surpassed in the Bernese Oberland. Straight
+ahead lies one of the most magnificent prospects in all the world: an
+unobstructed view of the snow-thatched Jungfrau, miles away, gleaming
+white and jagged against an azure sky, suggesting warmth instead of
+chill, grandeur instead of terror. Looking up the valley one might be
+led to say that an hour's ramble would take him to the crest of that
+shining peak, and yet some men have made a life's journey of it.
+Others have turned back in time.
+
+One has a whiff of fragrant woodlands and serene hay-cocks, a breath
+of cool air from the Jungfrau's snows, a sniff of delectable bacon
+and toast--and a zest for breakfast. And one sets about it with
+interest, with the breakfast of the next day as a thing to look
+forward to.
+
+R. Schmidt sat facing the dejected Boske Dank. His eyes were dancing
+with the joy of living, and nothing better can be said of a man's
+character than that he is gay and happy at breakfast-time. He who
+wakes up, refreshed and buoyant, and eager for the day's adventure,
+is indeed a child of nature. He will never grow old and crabbed; he
+will grip the hand of death when the time comes with the unconquered
+zeal that makes the grim reaper despise himself for the advantage he
+takes of youth.
+
+"Well, here we are and in spite of that, where are we?" said Dank,
+who saw nothing beautiful in the smile of any early morn. "I mean to
+say, what have we to show for our pains? We sneak into this
+Godforsaken hamlet, surrounded on all sides by abominations in the
+shape of tourists, and at the end of twenty-four hours we discover
+that the fair Miss Guile has played us a shabby trick. I daresay she
+is laughing herself sick over the whole business."
+
+"Which is more than you can say for yourself, Boske," said Robin
+blithely. "Brace up! All is not lost. We'll wait here a day or two
+longer and then--well, I don't know what we'll do then."
+
+"She never intended to come here at all," said Dank, filled with
+resentment. "It was a trick to get rid of us. She--"
+
+"Be honest, old chap and say that it was a trick to get rid of
+_me_. Us is entirely too plural. But I haven't lost heart. She'll turn
+up yet."
+
+"Count Quinnox is in despair over this extraordinary whim of yours,
+highness. He is really ill in bed this morning. I--"
+
+"I'll run up and see him after breakfast," cried the Prince,
+genuinely concerned. "I'm sorry he is taking it so seriously."
+
+"He feels that we should be at home instead of dawdling about the--"
+
+"That reminds me. Dank," broke in the Prince, fresh happiness in his
+smile; "I've decided that home is the place for you and the Count--
+and Gourou too. I'm perfectly able to take care of myself,--with some
+assistance from Hobbs,--and I don't see any necessity for you three
+to remain with me any longer. I'll tell the Count that you all may
+start for Vienna tonight. You connect with the Orient express at--"
+
+"Are you mad, highness?" cried Dank, startled out of his dejection.
+"What you speak of is impossible--utterly impossible. We cannot
+leave you. We were delegated to escort you--"
+
+"I understand all of that perfectly, Dank," interrupted Robin,
+suddenly embarrassed, "but don't you see how infernally awkward it
+will be for me if Miss Guile does appear, according to plan? She will
+find me body-guarded, so to speak, by three surly, scowling
+individuals whose presence I cannot explain to save my soul, unless I
+tell the truth, and I'm not yet ready to do that. Can't you see what
+I mean? How am I to explain the three of you? A hawk-eyed triumvirate
+that camps on my trail from morn till night and refuses to budge!
+She'll suspect something, old fellow, and--well, I certainly will
+feel more comfortable if I'm not watched for the next few days."
+
+"That's the point, highness. You've just got to be watched for the
+next few days. We would never dare to show our faces in Graustark
+again if we allowed anything to happen to you while you are under our
+care. You are a sacred charge. We must return you to Graustark as--
+er--inviolate as when you departed. We--we couldn't think of
+subjecting you to the peril of a--that is to say, it might prove
+fatal. Graustark, in that event, would be justified in hanging two of
+her foremost citizens and yours truly from gibbets designed
+especially for the blackest of traitors."
+
+"I see, Dank. If I find happiness, you are almost sure to find
+disgrace and death, eh? It doesn't seem a fair division, does it? I
+suppose you all feel that the worst thing that can possibly happen is
+for me to find happiness."
+
+"If I were the Prince of Graustark I should first think of the
+happiness of my subjects. I would not offend."
+
+"Well put, Boske, but fortunately you are not the Prince. I sometimes
+wish that you were. It would relieve me of a tremendous
+responsibility. I am not mean enough, however, to wish a crown upon
+you, old fellow. You are lucky to be who and what you are. No one
+cares what you do, so long as you are honourable about it. With me it
+is different. I have to be watched day and night in order to be kept
+from doing what all the rest of the world looks upon as honourable."
+
+"I implore you, highness, to give up this mad enterprise and return
+to your people as--"
+
+"There is only one person in the world who can stop me now, Dank."
+
+"And she isn't likely to do so, worse luck," was the other's
+complaint.
+
+"When she tells me to go about my business, I'll go, but not until
+then. Don't you like honey, Dank?"
+
+"No," said Dank savagely. "I hate it." He leaned back in his chair
+and glowered upon the innocent, placid Jungfrau. The Prince ate in
+silence. "May I be permitted a question, highness?"
+
+"All you like, Boske. You are my best friend. Go ahead."
+
+"Did you see Miss Guile after that visit to St. Cloud--and to the
+police station?"
+
+"No. Evidently she was frightened out of her boots by the Hawkshaws.
+I don't blame her, do you?"
+
+"And you've had no word from her?"
+
+"None. Now you are going to ask what reason I have for believing that
+she will come to Interlaken. Well, I can't answer that question. I
+think she'll come, that's all."
+
+"Do you think she is in love with you?"
+
+"Ah, my dear fellow, you are asking me to answer my own prayer," said
+Robin, without a sign of resentment in his manner. "I'm praying that
+she isn't altogether indifferent. By the way, it is my turn to ask
+questions. Are you still in love with her?"
+
+"I am proud to say that you are more in my prayers that she," said
+Dank, with a profound sigh. "Nothing could please me more than to be
+the one to save my prince from disaster, even if it meant the
+sacrifice of self. My only prayer is that you may be spared, sir, and
+I taken in your place."
+
+"That was a neat answer, 'pon my soul," cried the Prince admiringly.
+"You--Hello, who is this approaching? It is no other than the great
+Gourou himself, the king of sleuths, as they say in the books I used
+to read. Good morning, Baron."
+
+The sharp-visaged little Minister of Police came up to the table and
+fixed an accusing eye upon his sovereign,--the literal truth, for he
+had the other eye closed in a protracted wink.
+
+"I regret to inform your majesty that the enemy is upon us," he said.
+"I fear that our retreat is cut off. Nothing remains save--"
+
+"She has arrived?" cried the Prince eagerly.
+
+"She has," said the Baron. "Bag and baggage, and armed to the eyes.
+Each eye is a gatling-gun, each lip a lunette behind which lies an
+unconquerable legion of smiles and rows of ivory bayonets, each ear a
+hardy spy, and every nut-brown strand a covetous dastard on the
+warpath not for a scalp but for a crown. Napoleon was never so well
+prepared for battle as she, nor Troy so firmly fortified. Yes,
+highness, the foe is at our gates. We must to arms!"
+
+"Where is she?" demanded Robin, unimpressed by this glowing
+panegyric.
+
+"At this instant, sir, I fancy she is rallying her forces in the very
+face of a helpless mirror. In other words, she is preparing for the
+fray. She is dressing."
+
+"The devil! How dare you pry into the secret--"
+
+"Abhorrent thought! I deduce, nothing more. Her maid loses herself in
+the halls while attempting to respond to the call for re-inforcements.
+She accosts a gentleman of whom she inquires the way. The gentleman
+informs her she is on the third, not the second _etage_, and she
+scurries away simpering, but not before confiding to me--the aforesaid
+gentleman--that her mistress will give her fits for being late with her
+hair, whatever that may signify. So, you see, I do not stoop to keyholes
+but put my wits to work instead."
+
+"When did she arrive?"
+
+"She came last night via Milan."
+
+"From Milan?" cried Robin, astonished.
+
+"A roundabout way, I'll admit," said the Baron, drily, "and tortuous
+in these hot days, but admirably suited to a purpose. I should say
+that she was bent on throwing some one off the track."
+
+"And yet she came!" cried the Prince, in exultation. "She wanted to
+come, after all, now didn't she, Dank?" He gave the lieutenant a look
+of triumph.
+
+"She is more dangerous than I thought," said the guardsman
+mournfully.
+
+"Sit down, Baron," commanded the Prince. "I want to lay down the law
+to all of you. You three will have to move on to Graustark and leave
+me to look out for myself. I will not have Miss Guile--"
+
+"No!" exclaimed the Baron, with unusual vehemence. "I expected you to
+propose something of the kind, and I am obliged to confess to you
+that we have discussed the contingency in advance. We will not leave
+you. That is final. You may depose us, exile us, curse us or anything
+you like, but still we shall remain true to the duty we owe to our
+country. We stay here, Prince Robin, just so long as you are content
+to remain."
+
+Robin's face was very red. "You shame me, Baron," he said simply. "I
+am sorry that I spoke as I did. You are my friends, my loyal friends,
+and I would have humbled you in the eyes of my people. I beg your
+pardon, and yours, Boske. After all, I am only a prince and a prince
+is dependent on the loyalty of such as you. I take back all that I
+said."
+
+The Baron laid a kindly hand on the young man's shoulder. "I was
+rough, highness, in my speech just now, but you will understand that
+I was moved to--"
+
+"I know, Baron. It was the only way to fetch me up sharp. No apology
+is required. God bless you."
+
+"Now I have a suggestion of my own to offer," said the Baron, taking
+a seat at the end of the table. "I confess that Miss Guile may not be
+favourably impressed by the constant attendance of three able-bodied
+nurses, and, as she happens to be no fool, it is reasonably certain
+that she will grasp the significance of our assiduity. Now I propose
+that the Count, Dank and myself efface ourselves as completely as
+possible during the rest of our enforced stay in Interlaken. I
+propose that we take quarters in another hotel and leave you and
+Hobbs to the tender mercies of the enemy. It seems to me that--"
+
+"Good!" cried Robin. "That's the ticket! I quite agree to that,
+Baron."
+
+Dank was prepared to object but a dark look from Gourou silenced him.
+"I've talked it over with the Count and he acquiesces," went on the
+Baron. "We recognise the futility of trying to induce you to leave at
+once for Graustark, and we are now content to trust Providence to
+watch over and protect you against a foe whose motives may in time
+become transparent, even to the blind."
+
+The irony in the remark was not lost on Robin. He flushed angrily but
+held his tongue.
+
+Ten o'clock found the three gentlemen,--so classified by Hobbs,--out
+of the Schweizerhof and arranging for accommodations at the Regina
+Hotel Jungfraublick, perched on an eminence overlooking the valley
+and some distance removed from the temporary abode of the Prince.
+Their departure from the hotel in the Hoheweg was accomplished
+without detection by Miss Guile or her friends, and, to all intents
+and purposes, Robin was alone and unattended when he sat down on the
+porch near the telescope to await the first appearance of the
+enchanting foe. He was somewhat puzzled by the strange submissiveness
+of his companions. Deep down in his mind lurked the disquieting
+suspicion that they were conniving to get the better of the lovely
+temptress by some sly and secret bit of strategy. What was back of
+the wily Baron's motive? Why were they now content to let him take
+the bit in his teeth and run wherever he would? What had become of
+their anxiety, their eagerness to drag him off to Graustark by the
+first train? There was food for reflection in the tranquil
+capitulation of the defenders. Were they acting under fresh
+instructions from Edelweiss? Had the Prime Minister directed them to
+put no further obstacle in front of the great Blithers invasion? Or--
+and he scowled darkly at the thought--was there a plan afoot to
+overcome the dangerous Miss Guile by means more sinister than subtle?
+
+Enlightenment came unexpectedly and with a shock to his composure. He
+had observed the three spirited saddlehorses near the entrance of the
+hotel, in charge of two stable-boys, but had regarded them only as
+splendid specimens of equine aristocracy. It had not entered his mind
+to look upon them as agents of despair.
+
+Two people emerged from the door and, passing by without so much as a
+glance in his direction, made their way to the mounting block.
+Robin's heart went down to his boots. Bedelia, a graceful figure in a
+smart riding habit, was laughing blithely over a soft-spoken remark
+that her companion had made as they were crossing the porch. And that
+companion was no other than the tall, good-looking fellow who had met
+her at Cherbourg! The Prince, stunned and incredulous, watched them
+mount their horses and canter away, followed by a groom who seemed to
+have sprung up from nowhere.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Schmidt," spoke a voice, and, still bewildered, he
+whirled, hat in hand, to confront Mrs. Gaston. "Did I startle you?"
+
+He bowed stiffly over the hand she held out for him to clasp, and
+murmured something about being proof against any surprise. The colour
+was slowly returning to his face, and his smile was as engaging as
+ever despite the bitterness that filled his soul. Here was a pretty
+trick to play on a fellow! Here was a slap in the face!
+
+"Isn't it a glorious morning? And how wonderful she is in this
+gorgeous sunlight," went on Mrs. Gaston, in what may be described as
+a hurried, nervous manner.
+
+"I had the briefest glimpse of her," mumbled Robin. "When did she
+come?"
+
+"Centuries and centuries ago, Mr. Schmidt," said she, with a smile.
+"I was speaking of the Jungfrau."
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed, flushing. "I thought you--er--yes, of course!
+Really quite wonderful. I have heard it said that she never removes
+her night-cap, but always greets the dawn in spotless--ahem! Of
+course you understand that I am speaking of the Jungfrau," he
+floundered.
+
+"Naturally, Mr. Schmidt. And so you came, after all. We were afraid
+you might have concluded to alter your plans. Miss Guile will be
+delighted."
+
+He appeared grateful for the promise. "I have been here for three
+days, Mrs. Gaston. You were delayed in leaving Paris?"
+
+"Yes," she said, and changed the subject. "The riding is quite good,
+I understand. They are off for Lauterbrunnen."
+
+"I see," said he. "There is a splendid inn there, I am told."
+
+"They will return here for luncheon, of course," she said, raising
+her eyebrows slightly. His heart became a trifle lighter at this.
+"Mr. White is a lifelong friend and acquaintance of the family," she
+volunteered, apropos of nothing.
+
+"Oh, his name is White?" with a quiet laugh.
+
+"If you have nothing better to do, Mr. Schmidt, why not come with me
+to the Kursaal? The morning concert will begin shortly, and I--"
+
+"I think you will find that the band plays in the square across the
+way, Mrs. Gaston, and not in the Casino. At least, that has been the
+programme for the last two mornings."
+
+"Nevertheless, there is a concert at the Casino today," she informed
+him. "Will you come?"
+
+"Gladly," he replied, and they set off for the Kursaal. He found
+seats in the half-empty pavillion and prepared to listen to the
+music, although his real interest was following the narrow highway to
+Lauterbrunnen--and the Staubbach.
+
+"This is to be a special concert given at the request of the Grand
+Duke who, I hear, is leaving this afternoon for Berne."
+
+"The Grand Duke? I was not aware of the presence of royalty," said he
+in surprise.
+
+"No? He has been here for three days, but at another hotel. The Grand
+Duke Paulus and his family, you know."
+
+Robin shot a swift, apprehensive glance about the big enclosure,
+sweeping the raised circle from end to end. On the opposite side of
+the pavillion he discovered the space reserved for the distinguished
+party. Although he was far removed from that section he sank deeper
+into his chair and found one pretext after another to screen his face
+from view. He did know the Grand Duke Paulus and the Grand Duke knew
+him, which was even more to the point.
+
+The Prince of Graustark had been a prime favourite of the great man
+since his knickerbocker days. Twice as a boy he had visited in the
+ducal palace, far distant from Graustark, and at the time of his own
+coronation the Grand Duke and his sons had come to the castle in
+Edelweiss for a full month's stay. They knew him well and they would
+recognise him at a glance. At this particular time the last thing on
+earth that he desired was to be hailed as a royal prince.
+
+Never, in all his life, had he known the sun to penetrate so brightly
+into shadows as it did to-day. He felt that he was sitting in a
+perfect glare of light and that every feature of his face was clear
+to the most distant observer.
+
+He was on the point of making an excuse to leave the place when the
+ducal party came sauntering down the aisle on their way to the
+reserved section. Every one stood up, the band played, the Grand Duke
+bowed to the right and to the left, and escape was cut off. Robin
+could only stand with averted face and direct mild execrations at the
+sunlight that had seemed so glorious at breakfast-time.
+
+"He is a splendid-looking man, isn't he?" Mrs. Gaston was saying. She
+was gazing in rapt admiration upon the royal group.
+
+"He is, indeed," said Robin, resolutely scanning a programme, which
+he continued to hold before his face. When he sat down again, it was
+with his back to the band. "I don't like to watch the conductors," he
+explained. "They do such foolish things, you know."
+
+Mrs. Gaston was eyeing him curiously. He was bitterly conscious of a
+crimson cheek. In silence they listened to the first number. While
+the applause was at its height, Mrs. Gaston leaned forward and said
+to him:
+
+"I am afraid you are not enjoying the music, Mr. Schmidt. What is on
+your mind?"
+
+He started. "I--I--really, Mrs. Gaston, I am enjoying it. I--"
+
+"Your mind has gone horse-back riding, I fear. At present it is
+between here and Lauterbrunnen, jogging beside that roaring little
+torrent that--"
+
+"I don't mind confessing that you are quite right," said he frankly.
+"And I may add that the music makes me so blue that I'd like to jump
+into that roaring torrent and--and swim out again, I suppose," he
+concluded, with a sheepish grin.
+
+"You are in love."
+
+"I am," he confessed.
+
+She laid her hand upon his. Her eyes were wide with eagerness. "Would
+it drive away the blues if I were to tell you that you have a chance
+to win her?"
+
+He felt his head spinning. "If--if I could believe that--that-" he
+began, and choked up with the rush of emotion that swept through him.
+
+"She is a strange girl. She will marry for love alone. Her father is
+determined that she shall marry a royal prince. That much I may
+confess to you. She has defied her father, Mr. Schmidt. She will
+marry for love, and I believe it is in your power to awaken love in
+that adorable heart of hers. You--"
+
+"For God's sake, Mrs. Gaston, tell me--tell me, has she breathed a
+word to you that--"
+
+"Not a single word. But I know her well. I have known her since she
+was a baby, and I can read the soul that looks out through those
+lovely eyes. Knowing her so well, I may say to you--oh, it must be in
+the strictest confidence!--that you have a chance. And if you win her
+love, you will _have_ the greatest treasure in all the world.
+She--but, look! The Grand Duke is leaving. He--"
+
+"I don't care what becomes of the Grand Duke," he burst out. "Tell me
+more. Tell me how you look into her soul, and tell me what you see--"
+
+"Not now, sir. I have said enough. I have given you the sign of hope.
+It remains with you to make the most of it."
+
+"But you--you don't know anything about me. I may be the veriest
+adventurer, the most unworthy of all--"
+
+"I think, Mr. Schmidt, that I know you pretty well. I do not require
+the aid of Diogenes' lantern to see an honest man. I am responsible
+for her welfare. She has been placed under my protection. For twenty
+years I have adored her. I am not likely to encourage an adventurer."
+
+"I must be honest with you, Mrs. Gaston," he said suddenly. "I am
+not--"
+
+She held up her hand. "Mr. Totten has informed me that you are a
+life-long friend of Mrs. Truxton King. I cabled to her from Paris.
+There is no more to be said."
+
+His face fell. "Did she tell you--everything?"
+
+"She said no more than that R. Schmidt is the finest boy in all the
+world." Suddenly her face paled. "You are never--_never_ to breathe a
+word of this to--to Bedelia," she whispered.
+
+"But her father? What will he say to--"
+
+"Her father has said all that can be said," she broke in quietly. "He
+cannot force her to marry the man he has selected. She will marry the
+man she loves. Come now! Let us go. I am tired of the music."
+
+"Thank you, thank you, Mrs. Gaston," he cried, with shining eyes.
+"God bless you!"
+
+She gave him a queer look. "You must not think that your task is an
+easy one," she said meaningly. "There are other men in the world, you
+know."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+"WHAT WILL MY PEOPLE DO!"
+
+
+The Grand Duke and his party left Interlaken by special train early
+in the afternoon, and great was Robin's relief when Hobbs returned
+with the word that they were safely on their way to the capital of
+Switzerland. He emerged from the seclusion of his room, where he had
+been in hiding since noon, and set out for a walk through the town.
+His head was high and his stride jaunty, for his heart was like a
+cork. People stared after him with smiles of admiration, and never a
+_cocher'_ passed him by without a genial, inviting tilt of the
+eyebrow and a tentative pull at the reins, only to meet with a
+pleasant shake of the head or the negative flourish of a bamboo cane.
+
+Night came and with it the silvery glow of moonlight across the hoary
+headed queen of the Oberland. When Robin came out from dinner he
+seated himself on the porch, expectant, eager--and vastly lonesome.
+An unaccountable shyness afflicted him, rendering him quite incapable
+of sending his card up to the one who could have dispelled the
+gathering gloom with a single glance of the eye. Would she come
+stealing out ostensibly to look at the night-capped peak, but with
+furtive glances into the shadows of the porch in quest of--But no!
+She would not do that! She would come attended by the exasperating
+Mr. White and the friendly duenna. Her starry eyes, directed
+elsewhere, would only serve to increase the depth of the shadows in
+which he lurked impatient.
+
+She came at last--and alone. Stopping at the rail not more than an
+arm's length from where he sat, she gazed pensively up at the solemn
+mistress of the valley, one slim hand at her bosom, the other hanging
+limp at her side. He could have touched that slender hand by merely
+stretching forth his own. Breathless, enthralled, he sat as one
+deprived of the power or even the wish to move. The spell was upon
+him; he was in thralldom.
+
+She wore a rose-coloured gown, soft, slinky, seductive. A light
+Egyptian scarf lay across her bare shoulders. The slim, white neck
+and the soft dark hair--but she sighed! He heard that faint, quick-
+drawn sigh and started to his feet.
+
+"Bedelia!" he whispered softly.
+
+She turned quickly, to find him standing beside her, his face aglow
+with rapture. A quick catch of the breath, a sudden movement of the
+hand that lay upon her breast, and then she smiled,--a wavering,
+uncertain smile that went straight to his heart and shamed him for
+startling her. "I beg your pardon," he began lamely. "I--I startled
+you."
+
+She held out her hand to him, still smiling. "I fear I shall never
+become accustomed to being pursued," she said, striving for command
+of her voice.
+
+"It is dreadful to feel that some one is forever watching you from
+behind. I am glad it is you, however. You at least are not 'the
+secret eye that never sleeps'!" She gently withdrew her hand from his
+ardent clasp. "Mrs. Gaston told me that she had seen you. I feared
+that you might have gone on your way rejoicing."
+
+"Rejoicing?" he cried. "Why do you say that?"
+
+"After our experience in Paris, I should think that you had had
+enough of me and my faithful watchdogs."
+
+"Rubbish!" he exclaimed. "I shall never have enough of you," he went
+on, with sudden boldness. "As for the watch-dogs, they are not likely
+to bite us, so what is there to be afraid of?"
+
+"Have you succeeded in evading the watchful eye of Mr. Totten's
+friend?" she enquired, sending an apprehensive glance along the
+porch.
+
+"Completely," he declared. "I am quite alone in this hotel and, I
+believe, unsuspected. And you? Are you still being--"
+
+"Sh! Who knows? I think we have thrown them off the track, but one
+cannot be sure. I raised a dreadful rumpus about it in Paris, and--
+well, they said they were sorry and advised me not to be worried, for
+the surveillance would cease at once. Still, I am quite sure that
+they lied to me."
+
+"Then you _are_ being followed."
+
+She smiled again, and there was mischief in her eyes. "If so, I have
+led them a merry chase. We have been travelling for two days and
+nights, Mr. Schmidt, by train and motor, getting off at stations
+unexpectedly, hopping into trains going in any direction but the
+right one, sleeping in strange beds and doing all manner of queer
+things. And here we are at last. I am sure you must look upon me as a
+very silly, flibberty-gibbet creature."
+
+"I see that your retinue has been substantially augmented," he
+remarked, a trace of jealousy in his voice. "The good-looking Mr.
+White has not been eluded."
+
+"Mr. White? Oh, yes, I see. But he is to be trusted, Mr. Schmidt,"
+she said mysteriously--and tantalisingly. "He will not betray me to
+my cruel monster of a father. I have his solemn promise not to reveal
+my whereabouts to any one. My father is the last person in the world
+to whom he would go with reports of my misdoings."
+
+"I saw you this morning, riding with him," said he glumly.
+
+"Through the telescope?" she inquired softly, laying a hand upon the
+stationary instrument.
+
+He flushed hotly. "It was when you were starting out, Miss Guile. I
+am not one of the spies, you should remember."
+
+"You are my partner in guilt," she said lightly. "By the way, have
+you forgiven me for leading you into temptation?"
+
+"Certainly. I am still in the Garden of Eden, you see, and as I don't
+take any stock in the book of Genesis, I hope to prove to myself at
+least, that the conduct of an illustrious forebear of mine was not
+due to the frailties of Eve but to his own tremendous anxiety to get
+out of a place that was filled with snakes. I hope and pray that you
+will continue to put temptation in my path so that I may have the
+frequent pleasure of falling."
+
+She turned her face away and for a moment was silent. "Shall we take
+those chairs over there, Mr. Schmidt? They appear to be as abandoned
+as we." She indicated two chairs near the broad portals.
+
+He shook his head. "If we are looking for the most utterly abandoned,
+allow me to call your attention to the two in yonder corner."
+
+"It is quite dark over there," she said with a frown.
+
+"Quite," he agreed. "Which accounts, no doubt, for your failure to
+see them."
+
+"Mrs. Gaston will be looking for me before--" she began hesitatingly.
+
+"Or Mr. White, perhaps. Let me remind you that they have exceedingly
+sharp eyes."
+
+"Mr. White is no longer here," she announced.
+
+His heart leaped. "Then I, at least, have nothing to fear," he said
+quickly.
+
+She ignored the banality. "He left this afternoon. Very well, let us
+take the seats over there. I rather like the--shall I say shadows?"
+
+"I too object to the limelight,--Bedelia," he said, offering her his
+arm.
+
+"You are not to call me Bedelia," she said, holding back.
+
+"Then 'forgive us our transgressions' is to be applied in the usual
+order, I presume."
+
+"Are you sorry you called me Bedelia?" she insisted, frowning
+ominously.
+
+"No. I'm sorry you object, that's all."
+
+They made their way through a maze of chairs and seated themselves in
+the dim corner. Their view of the Jungfrau from this vine-screened
+corner was not as perfect as it might have been, but the Jungfrau had
+no present power of allurement for them.
+
+"I cannot stay very long," she said as she sank back in the
+comfortable chair.
+
+He turned his back not only upon the occupants of the porch but the
+lustrous Jungfrau, drawing his chair up quite close to hers. As he
+leaned forward, with his elbows on the arms of the chair, she seemed
+to slink farther back in the depths of hers, as if suddenly afraid of
+him.
+
+"Now, tell me everything," he said. "From beginning to end. What
+became of you after that day at St. Cloud, whither have you
+journeyed, and wherefore were you so bent on coming to this now
+blessed Interlaken?"
+
+"Easily answered. Nothing at all became of me. I journeyed thither,
+and I came because I had set my heart on seeing the Jungfrau."
+
+"But you had seen it many times."
+
+"And I hoped that I might find peace and quiet here," she added quite
+distinctly.
+
+"You expected to find me here, didn't you?"
+
+"Yes, but I did not regard you as a disturber of the peace."
+
+"You knew I would come, but you didn't know why, did you, Bedelia?"
+He leaned a little closer.
+
+"Yes, I knew why," she said calmly, emotionlessly. He drew back
+instantly, chilled by her directness. "You came because there was
+promise of an interesting adventure, which you now are on the point
+of making impossible by a rather rash exhibition of haste."
+
+He stared at her shadowy face in utter confusion. For a moment he was
+speechless. Then a rush of protesting sincerity surged up within him
+and he cried out in low, intense tones: "I cannot allow you to think
+that of me, Miss Guile. If I have done or said anything to lead you
+to believe that I am--"
+
+"Oh, I beg of you, Mr. Schmidt, do not enlarge upon the matter by
+trying to apologise," she cried.
+
+"I am not trying to apologise," he protested. "I am trying to justify
+what you are pleased to call an exhibition of haste. You see, it's
+just this way: I am obliged to make hay while the sun shines, for
+soon I may be cast into utter darkness. My days are numbered. In a
+fortnight I shall be where I cannot call my soul my own. I--"
+
+"You alarm me. Are you to be sent to prison?"
+
+"You wouldn't look upon it as a prison, but it seems like one to me.
+Do not laugh. I cannot explain to you now. Another day I shall tell
+you everything, so pray take me for what I am to-day, and ask no
+questions. I have asked no more of you, so do you be equally generous
+with me."
+
+"True," she said, "you have asked no questions of me. You take me for
+what I am to-day, and yet you know nothing of my yesterdays or my to-
+morrows. It is only fair that I should be equally confiding. Let
+there be no more questions. Are we, however, to take each other
+seriously?"
+
+"By all means," he cried. "There will come a day when you may
+appreciate the full extent of my seriousness."
+
+"You speak in riddles."
+
+"Is the time ripe for me to speak in sober earnest?" he questioned
+softly. She drew back again in swift alarm.
+
+"No, no! Not now--not yet. Do not say anything now, Mr. Schmidt, that
+may put an end to our--to our adventure."
+
+She was so serious, so plaintive, and yet so shyly prophetic of
+comfort yet to be attained, that his heart warmed with a mighty glow
+of exaltation. A sweet feeling of tenderness swept over him.
+
+"If God is good, there can be but one end to our adventure," he said,
+and then, for some mysterious reason, silence fell between them. Long
+afterward--it seemed hours to him!--she spoke, and her voice was low
+and troubled.
+
+"Can you guess why I am being watched so carefully, why I am being
+followed so doggedly by men who serve not me but another?"
+
+"Yes. It is because you are the greatest jewel in the possession of a
+great man, and he would preserve you against all varlets,--such as
+I."
+
+She did not reveal surprise at his shrewd conjecture. She nodded her
+head and sighed.
+
+"You are right. I am his greatest jewel, and yet he would give me
+into the keeping of an utter stranger. I am being protected against
+that conscienceless varlet--Love! If love lays hands upon me--ah, my
+friend, you cannot possibly guess what a calamity that would be!"
+
+"And love _will_ lay hands upon you, Bedelia,--"
+
+"I am sure of that," she said, once more serene mistress of herself
+after a peculiarly dangerous lapse. "That is why I shudder. What
+could be more dreadful than to fall into the clutches of that
+merciless foe to peace? He rends one's heart into shreds; he stabs in
+the dark; he thrusts, cuts and slashes and the wounds never heal; he
+blinds without pity; he is overbearing, domineering, ruthless and his
+victims are powerless to retaliate. Love is the greatest tyrant in
+all the world, Mr. Schmidt, and we poor wretches can never hope to
+conquer him. We are his prey, and he is rapacious. Do you not shudder
+also?"
+
+"Bless you, no! I'd rather enjoy meeting him in mortal combat. My
+notion of bliss would be a fight to the death with love, for then the
+conflict would not be one-sided. What could be more glorious than to
+stand face to face with love, hand to hand, breast to breast, lip to
+lip until the end of time? Let him cut and slash and stab if you
+will, there would still be recompense for the vanquished. Even those
+who have suffered most in the conflict with love must admit that they
+have had a share in the spoils. One can't ignore the sweet hours when
+counting up the bitter ones, after love has withdrawn from the tender
+encounter. The cuts and slashes are cherished and memory is a store-
+house for the spoils that must be shared with vanity."
+
+"It sounds like a book. Who is your favourite author?" she inquired
+lightly.
+
+"Baedeker," he replied, with promptness. "Without my Baedeker, I
+should never have chanced upon the route travelled by love, nor the
+hotel where I now lodge in close proximity to--"
+
+"Will you please be sensible?"
+
+"You invite something to the contrary, Bedelia," he ventured.
+
+"Haven't I requested you to--"
+
+"I think of you only as Bedelia," he made haste to explain. "Bedelia
+will stick to you forever, you see, while Miss Guile is almost
+ephemeral. It cannot live long, you know, with so many other names
+eager to take its place. But Bedelia--ah, Bedelia is everlasting."
+
+She laughed joyously, naturally. "You really are quite wonderful, Mr.
+Schmidt. Still I must change the subject. I trust the change will not
+affect your glibness, for it is quite exhilarating. How long do you
+purpose remaining in Interlaken?"
+
+"That isn't changing the subject," said he. "I shall be here for a
+week or ten days--or perhaps longer." He put it in the form of a
+question, after all.
+
+"Indeed? How I envy you. I am sorry to say I shall have to leave in a
+day or two."
+
+His face fell. "Why?" he demanded, almost indignantly.
+
+"Because I am enjoying myself," she replied.
+
+"I don't quite get your meaning."
+
+"I am having such a good time disobeying my father, Mr. Schmidt, and
+eluding pursuers. It is only a matter of a day or two before I am
+discovered here, so I mean to keep on dodging. It is splendid fun."
+
+"Do you think it is quite fair to me?"
+
+"Did I induce you to come here, good sir?"
+
+"You did," said he, with conviction. "Heaven is my witness. I would
+not have come but for you. I am due at home by this time."
+
+"Are you under any obligations to remain in Interlaken for a week or
+ten days?"
+
+"Not now," he replied. "Do you mind telling me where you are going
+to, Miss Guile?"
+
+"First to Vienna, then--well, you cannot guess where. I have decided
+to go to Edelweiss."
+
+"Edelweiss!" he exclaimed in astonishment. He could hardly believe
+his ears.
+
+"It is the very last place in the world that my father would think of
+looking for me. Besides I am curious to see the place. I understand
+that the great Mr. Blithers is to be there soon, and the stupid
+Prince who will not be tempted by millions, and it is even possible
+that the extraordinary Miss Blithers may take it into her head to
+look the place over before definitely refusing to be its Princess. I
+may find some amusement--or entertainment as an on-looker when the
+riots begin."
+
+He was staring at her wide-eyed and incredulous. "Do you really mean
+to say you are going to Graustark?"
+
+"I have thought of doing so. Don't you think it will be amusing to be
+on the scene when the grand climax occurs? Of course, the Prince will
+come off his high horse, and the girl will see the folly of her ways,
+and old Mr. Blithers will run 'rough shod over everybody, and--but,
+goodness, I can't even speculate on the possibilities."
+
+He was silent. So this was the way the wind blew, eh? There was but
+one construction to be put upon her decision to visit the Capital of
+Graustark. She _had_ taken it into her head "to look the place
+over before definitely refusing to be its Princess!" His first thrill
+of exultation gave way to a sickening sense of disappointment.
+
+All this time she was regarding him through amused, half-closed eyes.
+She had a distinct advantage over him. She knew that he was the
+Prince of Graustark; she had known it for many days. Perhaps if she
+had known all the things that were in his cunning brain, she would
+not have ventured so far into the comedy she was constructing. She
+would have hesitated--aye, she might have changed her methods
+completely. But she was in the mood to do and say daring things. She
+considered her position absolutely secure, and so she could afford to
+enjoy herself for the time being. There would be an hour of
+reckoning, no doubt, but she was not troubled by its promise of
+castigation.
+
+"Poor Prince!" she sighed pityingly. He started. The remark was so
+unexpected that he almost betrayed himself. It seemed profoundly
+personal. "He will be in very hot water, I fear."
+
+He regarded her coldly. "And you want to be on hand to see him
+squirm, I suppose."
+
+She took instant alarm. Was she going too far? His query was somewhat
+disconcerting.
+
+"To be perfectly frank with you, Mr. Schmidt, I am going to Graustark
+because no one will ever think of looking for me in such an out-of-
+the-way place. I am serious now, so you must not laugh at me.
+Circumstances are such that I prefer to seek happiness after a
+fashion of my own. My parents love me, but they will not understand
+me. They wish me to marry a man they have picked out for me. I intend
+to pick out my own man, Mr. Schmidt. You may suspect, from all that
+you have seen, that I am running away from home, from those who are
+dearest in all the world to me. You knew that I was carefully watched
+in Paris. You know that my father fears that I may marry a man
+distasteful to him, and I suppose to my mother, although she is not
+so--"
+
+"Are his fears well-founded?" he asked, rudely interrupting her. "Is
+there a man that he has cause to fear? Are--are you in love with some
+one, Bedelia?"
+
+"Do not interrupt me. I want you to know that I am not running away
+from home, that I shall return to it when I see fit, and that I am
+not in love with the man they suspect. I want you to be just with me.
+You are not to blame my father for anything, no matter how absurd his
+actions may appear to you in the light of the past few days. It is
+right that he should try to safeguard me. I am wayward but I am not
+foolish. I shall commit no silly blunder, you may be sure of that.
+Now do you understand me better?"
+
+She was very serious, very intense. He laid his hand on hers, and she
+did not withdraw it. Emboldened, his hand closed upon the dainty
+fingers and an instant later they were borne to his hot lips.
+
+"You have said that I came here in search of a light adventure," he
+whispered, holding her hand close to his cheek as he bent nearer to
+her. "You imply that I am a trifler, a light-o'-love. I want you to
+understand me better. I came here because I--"
+
+"Stop!" she pleaded. "You must not say it. I am serious--yes, I know
+that you are serious too. But you must wait. If you were to say it to
+me now I should have to send you away and--oh, believe me, I do not
+want to do that. I--I--"
+
+"You love no one else?" he cried, rapturously.
+
+She swayed slightly, as if incapable of resisting the appeal that
+called her to his heart. Her lips were parted, her eyes glowed
+luminously even in the shadows, and she scarcely breathed the words:
+
+"I love no one else."
+
+A less noble nature than his would have seized upon the advantage
+offered by her sudden weakness. Instead, he drew a long, deep breath,
+straightened his figure and as he gently released the imprisoned
+hand, the prince in him spoke.
+
+"You have asked me to wait. I am sure that you know what is in my
+heart. It will always be there. It will not cut and slash and stab,
+for it is the most tender thing that has ever come into my life--or
+yours. It must never be accused of giving pain to you, so I shall
+obey you--and wait. You are right to avoid the risk of entrusting a
+single word of hope to me. I am a passer-by. My sincerity, my honesty
+of purpose remain to be proved. Time will serve my cause. I can only
+ask you to believe in me--to trust me a little more each day--and to
+let your heart be my judge."
+
+She spoke softly. "I believe in you, I trust you even now, or I would
+not be here. You are kind to me. Few would have been so generous. We
+both are passers-by. It is too soon for us to judge each other in the
+full. I must be sure--oh, I must be sure of myself. Can you
+understand? I must be sure of myself, and I am not sure now. You do
+not know how much there is at stake, you can not possibly know what
+it would mean to me if I were to discover that our adventure had no
+real significance in the end. I know it sounds strange and
+mysterious, or you would not look so puzzled. But unless I can be
+sure of one thing--one vital thing--our adventure has failed in every
+respect. Now, I must go in. No; do not ask me to stay--and let me go
+alone. I prefer it so. Good night, my comrade."
+
+He stood up and let her pass. "Good night, my princess," he said,
+clearly and distinctly. She shot a swift glance into his eyes, smiled
+faintly, and moved away. His rapt gaze followed her. She entered the
+door without so much as a glance over her shoulder.
+
+"My princess," he repeated wonderingly, to himself. "Have I kissed
+the hand of my princess? God in heaven, is there on earth a princess
+more perfect than she? Can there be in all this world another so
+deserving of worship as she?"
+
+Late at night she sat in her window looking up at the peaceful
+Jungfrau. A dreamy, ineffably sweet smile lay in her dark eyes. The
+hand he kissed had lain long against her lips. To herself she had
+repeated, over and over again, the inward whisper:
+
+"What will my dear, simple old dad say if I marry this man after
+all?"
+
+In a window not ten feet away, he was staring out into the night,
+with lowering eyes and troubled heart, and in his mind he was saying:
+
+"What will my people do if I marry this woman after all?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+LOVE IN ABEYANCE
+
+
+Two days went by. They were fraught with an ever-increasing joy for
+the two who were learning to understand each other through the mute,
+though irresistible teachings of a common tutor. Each succeeding hour
+had its exquisite compensation; each presented the cup of knowledge
+to lips that were parched with the fever of impotence, and each time
+it was returned empty by the seekers after wisdom. There were days in
+which Love went harvesting and prospered amazingly in the fields, for
+each moment that he stored away against the future was ripe with
+promise. He was laying by the store on which he was to subsist to the
+end of his days; he allowed no moment to go to waste, for he is a
+miser and full of greed. Not one word of love passed between these
+two who waited for the fruit to ripen. They were never alone
+together. Always they were attended by the calm, keen-eyed Mrs.
+Gaston, who, though she may have been in sympathy with their secret
+enterprise, was nevertheless a dependable barrier to its hasty
+consummation.
+
+She had received her instructions from the one now most likely to be
+in need of a deterring influence; the girl herself. After that
+evening on the porch, Bedelia had gone straight to her duenna with
+the truth. Then she made it clear to the good lady that she was not
+to be left alone for an instant to confront the welcome besieger. And
+so it was that when Robin and Bedelia walked or rode together, they
+were attended by prevention. In the Casino, at the gaming tables, at
+the concert, or even in the street he was never free to express a
+thought or emotion that, under less guarded conditions, might have
+exposed her to the risk she was so carefully avoiding.
+
+He understood the situation perfectly and was not resentful. He
+appreciated the caution with which she was carrying on her own
+campaign, and he was not unmindful of the benefits that might also
+accrue to him through this proscribed period of reflection. While he
+was sure of himself by this time, and fully determined to risk even
+his crown for the girl who so calmly held him at bay, he was also
+sensible of the wisdom of her course. She was not willing to subject
+herself or him to the dangers of temptation. As she had said, there
+was a great deal at stake; the rest of their lives, in truth.
+
+There was one little excursion to Grindelwald and its glacier, and
+later an ascent of the Schynige Platte. Even a desperate horror of
+the rack and pinion railway up and down the steep mountain did not
+daunt the incomparable chaperone. (True, she closed her eyes and
+shrank as far away from the edge of eternity as possible, but she
+stuck manfully to her post.) He dined with them on the two evenings,
+and with them heard the concerts.
+
+There were times when he was perplexed, and uncertain of her. At no
+time did she relax into what might have been considered a receptive
+or even an encouraging mood. He watched eagerly for the love-light
+that he hoped to surprise in her eyes, but it never appeared. She was
+serene, self-contained, natural. That momentary dissolving on her
+part when she sat with him in the shadows was the only circumstance
+he had to base his hopes upon. She had betrayed herself then by word
+and manner, but now she had her emotions well in hand.
+
+Her lovely eyes met his frankly and without the faintest sign of
+diffidence or self-consciousness. Her soft laugh was free and
+unconstrained, her smile gay and remotely suggestive of mischief. At
+times he thought she was playing the game too well for one who
+professed to be concerned about the future.
+
+On the third day he was convicted of duplicity. She went off for a
+walk alone, leaving him safely anchored in what he afterwards came to
+look upon as a pre-arranged game of auction-bridge. When she came in
+after an absence of at least two hours, the game was just breaking
+up. He noted the questioning look that Mrs. Gaston bestowed upon her
+fair charge, and also remarked that it contained no sign of reproof.
+The girl went up to her room without so much as a word with him. Her
+face was flushed and she carried her head disdainfully. He was
+greatly puzzled.
+
+The puzzle was soon explained. He waited for her on the stairway as
+she came down alone to dinner.
+
+"You told me that your friends were not in Interlaken, Mr. Schmidt,"
+she said coldly. "Why did you feel called upon to deceive me?"
+
+He bit his lip. For an instant he reflected, and then gave an evasive
+answer. "I think I told you that I was alone in this hotel. Miss
+Guile. My friends are at another hotel. I am not aware that--"
+
+"I have seen and talked with that charming old man, Mr. Totten," she
+interrupted. "He has been here for days, and Mr. Dank as well. Do you
+think that you have been quite fair with me?"
+
+He lowered his eyes. "I think I have been most fair to both of us,"
+he replied. "Will you believe me when I say that in a way I
+personally requested them to leave this hotel and seek another? And
+will it decrease your respect for me if I add that I wanted to have
+you all to myself, so to speak, and not to feel that these good
+friends of mine were--"
+
+"Why don't you look me in the face, Mr. Schmidt?" she broke in. He
+looked up at once prepared to meet a look of disdain. To his
+surprise, she was smiling. "I have talked it all over with Mrs.
+Gaston, and she advised me to forgive you if you were in the least
+penitent and--honest. Well, you have made an honest confession, I am
+satisfied. Now, I have a confession to make. I have suspected all
+along that Mr. Totten and Mr. Dank and the shadowy Mr. Gourou were in
+the town."
+
+"You suspected?" he cried in amazement and chagrin.
+
+"I was morally certain that they were here. Today my suspicions were
+justified. I encountered Mr. Totten in the park beyond the
+Jungfraublick. He was very much upset, I can assure you, but he
+recovered with amazing swiftness. We sat on one of the benches in a
+nice little nook and had a long, long talk. He is a charming man. I
+have asked him to come to luncheon with us to-morrow, and to bring
+Mr. Dank."
+
+"Good Lord, will wonders never--"
+
+"But I did not include the still invisible Mr. Gourou. I was afraid
+that you would be too uncomfortable under the hawk-like eye of the
+gentleman who so kindly warned us at the Pavilion Bleu." There was
+gentle raillery in her manner. "I shall expect you to join us, Mr.
+Schmidt. You have no other engagement?"
+
+"I--I shall be delighted," he stammered.
+
+She laid her hand gently upon his arm and a serious sweetness came
+into her eyes.
+
+"Come," she said; "let us go in ahead of Mrs. Gaston. Let us have
+just one little minute to ourselves, Mr. Schmidt."
+
+It was true that she came upon the Count in one of the paths of the
+Kleine Rugen. He was walking slowly toward her, his eyes fixed
+thoughtfully upon the ground. When she accosted him, he was plainly
+confused, as she had said. After the first few passages in polite
+though stilted conversation, his keen, grey eyes resumed their
+thoughtful--it was even a calculating look.
+
+"Will you sit here with me for a while, Miss Guile?" he asked gently.
+"I have something of the gravest importance to say to you."
+
+She sat beside him on the sequestered bench, and when she arose to
+leave him an hour later, her cheek was warm with colour and her eyes
+were filled with tenderness toward this grim, staunch old man who was
+the friend of _her_ friend. She laid her hand in his and suffered him
+to raise it to his lips.
+
+"I hope, my dear young lady," said he with simple directness, "that
+you will not regard me as a stupid, interfering old meddler. God is
+my witness, I have your best interests at heart. You are too good and
+beautiful to--"
+
+"I shall always look upon you as the kindest of men!" she cried
+impulsively, and left him.
+
+He stood watching her slender, graceful figure as she moved down the
+sloping path and turned into the broad avenue. A smallish man with a
+lean face came up from the opposite direction and stopped beside him.
+
+"Could you resist her, Quinnox, if you were twenty-two?" asked this
+man in his quiet voice.
+
+Quinnox did not look around, but shook his head slowly. "I cannot
+resist her at sixty-two, my friend. She is adorable."
+
+"I do not blame him. It is fate. _She_ is fate. Our work is done, my
+friend. We have served our country well, but fate has taken the matter
+out of our hands. There is nothing left for us to do but to fold our
+arms and wait." Gourou revealed his inscrutable smile as he pulled at
+his thin, scraggly moustache. He was shaking his head, as one who
+resigns himself to the inevitable.
+
+After a long silence Quinnox spoke.
+
+"Our people will come to love their princess, Gourou."
+
+"Even as you and I, my friend," said the Baron.
+
+And then they held their heads erect and walked confidently down the
+road their future sovereign had traversed before them.
+
+When Mrs. Gaston joined Robin and Bedelia at the table which had been
+set for them in the _salle a manger_, she laid several letters before
+the girl who picked them up instantly and glanced at the
+superscription on each.
+
+"I think that all of them are important," said Mrs. Gaston
+significantly. The smile on the girl's face had given way to a
+clouded brow. She was visibly perturbed.
+
+"You will forgive me, Mr. Schmidt," she said nervously. "I must
+look at them at once."
+
+He tried not to watch her face as she read what appeared to be a
+brief and yet evidently important letter, but his rapt gaze was not
+to be so easily managed. An exclamation of annoyance fell from her
+lips.
+
+"This is from a friend in Paris, Mr. Schmidt," she said, hesitatingly.
+Then, as if coming to a quick decision: "My father has heard that I am
+carrying on atrociously with a strange young man. It seems that it is
+a _new_ young man. He is beside himself with rage. My friends have
+already come in for severe criticism. He blames them for permitting
+his daughter to run at large and to pick up with every Tom, Dick and
+Harry. Dear me, I shudder when I think of what he will do to you, Mrs.
+Gaston. He will take off your head completely. But never fear, you old
+dear, I will see that it is put on again as neatly as ever. So, you
+see, Mr. Schmidt, you now belong to that frightful order of nobodies,
+the Toms and the Dicks and the Harrys."
+
+"I see that there is a newspaper clipping attached," he remarked.
+"Perhaps your father has been saying something to the newspapers." It
+was a mean speech and he regretted it instantly.
+
+She was not offended, however. Indeed, she may not have heard what he
+said, for she was reading the little slip of printed matter. Suddenly
+she tore it into tiny bits and scattered them under the table. Her
+cheeks were red and her eyes glistened unmistakably with
+mortification. He was never to know what was in that newspaper
+cutting, but he was conscious of a sharp sensation of anger and pity
+combined. Whatever it was, it was offensive to her, and his blood
+boiled. He noted the expression of alarm and apprehension deepen in
+Mrs. Gaston's face.
+
+Bedelia slashed open another envelope and glanced at its contents.
+Her eyes flew open with surprise. For an instant she stared, a frown
+of perplexity on her brow.
+
+"We are discovered!" she cried a moment later, clapping her hands
+together in an ecstasy of delight. "The pursuers are upon our heels.
+Even now they may be watching me from behind some convenient post or
+through some handy window pane. Isn't it fine? Don't look so
+horrified, you old dear. They can't eat us, you know, even though we
+are in a dining-room. I love it all! Followed by man-hunters! What
+could be more thrilling? The chase is on again. Quick! We must
+prepare for flight!"
+
+"Flight?" gasped Robin. Her eyes were dancing. His were filled with
+dismay.
+
+"It is as I feared," she cried. "They have found me out. Hurry! Let
+us finish this wretched dinner. I must leave here to-night."
+
+"Impossible!" cried Mrs. Gaston. "Don't be silly. To-morrow will be
+time enough. Calm yourself, my dear."
+
+"To-morrow at sunrise," cried Bedelia enthusiastically. "It is
+already planned, Mr. Schmidt. I have engaged an automobile in
+anticipation of this very emergency. The trains are not safe. To-
+morrow I fly again. This letter is from the little stenographer in
+Paris. I bribed her--yes, I bribed her with many francs. She is in
+the offices of the great detective agency-'the Eye that never
+Sleeps!' I shall give her a great many more of those excellent
+francs, my friends. She is an honest girl. She did not fail me."
+
+"I don't see how you can say she is honest if she accepted a bribe,"
+said Mrs. Gaston severely.
+
+"Pooh!" was Miss Guile's sufficient answer to this. "We cross the
+Brunig Pass by motor. That really is like flying, isn't it?"
+
+"To Lucerne?" demanded Robin, still hazily.
+
+"No, no! That would be madness. We shall avoid Lucerne. Miles and
+miles to the north we will find a safe retreat for a day or two. Then
+there will be a journey by rail to--to your own city of Vienna, Mr.
+Schmidt. You--"
+
+"See here," said Robin flatly, "I don't understand the necessity for
+all this rushing about by motor and--"
+
+"Of course you don't," she cried. "You are not being sought by a
+cruel, inhuman monster of a father who would consign you to a most
+shudderable fate! You don't have to marry a man whose very name you
+have hated. You can pick and choose for yourself. And so shall I, for
+that matter. You--"
+
+"You _adore_ your father," cut in Mrs. Gaston sharply. "I don't
+think you should speak of him in that--"
+
+"Of course I adore him! He is a dear old bear. But he is a monster,
+an ogre, a tyrant, a--oh, well, he is everything that's dreadful! You
+look dreadfully serious, Mr. Schmidt. Do you think that I should
+submit to my father's demands and marry the man he has chosen for
+me?"
+
+"I do," said Robin, abruptly and so emphatically that both of his
+hearers jumped in their seats. He made haste to dissemble. "Of
+course, I'd much rather have you do that than to break your neck
+rolling over a precipice or something of the sort in a crazy
+automobile dash."
+
+Miss Guile recovered her poise with admirable promptness. Her smile
+was a trifle uncertain, but she had a dependable wit. "If that is all
+that you are afraid of, I'll promise to save my neck at all costs,"
+she said. "I could have many husbands but only one poor little neck."
+
+"You can have only one husband," said he, almost savagely. "By the
+way, why don't you read the other letter?" He was regarding it with
+jealous eyes, for she had slipped it, face downward, under the edge
+of her plate.
+
+"It isn't important," she said, with a quick look into his eyes. She
+convicted herself in that glance, and knew it on the instant.
+
+Angry with herself, she snatched up the letter and tore it open. Her
+cheeks were flushed. She read however without betraying any
+additional evidence of uneasiness or embarrassment. When she had
+finished, she deliberately folded the sheets and stuck them back into
+the envelope without comment. One looking over her shoulder as she
+read, however, might have caught snatches of sentences here and there
+on the heavily scrawled page. They were such as these: "You had led
+me to hope,"..."for years I have been your faithful admirer,"... "Nor
+have I wavered for an instant despite your whimsical attitude,"...
+"therefore I felt justified in believing that you were sincere in
+your determination to defy your father." And others of an even more
+caustic nature: "You are going to marry this prince after all,"..."
+not that you have ever by word or deed bound yourself to me, yet I
+had every reason to hope,"..." Your father will be pleased to find
+that you are obedient," ..."I am not mean enough to wish you anything
+but happiness, although I know you will never achieve it through this
+sickening surrender to vanity,"... "if I were a prince with a crown
+and a debt that I couldn't pay,"..."admit that I have had no real
+chance to win out against such odds," etc.
+
+She faced Robin coolly. "It will be necessary to abandon our little
+luncheon for to-morrow. I am sorry. Still Mr. Totten informs me that
+he will be in Vienna shortly. The pleasure is merely postponed."
+
+"Are you in earnest about this trip by motor to-morrow morning?"
+demanded Robin darkly. "You surely cannot be--"
+
+"I am very much in earnest," she said decisively. He looked to Mrs.
+Gaston for help. That lady placidly shook her head. In fact, she
+appeared to be rather in favour of the preposterous plan, if one were
+to judge by the rapt expression on her countenance. "I had the
+supposedly honest word of these crafty gentlemen that I was not to be
+interfered with again. They gave me their promise. I shall now give
+them all the trouble possible."
+
+"But it will be a simple matter for them to find out how and when you
+left this hotel and to trace you perfectly."
+
+"Don't be too sure of that," she said, exultantly. "I have a trick or
+two up my sleeve that will baffle them properly, Mr. Schmidt."
+
+"My dear," interposed Mrs. Gaston severely, "do not forget yourself.
+It isn't necessary to resort to slang in order--"
+
+"Slang is always necessary," avowed Bedelia, undisturbed. "Goodness,
+I know I shall not sleep a wink to-night."
+
+"Nor I," said Robin gloomily. Suddenly his face lightened. A wild,
+reckless gleam shot into his eyes and, to their amazement, he banged
+the table with his fist. "By Jove, I know what I shall do. I'll go
+with you!"
+
+"No!" cried Bedelia, aghast. "I--I cannot permit it, Mr. Schmidt.
+Can't you understand? You--_you_ are the man with whom I am supposed
+to be carrying on atrociously. What could be more convicting than to
+be discovered racing over a mountain-pass--Oh, it is not to be
+considered--not for an instant."
+
+"Well, I can tell you flatly just what I intend to do," said he,
+setting his jaws. "I shall hire another car and keep you in sight
+every foot of the way. You may be able to elude the greatest
+detective agency in Europe, but you can't get away from me. I intend
+to keep you now that I've got you, Bedelia. You can't shake me off.
+Where you go, I go."
+
+"Do you mean it?" she cried, a new thrill in her voice. He looked
+deep into her eyes and read there a message that invited him to
+perform vast though fool-hardy deeds. Her eyes were suddenly sweet
+with the love she had never expected to know; her lips trembled with
+the longing for kisses. "I shall travel far," she murmured. "You may
+find the task an arduous one--keeping up with me, I mean."
+
+"I am young and strong," he said, "and, if God is good to me, I shall
+live for fifty years to come, or even longer. I tingle with joy,
+Bedelia, when I think of being near you for fifty years or more.
+Have--have you thought of it in that light? Have you looked ahead
+and said to yourself: fifty years have I to live and all of them
+with--"
+
+"Hush! I was speaking of a week's journey, not of a life's voyage,
+Mr. Schmidt," she said, her face suffused.
+
+"I was speaking of a honeymoon," said he, and then remembered Mrs.
+Gaston. She was leaning back in her chair, smiling benignly. He had
+an uncomfortable thought: was he walking into a trap set for him by
+this clever woman? Had she an ulterior motive in advancing his cause?
+
+"But it would be perfectly silly of you to follow me in a car," said
+Bedelia, trying to regain her lost composure. "Perfectly silly,
+wouldn't it, Mrs. Gas-ton?"
+
+"Perfectly," said Mrs. Gaston.
+
+"I will promise to see you in Vienna--"
+
+"I intend to see you every day," he declared, "from now till the end
+of time."
+
+"Really, Mr. Schmidt, you--"
+
+"If there is one thing I despise beyond all reason, Bedelia, it is
+the name of 'Schmidt'! I wish you wouldn't call me by that name."
+
+"I can't just call you 'Mister,'" she demurred.
+
+"Call me Rex for the present," said he. "I will supply you with a
+better one later on."
+
+"May I call him Rex?" she inquired of her companion.
+
+"In moderation," said Mrs. Gaston.
+
+"Very well, then, Rex, I have changed my mind. I shall not cross the
+Brunig by motor since you insist upon risking your neck in pursuit of
+me. I shall go by train in the morning,--calmly, complacently,
+stupidly by train. Instead of a thrilling dash for liberty over rocky
+heights and through perilous gorges, I shall travel like any
+bourgeoise in a second--or third class carriage, and the only thrill
+I shall have will be when we stop for Baker's chocolate at the top of
+the Pass. By that time I expect to be sufficiently hungry to be
+thrilled even by the sight of a cake of chocolate. Will you travel in
+the carriage behind me? I fancy it will be safe and convenient and
+you can't possibly be far from my heels."
+
+"That's a sensible idea," he cried. "And we may be able to
+accommodate your other pursuers on the same train. What's the sense
+of leaving them behind? They'd only catch us up in the end, so we
+might just as well take them along with us."
+
+"No. We will keep well ahead of them. I insist on that. They can't
+get here before to-morrow afternoon, so we will be far in the lead.
+We will be in Vienna in two days. There I shall say good-bye to you,
+for I am going on beyond. I am going to Graustark, the new Blithers
+estate. Surely you will not follow me there."
+
+"You are very much mistaken. I shall be there as soon as you and I
+shall stay just as long, provided Mr. Blithers has no objections,"
+said Robin, with more calmness than he had hoped to display in the
+face of her sudden thrust.
+
+"We are forgetting our dinner," said Mrs. Gaston quietly. "I think
+the waiter is annoyed."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+MR. BLITHERS ARRIVES IN GRAUSTARK
+
+
+Mr. William W. Blithers arrived in Edelweiss, the Capital of
+Graustark, on the same day that the Prince returned from his tour of
+the world. As a matter of fact, he travelled by special train and
+beat the Prince home by the matter of three hours. The procession of
+troops, headed by the Royal Castle Guard, it was announced would pass
+the historic Hotel Regengetz at five in the afternoon, so Mr.
+Blithers had front seats on the extension porch facing the Platz.
+
+He did not know it, but if he had waited for the regular train in
+Vienna, he would have had the honour of travelling in the same
+railway carriage with the royal young man. ("Would" is used advisedly
+in the place of "might," for he _would_ have travelled in it, you may
+be sure.)
+
+Moreover, he erred in another particular, for arriving at the same
+instant and virtually arm-in-arm with the country's sovereign, he
+could hardly have been kept out of the procession itself. When you
+stop to think that next to the Prince he was the most important
+personage in the realm on this day of celebration, it ought not to be
+considered at all unreasonable for him to have expected some notable
+attention, such as being placed in the first carriage immediately
+behind the country's sovereign, or possibly on the seat facing him.
+Missing an opportunity like this, wasn't at all Mr. Blithers' idea of
+success. He was very sorry about the special train. If it hadn't been
+for that train he might now be preparing to ride castlewards behind a
+royal band instead of sitting with his wife in the front row of seats
+on a hotel porch, just like a regular guest, waiting for the parade
+to come along. It certainly was a wasted opportunity.
+
+He had lost no time in his dash across the continent. In the first
+place, his agents in Paris made it quite clear to him that there was
+likely to be "ructions" in Graustark over the loan and the prospect
+of a plebeian princess being seated on the throne whether the people
+liked it or not; and in the second place, Maud Applegate had left a
+note on his desk in the Paris offices, coolly informing him that she
+was likely to turn up in Edelweiss almost as soon as he. She added an
+annoying postscript. She said she was curious to see what sort of a
+place it was that he had been wasting his money on!
+
+To say that he was put out by Maud's aggravating behaviour would be
+stating the case with excessive gentleness. He was furious. He sent
+for the head of the detective agency and gave him a blowing up that
+he was never to forget. It appears that the detectives had followed a
+false lead and had been fooled by the wary Maud in a most humiliating
+manner. They hadn't the remotest notion where she was, and evinced
+great surprise when informed in a voice loud enough to be heard a
+half-block away that she was on her way to Graustark. They said it
+couldn't be possible, and he said they didn't know what they were
+talking about. He was done with them. They could step out and ask the
+cashier to give them a check for their services, and so on and so
+forth. He did not forget to notify them that they were a gang of
+loafers.
+
+Then he dragged Mrs. Blithers off to the Gare de l'Este and took the
+Express to Vienna. He would see to the loan first and to Maud
+afterward.
+
+He had no means of knowing that a certain Miss Guile was doing more
+to shape the destiny of the principality of Graustark than all the
+millions he had poured into its treasury. Nor had he the faintest
+suspicion that she was even then on Graustark soil and waiting as
+eagerly as he for the procession to pass a given point.
+
+Going back a day or two, it becomes necessary to report that while in
+Vienna the perverse Bedelia played a shabby trick on the infatuated
+Robin. She stole away from the Bristol in the middle of the night and
+was half-way to the Graustark frontier before he was aware of her
+flight. She left a note for him, the contents of which sufficed to
+ease his mind in the presence of what otherwise might have been
+looked upon as a calamity. Instead of relapsing into despondency over
+her defection, he became astonishingly exuberant. It was relief and
+not despair that followed the receipt of the brief letter. She had
+played directly into his hand, after all. In other words, she had
+removed a difficulty that had been troubling him for days: the
+impossibility of entering his own domain without betraying his
+identity to her. Naturally his entrance to the Capital would be
+attended by the most incriminating manifestation on the part of the
+populace. The character of R. Schmidt would be effaced in an instant,
+and, according to his own notion, quite a bit too soon to suit his
+plans. He preferred to remain Schmidt until she placed her hand in
+his and signified a readiness to become plain Mrs. R. Schmidt of
+Vienna. That would be his hour of triumph.
+
+In her note she said: "Forgive me for running away like this. It is
+for the best. I must have a few days to myself, dear friend,--days
+for sober reflection uninfluenced by the presence of a natural enemy
+to composure. And so I am leaving you in this cowardly, graceless
+fashion. Do not think ill of me. I give you my solemn promise that in
+a few days I shall let you know where I may be found if you choose to
+come to me. Even then I may not be fully convinced in my own mind
+that our adventure has reached its climax. You have said that you
+would accompany me to Graustark. I am leaving to-night for that
+country, where I shall remain in seclusion for a few days before
+acquainting you with my future plans. It is not my intention to stop
+in Edelweiss at present. The newspapers proclaim a state of unrest
+there over the coming visit of Mr. Blithers and the return of the
+Prince, both of whom are very much in the public eye just now. I
+prefer the quiet of the country to the excitement of the city, so I
+shall seek some remote village and give myself up to--shall I say
+prayerful meditation? Believe me, dear Rex, to be your most devoted,
+though whimsical, Bedelia."
+
+He was content with this. Deep down in his heart he thanked her for
+running away at such an opportune time! The situation was
+immeasurably simplified. He had laid awake nights wondering how he
+could steal into his own domain with her as a companion and still put
+off the revelation that he was not yet ready to make. Now the way was
+comparatively easy. Once the demonstration was safely over, he could
+carry on his adventure with something of the same security that made
+the prowlings of the Bagdad Caliphs such happy enterprises, for he
+could with impunity traverse the night in the mantle of R. Schmidt.
+
+Immediately upon receiving her letter, he sent for Quinnox and
+Gourou, who were stopping at a hotel nearby.
+
+"I am ready to proceed to Edelweiss, my friends," said he. "Miss
+Guile has departed. Will you book accommodations on the earliest
+train leaving for home?"
+
+"I have already seen to that, highness," said Gourou calmly. "We
+leave at six this evening. Count Quinnox has wired the Prime Minister
+that you will arrive in Edelweiss at three to-morrow afternoon, God
+willing."
+
+"You knew that she had gone?"
+
+"I happened to be in the Nordbahnhof when she boarded the train at
+midnight," replied the Baron, unmoved.
+
+"Do you never sleep?" demanded Robin hotly.
+
+"Not while I am on duty," said Gourou.
+
+The Prince was thoughtful, his brow clouding with a troubled frown.
+"I suppose I shall now have to face my people with the confession
+that will confirm their worst fears. I may as well say to you, my
+friends, that I mean to make her my wife even though it costs me my
+kingdom. Am I asking too much of you, gentlemen, when I solicit your
+support in my fight against the prejudice that is certain to--"
+
+Quinnox stopped him with a profound gesture of resignation and a
+single word: "Kismet!" and Gourou, with his most ironic smile, added:
+"You may count on us to support the crown, highness, even though we
+lose our heads."
+
+"Thank you," said Robin, flushing. "Just because I appear to have
+lost my head is no reason for your doing the same, Baron Gourou."
+
+The Baron's smile was unfaltering. "True," he said." But we may be
+able to avoid all that by inducing the people of Graustark to lose
+their hearts."
+
+"Do you think they will accept her as--as their princess?" cried
+Robin, hopefully.
+
+"I submit that it will first be necessary for you to induce Miss
+Guile to accept you as her prince," said Gourou mildly. "That doesn't
+appear to be settled at present."
+
+He took alarm. "What do you mean? Your remark has a sinister sound.
+Has anything transpired to--"
+
+"She has disappeared, highness, quite effectually. That is all that I
+can say," said Gourou, and Robin was conscious of a sudden chill and
+the rush of cold moisture to his brow. "But let us prepare to
+confront an even more substantial condition. A prospective father-in-
+law is descending upon our land. He is groping in the dark and he is
+angry. He has lost a daughter somewhere in the wilds of Europe, and
+he realises that he cannot hope to become the grandfather of princes
+unless he can produce a mother for them. At present he seems to be
+desperate. He doesn't know where to find her, as Little Bo-peep might
+have said. We may expect to catch him in a very ugly and obstreperous
+mood. Have I told you that he was in this city last night? He arrived
+at the Bristol a few hours prior to the significant departure of Miss
+Guile. Moreover, he has chartered a special train and is leaving to-
+day for Edelweiss. Count Quinnox has taken the precaution to advise
+the Prime Minister of his approach and has impressed upon him the
+importance of decrying any sort of popular demonstration against him
+on his arrival. Romano reports that the people are in an angry mood.
+I would suggest that you prepare, in a way, to placate them, now that
+Miss Guile has more or less dropped out of sight. It behooves you to--
+"
+
+"See here," broke in Robin harshly, "have you had the effrontery to
+make a personal appeal to Miss Guile in your confounded efforts to
+prevent the--"
+
+"Just a moment, Robin," exclaimed Count Quinnox, his face hardening.
+"I am sorry to hear words of anger on your lips, and directed toward
+your most loyal friends. You ask us to support you and in the next
+breath imply that we are unworthy. It is beneath the dignity of
+either Baron Gourou or myself to reply to your ungenerous charge."
+
+"I beg your pardon," said Robin, but without lowering his head. He
+was not convinced. The barb of suspicion had entered his brain. Were
+they, after all, responsible for Bedelia's flight? Had they revealed
+his identity to the girl and afterward created such alarm in her
+breast that she preferred to slink away in the night rather than to
+court the humiliation that might follow if she presumed to wed
+Graustark's prince in opposition to his country's wish? "You must
+admit that the circumstance of her secret flight last night is
+calculated to--But, no matter. We will drop the subject. I warn you,
+however, that my mind is fixed. I shall not rest until I have found
+her."
+
+"I fancy that the state of unrest will be general," said Gourou, with
+perfect good-nature. "It will go very hard with Graustark if we fail
+to find her. And now, to return to our original sin: What are we to
+do about the ambitious Mr. Blithers? He is on my conscience and I
+tremble."
+
+It must not be supposed for an instant that the City of Edelweiss and
+the court of Graustark was unimpressed by the swift approach and
+abrupt arrival of Mr. Blithers. His coming had been heralded for days
+in advance. The city was rudely expectant, the court uneasy. The man
+who had announced his determination to manage the public and private
+affairs of the principality was coming to town. He was coming in
+state, there could be no doubt about that. More than that, he was
+coming to propitiate the people whether they chose to be mollified or
+not. He was bringing with him a vast store of business acumen, an
+unexampled confidence and the self-assurance of one who has never
+encountered failure. Shylock's mantle rested on his hated shoulders,
+and Judas Iscariot was spoken of with less abhorrence than William W.
+Blithers by the Christian country of Graustark. He was coming to get
+better acquainted with his daughter's future subjects.
+
+Earlier in the week certain polite and competent gentlemen from
+Berlin had appeared at the Castle gates, carrying authority from the
+dauntless millionaire. They calmly announced that they had come to
+see what repairs were needed in and about the Castle and to put the
+place in shape. A most regrettable incident followed. They were
+chased out of town by an angry mob and serious complications with the
+German Empire were likely to be the result of the outrage.
+
+Moreover, the citizens of Graustark were openly reluctant to deposit
+their state bonds as security for the unpopular loan, and there was a
+lively sentiment in favour of renouncing the agreement entered into
+by the cabinet.
+
+The Prime Minister, in the absence of the Prince, called mass
+meetings in all the towns and villages and emissaries of the crown
+addressed the sullen crowds. They sought to clarify the atmosphere.
+So eloquent were their pleadings and so sincere their promises that
+no evil would befall the state, that the more enlightened of the
+people began to deposit their bonds in the crown treasury. Others,
+impressed by the confidence of their more prosperous neighbours,
+showed signs of weakening. The situation was made clear to them.
+There could be no possible chance of loss from a financial point of
+view. Their bonds were safe, for the loan itself was a perfectly
+legitimate transaction, a conclusion which could not be gainsaid by
+the most pessimistic of the objectors. Mr. Blithers would be paid in
+full when the time came for settlement, the bonds would be restored
+to their owners, and all would be well with Graustark.
+
+As for the huge transactions Mr. Blithers had made in London, Paris
+and Berlin, there could be but one conclusion: he had the right to
+invest his money as he pleased. That was his look-out. The bonds of
+Graustark were open to purchase in any market. Any investor in the
+world was entitled to buy all that he could obtain if he felt
+inclined to put his money to that use. The earnest agents of the
+government succeeded in convincing the people that Mr. Blithers had
+made a good investment because he was a good business man. What did
+it matter to Graustark who owned the outstanding bonds? It might as
+well be Blithers as Bernstein or any one else.
+
+As for Miss Blithers becoming the Princess of Graustark, that was
+simple poppy-cock, declared the speakers. The crown could take oath
+that Prince Robin would not allow _that_ to happen. Had he not
+declared in so many words that he would never wed the daughter of
+William Blithers, and, for that matter, hadn't the young woman also
+announced that she would have none of him? There was one thing that
+Mr. Blithers couldn't do, and that was to marry his daughter to the
+Prince of Graustark.
+
+And so, by the time that Mr. Blithers arrived in Edelweiss, the
+people were in a less antagonistic frame of mind,--though sullenly
+suspicious,--and were even prepared to grin in their sleeves, for,
+after all, it was quite clear that the joke was not on them but on
+Mr. Blithers.
+
+When the special train pulled into the station Mr. Blithers turned to
+his wife and said:
+
+"Cheer up, Lou. This isn't a funeral."
+
+"But there is quite a mob out there," she said, peering through the
+car window. "How can we be sure that they are friendly?"
+
+"Don't you worry," said Mr. Blithers confidently. "They are not
+likely to throw rocks at the goose that lays the golden egg." If he
+had paused to think, he would not have uttered such a careless
+indictment. The time would come when she was to remind him of his
+thoughtless admission, omitting, however, any reference to the golden
+egg.
+
+The crowd was big, immobile, surly. It lined the sidewalks in the
+vicinity of the station and stared with curious, half-closed eyes at
+the portly capitalist and his party, which, by the way, was rendered
+somewhat imposing in size by augmentation in the shape of lawyers
+from Paris and London, clerks and stenographers from the Paris
+office, and four plain clothes men who were to see to it that Midas
+wasn't blown to smithereens by envious anarchists; to say nothing of
+a lady's maid, a valet, a private secretary and a doctor. (Mr.
+Blithers always went prepared for the worst.)
+
+He was somewhat amazed and disgruntled by the absence of silk-hat
+ambassadors from the Castle, with words of welcome for him on his
+arrival. There was a plentiful supply of policemen but no cabinet
+ministers. He was on the point of censuring his secretary for not
+making it clear to the government that he was due to arrive at such
+and such an hour and minute, when a dapper young man in uniform--he
+couldn't tell whether he was a patrolman or a captain--came up and
+saluted.
+
+"I am William W. Blithers," said he sharply.
+
+"I am an official guide and interpreter, sir," announced the young
+man suavely. "May I have the honour--"
+
+"Not necessary--not necessary at all," exploded Mr. Blithers. "I can
+get about without a guide."
+
+"You will require an interpreter, sir," began the other, only to be
+waved aside.
+
+"Any one desiring to speak to me will have to do it in English," said
+Mr. Blithers, and marched out to the carriages.
+
+He was in some doubt at first, but as his carriage passed swiftly
+between the staring ranks on the sidewalks, he began to doff his hat
+and bow to the right and the left. His smiles were returned by the
+multitude, and so his progress was more or less of a triumph after
+all.
+
+At the Regengetz he found additional cause for irritation. The lords
+and nobles who should have met him at the railway station were as
+conspicuously absent in the rotunda of the hotel. No one was there to
+receive him except the ingratiating manager of the establishment, who
+hoped that he had had a pleasant trip and who assured him that it
+would not be more than a couple of hours before his rooms would be
+vacated by the people who now had them but were going away as soon as
+the procession had passed.
+
+"Get 'em out at once," stormed Mr. Blithers. "Do you think I want to
+hang around this infernal lobby until--"
+
+"Pardon me," said the manager blandly, "but your rooms will not be
+ready for you before four or five o'clock. They are occupied. We can
+put you temporarily in rooms at the rear if your lady desires to rest
+and refresh herself after the journey."
+
+"Well, I'll be--" began Mr. Blithers, purple in the face, and then
+leaned suddenly against the counter, incapable of finishing the
+sentence.
+
+The manager rubbed his hands and smiled. "This is one of our gala
+days, Mr. Blithers. You could not have arrived at a time more
+opportune. I have taken the precaution to reserve chairs for you on
+the verandah. The procession will pass directly in front of the hotel
+on its way to Castle avenue."
+
+"What procession?" demanded Mr. Blithers. He was beginning to recall
+the presence of uniformed bands and mounted troops in the side
+streets near the station.
+
+"The Prince is returning to-day from his trip around the world," said
+the manager.
+
+"He ought to have been back long ago," said Mr. Blithers wrathfully,
+and mopped his brow with a hand rendered unsteady by a mental
+convulsion. He was thinking of his hat-lifting experience.
+
+True to schedule, the procession passed the hotel at five. Bands were
+playing, people were shouting, banners were waving, and legions of
+mounted and foot soldiers in brilliant array clogged the
+thoroughfare. The royal equipage rolled slowly by, followed by less
+gorgeous carriages in which were seated the men who failed to make
+the advent of Mr. Blithers a conspicuous success.
+
+Prince Robin sat in the royal coach, faced by two unbending officers
+of the Royal Guard. He was alone on the rear seat, and his brown,
+handsome face was aglow with smiles. Instead of a hat of silk, he
+lifted a gay and far from immaculate conception in straw; instead of
+a glittering uniform, he wore a suit of blue serge and a peculiarly
+American tie of crimson hue. He looked more like a popular athlete
+returning from conquests abroad than a prince of ancient lineage. But
+the crowd cheered itself hoarse over this bright-faced youngster who
+rode by in a coach of gold and brandished a singularly unregal
+chapeau.
+
+His alert eyes were searching the crowd along the street, in the
+balconies and windows with an eager intensity. He was looking for the
+sweet familiar face of the loveliest girl on earth, and knew that he
+looked in vain, for even though she were one among the many her
+features would be obscured by an impenetrable veil. If she were
+there, he wondered what her thoughts might be on beholding the humble
+R. Schmidt in the role of a royal prince receiving the laudations of
+the loving multitude!
+
+Passing the Regengetz, his eyes swept the rows of cheering people
+banked upon its wide terrace and verandahs. He saw Mr. and Mrs.
+Blithers well down in front, and for a second his heart seemed to
+stand still. Would she be with them? It was with a distinct sensation
+of relief that he realised that she was not with the smiling
+Americans.
+
+Mr. Blithers waved his hat and, instead of shouting the
+incomprehensible greeting of the native spectators, called out in
+vociferous tones:
+
+"Welcome home! Welcome! Hurrah!"
+
+As the coach swerved into the circle and entered the great, tree-
+lined avenue, followed by the clattering chorus of four thousand
+horse-shoes, Mrs. Blithers after a final glimpse of the disappearing
+coach, sighed profoundly, shook out her handkerchief from the
+crumpled ball she had made of it with her nervously clenched fingers,
+touched her lips with it and said:
+
+"Oh, what a remarkably handsome, manly boy he is, Will."
+
+Mr. Blithers nodded his head proudly. "He certainly is. I'll bet my
+head that Maud is crazy about him already. She can't help it, Lou.
+That trip on the _Jupiter_ was a God-send."
+
+"I wish we could hear something from her," said Mrs. Blithers,
+anxiously.
+
+"Don't you worry," said he. "She'll turn up safe and sound and
+enthusiastic before she's a week older. We'll have plain sailing from
+now on, Lou."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A VISIT TO THE CASTLE
+
+
+Mr. Blithers indeed experienced plain sailing for the ensuing twenty
+hours. It was not until just before he set forth at two the next
+afternoon to attend, by special appointment, a meeting of the cabinet
+in the council chamber at the Castle that he encountered the first
+symptom of squalls ahead.
+
+He had sent his secretary to the Castle with a brief note suggesting
+an early conference. It naturally would be of an informal character,
+as there was no present business before them. The contracts had
+already been signed by the government and by his authorised agents.
+So far as the loan was concerned there was nothing more to be said.
+Everything was settled. True, it was still necessary to conform to a
+certain custom by having the Prince affix his signature to the
+contract over the Great Seal of State, but as he previously had
+signed an agreement in New York this brief act was of a more or less
+perfunctory nature.
+
+The deposit of bonds by the state and its people would follow in
+course of time, as prescribed by contract, and Mr. Blithers was
+required to place in the Bank of Graustark, on such and such a date,
+the sum of three million pounds sterling. Everybody was satisfied
+with the terms of the contract. Mr. Blithers was to get what really
+amounted to nearly nine percent on a gilt-edged investment, and
+Graustark was to preserve its integrity and retain its possessions.
+
+There was a distant cloud on the financial horizon, however, a vague
+shadow at present,--but prophetic of storm. It was perfectly clear to
+the nobles that when these bonds matured, Mr. Blithers would be in a
+position to exact payment, and as they matured in twelve years from
+date he was likely to be pretty much alive and kicking when the hour
+of reckoning arrived.
+
+Mr. Blithers was in the mood to be amiable. He anticipated
+considerable pleasure in visiting the ancient halls of his
+prospective grandchildren. During the forenoon he had taken a motor
+ride about the city with Mrs. Blithers, accompanied by a guide who
+created history for them with commendable glibness and some veracity,
+and pointed out the homes of great personages as well as the
+churches, monuments and museums. He also told them in a confidential
+undertone that the Prince was expected to marry a beautiful American
+girl and that the people were enchanted with the prospect! That sly
+bit of information realised ten dollars for him at the end of the
+trip, aside from his customary fee.
+
+The first shock to the placidity of Mr. Blithers came with the brief
+note in reply to his request for an informal conference. The Lord
+Chamberlain curtly informed him that the Cabinet would be in session
+at two and would be pleased to grant him an audience of half an hour,
+depending on his promptness in appearing.
+
+Mr. Blithers was not accustomed to being granted audiences. He had
+got into the habit of having them thrust upon him. It irritated him
+tremendously to have any one measure time for him. Why, even the
+President of the United States, the Senate, or the District Attorney
+in New York couldn't do _that_ for him. And here was a whipper-
+snapper Lord Chamberlain telling him that the Cabinet would grant him
+half-an-hour! He managed to console himself, however, with the
+thought that matters would not always be as they were at present.
+There would be a decided change of tune later on.
+
+It would be folly to undertake the depiction of Mr. Blithers' first
+impressions of the Castle and its glories, both inside out. To begin
+with, he lost no small amount of his assurance when he discovered
+that the great gates in the wall surrounding the park were guarded by
+resplendent dragoons who politely demanded his "pass." After the
+officer in charge had inspected the Lord Chamberlain's card as if he
+had never seen one before, he ceremoniously indicated to a warden
+that the gates were to be opened. There was a great clanking of
+chains, the drawing of iron bolts, the whirl of a windlass, and the
+ponderous gates swung slowly ajar.
+
+Mr. Blithers caught his breath--and from that instant until he found
+himself crossing the great hall in the wake of an attendant delegated
+to conduct him to the council chamber his sensations are not to be
+described. It is only necessary to say that he was in a reverential
+condition, and that is saying a great deal for Mr. Blithers. A
+certain bombastic confidence in himself gave way to mellow timidity.
+He was in a new world. He was cognisant of a distinct sensation of
+awe. His ruthless Wall Street tread became a mincing, uncertain
+shuffle; he could not conquer the absurd notion that he ought to tip-
+toe his way about these ancient halls with their thick, velvety rugs
+and whispering shadows.
+
+Everywhere about him was pomp, visible and invisible. It was in the
+great stairway, the vaulted ceilings, the haughty pillars, over all
+of which was the sheen of an age that surpassed his comprehension.
+Rigid servitors watched his progress through the vast spaces--men
+with grim, unsmiling faces. He knew, without seeing, that this huge
+pile was alive with noble lords and ladies: The court! Gallantry and
+beauty to mock him with their serene indifference!
+
+Somewhere in this great house beautiful women were idling, or
+feasting, or dreaming. He was conscious of their presence all about
+him, and shrank slightly as he wondered if they were scrutinising his
+ungainly person. He was suddenly ashamed of his tight-fitting cut-a-
+way coat and striped trousers. Really he ought to get a new suit!
+These garments were much too small for him.
+
+Were ironic eyes taking in the fresh creases in those New York
+trousers? Were they regarding his shimmering patent leather shoes
+with an intelligence that told them that he was in pain? Were they
+wondering how much he weighed and why he didn't unbutton his coat
+when he must have known that it would look better if it didn't pinch
+him so tightly across the chest? Above all things, were they smiling
+at the corpulent part of him that preceded the rest of his body, clad
+in an immaculate waistcoat? He never had felt so conspicuous in his
+life, nor so certain that he was out of place.
+
+Coming in due time--and with a grateful heart--to a small ante-
+chamber, he was told to sit down and wait. He sat down very promptly.
+In any other house he would have sauntered around, looking at the
+emblems, crests and shields that hung upon the walls. But now he sat
+and wondered. He wondered whether this could be William W. Blithers.
+Was this one of the richest men in the world--this fellow sitting
+here with his hands folded tightly across his waistcoat? He was
+forced to admit that it was and at the same time it wasn't.
+
+The attendant returned and he was ushered into a second chamber, at
+the opposite end of which was a large, imposing door--closed. Beside
+this door stood a slim, erect figure in the red, blue and gold
+uniform of an officer of the Castle guard. As Mr. Blithers approached
+this rigid figure, he recognised a friend and a warm glow pervaded
+his heart. There could be no mistaking the smart moustache and
+supercilious eye-brows. It was Lieutenant Dank.
+
+"How do you do?" said Mr. Blithers. "Glad to see you again." His
+voice sounded unnatural. He extended his hand.
+
+Dank gave him a ceremonious salute, bowed slightly but without a
+smile, and then threw open the door.
+
+"Mr. Blithers, my lords," he announced, and stood aside to let the
+stranger in a strange land pass within.
+
+A number of men were seated about a long table in the centre of this
+imposing chamber. No one arose as Mr. Blithers entered the room and
+stopped just inside the door. He heard it close gently behind him. He
+was at a loss for the first time in his life. He didn't know whether
+he was to stop just inside the door fingering his hat like a
+messenger boy, or go forward and join the group. His gaze fell upon a
+huge oaken chair at the far end of the table. It was the only
+unoccupied seat that came within the scope of his rather limited
+vision. He could not see anything beyond the table and the impassive
+group that surrounded it. Was it possible that the big chair was
+intended for him? If so, how small and insignificant he would look
+upon it. He had a ghastly notion that his feet would not touch the
+floor, and he went so far as to venture the hope that there would be
+a substantial round somewhere about midway from the bottom.
+
+He had appeared before the inquisitorial committees in the United
+States Senate, and had not been oppressed by the ponderous gravity of
+the investigation. He had faced the Senators without a tremor of awe.
+He had even regarded them with a confidence, equal if not superior to
+their own. But now he faced a calm, impassive group of men who seemed
+to strip him down to the flesh with a cool, piercing interest, and
+who were in no sense impressed by what they saw.
+
+Despite his nervousness he responded to the life long habit of
+calculation. He counted the units in the group in a single, rapid
+glance, and found that there were eleven. Eleven lords of the realm!
+Eleven stern, dignified, unsmiling strangers to the arrogance of
+William W. Blithers! Something told him at once that he could not
+spend an informal half-hour with them. Grim, striking, serious
+visages, all of them! The last hope for his well-fed American humour
+flickered and died. He knew that it would never do to regale them in
+an informal off-hand way--as he had planned--with examples of native
+wit.
+
+Reverting to the precise moment of his entrance to the Castle, we
+find Mr. Blithers saying to himself that there wasn't the slightest
+use in even hoping that he might be invited to transfer his lodgings
+from the Regengetz to the Royal bed-chambers. The chance of being
+invited to dine there seemed to dwindle as well. While he sat and
+waited in the first antechamber he even experienced strange
+misgivings in respect to parental privileges later on.
+
+After what appeared to him to be an interminable length of time, but
+in reality no more than a few seconds, a tall man arose from his seat
+and advanced with outstretched hand. Mr. Blithers recognised Count
+Quinnox, the Minister of War. He shook that friendly hand with a
+fervour that must have surprised the Count. Never in all his life had
+he been so glad to see any one.
+
+"How are you, my lord," said the king of finance, fairly meek with
+gratefulness.
+
+"Excellently well, Mr. Blithers," returned the Count. "And you?"
+
+"Never better, never better," said Mr. Blithers, again pumping the
+Count's hand up and down--with even greater heartiness than before.
+"Glad to see you. Isn't it a pleasant day? I was telling Mrs.
+Blithers this morning that I'd never seen a pleasanter day. We--"
+
+"Let me introduce you to my colleagues, Mr. Blithers," interrupted
+the Count.
+
+"Happy, I'm sure," mumbled Mr. Blithers. To save his life, he
+couldn't tell what had got into him. He had never acted like this
+before.
+
+The Count was mentioning the names of dukes, counts and barons, and
+Mr. Blithers was bowing profoundly to each in turn. No one offered to
+shake hands with him, although each rose politely, even graciously.
+They even smiled. He remembered that very well afterwards. They
+smiled kindly, almost benignly. He suddenly realised what had got
+into him. It was respect.
+
+"A chair, Franz," said the white haired, gaunt man who was called
+Baron Romano. "Will you sit here, Mr. Blithers? Pray forgive our
+delay in admitting you. We were engaged in a rather serious
+discussion over--"
+
+"Oh, that's all right," said Mr. Blithers, magnanimously. "Am I
+interfering with any important business, gent--my lords? If so, just--
+"
+
+"Not at all, Mr. Blithers. Pray be seated."
+
+"Sure I'm not taking any one's seat?"
+
+"A secretary's, sir. He can readily find another."
+
+Mr. Blithers sat down. He was rather pleased to find that the big
+chair was not meant for him. A swift intuition told him that it was
+reserved for the country's ruler.
+
+"The Prince signed the contracts just before you arrived, Mr.
+Blithers," said Baron Romano. "The seal has been affixed to each of
+the documents, and your copy is ready for delivery at any time."
+
+Mr. Blithers recovered himself slightly. "You may send it to the
+hotel, Baron, at any time to-morrow. My lawyers will have a look at
+it." Then he made haste to explain: "Not that it is really necessary,
+but just as a matter of form. Besides, it gives the lawyers something
+to do." He sent an investigating glance around the room.
+
+"The Prince has retired," said the Baron, divining the thought. "He
+does not remain for the discussions." Glancing at the huge old clock
+above the door, the Prime Minister assumed a most business-like air.
+"It will doubtless gratify you to know that three-fourths of the
+bonds have been deposited, Mr. Blithers, and the remainder will be
+gathered in during the week. Holders living in remote corners of our
+country have not as yet been able to reach us with their securities.
+A week will give them sufficient time, will it not, Count Lazzar?"
+
+"I may safely say that all the bonds will be in our hands by next
+Tuesday at the latest," said the Minister of the Treasury. He was a
+thin, ascetic man; his keen eyes were fixed rather steadily upon Mr.
+Blithers. After a moment's pause, he went on: "We are naturally
+interested in your extensive purchases of our outstanding bonds, Mr.
+Blithers. I refer to the big blocks you have acquired in London,
+Paris and Berlin."
+
+"Want to know what I bought them for?" inquired Mr. Blithers amiably.
+
+"We have wondered not a little at your readiness to invest such a
+fortune in our securities."
+
+"Well, there you have it. Investment, that's all. Your credit is
+sound, and your resources unquestioned, your bonds gilt-edge. I am
+glad of the opportunity to take a few dollars out of Wall Street
+uncertainties and put 'em into something absolutely certain. Groo--
+Gras--er--Groostock bonds are pretty safe things to have lying in a
+safety vault in these times of financial unrest. They create a pretty
+solid fortune for my family,--that is to say, for my daughter and her
+children. A sensible business man,--and I claim to be one,--looks
+ahead, my lords. Railroads are all right as long as you are alive and
+can run them yourself. It's after you are dead that they fail to do
+what is expected of them. New fingers get into the pie, and you never
+can tell what they'll pull out in their greediness. I cannot imagine
+anything safer in the shape of an investment than the bonds of a
+nation that has a debt of less than fifty million dollars. As a
+citizen of a republic whose national debt is nearly a billion, I
+confess that I can't see how you've managed so well."
+
+"We are so infinitesimal, Mr. Blithers, that I daresay we could be
+lost in the smallest of your states," said Baron Romano, with a
+smile.
+
+"Rhode Island is pretty small," Mr. Blithers informed him, without a
+smile.
+
+"It is most gratifying to Graustark to know that you value our
+securities so highly as a legacy," said Count Lazzar, suavely. "May I
+venture the hope, however, that your life may be prolonged beyond the
+term of their existence? They expire in a very few years--a dozen, in
+fact."
+
+"Oh, I think I can hang on that long," said Mr. Blithers, a little
+more at ease. He was saying to himself that these fellows were not so
+bad, after all. "Still one never knows. I may be dead in a year. My
+daughter--but, of course, you will pardon me if I don't go into my
+private affairs. I fear I have already said too much."
+
+"On the contrary, sir, we are all only too willing to be edified. The
+workings of an intelligence such as jours cannot fail to be of
+interest to us who are so lacking in the power to cope with great
+undertakings. I confess to a selfish motive in asking you about your
+methods of--er--investment," said the Minister of Finance. Mr.
+Blithers failed to see that he was shrewdly being led up to a matter
+that was of more importance to Graustark just then than anything
+along financial lines.
+
+"I am only too willing, my lords, to give you the benefit of my
+experience. Any questions that you may care to ask, I'll be glad to
+answer to the best of my ability. It is only natural that I should
+take a great personal interest in Graustock from now on. I want to
+see the country on the boom. I want to see it taking advantage of all
+the opportunities that--er--come its way. There may be a few
+pointers that William W. Blithers can give you in respect to your
+railways and mines--and your general policy, perhaps. I hope you
+won't hesitate about asking."
+
+The Prime Minister tapped reflectively upon the table-top with his
+fingers for a moment or two.
+
+"Thank you," he said. "We are at this very moment in something of a
+quandary in respect to the renewal of a treaty with one of our
+neighbours. For the past twenty years we have been in alliance with
+our next door neighbours, Axphain on the north and Dawsbergen on the
+south and east. The triple alliance will end this year unless
+renewed. Up to the present our relations have been most amiable.
+Axphain stands ready to extend our mutual protective agreement for
+another term of years, but Dawsbergen is lukewarm and inclined to
+withdraw. When you become better acquainted with the politics of our
+country you will understand how regrettable such an action on the
+part of a hitherto friendly government will be."
+
+"What's the grievance?" inquired Mr. Blithers, bluntly. He was edging
+into familiar waters now. "What's the matter with Dawsbergen? Money
+controversy?"
+
+"Not at all," said Lazzar hastily.
+
+"Why not let 'em withdraw?" said Mr. Blithers. "We can get along
+without them."
+
+There was a general uplifting of heads at the use of the pronoun, and
+a more fixed concentration of gaze.
+
+"I daresay you are already acquainted with the desire on the part of
+Dawsbergen to form an alliance in which Axphain can have no part,"
+said Baron Romano. "In other words, it has been the desire of both
+Dawsbergen and Graustark to perfect a matrimonial alliance that may
+cement the fortunes of the two countries--"
+
+"Count Quinnox mentioned something of the sort," interrupted Mr.
+Blithers. "But suppose this matrimonial alliance doesn't come off,
+who would be the sufferer, you or Dawsbergen? Who will it benefit the
+most?"
+
+There was a moment's silence. Doubtless it had never occurred to the
+Ministry to speculate on the point.
+
+"Dawsbergen is a rich, powerful country," said Romano. "We will be
+the gainers by such an alliance. Mr. Blithers."
+
+"I don't go much on alliances," said the capitalist. "I believe in
+keeping out of them if possible."
+
+"I see," said the Baron reflectively. There was another silence.
+Then: "It has come to our notice in a most direct manner that the
+Prince of Dawsbergen feels that his friendly consideration of a
+proposal made by our government some years ago is being disregarded
+in a manner that can hardly be anything but humiliating to him, not
+only as a sovereign but as a father."
+
+"He's the one who has the marriageable daughter, eh? I had really
+forgotten the name."
+
+The Baron leaned forward, still tapping the table-top with his long,
+slim fingers.
+
+"The report that Prince Robin is to marry your daughter, Mr.
+Blithers, has reached his ears. It is only natural that he should
+feel resentful. For fifteen years there has been an understanding
+that the Crown Princess of Dawsbergen and the Prince of Graustark
+were one day to be wedded to each other. You will admit that the
+present reports are somewhat distressing to him and unquestionably so
+to the Crown Princess."
+
+Mr. Blithers settled back in his chair. "It seems to me that he is
+making a mountain out of a molehill."
+
+Baron Romano shrank perceptibly. "It devolves upon me, sir, as
+spokesman for the Ministry, the court and the people of Graustark, to
+inform you that marriage between our Prince and any other than the
+Crown Princess of Dawsbergen is not to be considered as possible."
+
+Mr. Blithers stared. "Hasn't the Prince any voice in the matter?" he
+demanded.
+
+"Yes. He has already denied, somewhat publicly, that he is not
+contemplating marriage with your daughter. He has had a voice in that
+matter at least."
+
+A fine moisture started out on the purplish brow of Mr. Blithers.
+Twenty-two eyes were upon him. He realised that he was not attending
+an informal conference. He had been brought here for a deliberate
+purpose.
+
+"I may be permitted the privilege of reminding you, my lords, that
+his denial was no more emphatic than that expressed by my daughter,"
+he said, with real dignity.
+
+"We have accepted her statement as final, but it is our earnest
+desire that the minds of the people be set at rest," said the Baron
+gravely. "I sincerely trust that you will appreciate our position,
+Mr. Blithers. It is not our desire or intention to offend in this
+matter, but we believe it to be only fair and just that we should
+understand each other at the outset. The impression is afoot that--"
+
+"My lords," said Mr. Blithers, rising, his face suddenly pale, "I beg
+leave to assure you that my daughter's happiness is of far more
+importance to me than all the damned principalities in the world.
+Just a moment, please. I apologise for the oath--but I mean it, just
+the same. I do not resent your attitude, nor do I resent your haste
+in conveying to me your views on the subject. It may be diplomacy to
+go straight to a question and get it over with, but it isn't always
+diplomatic to go off half-cocked. I will say, with perfect candour,
+that I should like to see my daughter the Princess of Graustark, but
+--by God! I want you to understand that her own wishes in the matter
+are to govern mine in the end. I have had this marriage in mind,
+there's no use denying it. I have schemed to bring these two young
+people together with a single object in view. I knew that if they saw
+enough of each other they would fall in love, and they would want the
+happiness that love brings to all people. Just a moment, Baron! I
+want to say to you now, all of you, that if my girl should love your
+prince and he should love her in return, there isn't a power below
+heaven that can keep them apart. If she doesn't love him, and he
+should be unlucky enough to love her, I'd see him hanged before he
+could have her. I'll admit that I have counted on seeing all of this
+come to pass, and that I have bungled the thing pretty badly because
+I'm a loving, selfish father,--but, my lords, since you have brought
+me here to tell me that it is impossible for my girl to marry your
+prince, I will say to you, here and now, that if they ever love each
+other and want to get married, I'll see to it that it isn't
+impossible. You issue an ultimatum to me, in plain words, so I'll
+submit one to you, in equally plain words. I intend to leave this
+matter entirely to my daughter and Prince Robin. They are to do the
+deciding, so far as I am concerned. And if they decide that they love
+each other and want to get married, _they will get married_. Do I make
+myself perfectly plain, my lords?"
+
+The dignified Ministry of Graustark sat agape. With his concluding
+words, Mr. Blithers deposited his clenched fist upon the table with a
+heavy thud, and, as if fascinated, every eye shifted from his face to
+the white knuckles of that resolute hand.
+
+Baron Romano also arose. "You place us in the extremely distressing
+position of being obliged to oppose the hand of a benefactor, Mr.
+Blithers. You have come to our assistance in a time of need. You
+have--"
+
+"If it is the loan you are talking about, Baron, that is quite beside
+the question," interrupted Mr. Blithers. "I do not speculate. I may
+have had a personal motive in lending you this money, but I don't
+believe you will find that it enters into the contract we have
+signed. I don't lend money for charity's sake. I sometimes give it to
+charity, but when it comes to business, I am not charitable. I have
+made a satisfactory loan and I am not complaining. You may leave out
+the word benefactor, Baron. It doesn't belong in the game."
+
+"As you please, sir," said Romano coldly. "We were only intent upon
+conveying to you our desire to maintain friendly relations with you,
+Mr. Blithers, despite the unpleasant conditions that have arisen. I
+may at least question your right to assume that we are powerless to
+prevent a marriage that is manifestly unpopular with the subjects of
+Prince Robin."
+
+"I had it on excellent authority to-day that the people are not
+opposed to the union of my daughter and the prince," said Mr.
+Blithers.
+
+"I am compelled to say that you have been misinformed," said the
+Baron, flatly.
+
+"I think I have not been misinformed, however, concerning the
+personal views of Prince Robin. If I am not mistaken, he openly
+declares that he will marry to suit himself and not the people of
+Graustark. Isn't it barely possible, my lords, that he may have
+something to say about who he is to marry?"
+
+"I confess that his attitude is all that you describe," said the
+Baron. "He has announced his views quite plainly. We admit that he
+may have something to say about it."
+
+"Then I submit that it isn't altogether an improbability that he may
+decide to marry according to the dictates of his heart and not for
+the sake of appearances," said Mr. Blithers scathingly. "I have an
+idea that he will marry the girl he loves, no matter who she may be."
+
+[Illustration: The dignified Ministry of Graustark sat agape]
+
+Count Quinnox and Baron Gourou exchanged glances. These two men were
+guilty of having kept from their colleagues all information
+concerning a certain Miss Guile. They, as well as Dank, were bound by
+a promise exacted by their sovereign prince. They alone knew that Mr.
+Blithers was supported by an incontrovertible truth. For the present,
+their lips were sealed, and yet they faced that anxious group with a
+complete understanding of the situation. They knew that Mr. Blithers
+was right. Prince Robin would marry the girl that he loved, and no
+other. They knew that their prince expected to marry the daughter of
+the man who now faced these proud noblemen and virtually defied them!
+
+"Am I not right, Count Quinnox?" demanded Mr. Blithers, turning
+suddenly upon the Minister of War. "You are in a position to know
+something about him. Am I not right?"
+
+Every eye was on the Count. "Prince Robin will marry for love, my
+lords," he said quietly, "I am forced to agree with Mr. Blithers."
+
+Baron Romano sank into his chair. There was silence in the room for
+many seconds.
+
+"May I enquire, Count Quinnox, if you know anything of the present
+state of Prince Robin's--er--heart?" inquired the Prime Minister
+finally.
+
+A tinge of red appeared in each of Count Quinnox's swarthy cheeks.
+
+"I can only surmise," said he briefly.
+
+"Has--has he met some one in whom he feels a--er--an interest?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"May we have the benefit of your conclusions?" said Baron Romano,
+icily.
+
+"I am not at liberty to supply information at present," said the
+Count, visibly distressed.
+
+Mr. Blithers leaned forward, his hands upon the table. "Some one he
+met after leaving New York?" he inquired eagerly.
+
+"Time will reveal everything, Mr. Blithers," said the Count, and
+closed his jaws resolutely. His colleagues looked at him in
+consternation. The worst, then, had happened!
+
+A gleam of triumph shot into the eyes of Mr. Blithers. His heart
+swelled. He felt himself stepping out upon safe, solid ground after a
+period of floundering. The very best, then, had happened!
+
+"My lords, I find that my half-hour is almost up," he said, pulling
+out his gold watch and comparing its time with that of the clock on
+the wall. "Permit me to take my departure. I am content to let
+matters shape themselves as they may. Shakespeare says 'there is a
+destiny that shapes our ends, rough hew them'--er--and so forth.
+Allow me, however, before leaving, to assure you of my most kindly
+interest in the welfare of your State. You may be pleased to know
+that it is not from me that Graustark--did I get it right that time?
+--will redeem her bonds when they mature, but from my only daughter.
+She is nearly twenty-one years of age. On her twenty-fifth birthday I
+shall present to her--as a gift--all of my holdings in Graustark. She
+may do as she sees fit with them. Permit me to wish you all good day,
+my lords. You may send the contract to my hotel, Baron. I expect to
+remain in the city for some time."
+
+As he traversed the vast halls on his way to the outer world, he was
+again overcome by the uneasy conviction that ironic eyes were looking
+out upon him from luxurious retreats. Again he felt that his coat
+fitted him too tightly and that his waistcoat was painfully in
+evidence. He hurried a bit. If he could have had his way about it, he
+would have run. Once outside the castle doors, he lighted a big
+cigar, and threw the burnt-out match upon the polished flagstones of
+the terrace. He regretted the act on the instant. He wished he had
+not thrown it there. If the solemn grooms had not been watching, he
+would have picked it up and stuck it into his pocket for disposal on
+the less hallowed stones of a city thoroughfare.
+
+Outside the gates he felt more at ease, more at home, in fact. He
+smoked in great contentment. In the broad, shady avenue he took out
+his watch and pried open the case. A great pride filled his eyes as
+he looked upon the dainty miniature portrait of his daughter Maud.
+She _was_ lovely--she was even lovelier than he had ever thought
+before.
+
+At the Regengetz a telegram awaited him. It was from Maud.
+
+"I shall be in Edelweiss this week without fail. I have something
+very important to tell you." So it read.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+PINGARI'S
+
+
+Nine o'clock of a rainy night, on the steep, winding road that
+climbed the mountain-side from the walled-in city to the crest on
+which stood the famed monastery of St. Valentine,--nine o'clock of a
+night fraught with pleasurable anticipation on the part of one R.
+Schmidt, whose eager progress up the slope was all too slow
+notwithstanding the encouragement offered by the conscienceless Jehu
+who frequently beat his poor steeds into a gallop over level
+stretches and never allowed them to pause on the cruel grades.
+
+Late in the afternoon there had come to the general post-office a
+letter for Mr. R. Schmidt. He had told her that any message intended
+for him would reach his hands if directed to the post-office. Since
+his arrival in the city, three days before, he had purposely avoided
+the main streets and avenues of Edelweiss, venturing forth but seldom
+from the Castle grounds, and all because he knew that he could not go
+abroad during the day-time without forfeiting the privileges to be
+enjoyed in emulation of the good Caliphs of Baghdad. His people would
+betray their prince because they loved him: his passage through the
+streets could only be attended by respectful homage on the part of
+every man, woman and child in the place. If Bedelia were there, she
+could not help knowing who and what he was, with every one stupidly
+lifting his hat and bowing to him as he passed, and he did not want
+Bedelia to know the truth about him until she had answered an all-
+important question, as has been mentioned before on more than one
+occasion in the course of this simple tale.
+
+Her letter was brief. She merely acquainted him with the fact that
+she had arrived in Edelweiss that day from Ganlook, twenty miles
+away, and was stopping at the Inn of the Stars outside the city gates
+and half way up the mountain-side, preferring the quiet, ancient
+tavern to the stately Regengetz for reasons of her own.
+
+In closing she said that she would be delighted to see him when it
+was convenient for him to come to her. On receipt of this singularly
+matter-of-fact letter, he promptly despatched a message to Miss
+Guile, Inn of the Stars, saying that she might expect him at nine
+that night.
+
+Fortunately for him, the night was wet and blustering. He donned a
+rain-coat, whose cape and collar served to cover the lower part of
+his face fairly well, and completed his disguise by pulling far down
+over his eyes the villainous broad-brimmed hat affected by the
+shepherds in the hills. He had a pair of dark eye-glasses in reserve
+for the crucial test that would come with his entrance to the Inn.
+
+Stealing away from the Castle at night, he entered the ram-shackle
+cab that Hobbs had engaged for the expedition, and which awaited him
+not far from the private entrance to the Park. Warders at the gate
+looked askance as he passed them by, but not one presumed to question
+him. They winked slyly at each other, however, after he had
+disappeared in the shadows beyond the rays of the feeble lanterns
+that they carried. It was good to be young!
+
+The driver of that rattling old vehicle was no other than the
+versatile Hobbs, who, it appears, had rented the outfit for a fixed
+sum, guaranteeing the owner against loss by theft, fire or
+dissolution. It is not even remotely probable that the owner would
+have covered the ground so quickly as Hobbs, and it is certain that
+the horses never suspected that they had it in them.
+
+The mud-covered vehicle was nearing the Inn of the Stars when Robin
+stuck his head out of the window and directed Hobbs to drive slower.
+
+"Very good, sir," said Hobbs. "I thought as how we might be late
+after losing time at the city gates, sir, wot with that silly guard
+and the--"
+
+"We are in good time, Hobbs. Take it easy."
+
+The lights of the Inn were gleaming through the drizzle not more than
+a block away. Robin's heart was thumping furiously. Little chills ran
+over him, delicious chills of excitement. His blood was hot and cold,
+his nerves were tingling. The adventure!
+
+"Whoa!" said Hobbs suddenly. "'Ello, wot the 'ell is--"
+
+A dark figure had sprung into the road-way near the horses' heads,
+and was holding up a warning hand.
+
+"Is this Mr. Schmidt's carriage?" demanded a hoarse, suppressed
+voice.
+
+"It is," said Hobbs, "for the time being. Wot of it?"
+
+Robin's head came through the window.
+
+"What do you want?"
+
+"Some one is coming out here to meet you, sir. Do not drive up to the
+doors. Those are the orders. You are to wait here, if you please."
+
+Then the man shot away into the darkness, leaving the wayfarers
+mystified by his words and action.
+
+"Wot am I to do, sir?" inquired Hobbs. "Most hextraordinary orders,
+and who the deuce is behind them, that's wot I'd like to know."
+
+"We'll wait here, Hobbs," said Robin, and then put his hand suddenly
+to his heart. It was acting very queerly. For a moment he thought it
+was in danger of pounding its way out of his body!
+
+Below him lay the lighted city, a great yellow cloud almost at his
+feet. Nearer, on the mountain-side were the misty lights in the
+windows of dwellers on the slope, and at points far apart the street
+lamps, dim splashes of light in the gloom. Far above were the almost
+obscured lights of St. Valentine, hanging in the sky. He thought of
+the monks up there. What a life! He would not be a monk, not he.
+
+"My word!" exclaimed Hobbs, but instantly resumed his character as
+cabby.
+
+A woman came swiftly out of the blackness and stopped beside the cab.
+She was swathed in a long gossamer, and hooded. The carriage lamps
+gleamed strong against the dripping coat.
+
+"Is it you?" cried Robin, throwing open the door and leaping to the
+ground.
+
+"It is I, M'sieur," said the voice of Marie, Miss Guile's French
+maid.
+
+Bleak disappointment filled his soul. He had hoped for--but no! He
+might have known. She would not meet him in this manner.
+
+"What has happened?" he cried, grasping the girl's arm. "Has she--"
+
+"Sh! May we not speak in French?" said Marie, lowering her voice
+after a significant look at the motionless cabman. "He may understand
+English, M'sieur. My mistress has sent me to say to M'sieur that she
+has changed her mind."
+
+"Changed her mind," gasped Robin.
+
+"Yes, M'sieur. She will not receive you at the Inn of the Stars. She
+bids you drive to the end of this street, where there is a garden
+with a Magyar band, and the most delicious of refreshments to be had
+under vine-covered--"
+
+"A public garden?" exclaimed Robin in utter dismay.
+
+"Pingari's, sir," said Hobbs, without thinking. "I know the place
+well. It is a very quiet, orderly place--I beg pardon!"
+
+"So he understands French, eh?" cried Marie sharply.
+
+"It doesn't matter," cried Robin impatiently. "Why, in heaven's name,
+did she select a public eating-house in which to receive me?"
+
+"If M'sieur chooses to disregard the wishes of--" began the maid, but
+he interrupted her.
+
+"I am not accustomed to meeting people in public gardens. I--"
+
+"Nor is my mistress, M'sieur. I assure you it is the first time she
+has committed an indiscretion of this kind. May I put a flea in
+M'sieur's ear? The place is quite empty to-night, and besides there
+is the drive back to the Inn with Mademoiselle. Is not that
+something, M'sieur?'
+
+"By jove!" exclaimed Robin. "Drive on,--you! But wait! Let me take
+you to the Inn, Marie. It--"
+
+"No! I may not accept M'sieur's thoughtful invitation. Bon soir,
+M'sieur."
+
+She was off like a flash. Robin leaped nimbly into the cab.
+
+"Pingari's, driver!" he said, his heart thumping once more.
+
+"Very good, sir," and they were off at a lively rate, rattling quite
+gaily over the cobble-stones.
+
+Pingari's is the jumping-off place. It stands at the sharp corner of
+an elbow in the mountain, with an almost sheer drop of a thousand
+feet into the quarries below. A low-roofed, rambling building, once
+used as a troop-house for nomadic fighting-men who came from all
+parts of the principality on draft by feudal barons in the days
+before real law obtained, it was something of a historic place. Parts
+of the structure are said to be no less than five hundred years old,
+but time and avarice have relegated history to a rather uncertain
+background, and unless one is pretty well up in the traditions of the
+town, he may be taken in nicely by shameless attendants who make no
+distinction between the old and the new so long as it pays them to
+procrastinate.
+
+As a matter of fact, the walls of the ancient troop-house surround
+what is now considered the kitchen, and one never steps inside of
+them unless he happens to be connected in a somewhat menial way with
+the green grocer, the fish-monger, the butcher or the poultry-man.
+The wonderful vine-covered porches, reeking with signs of decay and
+tottering with age, are in truth very substantial affairs constructed
+by an ancestor of the present Signor Pingari no longer ago than the
+Napoleonic era--which is quite recent as things go in Graustark.
+
+Hobbs drove bravely into the court yard, shouted orders to a couple
+of hostlers and descended from the box. The Magyar band was playing
+blithely to the scattered occupants of the porches overlooking the
+precipice.
+
+"'Ere we are, sir," said he to the Prince, as he jerked open the door
+of the cab. "Shall I wait, sir?"
+
+"Certainly," said Robin, climbing out. "I am a long way from home, my
+good man."
+
+He hurried up the steps and cast an eye about the place. There were
+no ladies unattached. As he was about to start on a tour of
+investigation, a polite person in brass buttons came up to him.
+
+"Alone, sir?" he inquired pityingly.
+
+"Quite," said Robin, still peering into the recesses.
+
+"Then come with me, if you please. I am directed to escort you to one
+who is also alone. This way, sir."
+
+Robin followed him through a door, down a narrow hallway, up a flight
+of stairs and out another door upon a small portico, sheltered by a
+heavy canvas awning. Two men were standing at the railing, looking
+down upon the impressionistic lights of the sunken city. The Prince
+drew back, his face hardening.
+
+"What does this mean, sirrah? You said--"
+
+At the sound of his voice the two men turned, stared at him intently
+for an instant and then deliberately strode past him, entered the
+door and disappeared. The person in brass buttons followed them.
+
+A soft, gurgling laugh fell upon his ears--a laugh of pure delight.
+He whirled about and faced--one who was no longer alone.
+
+She was seated at the solitary little table in the corner; until now
+it had escaped his notice for the excellent reason that it was
+outside the path of light from the open doorway, and the faint glow
+from the adjacent porches did not penetrate the quiet retreat.
+
+He sprang toward her with a glad cry, expecting her to rise. She
+remained seated, her hand extended. This indifference on her part may
+have been the result of cool premeditation. In any event, it served
+to check the impulsive ardour of the Prince, who, it is to be feared,
+had lost something in the way of self-restraint. It is certain--
+absolutely certain--that had she come forward to meet him, she would
+have found herself imprisoned in a pair of strong, eager arms,--and a
+crisis precipitated. He had to be content with a warm hand-clasp and
+a smile of welcome that even the gloom could not hide from his
+devouring eyes.
+
+"My dear, dear Bedelia," he murmured. "I had almost given you up.
+Three long days have I waited for you. You--"
+
+"I have never broken a promise, Rex," she said coolly." It is you who
+are to be commended, not I, for you see I was coming to Graustark
+anyway. I should not have been surprised if you had failed me, sir.
+It is a long way from Vienna to this out-of-the-way--"
+
+"The most distant spot in the world would not have been too far away
+to cause an instant's hesitation on my part," said he, dropping into
+the chair opposite her. "I would go to the end of the world,
+Bedelia."
+
+"But your personal affairs--your business," she protested. "Can you
+neglect it so--"
+
+"My business is to find happiness," said he. "I should be neglecting
+it indeed if I failed to pursue the only means of attaining it. You
+are happiness, Bedelia."
+
+"What would you sacrifice for happiness?" she asked softly.
+
+"All else in the world," he replied steadily. "If I were a king, my
+realm should go if it stood between me and--you, Bedelia."
+
+She drew back with a queer little gasp, as if suddenly breathless.
+
+"Wait--wait just for a moment," she said, with difficulty steadying
+her voice. "This night may see the end of our adventure, Rex. Let us
+think well before we say that it is over. I know, if you do not, that
+a great deal depends upon what we are to say to each other to-night.
+You will ask me to be your wife. Are you sure that you appreciate all
+that it means to you and to your future if I should say yes to that
+dear question?"
+
+He looked at her intently. "What do you know, Bedelia?"
+
+"I know that you are the Prince of Graustark and that it is ordained
+that you shall wed one whose station is the equal of your own. You
+must think well, dear Rex, before you ask Bedelia Guile to be your
+wife."
+
+"You know that I am--" he began, dully, and then burst into a
+mirthless laugh. "And knowing who I am, why do you not leap at the
+chance to become the Princess of Graustark? Why not realise an
+ambition that--"
+
+"Hush! You see how well I considered when I advised you to think
+before speaking? You are now saying things that are unworthy of you.
+You are forgetting that it is my privilege to say no to the am in
+search of happiness. I too--"
+
+He stood up, leaning far over the table, a penetrating look in his
+eyes.
+
+"How long have you known, Bedelia?"
+
+"Since the second day out on the _Jupiter_," she replied serenely.
+
+He slowly resumed his seat, overwhelmed by the sickening realisation
+that his bubble had burst. She had known from the beginning. She had
+played with him. She had defied him!
+
+"I know what you are thinking, Rex," she said, almost pleadingly.
+"You are thinking ill of me, and you are unjust. It was as fair for
+me as it was for you. We played a cautious game. You set about to win
+my love as you saw fit, my friend, and am I to be condemned if I
+exercised the same privilege? I was no more deliberate, no more
+reprehensible than you. Am I more guilty of deceit than you?"
+
+He gave a great sigh of relief. "You are right," he said. "It is my
+turn to confess. I have known for many days that you are not Bedelia
+Guile. We are quits."
+
+She laughed softly. "I rather like Bedelia. I think I shall keep it
+as a good-luck name. We have now arrived at the time for a profound
+contemplation of the results of our experiments. In the meantime, I
+have had no dinner. I trust that the Prince of Graustark has dined so
+lightly that he will not decline to share my repast with me. It has
+already been ordered--for two."
+
+"By jove, you--you amaze me!" he exclaimed.
+
+"Please remove that dreadful mackintosh and touch the bell for me.
+You see, I am a very prosaic person, after all. Even in the face of
+disaster I can have a craving for food and drink. That's better."
+
+In a sort of daze, he tapped the little table bell. A waiter appeared
+on the instant.
+
+"Give us more light, waiter," was her command, "and serve dinner at
+once."
+
+The lights went up, and Robin looked into her soft, smiling eyes.
+
+"It doesn't matter," he whispered hoarsely. "I don't care what
+happens to me, Bedelia, I--I shall never give you up. You are worth
+all the kingdoms in the world. You are the loveliest, most adorable--
+"
+
+"Hush! The eyes of your people are upon you. See! Even the waiter
+recognises his prince. He is overcome. Ah! He falters with the
+consomme. It is a perilous moment. There! I knew something would
+happen, poor fellow. He has spilled--but, all is well; he has his
+wits again. See! He replenishes from the steaming tureen. We are
+saved."
+
+Her mood was so gaily satiric, so inconsequential, that he allowed a
+wondering, uncertain smile to banish the trouble from his eyes as he
+leaned back in the chair and studied the vivid, excited face of the
+girl who had created havoc with his senses. She was dressed as he had
+seen her on board the _Jupiter_ during those delightful days on
+deck: the same trim figure in a blue serge suit and a limp white hat,
+drawn well down over her soft brown hair, with the smart red tie and
+the never-to-be-forgotten scent of a perfume that would linger in his
+nostrils forever and forever.
+
+"Do you think it strange that I should have asked you to meet me here
+in this unconventional way instead of at the Inn?" she inquired,
+suddenly serious. Again the shy, pleading expression stole into her
+eyes.
+
+"I did think so, but no longer. I am glad that we are here."
+
+"Mrs. Gaston is inside," she informed him quickly. "I do not come
+alone. An hour ago the Inn became quite impossible as a trysting
+place. A small party from the Regengetz arrived for dinner. Can you
+guess who is giving the dinner? The great and only William W.
+Blithers, sir, who comes to put an obstinate daughter upon the throne
+of Graustark, whether she will or no."
+
+"Did he see you?" cried Robin.
+
+"No," she answered, with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "I stole
+out through the back door, and sent Marie out with one of the porters
+to head you off. Then I came on here. I didn't even stop to change my
+gown."
+
+"Hide and seek is a bully game," said he. "It can't last much longer,
+Bedelia. I think it is only right that we should go to your father
+and tell him that--everything is all right. It is his due. You've
+solved your own problem and are satisfied, so why not reveal
+yourself. There is nothing to be gained by further secrecy."
+
+She was watching him closely. "Are you, after all is said and done,
+sure that you want to marry the daughter of William Blithers, in the
+face of all the bitter consequences that may follow such an act?
+Think hard, my dear. She is being forced upon you, in a way. Mr.
+Blithers' money is behind her. Your people are opposed to the
+bargain, for that is the way in which they will look upon it. They
+may act very harshly toward you. The name of Blithers is detested in
+your land. His daughter is reviled. Are you sure that you want to
+marry her, Re--Robin?"
+
+"Are you through?" he asked, transfixing her with a determined look.
+"Well, then, I'll answer you. I do want to marry you, and, more than
+that, I mean to marry you. I love--"
+
+"You may tell me, Robin, as we are driving back to the Inn together--
+not here, not now," she said softly, the lovelight in her eyes.
+
+Happiness blurred his vision. He was thrilled by an enchantment so
+stupefying that the power of speech, almost of thought, was denied
+him for the time being. He could only sit and stare at her with
+prophetic love in his eyes, love that bided its time and trembled
+with anticipation.
+
+Long afterward, as they were preparing to leave Pingari's she said to
+him:
+
+"My father is at the Inn, Robin. I ran away from him to-night because
+I wanted to be sure that our adventure was closed before I revealed
+myself to him. I wanted to be able to say to him that love will find
+its way, no matter how blind it is, nor how vast the world it has to
+traverse in search of its own. My father is at the Inn. Take me to
+him now, Robin, and make the miracle complete."
+
+His fingers caressed her warm cheek as he adjusted the collar of the
+long seacoat about her throat and chin. Her eyes were starry bright,
+her red lips were parted.
+
+"My Princess!" he whispered tenderly. "My Princess!"
+
+"My Prince," she said so softly that the words barely reached his
+ears. "We have proved that Love is the king. He rules us all. He
+laughs at locksmiths--and fathers--but he does not laugh at
+sweethearts. Come, I am ready."
+
+He handed her into the cab a moment later, and drew the long deep
+breath of one who goes down into deep water. Then he followed after
+her. The attendant closed the door.
+
+"Where to, sir?" called Hobbs from the driver's seat.
+
+He received no answer, yet cracked his whip gaily over the horses'
+backs and drove out into the slanting rain.
+
+Hobbs was a dependable fellow. He drove the full length of the street
+twice, passing the Inn of the Stars both times at a lively clip, and
+might have gone on forever in his shuttlecock enterprise, had not the
+excited voice of a woman hailed him from the sidewalk.
+
+"Stop! _Attendez_! You! Man!"
+
+He pulled up with a jerk. The dripping figure of Marie ran up from
+behind.
+
+"My mistress? Where is she?" panted the girl.
+
+"In heaven," said Hobbs promptly, whereupon Marie pounded on the
+glass window of the cab.
+
+Robin quickly opened the door.
+
+"Wha--what is it?"
+
+"Yes, Marie," came in muffled tones from the depths of the cab.
+
+"Madame Gaston returns long ago. She is beside herself. She is like a
+maniac. She has lost you; she cannot explain to--to Mademoiselle's
+father. Mon dieu, when he met her unexpectedly in the hall, he
+shouts, 'where is my daughter?' And poor Madame she has but to shiver
+and stammer and--run away! _Oui_! She dash out into the rain! It
+is terrible. She--"
+
+Bedelia broke in upon this jumbled recitation. "Where have we been,
+Robin? Where are we now?"
+
+"Where are we, Hobbs?"
+
+"We are just getting back to the Inn of the Stars, sir,--descending,
+you might say, sir," said Hobbs.
+
+"Drive on, confound you."
+
+"To the Inn, sir?"
+
+"Certainly!"
+
+The door slammed and the final block was covered in so short a time
+that Robin's final kiss was still warm on Bedelia's lips when the
+gallant cab rolled up to the portals of the Inn of the Stars.
+
+"Did you ever know such a night, sir?" inquired Hobbs, as the Prince
+handed his lady out. He was referring to the weather.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+JUST WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPECTED
+
+
+Even the most flamboyant of natures may suffer depression at times,
+and by the same token arrogance may give way to humility,--or, at the
+very least, conviction.
+
+Mr. Blithers had had a trying day of it. To begin with, his wife
+raked him over the coals for what she was pleased to call his
+senseless persistence in the face of what she regarded as unalterable
+opposition on the part of the Cabinet and House of Nobles. It appears
+that he had experienced a second encounter with the Ministry only the
+day before. After sleeping over the results of his first visit to the
+Council Chamber, he awoke to the fact that matters were in such a
+condition that it behooved him to strike while the iron was hot. So
+he obtained a second hearing, principally because he had not slept as
+well over it as he would have liked, and secondarily because he
+wanted to convince himself that he could parade their ancient halls
+without feeling as self-conscious as a whipped spaniel.
+
+He came off even worse in his second assault upon the ministry, for
+this time the members openly sneered at his declarations. As for his
+progress through the enchanted halls he was no end worse off than
+before. It so happened that he arrived at the castle at the very hour
+when the ladies and gentlemen of the royal household were preparing
+to fare forth to the tennis courts. He came upon them, first on the
+terrace, then in the entrance, and later on was stared at with
+evident curiosity by white flanneled and duck-skirted persons in the
+lofty halls. He wished that he was back at Blitherwood where
+simplicity was not so infernally common.
+
+He made the mistake of his life when he gave to his wife the details
+of this second conference with the Cabinet. He did it in the hope
+that a sympathetic response would be forthcoming. To his surprise,
+she merely pitied him, but in such a disgustingly personal way that
+he wondered if he could ever forgive her.
+
+"Can't you appreciate what I am doing for Maud?" he argued, almost
+tearfully.
+
+"I can appreciate what you are doing _to_ her," said she, and swept
+out of the room.
+
+"It's bad enough to have one stubborn woman in the family," said he
+to himself, glaring at the closed door--which had been slammed, by
+the way,--"but two of 'em--Good Lord!"
+
+And so it was that Mr. Blithers, feeling in need of cheer, arranged a
+little dinner for that evening, at the Inn of the Stars. He first
+invited his principal London lawyer and his wife--who happened to be
+_his_ principal--and then sent a more or less peremptory invitation to
+the President of the Bank of Graustark, urging him to join the party
+at the Regengetz and motor to the Inn. He was to bring his wife and
+any friends that might be stopping with them at the time. The banker
+declined. His wife had been dead for twenty years; the only friends he
+possessed were directors in the bank, and they happened to be having a
+meeting that night. So Mr. Blithers invited his secondary London
+lawyer, his French lawyer and two attractive young women who it
+appears were related to the latter, although at quite a distance, and
+then concluded that it was best to speak to his own wife about the
+little affair. She said she couldn't even think of going. Maud might
+arrive that very night and she certainly was not going out of the
+hotel with such an event as that in prospect.
+
+"But Simpson's wife is coming," protested Mr. Blithers, "and
+Pericault's cousins. Certainly you must come. Jolly little affair to
+liven us up a bit. Now Lou,--"
+
+"I am quite positive that Lady Simpson will change her mind when she
+hears that Pericault's cousins are going," said Mrs. Blithers acidly.
+
+"Anything the matter with Pericault's cousins?" he demanded, inclined
+to the bellicose.
+
+"Ask Pericault," she replied briefly.
+
+He thought for a moment. "If that's the case, Lou, you'll have to
+come, if only to save my reputation," he said." I didn't think it of
+Pericault. He seems less like a Frenchman than any man I've ever
+known."
+
+Mrs. Blithers relented. She went to the dinner and so did Lady
+Simpson, despite Pericault's cousins, and the only ones in the party
+who appeared to be uneasy were the cousins themselves. It is safe to
+say that it was not the rain that put a dampener on what otherwise
+might have been an excessively jovial party.
+
+Stupendous was the commotion at the Inn of the Stars when it became
+known that one of the richest men in the world--and a possible
+father-in-law apparent to the crown,--was to honour the place with
+his presence that night. Every one, from the manager down to the boy
+who pared potatoes, laid himself out to make the occasion a memorable
+one.
+
+The millionaire's table was placed in the very centre of the dining-
+room, and plates were laid for eight. At the last minute, Mr.
+Blithers ordered the number increased to nine.
+
+"My daughter may put in an appearance," he explained to Lady Simpson.
+"I have left word at the hotel for her to come up if by any chance
+she happens to arrive on the evening train."
+
+"Haven't you heard from her, Mr. Blithers?" inquired the austere
+lady, regarding the top of his head with an illy-directed lorgnon.
+
+They were entering the long, low dining-room. Mr. Blithers resented
+the scrutiny: It was lofty and yet stooping. She seemed to be looking
+down upon him at right angles, due no doubt to her superior height
+and to the fact that she had taken his arm.
+
+"We have," said he, "but not definitely. She is likely to pop in on
+us at any moment, and then again she's likely not to. My daughter is
+a very uncertain person, Lady Simpson. I never seem to be able to put
+my finger upon her."
+
+"Have you ever tried putting the whole hand upon her?" inquired her
+ladyship, and Mr. Blithers stared straight ahead, incapable of
+replying.
+
+He waited until they were seated at the table and then remarked: "I
+am sorry you got splashed, Lady Simpson. You'd think they might keep
+the approach to a place like this free of mud and water."
+
+"Oh, I daresay the gown can be cleaned, Mr. Blithers," she said. "I
+am quite ready to discard it, in any event, so it really doesn't
+matter."
+
+"My dear," said he to his wife, raising his voice so that diners at
+nearby tables could not help hearing what he said, "I forgot to tell
+you that we are expected to dine with the Prince at the Castle." Then
+he wondered if any one in the room understood English.
+
+"When?" she inquired.
+
+"Very shortly," said he, and she was puzzled for a moment by the
+stony glare he gave her.
+
+Lord Simpson took this opportunity to mention that he had taken
+reservations for the return of himself and wife to Vienna on the next
+day but one.
+
+"We shall catch the Orient Express on Friday and be in London by
+Monday," he said. "Our work here is completed. Everything is in ship-
+shape. Jenkins will remain, of course, to attend to the minor
+details, such as going over the securities and--"
+
+"Don't you like that caviare?" asked Mr. Blithers with some asperity.
+
+"It has a peculiar taste," said Lord Simpson.
+
+"Best I've ever tasted," said Mr. Blithers, spreading a bun thickly.
+Pericault's cousins were fingering the champagne glasses. "We've got
+sherry coming first," said he.
+
+"Everything satisfactory, M'sieur Blithers?" inquired the _maitre
+d'hotel_ softly, ingratiatingly, into his left ear.
+
+"Absolutely," said Mr. Blithers with precision. "You needn't hurry
+things. We've got the whole evening ahead of us."
+
+Lady Simpson shivered slightly. The Pericault cousins brightened up.
+There was still a chance that the "dowagers" would retire early from
+the scene of festivity.
+
+"By the way," said Simpson, "how long do you purpose remaining in
+Edelweiss, Blithers?"
+
+For the first time, the capitalist faltered. He was almost ready to
+admit that his enterprise had failed in one vital respect. The
+morning's experience in the Council Chamber had shaken his confidence
+considerably.
+
+"I don't know, Simpson," said he. "It is possible that we may leave
+soon."
+
+"Before the Prince's dinner?" inquired Lady Simpson, again regarding
+his bald spot through the lorg-non.
+
+"Depends on what my daughter has to say when she gets here," said he
+almost gruffly. "If she wants to stay for a while, we will remain. I
+don't mind saying that I have a curious longing for Wall Street. I am
+at home there and--well, by George, I'm like a fish out of water
+here."
+
+His wife looked up quickly, but did not speak.
+
+"I am a business man, Lady Simpson, not a philanderer. I'd like to
+take this town by the neck and shake some real enterprise into it,
+but what can you do when everybody is willing to sit down and let
+tradition look after 'em? I've put a lot of money into Grosstock and
+I'd like to see the country prosper. Still I'm not worried over my
+investment. It is as good as gold."
+
+"Perfectly safe," said Lord Simpson.
+
+"Absolutely," said the secondary London lawyer.
+
+Pericault's comment was in French and not intended to be brief, but
+as Mr. Blithers was no longer interested, the privilege of completing
+his remarks was not accorded him. He did say _Mon dieu_ under
+his breath, however, in the middle of his employer's next sentence.
+
+"As I said before, everything depends on whether my daughter wants to
+remain. If she says she wants to stay, that settles the point so far
+as I am concerned. If she says she doesn't want to stay, we'll--well,
+that will settle it also. I say, waiter, can't you hurry the fish
+along?"
+
+"Certainly, sir. I understood M'sieur to say that there was no
+hurry--"
+
+"Well, pour the champagne anyway. I think we need it."
+
+Two hours later, Mr. Blithers looked at his watch again. The party
+was quite gay: at least fifty percent disorderly.
+
+"That train has been in for an hour," said the host. "I guess Maud
+didn't come. I left word for the hotel to call me up if she arrived--
+I say, waiter, has there been a telephone message for me?"
+
+"No, M'sieur. We have kept a boy near the telephone all evening,
+M'sieur. No message."
+
+"I also told 'em to send up any telegram that might come," he
+informed his wife, who merely lifted her eyebrows. They had been
+lowered perceptibly in consequence of the ebullience of Pericault's
+cousins.
+
+The vivacious young women were attracting a great deal of attention
+to their table. Smart diners in the immediate neighbourhood appeared
+to be a trifle shocked. Three dignified looking gentlemen, seated
+near the door, got up and left the room.
+
+"We really must be going," said Mrs. Blithers nervously, who had been
+watching the three men for some time with something akin to dismay in
+her soul. She had the sickening notion that they were members of the
+Cabinet--lords of the realm.
+
+"All right," said Mr. Blithers, "Call the cars up, waiter. Still
+raining?"
+
+"Yes, M'sieur. At this season of the year--"
+
+"Call the cars. Let's have your bill."
+
+Pericault's cousins were reluctant to go. In fact, they protested
+shrilly that it was silly to break up such a successful party at such
+an unseemly hour.
+
+"Never mind," whispered Pericault softly, and winked.
+
+"I'll leave 'em in your care, Pericault," said Mr. Blithers grimly.
+"They are _your_ cousins, you know."
+
+"Trust me implicitly. Monsieur," said Pericault, bowing very deeply.
+Then he said good-night to Mrs. Blithers and Lady Simpson. The
+secondary London lawyer did the same.
+
+Out in the wide, brilliantly lighted foyer, a few late-stayers were
+waiting for their conveyances to be announced. As the four departing
+members of the Blithers party grouped themselves near the big doors,
+impatient to be off, a brass-buttoned boy came up and delivered a
+telegram to the host.
+
+He was on the point of tearing open the envelope when his eyes fell
+upon two people who had just entered the hall from without, a man and
+woman clad in raincoats. At the same instant the former saw Mr.
+Blithers. Clutching his companion's arm he directed her attention to
+the millionaire.
+
+"Now for it, Bedelia," he whispered excitedly.
+
+Bedelia gazed calmly at Mr. Blithers and Mr. Blithers gazed blankly
+at the Prince of Graustark. Then the great financier bowed very
+deeply and called out:
+
+"Good evening, Prince!"
+
+He received no response to his polite greeting, for the Prince was
+staring at Bedelia as if stupefied. The millionaire's face was very
+red with mortification as he turned it away.
+
+"He--he doesn't recognise you," gasped Robin in amazement.
+
+"Who?" she asked, her eyes searching the room with an eager,
+inquiring look.
+
+"Your father," he said.
+
+She gave him a ravishing, delighted smile.
+
+"Oh, it is so wonderful, Robin. I have fooled you completely. That
+man isn't my father."
+
+"That's Mr. Blithers or I am as blind as a bat," he exclaimed.
+
+"Is it, indeed? The one reading the telegram, with his eyes sticking
+out of his head?"
+
+Robin's head was swimming. "Good heaven, Bedelia, what are you--"
+
+"Ah!" she cried, with a little shriek of joy. "See! There he is!"
+
+One of the three distinguished men who had been remarked by Mrs.
+Blithers now separated himself from his companions and approached the
+couple. He was a tall, handsome man of fifty. Although his approach
+was swift and eager, there was in his face the signs of wrath that
+still struggled against joy.
+
+She turned quickly, laid her hand upon the Prince's rigid arm, and
+said softly:
+
+"My father is the Prince of Dawsbergen, dear."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A crumpled telegram dropped from Mr. Blithers' palsied hand to the
+floor as he turned a white, despairing face upon his wife. The brass-
+buttoned boy picked it up and handed it to Mrs. Blithers. It was from
+Maud.
+
+"We were married in Vienna today. After all I think I shall not care
+to see Graustark. Channie is a dear. I have promised him that you
+will take him into the business as a partner. We are at the Bristol.
+
+                                          "Maud."
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Prince of Graustark, by George Barr McCutcheon
+
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