THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15884, 3 April 1915, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK.

BY GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON, Author of "Brewster's Millions." "Nedra," "The Daughter of Anderson Crow," "The Man From Brodney's." The Butterfly Man." "A Fool and Hia Money,',' etc

(COPYRIGHT.) CHAPTER XVII.-(Continued.) Mrs. Blithers favoured him with a smile It was acknowledged that Maud was the living image of what her mother had been at the ago of twenty. "1 hope the child hasn't made any silly promise io C'hannie Scoville," she sighed. " I've been thinking of that, Lou," said lie, wiping his brow, "and I've come to one conclusion: Scoville can be bought off. He's as poor as Job and "naif 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. Ho 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 irrit ably. " 'Gad, if the worst families need it as badly as they do, what must be the needs of the best? You leave it to mo. It may bo possible to insult him with a half million, to if he feels that way about it I'll apologise to him again with another half million. You'll see that he won't bo capable of resenting two insults "in succession. He'll—" "He isn't a fool," said she significantly. " He'd be a fool if ho refused to take—" "Arc you losing your senses, Will?" she cried impatiently. " Why should lie accept a million to give up Maud, when he can bo 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 mc, Moses!" exclaimed Mr. Blithers, but ho went a little palo 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 ho followed a few minutes later he was uncommonly meek. ,

"At any rate." he said, seating himsejf 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 thing 6 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 appeal to nave minds of their own. 1 '

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 lie 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 1 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 C.rowstock aid ;;ve me a complete estimate on repairing and remodelling the royal castle' I daresay we'll have to do a good deal to the place. It's several hundred years old and mu6t require a lot of conveniences. Such 'as bath-rooms, electric lights, steam heating appar'' "Better make haste slowly, Will," she said, and ho 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 wo 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," 6ho 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 tho rain and that's what every ono 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 inhabited 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. A 6 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 havo read that the rangings in the bedchamber 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 6tudded with diamonds, rubies—"

"Great Scott, Lou, where did you learn all this?" he gasped, his eyes bulging.

"—emeralds and other precious stones. There is on© huge carpet in the royal drawing-room that the Tsar 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 ago in when we get ready to lay aside the—"

He stopped short, for she had arisen ami was standing over him with a quivering forefinger levelled at his nose— not more than six inches away from it—her handgome eyes flashing with fury.

"You may walk in where angels fear to tread, but vou will 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, prido and loyaitv. Those Graustarkians would tako 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 in-

telligence 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— all our moneny— will find every hand against us—even the hand of our daughter, I prophesy. I am not saying that I would regret seeing Maud tlio Princess of Graustark— from it. But I do say that you and I will be ex pected 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 anyone have to a poor, tired old man sitting in front of his daughter's fireside and— playing with her kiddies. It seems to mo 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 bo much nicer to have the kiddies Lome to your own fireside, Will. I used to enjoy nothing better than going to spend a few days with my grandfather."

" But what's tho use of going to all this trouble and expense if we are not to enjoy some of the fruits? " ho protested, making a determined stand. "If these people can't be grateful to the man who help, 'em out in their time of trouble— who goes out of his way to present 'em with a bright, capable posterity—l'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 f have hnd some wretched dreams. They do not want her. And now I repeat what 1 have said before : the people of Oraustark 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— that is what it may amount to. The people wili 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—l'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."

"Oraustark, Will." " Well, whatever it is," said he, and departed

He did think hard, but not so uracil about a regal home for aged people as about Channie Scoville who had now beinmei a positive menace to all of his wellordered and costly plans. The principal subject for thought just now was not tiraustark but this conniving young gentleman who stood ready to make a terrible mess of posterity. Mr. Blithers was sufficiently fair-minded to concede that tli? fellow was good-looking, wellbred 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 camo to look upon him as a menace. He would make a capital husband for any girl )n the world, except Maud. He could say that much for him, without reserve. I

Ho thought hard until half-past one and then went to the wireless office, where ho 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— 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 theni to engage a few peaceable, trustworthy and positively respectable gentlemen— wasparticularly exacting on the score of gentility—with orders to abduct the young lady and hold her in restraint until ho arrived and arranged for her liberation! They vera 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 lie 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 10 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— cidedly never— 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, hut wo 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; " fur 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 bo 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 .1 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 lifco a fighting-cock, I— ;

"Rubbish! Yon detest the' sea, air. It makes you; feel like fighting, I grant, but not like a fighting-cock." " There you go, trying to tell mo how I feel. I've never known anyone like you Lou. I can't gay 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 ho wanly. " 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 vou think I'm a fool, Will Blithers ? 1 ' she flashed, and did not wait for an answer. He chuckled to himself as she swept imperiously out of eight 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 tho matter of half-an-hour or longer, and then, as the (.latter continued without cessation, he got up and made his way to the door of tie 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 vou want the baseball stoics, Mr. Blithers?" "Not unless they come in cipher," paid Mr. Blithers, acidly. ''Some- of 'em do. Six. to nothing in favour of the-Giants, two to nothingHere 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 tho 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 lua 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 iftessage, but he did not expect her to make a fourpage 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 1 wired you that I had a glimpse, of a certain person. On my arrival in Paris I was met at the station by friend« 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— ler 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 tho 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 sa much as it did me. If I felt any better than I do now I'd call for the police as a precaution. Let mo 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 tho same. Of course one, never can tell about chefs. My plans are a triflu indefinite. I may leave here at any moment. It is very hot and muggy and nearly everyone 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. 1 must go where it is quiet and peaceful. lam 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 mo 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— 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 ho 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 tho words. She counted them in a whisper and he couldn't stand it. He went down where tho children were shrieking over a game of quoits and felt singularly peaceful and undisturbed. It was nearly bedtime before word came from his managers in Paris. Bedtime had no meaning for him after he had worked out the message by code. It is true that ho observed a lifelong custom and went to bed, but he did not do it for the pur-, pose of going to sleep. Your daughter has disappeared from Paris. All efforts to locate her haveailed. Friends • say she left ostensibly}; for the Pyrenees, but inquiries at stations and along line fail to reveal trices of her. Scoville still here and apparently in the dark. He is being watched. «: Her com- ? anion and maid left with her" last night, Prince /of Graustavk. and "' party loft, for Edelweiss to-day." .,[ ,;, ( ; r - > go read the message from Paris! , ?=- I ' (To be. continued or Saturday noil)