Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Prititfess By C N. and A. M. WILLIAMSON. - Author* o? Tbe Liihlnin? Con dactor." "Raaematy taSetrcb of FaJKiir," Etc Copyright. 1307, by HcClrrre, Phil lips & Co. ^CHAPTE? NINl/" CHLOSS LYNDALBERG |;Jl^s^^23 towers high on a prom raF^f^w I ontorT overlooking lake seven or eight miles to tbe south of tbe Rhaetian capital. The castle is" comparatively modern, with pointed turrets and fretted mina rets, and, being built of white Carrara marble, throws a reflection snowy as' a submerged swan into the clear green water of tbe Mommelsee. All the sur roundings of the palace, from its broad terraces to its jeweled fountains and well nigh tropical gardens, suggest luxury, gayety, pleasure. But' on the opposite bank of the Mommelsee is huddled the dark shape of an ancient fortified stronghold, be gun no one knows how many centuries ago by the first Count von Breitsteiu. Generation following generation the I . men of that family completed the work until nowadays it.is difBclut to know where the rock ends and the castle be 5: gins. There. like a dragon squatting' on the coils of its own tail, the dark mass is poised, its deep set window eyes glaring across the bright water i at the white splendor of Lyndalberg like tbe malevolent stare of tbe mon ster waiting to spring upon and devour ] a fair young maiden. The moods of Baroness von Lyndal concerning grim old Scbloss Breitstein had varied many times ^during her years of residence by the lake. Some times she pleased herself by reflecting that the great man who had slighted her lived in less luxury than she had attained by her excellent marriage. Again, tbe thought of the undent line age of the present Count von Breitstem filled her with envy, and oftener than all the feeling that the "old grizzly bear" could croucb in his den and watch sneeringly everything which happened at Lyndalberg got upon the lady's nerves. She could have scream ed and shaken her fist at the dark mass of rock and stone across the water, but after the birthday ball and during tbe first days of Leopold's visit at her house she often threw a whimsical glance at the grim .silhouette against the northern sky and smiled. "Can you see. old bear?" she would ask gayly. "Are you spying over there? Do you think yourself all wise and all powerful? Do you see what's in my mind now. and do you guess pavi!y why I've taken all this trouble? Are you racking your brain for some way of spoiling my little plans? But you can't do it you know. It's too late. There's nothing you can do except sit still and growl and glare at your own claws, which a woman has clipped. How do .von like the outlook, old bear? Do you lie awake at night and study how to save your scheme for the em peror's marriage? All your grumpy old life you've despised womeu. but now you're beginning at last to find out that powerful as you are, there are some things a woman with tact and money, nice houses and a good natured husband can do which the highest statesman in the land can't undo. How soon shall I make you admit that. Chancellor Bear?" Thus the baroness, standing at her drawing room window, would amuse herself in odd moments when she was not arranging original and elaborate entertainments for her guests. And she congratulated herself particularly on having had the forethought to in vite Egon von Breitsteln, the chancel lor's half brother. There was a barrier of thirty-six years' difference in age between tbe two, and they" had never been friends in tbe true sense of tbe word, for tbe old man \v;;s temperamentally unable j to sympathize with the tastes or un derstand the temptations of the young er brother, and the younger man was mentally unable to appreciate the qual ities of tbe elder. Nevertheless it was rumored at court that Irou Ilcart had more than once used the gay and good looking captain of cavalry for a catspaw In pulling some very big and hot chestnuts out of the fire. At all events, "Handsome Egon" (so known among his followers), "the chancellor's jackal" (thus nick named by his enemies), would have found ditficulty in keeping up appear ances without the allowance granted by his powerful half brother. The ill assorted pair were often in communi cation, and the baroness liked to think that news fresh from Lyndalberg must sooner or later be wafted like a wind blown scent of roses across the water to Schloss Breitstein. * She was still less displeased than sur prised, therefore, when, the emperor having been three days at Lyndalberg, with two more days of his visit to run, j an urgent message arrived for Captain von Breitstein from bis brother. Poor old Lorenz was wrestling with | his enemy, gout, it appeared; and wish-1 ed for Egon's immediate presence. Such a summons could not be neg lected. Egon's whole future depended upon bis half brother's caprice, he hint ed to the baroness in asking leave to | desert her pleasant party for a few hours. So of course she sent the chan cellor her regrets, with the bnrou's, and Egon went off charged with a 1 friendly message from the emperci :s well. j When the captain of cavalry bad set 1 c it from Lyndalberg to Schloss Ereit stein by the shortest way?across the lake i;! a smart little motor boat? J roini tug to l>e .back iu time for diu ner an'd a <? icert, the baroness spent all her energy in getting up an i:u-' pnx:i'uu riding party, which would give Leopold the chance of anothe: tete-a-tete with Miss Mowbray. Already many such chauces had been arranged, so cleverly as not fo ? gossm, uSa n tne nrmnoDi destined by the hostess to disgust Leopold with his chancellor's matrimonial projects, did not advance by leaps and bounds It was certaihly not the fault of Baron ess von LyndaL "Egon has been told to use his eyes and ears for. all they're .worth at Lyn 1 dalberg. and now he's called upon to hand In his first report." sbe said to herself when the younger Von Breit stem was off on bis mission across the lake. ?"" ? i But for once, at least, the "chan cellor's Jackal" 'was wronged by un just suspicion. He arrived at Schloss Breitstein ignorant of his brother's mo ? tive in sending for him. though he shrewdly suspected it to be something quite different from the one alleged. The chancellor was. in his study, a deep windowed tower room, with walls book lined nearly to the cross beamed ceiling. He sat reading a budget of letters when Egon was an nounced, and If he were really ill he i did not betray his suffering. The I square face, with its beetling brows, eyes of somber fire and forehead im pressive as a cathedral dome, showed no new lines graven by pain. "Sit down, Egon," he said abruptly, tearing in half an envelope stamped with the head of Hangaria's king. "I'll be ready for you in a moment" The young man vook the least un comfortable chair in the room, which from his point of view was to say lit tle In Its favor, because the newest piece of furniture there had been made a hundred years before the world un derstood that lounging was not a crime. Over the high stone mantel hung a shield, so brightly polished as !? fulfill the olfice of a mirror, and from where Egon sat perforce upright and rigid, he could see himself vi gnetted in rejection. He admired his fresh color, which was like a girl's, pointed the waxed ends of his mustache with nervous cigarette staiued fingers, and, thinking of many agreeable things, from baj carat to roulette^ from roulette to races and races to pretty women, he wonder ed which he had to thank for this sum mons to the chancellor. Unfortunately Brother Lorenz knew everything. One's pleasant peccadillos buzzed to his ears like flies. There was little hope of deceiving him. Egon sighed, and his eyes turned me chanically from his own visage on shining steel to the letter held In an old hand so veined that it reminded the young man of a rock netted with the sprawling roots of ancient trees. " He had just time to recognize the writing as that of Adalbert,, crown prince of Huugaria, whom be knew slightly, when keen eyes curtained with furled and wrinkled lids glanced up from the letter. "It's coming." thought Egon. "What can the old chap have found out?" But. to his surprise, the chancellor's first words had no connection with him or his misdeeds. "So our emperor is amusing himself at Lyudalberg?" Egou's face brightened. He could be cunning in emergencies, but be was not clever, and always he felt himself at a disadvantage with the old states man. Unless he had a special favor to ask be generally preferred discussing the affairs of others with the chancel lor rather than allowing attention to be attracted to his own. "Oh, yes," he answered brightly. "His majesty is amusing himself uncommonly well. I never saw him in as brilliant spirits. But you, dear Lorenz?tell me about yourself. Is your gout"? "The devil take my gout!" Egon started. "A good thing if he did. provided he left you behind."' he retorted, meaning exactly the opposite, as he often did when trying to measure wits with the chancellor. "But yon sent for me"? "Don't tell me you supposed I sent for you because I wanted consolation or condolence?" "No-o," laughed Egon uneasily. "I fancied there was some other more pressing reason. But I'm bound in common courtesy to take your sin cerity for granted until you undeceive me." "Hang common courtesy between you and me!" returned the bear. "I've nothing to conceal. 1 sent for you to tell me what mischief that witch cat Mechtilde von Lyudal Is plotting. You're on the spot Trust you for seeing everything that goes on?the one thing I would trust you to do." '"Thanks." said Egon. "Don't thank me yet, however grate ful you may be. But I don't mind 7 He had fust time to recognize the writ ing. hinting that it won't be the worse for you if for once you've used those fine eyes of yours to some useful pur pose." Egon was genuinely astonished at this turn of the conversation, as he had been carefully arming himself against a personal attack from any one of sev eral directions. He sat pointing the sharp ends of his mustache one after | the other and trying to remember some striking incident with which to adorn a more or less accurate narra tive. "What would you call useful?" he! inquired ;it last The chancellor answered, but indi- : rectly. '"Has the emperor been play- J ing the fool at Lyudalberg these last | few days?" '?Do you want t> mal e me guilty of leze Majesty?" Egon raised his eye brows, but he was recovering presence of mind. "It* by playing the fo ' though, you mean falling in love, why, then, brother. I should say he had done little else during tlio three days, and perhaps even the first._of those was not the beginning." The cbance'lof growled out a word Which he. I liardly haj"^ jittered *f.;?^ in the Tmperiar presence, particularly In the connection he suggested. "Let me hear exactly what has been going on from.day's end to day's end," he commanded. Egon grew thoughtful once more Clearly: here was the explanation ot tn^ summons. He was to be let off easily, it appeared. But. suspense re lieved. . be was uot ready to be satis fied with negative blessings. "Are yon sure it isn't a bit like tell ing tales out of school?" he objected. "Schoolboys with empty pockets, have been known to do that" said the chancellor. "But perhaps your pockets aren!t empty?eh?" "They're in a chronic state of empti ness," groaned Egon. "On the 15th day of October your quarterly allowance will be paid," re marked bis brother. "I would increase the installment by tbe amount of 5.000. gulden if that would make it worth your while to talk?and forget nothing but your scruples." "Oh, you know I'm always delighted to please you.'" exclaimed Egon. "It's only natural, living the monotonous life you do when you're uot busy with the affairs of state, that you should like to hear what gees on iu the world outside. Of course I'll gladly do" my best as a raconteur." "My dear young mau. don't lie." said the chancellor. "The habit is growing on you. You lie even to yourself. By j and by you'll believe yourself, and j then all hope for your soul will be over. ! What I want to know is how far the j emperor lias gone in his Infatuation for this English girl. I'm uot afraid to j speak plainly to you. so you may safe ly?and profitably?do the same with me. In the first place, I'll put yon at i your ease by making a humiliating j confession. The other night the wom an Von Lynda! tried to 'draw me.' as she would express it. on this subject, and I'm bitterly mortified to say she partly succeeded. She suggested nil entanglement between Leopold and -the girl. I replied that Leopold wasn't the man to pull down a hornets' nest of gossip around the ears of a young woman who had saved his life. No matter what his inclinations might be, 1 insisted that he would pay her no repeated visits. "This thrust the fair Mechtilde par ried as if repeating a mere rumor by saying that she believed the girl was to stay at the country house of some old friend of the emperor. At tbe time I attached little importance to her chatter, believing that she merely wished to give me a spiteful slap or two, as is her habit when she has the chance. For once, though, she has succeeded in steuling a march upou me, and she kept the secret of her plan until too late for me to have any hope of preventing Leopold from fulfilling his engagement at her house. After that was safely arranged I don't dcubt she was overjoyed that I should guess her plot." "Do you think that even if you'd known sooner you could have stopped the emperor from visiting at Lyndal berg?" asked Egon. "I know that you are iron, but he is steel." "I would have stopped him." return ed the chancellor. "I should have made no bones about tbe reason, for I've found that the best way with Leopold is to blurt out the whole truth and fight him?my experience against his will. If advice and warn ing hadn't sufficed to restrain him from* insulting the girl who is to be his wife aud injuring the reputation of the girl who never can be. I would have devised some expedient to thwart him for his own good. I'm not a man to give up when I feel that I am right." "Neither is he." Egon added, "but since you seem so determined to nip this dainty blossom of love in the bud we'll hope it's not yet too late for a sharp frost to blight it." f'l sent for you," said the chancellor, brushing away metaphor with an im patient gesture, "to show me the pre cise spot on which/to lay my finger." "I'll do my best to deseive your con fidence." responded Egon gracefully. "Let me see?where shall I begin? Well, as you know, it's simpler for the emperor to see a good deal of the wo man'he admires at a friend's house than almost anywhere else in his own country. This particular woman risked her life to save his, and it's so natural for him to be gracious in return that people would be surprised if he were not There's so much in their favor at the commeneeraent. "Miss Mowbray and her mother ar rived at Lyndalberg before the em peror, had made friends there and were ready for the campaign. The girl is undoubtedly beautiful?the pret tiest creature, I think, I ever saw?aud she has a winning way which takes with women as well as men. Not one of her fellow guests seems to put a wrong construction on her flirtation with the emperor or his with her. The other men would think him blind if he didn't admire her as much as they do, aud none of the women there are of the sort to be jealous. So, are you sure, Lorenz, that you're not taking too serious a view of the affair?" "It can't be taken too seriously, con sidering the circumstances. I've told you my plans for the emperor's fu tflhfc. Princesses are women, aud gos sip is hydra headed. When the lady hears?she who has been allowed to understand that the emperor of Rhae tia only waits for a suitable opportu nity of formally asking for her hand? for she will surely hear, that he has seized this very moment for his first liaison, I tell you neither she nor her people are likely to accept the state- j mcnt meekly. She's half German?on j her father's side a cousin uot too dls- j taut of William II. She's half Eng- j lish?on her mother's side related to j the king through the line of the Stu- I arts. And in her there's a dash of Americau blood which comes from a j famous grandmother who was de- j scended from George Washington, a | oinu as proud aud with tbe right to ; be as proud as any king. All three j countries would have reason to re- j sent such an ungallaut slight from Uhaetia." "The little affair must be hushed up." said Egon. "It must be stopped, and at once." said the chancellor. "Ach!" sighed the young man. with as much meaning in.the long drawn breath as the older miglu care to read. And if it did not discourage ir at least irritated him. "Go cn!" he exclaimed Sharply. "Go on with your sorry tale!" "After nll.^jvhen one comes tP th? " .- - '. -::'--.t ? ?'. * ? .\? telling, there Isn't a very great deai one can put into cut and dried words." j explained Egon. "At table the emperor I has bis hostess on one side and his fair preserver i on/the other. The two talk as much together during meals as eti quette ajlows and .perhaps a little more. Then, as the emperor has been often -at Lynda I berg, he can act as cicerone for a stranger. He has shown Miss Mowbray all the beauties of the place. He gathers her roses iu the rose garden: be has guided her through the grottoes; he has piloted -her through the labyrinth; he has told her which are the best dogs in the kennel;: and has given her the history of all the horses in the baron's stables. I know this from the table talk. He has ex plored the lake with Miss Mowbray Mid her mother in n motor boat. Per haps you saw the party? And. whether or no he brought his automobile to Lyndalberg on purpose, in any case he's had the Mowbrays out lu It sev eral times already. One would hardly tnink he could have found a chance to do so much iu such a short time, but our emperor is a man of action. Yes terday we had a picnic at the Seebacb fall to see Thorwaldsen's Fudiue. Leo pold and Miss Mowbray. bel?g splendid climbers, reached the statue on the height over the fall long before the rest of us. At starting, however, I was close behind with the baroness and j overheard some joke between the two j about a mountain and a cow. The eui ; peror spoke of milking as a hue art and said he'd lately been taking les sons. They laughed a great deal at this, and it was plain that they were on terms of comradeship. When a you tig man and a girl have a secret understanding, even the most inno i cent one, it puts/ them apart from others. "Last night there were fireworks on the lake. The emperor and Miss Mow bray watched them together, for every thing was conducted most informally. Afterward we had an impromptu co tillon, with three or four pretty new figures invented by the baroness. The emperor gave Miss Mowbray several favors, and one was a buckle of en ameled forgetinenots. This morning there was tennis. The emperor and Miss .Mowbray played together. They were both so skillful it was a pleasure to watch them. At luncheon they ate a double almond out of one shell, had a game over it. and Leopold caught Miss Mowbray napping. That brings us to the moment of my coming to you. For (he afternoon I fancy the baroness was getting up a riding party, and this evening, unless they're too tired, she'll perhaps get up an ama teur concert at which Miss Mowbray will sing. .The girl has f delicious voice." "The creature must be a fool or ah adventuress." pronounced the chancel lor. "If she has kept her senses she ought to know that nothing can come of this folly?except sorrow or scan dal." Egon shrugged his stiffly padded mil itary shoulders. "I have always found that a woman in love doesn't stop to count the cost." , "So! You fancy her Mu love' with the ' emperor?" "With the man rather than the em peror, if I'm a judge of character." "Which you're not!" Iron Heart j brusquely disposed of that suggestion; "The merest schoolgirl could pull the wool over your eyes if she cared to take the trouble." "This one doesn't care a rap. She hardly knows that I exist." "Humph!" The chancellor's eyes appraised his young brother's features. "That's a pity. You might have tried cutting the emperor out. Her affair with him can have no happy ending, while you, in spite of all your faults, with your good looks, our position and my money, wouldn't be a bad match for an ambitious girl." "Your money?" "I mean should I choose to make you my heir, aud I would choose if you married to please me. Who are these Mowbrays?" "I haven't had the curiosity to in quire into their antecedents," said Egon. "I only know that they're la dies, that they must be of some conse quence in their own country or they couldn't have got the letters of intro duction they have and that the girl is the prettiest on earth." "Mechtilde talked to me, I remem ber, a good deal about those., letters of introduction," the chancellor reflected aloud. "Rut Rhaetia is a long cry from England, and letters might be forged. I've known such things to be done. Fetch me a big red volume you'll find on the third shelf from the floor nt the left of the south window. ' You can't miss it It's Burke's Peer age." Egon rose with alacrity to obey. He was rather thoughtful, for his brother had put an entirely new and exeitiny idea into his head. Presontly the red volume was dis- i covered and laid on the desk before the chancellor, who turned the leaves over until he found the page desired. As his eye fell upon the long line of Mowbrays his face changed, and the bristling brows came together in a grizzled liue. Apparently the women iwere not adventuresses, at least In fhe ordinary acceptation of the term. There they were. His square tipped finger pressed down upon the printed . names with a dig that might have sig nified his disposition toward their rep resentatives. "The girl's mother is the widow of Reginald, sixth Baron Mowbray," the old man muttered half aloud; "son. Reginald Edward, fifteen years of age: daughter, Helen Agusta, twenty-eight Aha! She's no chicken, this young Indy. She ought to be a woman of the world." "Twenty-eight!" replied Egon. "I'll eat my hat if she's twenty-eight." "Doesn't she look it by daylight?" "Not an hour over nineteen; might be younger, .love, I was never so sur prised to lenru a woman's acre' By the bye, I heard her telling Baron von Lymlal last night, apropos of our great Rhaetian victory, that she was eleven years old on the day It took place Thai would make ber about tweutj now. When she spoke I remember she gave a look at her mother across the room as though she were frightened I suppose ;he was hoping there was no copy of this big red book .it Lyndal berg." "That thought might have been in .'aer mind." assented the chancellor, "or else she"? He left his sentence un finisjied and saj with unseeing eyes I. - ? - - - fixed In ah owTIsh stare on the open page of Burke. "I should like to know If you really meant what you said about rny mar riage a little while ago"?Egon ven tured to attract his brother's attention ?"because if you did"? "If I dld" "1 might try very bard to please yon In my choice of a wife." "Be a little more explicit You mean yon would try to prove to Miss Mow bray that a captain of cavalry.in tl>e hand is worth an emperor in the bush ?a bramble bush at that, eh?" "Yes; I would do my best. Aud, as you say. I'm not without advantages." "You are not I was on the point of suggesting that you made the most of. them in Miss Mowbray's eyes until you brought me this red book." The large forefinger tapped the page of Mowbrays. while two lines which might have meant amusement or a sneer scored themselves on either side of the chancellor's mouth. "And now you've changed your mind?" Tnere was disappointment in Egon's voice. "I don't say that. I say only wai: Make yourself as agreeable to the lady as you like. But don't pledge yourself, and don't count upon my promise or my money until you hear again. By that time? well, we shall see what we shall see. Keep your hand iu. But wait?wait." "How long am I to wait? If the thing's to be done at all it must be done soon, for meanwhile the emperor makes all the running." The chancellor looked up again from the red book, his fist still covering the Mowbrays as If they were to be ex tinguished. "You are to wait" he said, "until I've had answers to a cou ple of telegrams I shall send tonight" (To Be Continued.) Bears the Signature of EGGS FOR HATCHING. Bud' Orpington. The finest, all pur pose foul in existence. $2.00 per sit ling of 15. Guaranteed fertile. Ap ply to N. H. BULL, 140 E. Russel St., Orangeburg, S. C Mercerized Panama Very Latest Champagne and Copenhagen Blue at . 20c Soisette extremely popular, in all colors, lovely shades at 25c Silk de/ Soile, very airy and soft, large line of col ors at 15c Check Plaid Dimi ' tys White only, nothing nicer for shirt waist and full suits at 15c and 25c New Belts, new Parasols, new Tan Oxfords. Just a word about my black Voiles, two prices $1.00 and $1.25 a yard. Nothing in City to compare. 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