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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1903)
The fTryr?i;M, I'Kfl. by .T. V. Mull, r.) rrjTAI'TKH XXIV. the Sea-Alp Latu autumn. I I I drive tho workmen, dilvn. X J I r It-T1. av.llA K .l,.,.l,t.. ........ ' . JJ. T. fcl,T uu.ji.it- Jrty hat I (five them they grun;blp. We have no i lavea any more, but In their place are socallMs anrl anarc'ii-ita. It U necetwary tliat r.me great ruler i-h ill avrtmie a little like Nero again. I begin again to make tho niRht my day. V'he ll;ht of the mm 1a too yc'low. tv coarse, too common. It rhlne on too much misery that shriek constantly toward tho heAVon. Can you not hear how It peal frvta tho depths? I hear It constantly. t wonder does my nohle adjutant icport my dolngn to the lloyal Court Marshal or perhaps direct to the Kin? Probably. Ami what does hp repnrt? That I Intend to be King Nome day despite that signature Under thp secret document that thi;y cheat) d me Into signing. I will teJl the nation thut. P.ir I fh.Il peak to the nation, the whole nation! The Whole nation would arise for me and fof my right; It would bell.'ve in m would love me again. Hut the King tstill liven. Yesterday I climbed the path that toads to the Whlto Kmporor Meadow, and with out my adjutant. It was wld autumo weather. Scarcely had I began my climb before mlsls arone, thick as tho smoke of a aat conflagration. The clouds billowed around me like tho storm-scourged wave f a phantom sea. I had to giop- wl h my feet, with rny hands, on one ride Ihe naked tcep wall and on the other the sheer abyaa. And the path was bo narrow. I could not turn, I would not Htand still. Z had to go forward. And thn titorra. tor at me and tried to pull mo down. But I withstood. Suddenly a howling- blu.st lore the mlsls part And cloae In front of me I saw the rock over the cham where my father had china through a night of utonn. My father bad withstood the King's test. Now I, that was- his true son, would withstand It, too. And if I withstood it, then koilowlng the Godlike thought I had the rock In my embrace the next moment, lot the storm seize me and hurl me from the putt), hung- between heaven and earth, turn over tho abyss, while It grew darker and darker, while tho black night crept la through tho raging tempest. If my arms remained strong. If I did not let go of tho rock. If I withstood the Kins' test, it would be a celestial sign that the arown hung- over my head and would sink n my brow. Time passed and I began to count the minutes- one two three it lusted un eter nity before 1 had counted sixty. Hut ray arms must remain strong. 1 cloticd my eyes and time passed. 1 felt myself weakening, and I had to remain strung. My limbs quivered as In a flt, my arms became lame, my hands tried to i pen. But my will waa mightier than my human weakness, and 1 held both bands locked around the rock. Then it was us if I had running streams f fire In my veins Instead of blood. They poured Into my brain and burned It up. They sprang out of my ftet that dangled ver tho chasm. They poured out of my yes that I could not open any more. And time passed. Then came a frightful moment. I felt that my strength, my will, had reached the nd, and that I, not the true son of my father, would crash into the depths. In the same moment, just as my hands were loosening my closed eyes were das sled by a blinding glare the rising sun! I had hung all night over the abyss, be tween heaven and earth; my mighty will Bad given me power to do something super human, to withstand the King's test. The crown of my brother hangs over my bead and will settle on my brow. I will mako my land great, my nation happy. I swung- myself over the edge and back to the path. Then my sense passed. My adjutant found me and carried mo all alone In his arms to the house. I dreamed in my swoon that I heard voices. And one voice said that tho Prince had lost hi way and barely saved himself from falling Into tho abyss by seizing a roclc, from which terrible position ho h:id bean saved within a few momenta by his adju tant, who had followed him secretly. Within a few moments! What strange dreams one baa Much is being whispered in tho newspa pers about Ills Majesty the King. There are hints of great nervousness with grow ing Insomnia. That Is bad. Irately an Issue was confiscated because It spoke of the King's wearinetu. Since a King- may not be weary, such an utterance Is like high treason. Many papers are kept away from me, loo. I know why. Because they mention my name again and again. That, also, Is blah treason. I hear that legends are being told about my life In thla Alpine wilderness. That Is good. A monarch must be a legendary figure for his people. I can un derstand the Caesars who upraised them selves to gods. What waa the result ? Tem ples were built In tuolr honor, columns were erorted. even the Roman Senate showed the-n the honors due to immortals, and the Weary Kings rtfj$s?r-1 .'j$?,.Mm,'m l!"1'1 " TOt1!SIEiAljNCO nations of the earth crawled before them. Only so can tho will of a ruler become the highest law, God's own law. Since I spent the night hanging over the abyss I feel myself lifted to sunny heights. CHAPTER XXV. On the Sea-Alp. The beginning of winter. The workers have gone and a part of the new edlfleo Is ready and furnished. Every thing is still only Improvised, so to speak, and petty and unworthy of me. But one can see what Is to be. Tomorrow I await Judiea. We dwell In a suite of six rooms. Between our sleeping apartments we sleep apart because of my loud dreams lie our toilet rooms and the tath. It Is a high domed room, in which a blue twilight reigns. The basin Is rosy marble. The water flows out of the tilted Jar of a nymph and a white bed of flowers borders the pool. Blooming shrubs none but white flowers hide the walls. In my future Grail Burg there shall be a whole pond instead of the poor little pool. Ijotus shall grow on it, lilies and papyrus shall border It, behind them shall arise palms. A waterfall shall roar Into It and I will mako the stars rise and revolve as I with. I must watch myself ever more closely; must dlHsemblo ever more. There must be no single human being who knows anything about me. Then, at last, I will have the dene it tolltuile, that churchyard peace, that inaccessibility that is duo me. Kven you, my only trusted one In the wholo world, you poor, pale paper, shall learn leas and less from me. You might beeome a traitor and betray to the world how cruelly I suffer sometimes. But that cannot be told In words. Since yesterday It has been snowing. My forester the same one who obeyed tho royal whim of his King has organised the boat Bervlee over the lake beautifully and has appointed an army of the strongest end bravest of the men to keep th? path clear along the shore In case the Ice should clone the water. This path will be tho only entrance to the world. I can open the gate or dose It at will a rapturous knowledge. The household employes may not show themselves before me except when abso lutely necessary. My adjutant hardly ap pears. Yet I feel myself watched, spied on, followed constantly; I know that he is for ever sending reports about me and so must forever tie on my guard. No doubt some wise authority on psychol A Modern Romance liy Kichard Voss TUB mNUTE3-N3-TW0-TnaB33lT LASTED AN ETERNITY Do ogy Is In the houso even now in some dis guise; the lackeys are, without doubt, only disguised nurses and keepers. I have ex perience In thla matter. It snows, snows, snows! No soul dreams of the wonders I see nightly; for nightly I leave the house. All day they must make paths for me and none may meet me. Like a monster amphi theater of white marble the mighty circle of snowy mountains stands around me. Over them Is spread a dark blue velvet cur tain embroidered with gold. Around the Ice-crowned head of the White Emperor shines moonlight like the aureole around the head of a Saint The flood of light pours downward. The white walls shine, the white earth gleams. My Grail Burg stands complete. It would be wonderful to have plays here in this tremendous hall under the full moon. There should be mystery plays, parades of beautiful young beings in cere monial garments, dances and processions accompanied with prayers and psalms. And I would be the only spectator, the ruler of a fabled world. What would I not perform! What world would I not stamp out of the ground! Give me the power! C AFTER XXVI. On tho Sea-Alp. March. I Intended never to write again, never. The paper is so clean and white before I use It. It Is as if my words spotted some thing pure and bright. And now, after ail, I sit here again over this book that con tains part of myself and in which I write down how my mind commits mortal sins. War is possible. That sounds like a feverish phantasy. My. own feverish brain might have such mad hallucinations. But the thing In not In ray sick brain. It Is in the newspapers; the possibility of wsr with our young, strong and daring northern neighbor. It would be a light of annihilation between a degenerate, senile state and a youthful power that fairly bristles with strength, vitality and ambitions. The young, strong stranger ai l take my Inheritance, my realm. For my brother's realm is mine sinoe the night when I with stood the test. If I placed myself at the head of the army, I that am inviolate and anointed of God, the strength of my strength would go Into the army. Into the whole nation, and we would conquer. A single victory would save us, for a single victory would ghr us the belief In ourselves again that we lost so long ago. Was there ever In my life a time whea I found war horrible, a crime, a murder of all Godlike attributes in man? Wag there ever a time when I wished in imil moments that the realm of my father might be dissolved hi that of a stronger and greater race? What madness, what weakness, what cowardice! War! War! As soon as war Is declared I will go inta the campaign even If I have to fight as a private. My spirit would be the leader still, leading the troops, filling them, tak ing them on to victory. My brother, the King, is weak. Wits) every breath he Is unkingly. In the papers I see that the people and the government have little hope for a peaceful solution- that they do not even wish one, because nation and government desire the war. But the King will hesitate and vacillate, shrink and remain weak. And in the nature of the ease ww are tha ones who must declare war. The declara tion Is expected of us. We will cover our selves with everlasting shame If wc hold back. The King will give his consent with his heart's blood if he gives It at ail. I Imagine they will have to force It from him. Tho conflict is getting more and mora thngled and a peaceable solution is grow ing ever more improbable. Ever more pas sionately the government, the nation, presses for the arbitrament of sword and blood. The fear, the indecision of the King grows. His wife's State would ally itself with us; the dynasty that Is to rule after us woul Join us. We would be three against one. But that one will conquer us three, for h Is mightier than we together. There would be on'y the chance that the miracle for which I wait Bhall appear. I nhall not wait In vain. And what shall be done then with Judical She must not stand in my way! South wind and thaw I Tha lake thaws, too. Tha water la Im passable now and there remains only the path along shore. And that Is open only so long as it can be kept clear of snow and avalanches. The south wind howls like a throng of loosed demons. From all sides pour tha deluges of freed streams, and tvTilinrhea