' J THE UNKNOWN |' 1 MR- KENTj rJJu OKORGK a. DOBAN CXX. 1*1* COPY BIOT. •"But Kent! Kent! Are you mad?" demanded tbe king. "Time! Time Is against us. You don’t know what is happening! What do you think of this?” he cried, thrusting a paper to- , wa; 1 the American. IKcat Look it, said, "Have a seat, .■your majestyand read. It was a Lproclamation with all official seals and form, calling upon the inhabi- : tacts, and especially those employed ju the manganese mines, to assemble in the market place, at 11 o'clock of that day, where communications of the utmost importance to tlieir wel l.ire and the welfare of the state would be made. Kent read it slowly •to himself, gave a wry twist to his month, and looked at Ills visitor. "I observe," he said, with quiet meaning, "that it does not end quite as royal decrees customarily do. It does not boar the words 'Clod save th.i King." The king, who had been twisting impatiently on his chair, exclaimed, *No, it doesn't. 1 noted that point." ■'When did this appear?” the Amer ican asked, recalling the hour when the attack had been made on him. “It was posted up by the chancel lor’s orders between one and two •o'clock this morning. The guard told •me so.” “The guard, then, was friendly?" "Yes, and very much distressed. He tap- logiifed to me. and said that he could but obey his orders; that he cjuld not understand. I called him Inside and closed the door, and told Jiim to tell me all he knew. Ho did. lli says that Pro Varik has won over seme ol' ti. ae adventurers he first brought her and th it they have been tnik.ng to ail the others in the guard room." “Did this man get any inkling of i’rovarsk's in;tminus?" “Yes. linou.-.h to cause hint and all tbe others that are loyal lo be highly alarmed. The :e pa .ted the word around that thrv believed they could X'fst serve th-* thr n • and you by obeying up to a certain ; o,nt. They ■wish to know what to da." “But Piovarsk’s intentions?" in ‘tirrupted Kent, bringing the kin; lank U) the po nt. '■‘Provargain ; to announce this morn ng that iie n n ng con cession has been turn d o, r him. wrested tram • ou ip.l . hr ft I*. ' * n «bchslf of the p :y!e h* an 1 he ■will promise that heron: the profits -shall be shared by thos - w'-.n (!• the work. After that he prep to In tflanie the people lo demonstrate ir, tierce and demand of me that u like •course shall be pursu 'd with ul! other aisle holdings, and that ihose which ttxie state does not completely own •fhall be returned to the original or ■ninority owners to be run hereafter wlfivorat state interference. My guard .gutiiured all this from stray talk ewide by Provarsks henchmen, who. already certain of success, are begin ning to boast of the authority they mre going to have." (Kent's eyes glowed with interest. '"That guard of yours," he declared, “is d uo for a good commission after this is over. 1 s cm to have over looked him." He meditated for a mo il ent, and then to the king s surprise, ats if vastly relieved, leaned back in ibis chair and laughed. "Amateur work, after all!” he de clared. Tm disappointed! Provarsk bad rne guessing, last night. I thought be was a much cleverer fighter than .1 had believed him to be. He always •toggles In tho dnd." "I don't see Ihe .,,>ke!" exclaimed tl king, but more hopefully. ' Why, it Is this, way," explained J! "Plain as d,.y now. He poses m- i rational ben factor, but no one would fee able to tell, if he did actual ly get possession of the mines, what the profits are. He probably would tllv.dj up s )me of the profits as long as it served his purpose. And after that-!" He snapped his fingers <3crisively. "In the meantime he in spires my being driven from Markon, jar.d forces you to turn over every thing that produces an income; also to Jet government controlled private industries revert to those private in dividuals who own the outside stock. That includes the Markyn mineral springs in which lie has invested ev •ry dollar he has In the, world, and sii tie could borrow. It's so easy now that It's scarcely Interesting!" "But the peCpko don’t know t£at you havo tin* - concession,” objected tiie king. "They think* I still own the javines for the state, and that the jprtflds Jutve 'been turned to the re demption of the state bonds; and they sure confident that after the bonds are redeemed I'm going Jo spend more artaccy for the good of the state. The wiRtftc; Provarsk exposes the whole jlllair. they will lose confidence in me mud my intentions.” The A me ci n« r»j;u do, don't let Provarsk know you’ve been here." 'He fairly shoved the king toward Ihe door, hushing his protestations of g.atitude with a gruff—"We can talk about all that later. Not now! Not now! Hurry!" He carefully closed the safe and swung the book case back into its normal position, after which, for some minutes, he stood scowling thought fully out over the garden, as if for mulating new plans, and then walked slowly across to the door and opend it. “I'd like to speak to you," he said to the guard. “Come Inside." The man hesitated, looked up and duuu the corridor and grinned. Kent was secretly pleased and knew that he was not mistaken In his surmise that one who had always been ready to betray for money would go so again to the highest bidder. The man entered and closed the door behind him, with a look of cupidity In his eyes. "You are out for money!" Kent said brusquely. ‘Tm going to make it worth your while to go at once, get my man Ivan and bring him here. You can tell the sentry It’s Provarsk’s ordea If you do that within the next 15 minutes, you get 5,000 francs in gold and no one the wiser. Can you do it?" The man took another look Into the corridor, seemed satisfied, and said: “How will you pay me?” “You know that I keep my word, don’t you?” Kent retorted. “I tell you I’ll pay you the minute Ivan is in this room!” The mercenary hesitated, scratched his head and took the plunge. He j ran on tiptoe down the hall. Kent hatened to his secret safe, and took therefrom soma rolls of coin and waited. His bribe was effective, for within the time Ivan appeared and the guard took the bribe money with . a chuckle and left them. "Ivan,” Kent said in the soundless ! speech he employed when they were alone, “I rather think that, within a short time, Provarsk will be here and our Interview may not be pleasant. Go into my dressing room there and loave the door ajar sufficiently to ob serve what takes place. If he gets pgly, I may need you.” "I understand," said the giant, nod ding his head. "And I shall be there if needed. Is that all?" "Yes,” replied Kent, "that’s all. And, Ivan, be wary of him if you do have to come out. I don't believe that man likes you! ’Pon my word I don’t! And if he could, he might try to hurt you.” Ivan's mouth opened into a wide grin, aa he went to Kent's dressing room and pulled the door carefully shut, save for a tiny crack. Kent paced restlessly about the room, pausing once to admire, absently, as lie had done 100 times before, the in t-lcate carvings of a huge wooden screen that formed a snug little cor ner. Time was moving and he won dered why Provarsk did not appear, foi lie confidently expected him. Had that astute gentleman discovered the counter move that was being made against him, and taken steps for its circumvention? It did not seem pos s.ble. With brisk elation he heard a tap on tlie door and when the sentry en tered looked expectantly over his shoulder, confident that Provarsk was there. "Her royal highness, the Princess Eloise,” announced the sentry, and the American was troubled as he bade the man open the door for her, and himself moved toward it. Bhe entered hurriedly and closed the door behind her. Her anxiety and excitement were marked, "Tell me.” she said, hastily advanc ing, "what has taken place. Karl had no time. He told me to come here and ask you. Why is there a sen try?” "Princess Eloise." he said quietly, "I am under arrest by Provarsk's or ders; but your brother and I have taken steps that will render him very harmless.” She looked at him with pronounced consternation that was augmented when he added. “Steps also that ren der my remaining longer In Marken unnecessary, so I shall soon be go ing." “In the midst ot such an emergen cy?" “I do not believe it will be an em ergency very ldng," he said, gravely. "And I do not believe that after to day I shall be needed. Therefore I expect to leave Marken within a few days." "But you .can’t!” she insisted, desperately. A slow change came over his face, the change that his intimates in big affairs would have called his "Poker face," a face that would be wooden regardless of whatever depression, elation, craft or plan passed through his mind. “Nevertheless," he replied, quietly, "1 am going!" "Surely not!” she expostulated. “I don't believe it It’s as if you were beaten—were running away!” “Perhaps It may look that way-. now,” he said, watching to see the effect of his words. The princess' distress increased, lier hands came together, and he saw that her slender fingers had inter locked as though by this grip to ob tain strength for repression. He would have given all that was his to have and to have comforted, soothed, and caught them in his own strong palms ’ reassured her, but he dared not. He had schooled himself to the knowl edge that from her viewpoint he was but a capable money lender, possibly a good friend, while she was that product of nurturing and breeding, a princess royal. His rebellion at this condition brought out a trifle of that controlled savagery that made him strong. "Why should I stay here any long • ‘"'TV-tr* U . er," he asked, "when all I came t* do Is done? I have paid John Rhode* every cent of his money. That wa* my mission, was it not? That and nothing more." She lifted her head and regarded him with astonishment. Hie Immobile face bespoke no inwa d hesitation. Nothing but calm purpose. He was inscrutable. She sustained a con flict of emotions, but all her respect and liking, so slowly upbuilt, were wounded by his words. "I thought," she said hesitantly, “that you had remained for some thing more—than that. I thought friendship, a liking for a great work, a happiness in doing something worth while, had been reasons." He smiled but did not answer. She interpreted his silence as an admis sion that she had been mistaken In her estimate of him, and that he had been imbued with nothing but selfish motives. She spoke regretfully, now, and he saw that her reserve was breaking; that, tried and distressed, she was giving way. “I thought we meant something to you, my brother and I! And I tried to be worthy of what I thought you were. I believed you to be the great est man I had ever known! Karl would have done anything for you. I would-” She paused, twisted her fingers still harder and then looked at him with eyes like those of a hurt child, can did, outspoken in humiliated confes sion. “I would have given anything to have you be my friend, as you have been Karl’s." She paused, bit her lip, then impetuously clenched her hands and with sheer recklessness added, “I would have given much more—to have helped you—always. If you had failed and been beaten, hon orably fighting, I would have liked to go to you, and put my hand in yours, and walk with you in defeat! I was sick of illusion—of sham royal ty— of polite lies! I wanted your esteem! Yours! all of it! And now, I despise myself for it!" She stopped, choked by her own humiliation, and looked at him; but his eyes were on the floor, his hands hanging listlessly open, his heavy shoulders and stalwart frame inert, and passive, as if all she had con fessed, and all her scorn, were not capable of moving him. For a long time she stood thus, quivering, while hi stood dumbly before her. The chirping of birds in the sunlit gardens outside, the slow measured footsteps of the sentry in the corridor without, and that ominous, distant hum of Marken itself came to them accentu ated in volume by their own silence. The echoes of her voice, like the ap pealing sobs of disillusionment com ing from a hurt heart, died away like the last faint sounds of a re quiem, like one astounded by some overwhelming surprise, he lifted his head and met her eyes. All the old bravery was gone from them. Gone, too, all the old mockery, the old readi ness of response, the quick accepta tion of overchanging chance. Some thing in their great seriousness, if) their very depths, made her catch her breath. She saw that he was hum bly, yet desperately, fighting to speak; that words were being sought and that none satisfied. There was a clamorous, insolent note added to that murmuring diapason of sound that swept monot onously through the room, the sound of some one clanking his way through *he outer corridor. It stormed his ears like the call of a trumpet an nouncing battle. It whirled him back to his own sphere of action, where men were to be met, where a fig.it, the fight he knew as a veteran, vas imminent. His hands shot forward ami caught hers, and his big hodv be came endowed with a suggestion of Lent steel, alive, ready to spring lie was the master again. ‘Listen!" he commanded ner, Ins words crowding one upon the other. "Go quickly behind that screen and sit down! Hurry! Sit there and hear what is said. Say nothing! My honor in your eyes may d.epen I upon it—and that—is more to me than ev erything else in the world.” He caught her by the shoulders in his strong hands, whirled her be wildered, across the few steps Inter vening, thrust her into an easy . hair behind the screen, and was out again toward the door through which Provarsk was entering and which he locked behind him. She heard Keats voice, cool, casual, greeting his sole opponent. “Well," it said. "I’ve been expecting you. Did you open that vault yet?" Provarsk laughed; but not with mirth. “Yes, I opened it. And found Just what I rather expected. Nothing.” (Continued next week.) Didn't Mean It. Prime the Toledo Blade. The hoste* had trouble in getting Mr. Harper to sing. After the song had been given, she came up with a smiling face to her guest and made this ambigu ous remark: “Now. Mr. Harper, you must never tell me again that you cannot sing—I know now!” _ A Gude Conceit O’Hersel'. From the Boston Transcript. Edith—Would you isanry a man whe I was your inferior? I Helen—If I uterty at ah. mam package HH 1 before the war 89 5^ a package > during the war ■ now! The Flavor Lasts ■■ So Does the Price! Not Quite. “So they had smuggled whisky on 1 that yachting party. This Is going the limit.” “Oh, no; that Is three miles out.” Important to Mothers Examine carefully every bottle of OASTOItIA, that famous old remedy Cor Infants and children, and see that It Bears the Signature of In Use for Over 80 Years. Children Cry for Fletcher’s Castoria COUNTRY’S FIRST CORN MILL Recent Discoveries Establish Its Site at a Point on the St. Croix River, Eastport, Me. The site of what undoubtedly was the first tidewater mill on the Ameri can continent has b.een discovered at Red Beach, Me., where Low’s brook empties into the St. Croix river at a point nearly opposite the southern end of Dochet’s island, where De Monts nnd his men settled in the year 1604, three years before the settlement of Jamestown. In excavating for a fish pond near his summer home, R. S. Mc Carter of Cambridge, Mass., unearthed the unmistakable remains of an an fclent dam of stone and timbers. Com paring the site with the original map pf the Island, authorities agreed that (t must have been the site of the wa er mill mentioned in the old records fas employed by Sieur De Monts nnd his men to grind their corn, being the largest stream within an area of sev fcral miles on either side of the river. Making It Easy. To facilitate the scheme for faking the finger-prints of infants in Amer ica, it is proposed to make the impres sions In Jam.—The Passing Show '(London). You can always depend upon the sin cerity of a dog when he wags his j tail. I The man who augurs bad luck Is l the worst kind of a bore. i --— ‘ WHERE TOMMY MADE A POINT Remarkable That School Teacher Had Never Noticed That Quite Sim ple Truth Before. Arithmetic, according to the average small boy, was simply Invented in or der to give teachers a good excuse for punishing their unhappy pupils. And ^certainly little Tommy Smith found it the unpleasant feature of his young life. “Now, Tommy Smith,” said the school teacher one morning, during the usual hour of torture, "what Is the half of eight?” “Which way, teacher?” asked the youngster cautiously. “Which way!” replied the aston ished lady. “What do you mean?” f “Well, on top or sideways, teach er?” said Tommy. “What difference does that make?" “Why,” Tommy explained, with a pitying air, “half of the top of eight is nought, but half of It sideways is three.”—London Answers. Progress. “Has Gladys Twobble abandoned her plans to enter the movies?” “Oh, yes, Gladys is now passing through the second stage of soul de velopment.” “Ah 1” “She’s thinking seriously of being a slum worker or a missionary. In another year she’ll bo about ready to marry some likely young fellow who is earning a decent living and settle down to a normal existence in a bun galow.”— Birmingham Age-Herald. The Autocrat. “Do you and your wife talk politics at home.” “Never,” replied Mr. Meekton. “We have a perfectly good cook.” “What has that to do with it?” “We are afraid she might get into the conversation and tell us both how we’ll have to vote to keep her from leaving.” It never takes the boss long to dis cover the clerk who thinks. 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