The Princess Dehra
BY JOHN REED SCOTT.
Copyright. 1908, by John Reed Scott
"And how many hearts has
ahc?" she asked.
He shook his head sadly.
"None—none—not the faintest
trace of one."
She bent further over, and
tightened the bow of blue ribbon
on the staff.
"May be you’re not the one
to find it," she smiled—"anoth
er man-" and the merry eyes
glinted gaily through the long
lashes.
• "Oh, I’m the man—and she
kuows ft."
A little laugh rippled forth—
"And does she know, also, your
stupendous self sufficiency?"
"Yes, she knows that, too—
and likes me just the same."
i -".Which would seem to be very
little- -as it should be. . . . My
parasol of you please, I’m go
ing."
He kept his hold.
"You little witch," he said;
"I don’t know why I let you
walk upon me so."
The saucy mouth drooped at
the corners. "Nor 1 why 1 walk
-,-thc way is surely very stony.
. . . My parasol, I said."
He glanced up and down the
corridor.
.... . m t • 1 ...._!
I/O you Know, ne
ously, “I believe that hat is so
big I could kiss you, and no one
see us.”
She dropped the sun shade and
sprang back.
“Yes, I believe you could—
and 1 believe you actually would
—but you shan’t.”
He opened the parasol, and
drew the circle close behind his
head.
“It’s not quite so large as
your hat,” he went ou, “but I
think, if you don’t struggle too
much, I can manage to bold it
properly.”
He went slowly toward her—
she retreated.
“Gome,” she commanded; . .
. . “tease this foolishness . .
. . my parasol; .... I’m go
ing . ..”
IIo did not answer.
“Ralph,” she exclaimed, “are
you crazy!”
He shook his head and came
on.
Hhe was on the stairway, now
—a glance:—no one was below
her. She lifted,her skirts with
both hands, and backed down the
steps, smiling up at him the
while, tantalizingly.
“Gome on,” she said, as he
halted r.t tjie top; “I need the
parasol; come on.”
“You little devil,” he laughed;
“You’ll tempt me once too often.
.Here, take your sun
shade—1 may have need of it an
other time.”
“ Merei—amant, merci,” she
inflected softly, then flung him
a kiss from her finger tips—
“and you take that—I won’t
need it another time—and, if 1
do, I' ve others.”
“Many otherst” he asked.
She faced about, and raising
the parasol swung it between
them.
“A million—for your hearts,”
she answered, and ran quickly
down the steps.
Meanwhile the Duke of Lot
sen, passing along the lower cor
ridor, had caught, in a mirror,
the reflection of the scene on the
stairs, and had paused to watch
it.
< “A pretty picture, mademoi
selle; truly, u pretty picture,” he
said, as they met; “and most
charming from the rear—and be
low oh! most charming.”
Her checks and brow went
red as flame, as she caught his
meaning.
You vile peeper, she ex
claimed; “doubtless, you’r<n an
experienced judge,” ami drop
ping the parasol in his face, nor
earing that, the silk struck him,
she hurried by.
The duke looked after her con
templatively. Really, this girl
was worth while—he must take
a hand in the Irishman’s game—
that hair, those eyes, that walk,
that figure—oh, decidedly, she
was quite worth while.
With an evil little laugh, he
put her out of his mind, for the
moment, and turned toward the
terrace and to business. lie had
learned of the alfresco luncheon
near the pergola, and he appre
ciated that there was the place
to make the first move in his new
plot.
Yet when, from the sun-dial, as
he feigned to study it, ho sa-.v
the princess, through the rhodo
dendrons—with the American
across the table from her, where
he himself ought to have been;
and watched her lavish upon Ar
mand the adorable smile that
should have been his; and know,
afresh, that, come what may, the
glorious woman yonder w’as lost
to him forever—his anger welled
so high he dared not risk a meet
ing, lest in his rage lie wreck his
cause completely. So he braced
lus shoulders against the fierce
desire that tugged him toward
them, and went on, giving no
glance aside.
Then the princess called him;
and when the oidy voice able,
hitherto, to touch a soft chord in
his heart, struck now a jarring
dissonance, the fury passed; and
again he was the man of cold,
calm hate and ruthless purpose.
Ho he turned aside, and to his
enemies—her and the foreigner
—deliberating how to make his
play quickly, yet naturally and
with seeming inadvertence. The
faintest blunder would be fatal
with Courtney watching; Ar
mand he despised.
And at Debra’s sudden ques
tion, he had almost laughed aloud
—was it always to he so easy I
lfut he hound his face to his part,
and made his answer, and went
his way; whistling softly, and
all unknowingly, a little song,
that a slender, sinuous woman,
with raven hair and dead-white
cheek, had sung to him in the
north.
And when, presently, it came
to him whose the song was, and
where he had heard it, he
laughed gaily.
“An omen!” he said aloud,
‘‘an omen! On to Lotzenia—and
a dead archduke.”
CHAPTER X.
_
A Question of Veneer.
The Archduke Armand tossed
the end of his fourth cigar into
the grate and looked at the big
clock in the corner. It was only
a bit after 11, and that was, he
knew by experience, the blush
of the evening at the American
embassy, where there were no
women folk to repress the young
sters nor to necessitate the clos
ing of the house at conventional*
hours. Courtney had only bache
lors in his official family; and
he housed them all with him in
the big residence on Alta avenue,
and gave them free rein to a
merry life, fully assured they
would not abuse the liberty; he
had known every one of them as
boys, and their fathers before
them.
The archduke reached over and
pressed a button.
“Bring me a cap and a light
cape,’’ he said to the servant;—
“and a stick.”
The man went out, and Ar
mand crossed to a window and
drew aside the curtain.
“Put them on a chair,” he said
without looking around, as the
door opened again. “You may
go.”
The door closed. For a little
while he watched the gay street,
stretching southward for half a
mile to the center of the city,
where the lights blazed variegat
edly and brightest. The thea
ters had tossed out their crowds,
‘and below him the van of the
carriage column was hurrying
homeward, to the fashionable
district out the ayenue, or to the
hanging garden nbeve the lake.
Occasionally a face, usually a
woman’s, would lean close to the
door and look at the Epsau cur
iously—it homed the man who
was likely to be king. And the
man smiled with half bitter cyn
icism, and wondered what words
followed the look, and who spoke
them, and to whom. Once, he
recognized VJount tapping a lean
visage, and in that carriage, at
least, he felt that the words were
friendly; a moment later, the
snake eyes of Baron Retz went
glittering by—but never a glance
did he turn aside.
“You little reptile,” the arch
duke muttered aloud, “you
ought to crawl, not ride.”
He dropped the curtain and
turned away—then stopped, and
his lips softened; and presently
he laughed, dust inside the door,
and standing stiffly at attention,
was Colonel Bernheim, holding
the cape and cap and stick the
servant had been sent for.
“Now what’s the trouble” Ar- '
maud demanded.
“Your highness desired
these?” said Bernheim.
‘"tea—but I didn’t send -for
you.” The tone was very kind
ly.
“But you are going out, sir?”
“Yes.”
“And I’m on duty tonight.”
“You re excused—go to bed.”
The old soldier shook his head.
“I’m going with you.”
“Nonsense,” said Armand,
“nonsense! I’m far only a short
walk up the avenue.”
“I must go with you, sir,” the
aide insisted.
The archduke looked at him in
some surprise.
“Positively, Bcrnheim,” he
said, “if you k(»ep this up you
will have nervous prostration.
Quit it, man, quit it.” lie flung
on the cape, and taking cap and
cane went toward the door.
“Good night.”
The colonel stood aside, hand
at the salute. “Your pardon,
sir—but l must go with you—it
is the regent’s personal order.”
“What!”
“She telephoned me this eve
ning always to see that you had
an escort, after dark.”
The archduke sat on the end
of the writing table and laughed
until the tears came—and even
old Bernheim condescended to
emit, at intervals, a grim sort of
chuckle.
“What hour are you to put
me to bed, nurse” Armand
asked.
“The orders did not run to
that point, sir,”—with a lounder
chuckle—“but I should say not
later than midnight.”
“Then I’ve a few minutes’
grace, and I’ll spend them play
ing on the sidewalk, while you
warm the sheets and get the
milk,” and with another laugh
lie went out. “Don’t forget the
milk,” he added over his shoul
der.
Bernheim held open the door.
“I’ll not, sir,” he said, arid
followed him.
At the street, Armand stopped.
“Where are you going, colo
nel?” he asked.
The heels clicked together and
the hand went up.
“For the milk, sir.”
He recognized the futility of
further opposition; with the re
gent’s command to sustain him,
Bernheim would not be denied.
“Come, along, then,” he or
dered—“and if they have a cow
at the American embassy I’ll set
you to milking it, or I’m a sail
or.”
The old fellow answered with
the faintest suggestion of a grin.
All Doriditz was familiar with
the features of the Great Henry,
and so it was quite impossible for
the Archduke Armand to escape
recognition—and tonight, as he
and Bernheim went out the ave
nue, the people made way for
him with a respect and deference
that even lie' could not but feel
was honest and sincere, and of
the quietly enthusiastic sort that
is most dependable.
“Does it lnolc as though I had
need for an escort?” he asked.
“Not at- this moment,” the
aide agreed.
“Nor at any moment on Alta
avenue;” he put his hand on the
other’s arm—“you know, Bern
heim, it’s not you I object to, it’s
the idea. 1 always like you with
me. ’'
The colonel’s face flushed, and
for an instant he did not reply;
when he did, his voice was low
and faintly husky.
“Sire!” he said, “Sire!”
The archduke glanced at him
in quick surprise, and under
stood; sometimes Bernheim’s in
tense devotion overflowed.
“Brace up, colonel,” he ex
claimed, with sudden gayetv,
“brace up! you won’t have to
milk that cow.”
Then both men laughed, and
the normal situation was re
sumed.
The bells began to chime mid
night, as they reached the em
uassy.
“Don't wait for me,” Ar
mand said; “I may be late. Go
back and send an orderly.”
The other smiled, “i’ll wait,
myself, sir, if you will permit;
they have a game here I rather
liki*.”
“Take care, colonel; those boys
will skin you out of your very
uniform—better look on.”
“I do, sir, when I’ve a poor
draw;” he answered seriously,
and wondered at the archduke’s
chuckling laugh.
Courtney greeted his friend
with a nod and a wave of his
hand.
“I’m glad you came in,” he
said. “I’ve been thinking about
you—sit down. . . . Scotch?”
“No, rye — and seltzer,
please.” He took the chair across
the desk from Courtney and wait
ed until the man had placed the
decanters and glasses a*id re
tired. “And I’ve been thinking
about you, too,” he said. “You
got me into this infernal mess,
and now it’s up to you to help
me out.” N
Courtney slowly lit a cigaret
and scrutinized the coal, criti
cally.
“I see,” he remarked, “that
you have already developed the
ungratefulness of kings—I have
high hopes for your reign , . .
if you live to reign."
The archduke put down hh
glass and regarded him in exas
perated surprise.
“Damn it, man, you too?" he
exclaimed. “If I were given to
nerves I would be seeing daggers
and bullets all around me—Bern
lieim croaks death; and so does
Moore; and now you join the
chorus—pretty soon the boys will
be whistling in on the avenue.”
Courtney picked up an em
bassy official envelope that lay
before him, and tossed it across
to the archduke.
“I’ve done a little work on my
own account, lately,” he said,
“and here is what I got thi^eve
ning. I have always founu this
—agent, reliable.”
It was only a few words,
scratched hastily in pencil on a
sheet torn from a small note
book :—
“Danger very imminent—un
der no circumstance go out at
night without an escort.”
“Nice sort of country this, you
brought me to,” said Armand.
“It’s not the country, my
dear boy,” Courtney observed;
“it is beyond reproach. The
trouble is that one of your dwn
family still is a barbarian; and
you insist upon treating him as
though he were civilized. For
my part, I have no patience with
your altruism; you’ve had quite
sufficient warning—he tried
twice to kill you at the Vierle
masque; and he has told you to
your face that you would never
be king. Yet you persist in re
garding him as fighting square
and in the open. Bernheim and
Moore are w'ise—they know your
dear cousin—and you—well,
you’re a fool if you don’t know
him, too.’-’
It was a very long speech for
Courtney, and Armand had list
ened in surprise—it was most un
usual for his imperturbable
friend to grow emphatic, either
in voice .or gesture, and it im
pressed him as Bernheim and
Moore never had. In truth, he
had no particular scruples
against meeting Lotzen in the
gpod, old fashioned, cloak and
dagger way; but what irked him '
was the necessity of being always
on the qui vive to resist assault
or to avoid a trap; and the seem
ing absurdity of it in Dornlitz of
the 20th century. It made him
feel such a simpleton, to be look
ing for bravos in dark alleys, or
to wear steel vests, or to be'
eternally watchful and suspicious
of every one and everything.
“What do you want me to do,”
he asked; “go down to Lotzen’s
palace and stick my sword
through him?”
“It’s a pity you may not—it’s
what he would do to you, if he
could—but that’s not our way;
we’re civilized .... to a cer
tain point. But what you may
do is to take every precaution
against him; and then; if you get
the chance in fair justification,
kill him as unconcernedly as he
would kill you.”
The archduke sat silent, his
cigar between his teeth, the
smoke floating in a thin strand
across his face, his eyes upon
the desk before him.
“Of course, my boy,” Court
ney went on, after a pause, “I
assume you are in the game to
the^end, and in to win. If you’re
not, the whole matter is easy of
adjustment—renounce the crown
and marry the princess . . and
live somewhere beyond the bor
ders of Valeria—come back to
America, indeed; I’ll see that
you have again your commission
in the engineer’s-”
Armanil s lips closed a bit
tighter on his cigar, his fingers
began to play upon the chair
arm, ami his glance shifted for an
instant to the other’s face, then
back to the desk. And Courtney
read his mind and pressed on to
clinch the purpose.
“But if you’re in to win—and
it’s your duty to your friends to
win; it’s your duty to your
friends to win, I repeat—your
first obligation is to keep alive;
a dead archduke is of no earthly
use in the king business we have
in hand. You may go straight
to glory, but that won’t help out
the poor devils you leave here in
Lotzen’s clutches, and who have
been true to you, never doubting
that you would be true to them.
Your life belongs to them, now;
and you have no right to fritter
it away in silly, stubborn reck
lessness.There, I’ve
spoken my mind, and quite too
frankly, may be; but I’ll promise
never to bother you again. Af
ter all, it’s for you to decide—not
for a meddling friend.’’,_
(To Be Continued; Xext Week)
— » ---
Her Responsibilities.
From the Argonaut.
The mistress was interviewing the
new charwoman. "Have you been mar
ried, Susan?" she inquired.
"Cwieet, mum." Susan told her.
"Have you any children?"
“Yes. mum. I’ve three. One by th'
third wife uv me second husband, an'
two by th' second wife uv toe first."
40 MEMBERS
RUSH TO GIVE
STATEMENTS
All Seek Immunity—Klan Not
Likely to Finance Louisiana
Defense—Hundreds Desert
ing Organization.
Universal Service.
Special Cable Dispatch.
London, Dec. 30 (Saturday, 3
a. m.)—All London papers this
morning are featuring the threat
of the Ku Klux Klan to invade
England. The papers are united
in declaring that the Klan is not
wanted here.
BY SAM BLAIR,
Universal Service Correspondent.
New Orleans, La., Dec. 29.—Forty
confessions, or signed statements of
accusation, naming approximately 300
of the BOO members of the Ku Klux
Klan in Morehouse parish, are said to
be in the hands of department of jus
tice men who are investigating out
rages in the parish which climaxed
with the torture and murder last
August of Watt Danielson and Tom
Richards.
This information comes from a
source as authoritative as any avail
able in the state.
The fact that 40 confessions
ha^ve been given is Just another
amazing detail in connection with this
ease. As every new element appears
the story of the Klan’s activities in
Morehouse parish veers closer to the
unbelievable.
Why Make Confessions?
"Why should 40 men expose them
selves if not to prosecution at least to
everlasting ignominy?”
"BecausPj” answers the official who
Is responsible for this latest an
rfouncemem, “an epidemic of fear
swept through the members of the
Klan in Morehouse when they learned
that two of their number had named
them all and had obtained immunity
by giving evidence on atrocities and,
particularly, evidence on the killing
of Daniels and Richards. Forty terror
stricken men made secret visits to the
department of justice men and of
fered their confessions and informa
tion against their associates for im
munity.”
In a general way those in charge
of the investigation a>e seeking to
keep the nature and extent of them
evidence from the public until it can
be offered at the open hearing set for
January 5 at Bastrop, Morehouse
parish seat. But the facts are com
ing out in advance of schedule. Too
many persons are familiar with the
circumstances to make possible any
continued secrecy.
Members Desert Klan.
The Ku Klux Klan, as a national
organization, would like to “get out
from under” that part of the organ
ization in Morehouse parish.
Resignations from the Klan. as a
result of publicity given the More
house parish murders, have been dis
patched at an average of 390 a week
throughout the United States, the
department of justice nas ascertained.
If national Klan officials originally
had intended to finance the defense of
those who are and who will be arrest
ed for the slayings, it appears that a
change of policy has been determined
upon. If for no other reason than to
check the exodus of members, the
Klan is ready, if need be, to withdraw
the charter from the Morehouse par
ish branch and to make a flourishing
gesture in denouncing and repudiat
ing those Klansmen against whom
evidence is to be presented.
Klan Officials Confer.
Klan officials of Louisiana gath
ered from all sections of the state at
a conference here Friday. While the
symposium was ostensibly secret, the
plan leaders were anxious to V I
themselves right” before the public
and one newspaper man was invited
to “sit In.” The correspondent was
asked only to withhold identification
of those present.
"We cannot believe that the More
house Klan, as an institution, perpe
trated any of the outrages which
have been charged,” announced the
Louisiana Klan chief, a millionaire
resident of a city in the northern part
of the state. "But should it develop
that Klansmen actualy participated
In the killing of Daniels and Richards,
then they certainly will be repudiated
by the Klan and the Morehouse
branch will be outlawed.”
Investigator Appointed.
The session decided that the Louis- '
iana division of the Klan must obtain
first hand information on the More
house situation. An investigator, au
thorized to act with full authority of
the state section, was named and in
structed to depart at once on his
mission.
The organization chieftains ' dis
cussed the announcement from Bal
timore that Dr. B. M. McKoin, under
arrest there on a charge of participat
ing in the Morehouse parish killings,
was determined to fight extradition.
“McKoin is making a fool of him
self,” the supreme Klan head of the
state declared. “He had better come
as quickly as possible and present the
evidence he claims will prove his
innocence."
The chief of the Klan was unable to
say positively whether Dr. McKoin
was a Klan member.
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♦ - ♦
-f Houston, Tex., Dec. 29 (A. ♦
■f p.)—Initiated by the Gulf ♦
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♦ dtately by the other market- ♦
era, gasoline was toplay re- ♦
♦ duccd In price two cents. Ker- ♦
♦ osene also declined 2 . cents. ♦
General decline in refined ♦
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A HeaVy Hand.
Prof. Barrett Wendell, Yale’s bril
liant and famous critic, was talking
at n tea about a new novelist.
“He has a heavy, awkward hand,”
said Professor Wendell. “When he
wants to be impressive lie reminds me
of ^he divine who went to jail to
administer the last comforting rites
,of the church to a murderer,
i “ ‘Dugald. mon,’ he said—for he was
a Scot—‘Dugald, mon, the gallows is
ready, the rope’s ready, the hangman
is ready—Dugald, are you ready?’
Exchange.
Aspirin
Say “Bayer” and Insist!
Unless you see the name “Bayer” on
package or on tablets you are not get
ting the genuine Bayer product pre
scribed by physicians over twenty-two
years and proved safe by millions for
Colds Headache
Toothache Lumbago
Earache Rheumatism
Neuralgia Pain, Pain
Accept “Bayer Tablets of Aspirin’*
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proper directions. Handy boxes of
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gists also sell bottles of 24 and 100.
Aspirin Is the trade mark of Bayer
Manufacture of Monoaceticacidester of
Sallcylicacid.—Advertisement.
The Busy Toothpick.
The Woman was seeing a friend off
at the Northwestern station. Nearby
was a man saying good-by to his wife,
for their domestic conversation was in
no sense whispered.
As the husband talked the Woman
watched, quite fascinated, Ids tooth
pick as it moved up and down in his
mouth.
T*“» irate was being opened. The
travelers were passing through. The
Woman wondered what would happen
to the almost animated toothpick while
the man said good-by to his wife.
( Surely lie would remove it. But no
—with a move of his lips lie had shift
ed it to a corner and proceeded to kiss
ids wife. No wonder wives read “The
Sheik” and such. One would have to
do something to make up for dlvhl'ng
a kiss with a toothpick.—Chicago
Journal.
Fatal Artillery Practice.
While a battery of Swiss artillery
was at practice near Sursee, north of
Lucerne, a shell rlchoehettlng from the
ground struck the house of a peasant.
The peasant’s wife, who was Laving
dinner with her daughters nml a
workman, was killed, hut the others
were not harmed. The shell entered
.through the kitchen and burled Itself
in a loft without exploding.
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