Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1923)
The Princess Dehra BY JOHN REED SCOTT. Copyright, 1808. by John Reed Scott “My chiid,” he said, taking her hand, in the most gentle de forest*, and holding’it in both of bin, “tell me what has unstrung you so completely—you who are always merry and serene.” She gently freed her hand, and, gathering up the trailing ends of her skirt, turned toward the palace. < “If I tell you,” she said, “promise me that yon won’t make a scene nor try to punish him.” t t" “Him!” he exclaimed, stop ping short, “him! God in Heaven, was it that devil, “Lot ient”—he seived her arm— 5*where is he—where is he?” She smiled at him very sweet ly, loving the anger that blazed his face. “I'll tell you nothing,” she answered, “so long as you are in that humor—your promise first. ’ ’ ’‘No—no—I promised and for boi < the other day; but now, with tha ”—sweeping his hand at gown and hair—“I’ll forbear no longer.” She moved on. “Come, KIi.sc, who was it?” She gave him another smile, hut shook her head. “Was it Lotzen—toll me, was it!” Again the smile, and the mo tion of refusal. “Very well, if you won’t, “I’ll find out for myself.” “You cannot—the man won’t tell—and no one saw. it.” lie laughed with quiet menace. “I’ll find him,” he said; “I’ll find him.” t^uick l ear seized her. He, would succeed, she knew; and then, what would In* do! Some thing, doubtless, to try to force the duke to fight; and which would result only in liis own dis- ' grace and in being driven from the country. He must not suffer for her misfortune—and Dorn litz, without her dear Irishman, would be impossible; and she was not yet quite ready to go with him. She had told him some thing—as much -os she might with proper reserve—of Lotzen’s beltavior that other morning; and it had been diiiieelt enough to restrain hint (hen. New, with the dbheveded hair, and torn gown, and blood on her face, only his own word Would hold him. , “Promise me, Ralph, promise me,” she implored; “there is no reason for punishment—see,” holding out her hand,“here is the only place he touched me—only on the wrist—I swear it, Ralph—" lie took the hand, and looked at the soft, blue veined flesh, chafed and abraided with the pinch of iron fingers; and again the rage of hate swept him, and he put the hand down sharply and turned away his head, un willing that she should see his faec while passion marked it. She touched his arm, almost timidly. “Promise me, dear,” she said •—“please promise me.” She did not realize what she had called him; nor, indeed, did he, until days afterward, too late to turn it to account; though what he answered worked far more to his profit, than had he used the chance offered by an in advertent endearment, it “I promise,” he said ; “I ought hot id; out because you wish it, I promise—now will you tell met” She looked up at him grateful ly— aud such women as Klise d'ifesolde can say much with their eyes. They had mounted the steps and were on the ter race; she pointed into the park. “It was in the japouica walk,” ahe said; “I was waiting for you, when Lotzen came upon me, 8eemingly by accident-” “There are no accidents with Lotsen,” Moore broke in. “It may be, but lu* chose to treat it so;—I tried to pass—he Mopped me and begged forgive ness for his brutal rudeness of the other day; I forgave him indif ferently, hoping ro escape quick ly, and tried again to pass. He caught my wrist, and demanded % hunt, and that 1 walk with him to the lake. I was close against the hedge, and it was in my strug^ gles to get free from him that the sharp thorns tore my gown. Sic let me thrash out my strength, holding me all the time by this wriat; presently, when he was about to kiss me by main force, 1 bit him in the hand, and es eaptod, running at top speed, and in fright and exhaustion col lapsing where you found me- . . . . ^That was all, Ealph^ ” she ended. Moore’s intense repression found som^- relief ^in a long breath. “All!” he said, rather huski ly “all! . . . well, all I ask is, some day, to have him against me, sword in hand.” “Your promise!” she ex claimed. lie smiled down at her. “The promise holds, child, as you well know; but this affair of the book may work an opportunity.” “If it does, take it,” said she instantly. “Trust me, my lady,” he an swered, as he left her at the small door used only by the princess and her privileged intimates. “Your lady?” she echoed ac ross the sill—her natural witch ery increased fourfold, in his eyes, by the tumbled hair— ‘ ‘your lady—perhaps.’ ’ In the hallway, just at her own room, she met the princess, whof woman-like, marked at a glance every detail of her disordered attire. “Good heaven, Elise,” she ex claimed, “what has that adjutant of mine been doing to you?” “Practicing sword tricks on my skirt,” said she, holding it up to show the rents, “and learn ing to be un coiffeur.” “He seems to be as uncommon ly proficient in the one as he is deficient in the other,”—then looked at her questioniugly; “but seriously, Elise, what hap pened?-—if you care to tell me.” ‘ rhe Duke of Lotzen found me alone in the japonica walk.” The princess struck her hands together angrily. “Lotzen! oh, Lotzen!” she ex claimed; “some day—did Moore come on Kim there? If he did, the some-day is already here.” “ Fortunately,'no, since I es caped unharmed.” “Unfortunately, you mean—it saved to tlmr world another scoundrel.” “And Ralph would be a fugi tive in disgrace,” said Mile, d Gssolde. “With the lion and a briga dier's commission as a punish ment,” the regent answered. “lie wanted to go back, and it vvrui l that kept him.” “it's a misfortune—more than a misfortune; it’s almost a ca lamity—my dear Elise, if ever again your colonel get so prop er an excuse to kill that devil, pray don't intervene.’ ’ “I'm sorry—very sorry, I’m almost criminally stupid.” “Nonsense, dear,” said the princess; “there will be other chances—meanwhile, what hap pened? .... Hit him! Oh, delightful, delightful!” The ether gave a shiver of re pugnance. “Disgusting, I should call it, now—I did it in the frenzy to be free. I shall never forget the horrible thing.” “Nor will lie—-you’ve marked him for life—the pity, is it wasn’t his face.—Go on; what happened then?” .... “ Ihe nasty brute,” said Dehra, when she had heard the last detail—<“and save for the punishment you yourself admin istered, he, for the time, must go scatheless; you cannot permit such a story to go through the court and the clubs; and you may be quite sure he won’t tell it.” She struck her hanids together vehemently. “Lotzen! oh Lot sen!—Some day, Elise, your lov er or mine is going to be granted the blessed privilege of putting a sword through his vile heart.” She sprang up. “Come, dear, you need diversion—we will ride; and if 1 i an get the arch duke, we’ll take your colonel, too.” She went to the telephone. . . . . “ Is that you, Ar mand?”—when the recall bell * rang. . . . “This is Dehra— Elise and I are off for a ride; if you can go with us, I’ll have Moore go, too. . . Bother your important appointment; break it. . . . .You can’t? . . . We can be back by 4 o’clock. . . . Have matters to see to; will they occupy all the afternoon? . . . They will? .... And you need Moore, also?—all right, take him—what is your appoint ment? . . . Can't tell me over telephone?. . . . Tell mtf to night—well, I suppose I can wait —come for dinner.Yes, stupid. . . . Goodbye, dear.” She hung up the receiver. “You heard, Elise; neither of them can go. I should hate to be | a man and always busy. Come, we will go ourselves, and muke an afternoon of it—and stop at the Twisted Pines for tea.” CHAPTER XIV. An Enticing Rendezvous. The failure of Colonel Mootfe to keep promptly his appointment with Mile. d’Essolde to meet her that morning in the japoniea walk was due to a letter that had come to him in the early post, and which had sent him, without a moment’s delay, straight to Dornlitz and Headquarters; nor did he even stop to telephone the archduke, but left it for one of the young officers in the outer office to do. The military governor received him at, once, and with a look of questioning concern. “Anything wrong at the pal ace?” he asked. “Nothing, your highness,” said Moore, with his graceful sa lute—so unlike Bernheim’s stiff motion—“nothing; I brought this letter; it is for you, though sent to me.” The archduke took it, without comment—he knew it must be of peculiar importance to bring Moore in person at that hour. When he had read it, he looked carefully at the envelope, and turning on his desk lamp, he spread the letter under it and examined it very tlowly and criti cally; finally he re-read it aloud:— “ ‘If his royal highness the Archduke Armand wish to know the whereabouts of a certain book, let him be at the inn of the Twisted Pines at 4 o’clock this afternoon. No harm is in tended ; and as a proof he is priv ileged tft bring as large an es cort as lu\ desires. If he accept, let him stand in a window of his private office, overlooking the avenue, for five minutes at i exactly noon today. This is his only chance; there will be no sec ond letter. “ ‘One Who Knows.’ ” Well,” said he, “the writer at least knows how to put Tip a very enticing bait—‘privileged to bring as large an escort as he de sires—at 4 o’clock this after noon—at the inn of the Twisted Pines’—surely, there is nothing in them to suggest danger, dag gers or death’.I think we shall accept, colonel; what’s your notion about it?” “If it is a plant,” he said, “it’s a very clever one—and hence spells Lotzen; but, for my part, I’ll be charmed to go with you, whatever it-is.” The archduke smiled. “Of course you will, you peaceful citizen, anil be sadly disappoint ed if there isn’t a head for you to hit. It’s just as well I gave you to the regent, you would be lead ing me into all sorts of danger.” “And your highness has es tablished such a splendid repu tation for avoiding danger,” Moore laughed. “How so?” “I)ul it never occur to you, sir, that the man who would delib erately force a sword fight with the Duke of Lotzen, has won a name for reckless courage that he can never live down?” “But I disarmed him, thanks to your defense to his coup.” “Small good would my defense have been to one who hadn’t the nerve and skill to use it; to fail means death, as you, of course, appreciated.” The areluluke nodded. “But the public know nothing of ail that.” “Just so, sir—all they know is that you, in sheer deviltry, took your chances against one of the two best swordmen in Valeria; that you won, demonstrated your skill, but it didn’t disprove the recklessness.” “I did not intend it that way, Moore; I assure you I had no idea of bringing on a light that night at the Vierle Masque, when I went over to him and the Spen cer woman.” A broad grin overspread the Irishman’s handsome face. “You couldn’t make a.single officer believe it,” be said; “and seriously, sir, I wouldn’t try. It is just such a thing as your great ancestor would have done, and it has caught the youngsters as nothing else ever could; they .swear by you—only last night, I heard a dozen of them toast you uproariously as the next king.” Which brings us back to the book and thi^ letter,” Armand remarked; “shall we take an es cort ? ’ ’ “I’m a rather incompetent ad viser, you think; but th/ very provision that you need not go alone, may be a trap to lull sus picion and bring you there with only an aide or an orderly. If the letter is honest, it will be no harm to go well attended; if it isn’t honest, you will lose noth lug, and th f »s:ort may be vcr). useful.” “You are becoming a very Fa bins in discretion,” the arehdukt smiled; “and Ave Avill take the cseortJ’ He considered a mom ent. “Or, rather, Ave Avill have it on hand for need. I’ll see to it that a troop of lancers shall be passing the inn a little before 4 o’clock, and halt there, Avhile their captain discusses the weath er Avith the landlord. A>id Ave Avill ride up with a great show of confidence or contempt, whichever Avay the One Who Knows may vieAv it.” “Shall I tell her .highness of the letter, and your purpose?” Moore asked. “Not on your life, man! She would send a brigade Avith us, even if she didn’t forbid our go ing. I’ll get you leave for the afternoon—and not a Avord to Bernheim, either; he Avonld have nervous prostration, and load me doAvn Avith a suit of plate mail and a battle axe. You and I Avdll just have this little adventure on the side.” He got up. “I tell you what it is, Moore, the pair of us could make a brisk fight of it if we had to—hey, man?” The Irishman laughed joy ously. “And may we have to, >iir!’( he cried; ‘‘may wre have to!*'—and made as though he were sending home a finishing thrust. The archduke shook his head. ‘‘There can’t be any doubt of it; you would have a most danger ous influence over me; it is well you’re with the regent. But for this aftejnoon, I suggest that you select your favorite sword, and see that it doesn’t drag in the scrabbard—and half-after-two at the Titian gate.” Moore paused at the door. “Of course,” said he, ‘‘your highness will wear the steel vest.” ‘‘I’ll wear it,” was the an swer; and'the colonel went out, wondering at the ready acquies cence, where he had anticipated a curt refusal. Before he had crossed the ante-room, the arch duke called him. ‘‘I saw you were surprised,” said he. “I had a little adven ture the other night that you don’t know about. Sit down a minute, and I’ll toll you of Bern heim’s and my visit to the De Satire house at 2 in the morn ing.” .... ‘‘I always said Bernheim was the man for a close pinch,” Moore remarked, at the end, “but he is even better than I im agined. “The chest is simply de licious.” He paused, in sudden thought. “And, now, I reckon I understand why Count Bigler has his ear done up in surgeon’s plas ter. I noticed it at the club yes terday, and heard him explain it as a ‘sore’. Tomorrow, I’ll ask him if he caught the ‘sore’ in the DeSaure house.” “And don’t tell Bernheim,” said Arinand; “if he knows he had such a good chance at Bigler, and then missed him, it will make him miserable for da vs. ” Days! it will sour him for life. -Next to the duke of Lotzen, the colonel hates Bigler most.” When Moore had gone, the archduke took up the letter and envelope and again examined them; looked for a water mark —there was none; went over the writiug-«-maii's or woman’s he could not decide; postmarked at the main office in Dornlitz at 10 p. m. of yesterday; noi a scintilla any place to indicate the origin. Well, it did not ynatter; ho would accept the offer; and there was an end of it, now—the solution could come this afternoon at 4. So he put up the letter, and pushed the button for his secre tary, quite forgetting to tele phone the princess as to borrow ing her adjutant. Then,, after a while, she, herself, called- him; and as they finished their talk, the bell sounded the first stroke of nohn. m arose, and hooking the frogs of lps dark green jacket, the gold braid of his marshal’s in signia heavy on the sleeve, he went over to the large window, and raising the sash stood in full view of the avenue. kt was the hour when it was busiest; on the side walks a push ing, hurrying, good natured crowd, at their mid-day recre ation; in the roadway, a tangled mass of vehicles, not of the so [ciety folk, they came three hours later, but the wagons, and drays and vans of trade and traf fic. He recognized an occasional face in the throng, usually kome officer hurrying to headquarters for the reception he always held for half an hour at noon. To day it would have to start five minutes late. _ (To be Continued Next Week.) Prance may yet come to nie the Ruhr. In the Majority. The pessimist looks regretfully back; the optimist looks joyfully for ward ; the ordinary mortal Just groans and smiles through today.—Boston Transcript Important to Mothers Examine carefully every bottle of CASTORIA, that famous old remedy for Infants and children, and see that It Bears the Signature of In Use for Over 30 Years. Children Cry for Fletcher’s Castoria A few days later the average man begins to boast of the good deed he did by mistake. A careful skipper never has much trouble on the sea of matrimony. “FLU'' Prevent the “FLU” and GRIPPE by stopping Coughs and Colds WITH FOLEY’S « mm Ettmbliihtd UTS Largest selling cough medicine in the World t *. ' ' >J ' <N SAY “BAYER” when you buy. Insist! Unless you see the “Bayer Cross” on tablets, you are not getting the genuine Bayer product prescribed by physicians over 23 years and proved safe by millions for; Colds Headache Toothache Rheumatism Neuritis Lumbago Neuralgia Pain, Pain Accept only “Bayer” package which contains proper directions. Handy “Bayer" boxes of 12 tablets—Also bottles of 24 and 100—Druggists. Aspirin is tbe trade mark o f Bayer Manufacture of MunoacetlcacideSter of Salleyllcacld. Saves Need Buying a New Skirt Putnam Fadeless Dyes—dyes or tints as you wish Hands Tied. The Woman heard a long, nn end- I lessly long sermon In n small country town where she was visiting upon a recent Sunday. When it seemsrf as rr.avigh the minis ter were about to stop'he would beam upon the congregation, saying: “Now you will forgive me if I say a few words about this.” • And so it went on and on, while from time to time he assumed that be would be forgiven for ids long and (in his own opinion) enlightening talk. But what could anyone do? Just sit Still and let the minister believe that his assumption was correct!—New York Sun. Canters. Bishop Leonard of San Francisco was condemning cant. "Cant Is a curse,” he said. “Yet we are all canters more or less. “ ‘It says here,’ said a housewife, looking up from her evening paper ‘that James Adderly Anderson de clared last night in an address that poverty Is a blessing, the poor are to be envied, and wealth is accursed.’ “Gee,’ said her husband, rather enviously, ‘I didn’t know old Ander son was as rich ns that.’ ” Awful! Bluebelle Is spending some time with her unde, who has n plantation in the far South. Bluebelle is a sensitive^, dower. It really distressed her when her udcle made disparaging Remarks about the goldenrod. But later her mother found her weeping audibly. “What’s the matter now? Has your uncle called the goldenrod a weed again?” she asked. “W-w-worse than that,” was the tear ful reply. "Just because it disturbed his n-n-nap—” “Well?” “He called the mocking bird a v-v varmint.”—Chicago News. The Baron's Spirit. Samuel Gompers said at Atlantic City: “Coal is too dear. There is no doubt about It. The coal barons have no mercy on us. “I heard the other day about an inventor who went to a coal barOT and said: “ ‘I have struck a marvelous inven tion, sir—an imitation coal that can be sold at half price.’ “ ‘Bosh!’ sneered the coal baron, •Haven’t we got one already that wa sell at full price?’ ” VARIETY in foods is essential, of course, but in providing variety do not overlook the importance of nourishment. . Crisp, delicious Grape-Nuts is a highly nourish ing cereal food in unusually compact form. It supplies the rich nutrition of wheat and malted barley, including the mineral elements of these splendid grains,without which health andstrength cannot be maintained. Grape-Nuts,with good milk, is a complete food. Economical, too, because a moderate amount provides unusual nourishment. Sold by Grocers Everywhere/ Grape=Nuts THE BODY BUILDER “There’s a Reason99 Made by Poatum Cereal Company, Iaa. t Battle Creek, Michigan ,