Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 103, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 March 1916 — THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK

By GEORGE BARR M’CUTCHEON

SYNOPSIS

Mr. Blithers, multimillionaire, discussed with his wife the possibilities of marrying off his daughter, Maud Applegate, to the Prince of Graustark, who is visiting Mr. and airs. Truxton King In America in anticipation of getting some one to take up the loan Russia holds. A Mr. Scovllle is attentive to Maud.

Prince Robin is accompanied by Count Quinnox, minister of war; Lieutenant Dank and Hobbs, the valeL The prince had balked at a matrimonial alliance with the Princess of Dawsbergen, both of them wishing to choose for themselves. Mr. Blithers visits the Kings uninvited. Mr. Blithers discusses the Russian loan and gently hints at $20,000,000 his daughter will get when she marries the right man. Banners suddenly refuse to handle tne loan. Count Quinnox and King arrange a meeting with Blithers. King suspects him of blocking the deal. •

CHAPTER Prince Robin Is Asked to Stand Up. W ATE the same evening Prince 1 Robin, at Red Hoof, received a N long distance telephone communication from New York city The count was on the wire. Lie ini parted the rather startling news that William W. Blithers had volunteered to take care of the loan out of his own private means. Robin was jubilant. The thought had not entered his mind that there could be anything sinister in this amazing proposition of the great financier. If Count Quinnox himself suspected Mr. Blithers of an ulterior motive the suspicion was rendered doubtful by the evidence of sincerity on the part of the capitalist, who professed no sentiment in the matter, but insisted on the most complete indemnification by the Graustark government. Even King was impressed by the absolute fairness of the proposition. Mr. Blithers demanded no more than the banks were asking in the shape of indemnity—a first lien mortgage for twelve years on all properties owned and controlled by the government and the deposit of all bonds held by the people with the understanding that the interest would be paid to them regularly, less a small per cent as commission. His protection would be complete, for the people of Graustark owned fully four-fifths of the bonds issued by the government for the construction of public service institutions. These by consent of Mr. Blithers were to be limited to three utilities —railroads, telegrafih and canals. These properties, as Mr. Blithers was by way of knowing, were absolutely sound and self supporting. Robin inquired whether he was to Come to New York at once in relation to the matter and was informed that it would v 4iot be necessary at present Mr. Blithers, however, would give himself the pleasure of calling upon the prince at Red Roof later In the week, when the situation could be discussed over a dish of tea or a cup of lemonade. That is precisely the way Mr. Blithers put it.

The next afternoon Mrs. Blithers left cards at Red Roof—or, rather, the footman left them—and on the day following the Kings and their guests received Invitations to a ball at Blitherwood on the ensuing Friday, but four days off. While Mrs. King and the two young men vrere discussing the invitation the former was called to the telephone. Mrs. Blithers herself was speaking. “I hope you will pardon me for calling you up. Mrs. King, but I Wanted to be sure that you can come on the 17th. We want so much to have the prince and his friends with us. Mr. Blithers has taken a great fancy to Prince Robin and Count Quinnox, and be declares the whole affair will be a fiasco if they are not to be here.” “It Is good of you to ask us, Mrs. Blithers. The prince is planning to leave for Washington and I fear”— “Oh, yon must prevail upon him to remain over, my dear Mrs. King. We are to have a lot of people up from Newport and Tuxedo—you know the crowd—it’s the real crowd, and I’m sure he will enjoy meeting them. Mr. Blithers has arranged for a special train to bring them up—a train de luxe, you may be sure, both as to equipment and occupant Zabo’s orchestra, too. A notion seized us last night to give the ball, which accounts for the short notice. It’s the way we do everything—on a minute’s’ notice. “Of course we shall Insist on the prince receiving with us. He is our piece de resistance. You”— “I’m sure It will be awfully Jolly, Mrs. Blithers. What did you say?” “I beg pardon?” “I’m sorry. I was speaking to the prince. He Just called upstairs to me.” “What does he say?” “It was really nothing. He was asking about Hobbs.” “Hobbs? Tell him, please, that if he has any friends he would like to have Invited we shall be only too proud to”—

“Oh, thank you! I’ll tell him.” “Well, perhaps Maud and I may run In and see you for a few minutes tomorrow or next day, just to talk things over a little—what’s that, Maud? I beg your pardon, Mrs. King. Ahem! Well, I’ll call you up tomorrow, If you don’t mind being bothered about a silly old ball. Goodby.” Mrs. King confronted Robin in the lower hall a few seconds later and roundly berated him for shouting up the steps that Hobbs ought to be invited to the ball. Prince Robin rolled on a couch and roared with delight. Lieutenant Dank, as became an officer of the Royal guafd, stood at attention—in the bow window with his back to the room, very reel about the ears and rigid to the bursting point. “I suppose, however, we’ll have to keep on the good side of the Blithers syndicate,” said Robin soberly, after his mirth had subsided before her. wrath. “Good Lord, Aunt Loraine, I simply cannot go up there and stand in line like a freak in a side show for all the ladies and girls to gape at. I’ll get sick the day of the party, that’s what I’ll do, and you can tell ’em how desolated I am over my misfortune.” “They’ve got their eyes on you, Bobby.” she said flatly. / “You can’t escape so easily as all that. If you’re not very, very careful they’ll have you married to the charming Miss Maud before you can say Jack Rabbit.” “Think so? Is she good looking?” “Well, I would consider her to be a very good looking girl.” “Blonde?” “Mixed. Light brown hair and very dark eyes and lashes. A little taller than I, more graceful and a splendid horsewoman. I’ve seen her riding.” “Astride?” “No, I’ve seen her in a ball gown

too. Most men think she’s stunning." "Well, let’s have a game of billiards," said he, dismissing Maud in a way that would have caused the proud Mr. Blithers to reel with indignation. A little later on, at the billiard table, Mrs. King remarked, apropos of nothing and quite out of a clear sky, so to speak:

“And she’ll do anything her parents command her to do; that’s the worst of it. If they order her to marry a title she’ll do it. That’s the way she’s been brought up, I’m afraid.” The next day Count Quinnox and King returned from the city, coming up in a private car with Mr. Blithers himself. “I’ll h*ive Maud drive me over this afternoon,” said Mr. Blithers as they parted at the station. But Maud did not drive him over that afternoon. The pride, joy and hope of the Blithers family flatly refused to be a party to any such arrangement and set out for & horseback ride in a direction that took her as far away from Red Roof as possible.

“What’s come over the girl?” demanded Mr. Blithers, completely nonplussed. “She’s never acted like this before, Lou.” - “Some silly notion about being made a laughing stock, I gather,” said his wife. “Heaven knows I’ve talked to her till I’m utterly worn out. She says she won’t be bullied into even meeting the prince, much less marrying him. I’ve never known her to be so pigheaded. Usually I can make her see things in a sensible way. She would have married the duke, I’m sure, if—if you hadn’t put a stop to it on account of his so called habits. She”— “Well, it’s turned out for the best, hasn’t it? Isn’t a prince better than a duke?” * ' -• “You’ve said all that before, Will. I wanted her to run down yrith me this morning to talk the ball over with Mrs. King. And what do you think happened?” “She wouldn’t go?” “Worse than that. She wouldn’t let me go. Now, things are coming to a pretty pass when”— “Never mind. I’ll talk to her,” said Mr. Blithers somewhat bleakly despite his confident front "She loves her old dad. I can do anything at all with her.” “She’a on a frightfully high horse lately,” sighed Mrs. Blithers fretfully. “It—it can’t be that young Scovllle, can ltr

"If I thought It was I’d —I’d"— There Is no telling what Mr. Blithers would have done to young Scoviile at the moment, for ho couldn’t think of anything dire enough to inflict upon the suspected meddler. “In any event it’s dreadfully upsetting to me. Will. She—she won’t listen to anything. And here’s something else—she declares she won’t stay here for the ball on Friday night." Mr. Blithers had her repeat it and then almost missed the chair in sitting down, he was so precipitous about it. “Won’t stay for her own ball?” he bellowed. “She says it isn’t her ball,” lamented his wife. “If it isn’t hers, in the name of sense whose is it?” “Ask her, not me,” flared Mrs. Blithers. “And don’t glare at me like that.” “See here, Lou, I've got things fixed so that the Prince of Groostuck can’t very well do anything but ask Maud to”— “That’s Just it!” she exclaimed. “Maud sees through the whole arrangement, Will. She said last night that she wouldn’t be at all surprised if you offered to assume Graustark’s debt to Russia in order to”— “That’s just what I’ve done, old girl," said he in triumph, "I'll have ’em sewed up so tight by next week that they can’t move without asking me to loosen the strings. And you can tell Maud once more for me that I’ll get this prince for her if” — “But she doesn’t want him!” “She doesn’t know what she wants!” he roared. “Where is she going on the day of £ne ball?” “To New York.”

“By gad, I’ll—l’ll see about that," he grated. “I’ll see that she doesn’t leave the grounds If I have to put guards at every gate. She’B got to be reasonable. What does she think I’m putting sixteen millions into the Grasstork treasury for? She's got to stay here for the ball. Why, it would be a crime for her to—but what’s the use of talking ft? She’ll bo here, and she’ll lead the grand march with the prince. I’ve got it all” “Well, you’ll have to talk to her, I’ve done all that I can do. She swears she won’t marry a man she’s never seen.”

In order to get on with the narrative, I shall be as brief as possible in the matter of the Blitherwood ball. In the first place, mere words would prove to be not only feeble, but actually out of place. Any attempt to define the sensation of awe by recourse to a dictionary would put one in the ridiculous position of seeking the unattainable. The word has its meaning, of-course, but the sensation itself is quite another thing. As every one who attended the ball was filled with awe, which ho tried to put forward as admiration, the attitude of the guest was no more limp than that of the chronicler. In the second place, I am not qualified by experience or imagination to describe a ball that stood its promoter not a penny short of one hundred thousand dollars. I believe I could go as high as'a fifteen or even twenty thousand dollar affair with some’ sort of intelligence, but anything beyond those figures renders me void and useless.

Mr. Blithers not only ran a special train de luxe from New York city, but another from Washington and still another from Newport, for It appears that the Netvporters at the last minute couldn’t bear the idea of going to the metropolis out of season. He actually had to take them around the city in such a way that they were not even obliged to submit to a glimpse of the remotest outskirts of the Bronx. -

From Washington came an amazing company of foreign ladles and gentlemen, ranging from the most exalted Europeans to the lowliest of the yellow races. They came with gold all over them; they tinkled with the clash of a million cymbals. The president of the United States almost came. Having no spangles of his own, he delegated a major general and a rear admiral to represent Old Glory, and no doubt sulked In the White House because a parsimonious nation refuses to buy braid and buttons for its chief executive.

In order to deliver his guests at the doors of Blitherwood, so to speak, the incomprehensible Mr. Blithers had a temporary spur of track laid from the station two miles away, employing no fewer than a thousand men to do the work In forty-eight hours. Work on a terminal extension in New York was delayed for a week or more in order that ho might borrow the rails, ties and work trains. Two hundred and fifty precious and skillfully selected guests ate two hundred and fifty gargantuan dinners and twice as many suppers; drank barrels of the rarest of wines; smoked countless two dollar pcrfectos and stuffed their poekets with enough to last them for days to come. A great many mothers Inspected Prince Robin with interest and confessed to a really genuine enthusiasm. The ruler of Graustark (fourfifths of the guests asked where la the world It was!) was the Hon of the day. Mr. Blithers was annoyed because ho did not wear his crown, but was somewhat mollified by the information that lie had neglected to bring it along with him in his travels.

Exercising a potentate’s prerogative, Prince Robin left the scene of festivity somewhat earlier than was expected. As a matter of fact, he departed shortly after 1. Moreover, being a prince, it did not occur to him to offer any excuse for leaving so early, but gracefully thanked his host and hostess and took himself off without the customary assertion that he had had a splendid time. Strange to say, he did not offer a single comment on the sumptuousness of the affair that had been given in his honor. Mr. Blithers couldn’t get over that.

Except for one heartrending incident, the Blitherwood ball was the most satisfying event in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. William W. Blithers. That incident, however, happened to be the hasty and well managed flight of Maud Applegate Blithers at an hour Indefinitely placed somewhere between 4 and 7 o’clock on the momng of the great day.

Miss Blithers was not at the ball. She was in New York city serenely enjoying one of the big summer shows, accompanied by young Scoville and her one time governess, a middle aged gentlewoman who had seen even better days than those spent in the employ of William W. Blithers. The resolute young lady had done precisely what she said she would do, and for the first time in his life Mr. Blithers realized that his daughter was a creation and not a mere condition. He wilted like a famished water lily and went about the place in a state of bewilderment so bleak that even his wife felt sorry for him and refrained from the “I told you so” that might have been expected under the circumstances. Maud’s telegram, which came at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, was meant to be reassuring, but it failed of its purpose. It said: “Have a good time and don’t lose any sleep over me. I shall sleep very soundly myself at the Butz tonight and hope you will be doing the'same when I return home tomorrow afternoon, for

I know you will be dreadfully tired after all the excitement. Convey my congratulations to the guest of honor md believe me to bi> your devoted and ibedient daifghter” (To be continued.)

The Ruler of Graustark Was the Lion of the Day.