Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 104, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 March 1916 — THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE PRINCE OF GRAUSTARK

By GEORGE BARR M’CUTCHEON

Author of “Graustark,” ••Beverly of Graustark,” Etc. Copyright, 1914, by Dodd, Mead and Company

SYNOPSIS Mr. Blithers, multimillionaire, discusses With his wife the possibilities of marrying •ff his daughter, Maud Applegate, to the Prince of Graustark, who is visiting Mr and Mrs. Truxton King in America in anticipation of getting some one to take up the loan Russia holda A Mr. Scoville is attentive to Maud. Prince Robin is accompanied by Count Qulnnox, minister of war; Lieutenant Dank and Hobbs, the valet. The prince had balked at a matrimonial alliance with the Princess of Dawsbergen, both of them •fishing to choose for themselves. Mr. Blithers visits the Kings uninvited. Mr. Blithers discusses the Russian loan and gently hints al $20,000,000 his daughter will get 'when she marries the right man. Banners suddenly refuse to handle me loan. Count Quinnox and King arrange a meeting with Blithers. King suspects him of blocking the deal. CHAPTER VI. The Prince and Mr. Blithers. ANY one who imagines that Mr. Blithers accepted Maud’s defection as a final disposition of the cause he had set his heart upon is very much mistaken in his man. It was a nuisance getting rid of it, that was all, and he wanted it to be completely out of sight when he returned from Red Roof. If a vestige of the ruins remained some would hear from him. That was understood. And when Maud came home on the 5:14 she would not find him asleep, not by a long shot Half way to Red Roof he espied a man walking briskly along the road ahead of him. To be perfectly accurate, he was walking in the middle of the road, and his back was toward the swift moving, almost noiseless Packard. “Blow the horn for the dam’ fool,” said Mr. Blithers to the chauffeur. A moment later the pedestrian leaped nimbly aside and the car shot past, the dying wail of the siren dwindling away in the whirr of the wheels. “Look where you’re going!” shouted Mr. Blithers from the tonneau, as if the walker had come near to run-

ning mm down instead of tne other way around. “Whoa! Stop 'er. Jackson ! ” he called to the driver. He had recognized the pedestrian. The car came to a stop with grinding brakes, and at the same time the pedestrian halted a hundred yards away. “Back up,” commanded Mr. Blithers in some haste, for the prince seemed to be on the point of deserting the highway for the wood that lined it. “Morning, prince!” he shouted, waving his hat vigorously. “Want a lift?" “No, I’ll walk if you don’t mind. Out for a bit of exercise, you know. Thank you just the same.” “Where are you bound for?” asked Mr. Blithers. “I don’t know. I ramble where my fancy leads me.” “I guess I’ll get out and stroll along with you. God knows I need more exercise than I get. Is it agreeable?” He was on the ground by this time. Without waiting for an answer, he directed Jackson to run on to Red Roof and wait for him. “I shall be charmed,” said Robin, a twinkle in the tail of his eye. “An eight or ten mile jaunt will do you a world of good, I’m sure. Shall we explore this little road up the mountain and then drop down to Red Roof? 1 don’t believe it can be more than five or six miles.” “Capital,” said Mr. Blithers with enthusiasm. He happened to know that it was a “short cut” to Red Roof and less than a mile as the crow flies. True, there was something of an ascent ahead of them, but there was also a corresponding descent at the other end. Besides, he was confident he could keep up with the long legged youngster by the paradoxical process of holding back. The prince, having suggested the route, couldn’t very well be arbitrary in traversing it. Mr. Blithers regarded the suggestion as an Invitation. They struck off into the narrow woodland road, not precisely side by side, but somewhat after the fashion of a horseback rider and his groom, or, more strictly speaking, as a knight and his vassal. Robin started off so briskly that Mr. Blithers fell behind a few paces and had to exert himself considerably to keep from losing more ground as they took the first steep rise. The road was full of ruts and cross ruts and littered with bowlders that had ambled down the mountain side in the spring moving. To save his life, Mr. Blithers couldn’t keep to a straight course. He went from rut to rut and from rock to rock with the fidelity of a magnetized atom, seldom putting his foot where he meant to put it and never by any chance achieving a steady stride. He would take one long, purposeful step and then a couple of short “feelers,” progressing very much as a man tramps over a newly plowed field. At the top of the rise Robin considerately slackened his pace, and the chubby gentleman drew alongside somewhat out of breath, but as cheerful as a cricket-

“Going too fast for you, Mr. Blithers?” inquired Robin. “Not at all,” said Mr. Blithers. “By the way, prince,” he went on, cunningly seizing the young man’s arm and thereby putting a check on his speed for the time being at least, “I want to explain my daughter’s unfortunate absence last night. You must have thought it very strange. Naturally it was unavoidable. The poor girl is really quite heartbroken. 1 was particularly anxious for you and Maud to meet under the conditions that obtained last night.” he went on, with a regretful look at the log they were passing. “Nothing could have been more —er—ripping.” “I hear from every one that your daughter is most attractive.” said Robin. “Sorry not to have met her, Mr. Blithers.” “Oh, you’ll meet her all right, prince. She’s coming home today, I believe Mrs. Blithers is expecting you to din ner tonight. She”— “I’m sure there must be some mistake,” began Robin, but was cut short. “I was on my way to Red Roof to ask jtiu and Count Quiddux to give us this evening in connection with that little affair we are arranging. It is most imperative that it should be tonight, as my attorney is coming up for the conference.” There was a note in his voice that Robin did not like. It savored of arrogance. ‘1 daresay Count Quinnox can attend to all the details, Mr. Blithers. I have the power of veto, of course, but 1 shall be guided by the counsel of my ministers. You need have no hesitancy in dealing with” — “That’s not the point, prince. 1 am a business man—as perhaps you know. I make it a point never to deal with any one except the head.ofa concern, if you’ll pardon my way of putting it It isn’t right to speak of Growstock as a concern, but you’ll understand, of course. Figure of speech.” “I can only assure you, sir, that Graustark is in a position to indemnify you against any possible chance of loss. You will be amply secured. I take it that you are not coming to our assistance through any desire to be philanthropic, but as a business proposition, pure and simple. At least that is how we regard the matter. Am I not right?” “Perfectly,” said Mr. Blithers. “I haven’t got sixteen millions to throw away. Still I don’t see that that has anything to do with my request that you be present at the conference tonight. To be perfectly frank with you, I don’t like working in the dark. You have the power of veto, as you

say. Well, if I am to lend Groostork a good many millions of hard earned dollars I certainly don’t relish the idea that you may take it into your head to upset the whole transaction merely because you have not had the matter presented to you by me instead of by your cabinet, competent as its members may be. First hand information on any subject is my notion of simplicity.” “The integrity of the cabinet is not to be questioned, Mr. Blithers. Its members have never failed Graustark in any”— “I beg your pardon, prince,” said Mr. Blithers firmly, “but I certainly suspect that they failed her when they contracted this debt to Russia. ..You will forgive me for saying it, but it was the most asinine bit of shortsightedness I’ve ever heard of. My office boys could have seen farther than >our honorable ministers. What you need in Groostock is a little more good American blood. If you are going to cope with the world you've got to tackle the job with brains and not with that Idiotic thing called faith. There’s no such thing these days as charity among men. good will and all that nonsense. Now, you’ve got a splendid start in the right direction, prince. You’ve got American blood in your veins, and that means a good deal. Take my advice and increase the proportion. In a couple of generations you’ll have something to brag about Beget sons that will think and act Weed out the thin blood and give the crown of Grasstick something that is thick and red. It will be the making of your”—

"1 suppose you are sd vising me to marry an American woman, Mr. Blithers,” said Robin dryly. Mr. Blithers directed a calculating squint into the treetops. *'l am simplyj looking ahead for my own protection, prince,” said he. “You may rest assured, Mr. Blithers, that 1 shall marry to please myself and no one else,” said Robin, regarding him with a coldness that for an instant affected the millionaire uncomfortably. ■ < . “Well,” said Mr. Blithers after a moment of hard thinking, “it may interest you to know that 1 married for love.” “It does interest me,” said Robin. “I am glad that you did.” “I was a comparatively poor man when 1 married. The girl I married was well off in her own right. She had brains as well. We worked together to lay the foundation for a—well, for, the fortune we now possess, a fortune, I may add, that is to go, every dollar of it, to my daughter. It represents nearly $500,000,000. The greatest k>ng in the world today is poor in comparison to that vast estate. My 1 daughter will one day be the richest ' woman in. the world.” “Why are you taking the pains to enlighten me as to vour daughter’s future, Mr. Blithers?” “Because 1 regard you a aau&itda young man, prince,” “Thank you. And 1 suppose you regard your daughter as a sensible young woman?” “Certainly!" exploded Mr. Blithers. "Well, it seems to me she will be capable of taking care of her fortune a great deal more successfully than you imagine, Mr. Blithers. She will doubtless marry an excellent chap who has the capacity to increase her fortune rather than to let it stand at a figure that some day may be surpassed by the possession of an ambitious king.” There was fine irony in the prince’s tone, but no trace of offensiveness. I Nevertheless Mr. Blithers turned a ' shade more purple than before and not from the violence of exercise. He was having Some difficulty in controlling his temper. What manner of fool was this fellow who could sneer at $500,000,000? He managed to choke back something that rose to his lips and very politely remarked: “I am sure you will like her, prince. If I do say it myself, she is as handsome as they grow.” “So I have been told.” “You will see her tonight.” “Really, Mr. Blithers, I cannot”— “I'll fix it with Mrs. King. Don’t you worry.” j “May I be pardoned for observing that Mrs. King, greatly as I love her, is not invested with the power to govern my actions?” said Robin haughtily. “And may I be pardoned for suggesting that it is your duty to your people to completely understand this loan of mine before you agree to accept it?” said Mr. Blithers, compressing his lips. “Forgive me, Mr. Blithers, but it is not altogether Improbable that Graustark may secure the money elsewhere.” “It is not only improbable, but impossible,” said Mr. Blithers flatly. “Impossible?” “Absolutely,” said the millionaire, so significantly that Robin would have been a dolt not to grasp the situation. Nothing could have been clearer than the fact that Mr. Blithers believed it to be in his power to block any effort Graustark might make in other directions to secure the much needed money. “Will you come to the point, Mr. Blithers?” said the young prince, stopping abruptly in the middle of the road and facing his companion. “What are you trying to get at?” Mr. Blithers was not long in getting to the point. In the first place, he was hot and tired, and his shoes were hurting; in the second place, he felt that he knew precisely how to handle these money seeking scions of nobility. He planted himself squarely in front of the prince and jammed his hands deep into his coat pockets. “The day my daughter is married to the man of my choice I will hand over to that man exactly twenty million dollars,” he said slowly, impressively. ' 1 “Yes; go on.” “The sole object I have in life Is to see my girl happy and at the same time at the top of the heap. She is worthy of any man’s love. She is as good as gold. She”— “The point is this, then: You would like to have me for a son-in-law.” “Yes,” said Mr. Blithers. Robin grinned. He was amused In spite of himself. “You take it for granted that 1 can be bought?” "I have not made any such statement.” "And how much will you hand over to the man of her choice when she marries him?” inquired the young man. "You will be her choice,” said the other without the quiver of an eyelash. "How can you be sure of that? Has she no mind of her own?” "It isn’t incomprehensible that she should fall in love with you, is it?” “It might be possible, of course, provided she is not already in love with some one else.” Mr. Blithers started. “Have you heard any one say that? But that’s nonsense. She’s not in love with any one, take it from me. And just to show you how fair I am to her —and to you—l’ll stake my head you fall in love with each other before you’ve been together a week.” “It is possible that I could fall in love with her Inside of a week dr even sooner. But I don’t intend to, Mr. Blithers, any more than she intends to fall in love with me. You say that $20,000,000 will go to the man she mar-

ries if he is your choice. Well, I don’t give a hang, sir, if you make it $50,,000,000. 1 am not for side, Mr. Blithers. Good morning.” Robin turned into the wood and was sauntering away with his chin high in the air when Mr. Blithers called out to him from behind: "I shall expect you tonight, just the same.” Robin halted, amazed by the man's assurance. He retraced his. steps to the roadside. "Will you pardon a slight feeling of curiosity on my part, Mr. Blithers, if I ask whether your daughter consents to the arrangement you propose. Does she approve of the scheme?” Mr. Blithers was honest. “No, she doesn’t,” he said succinctly. “At least, not at present. I’ll be honest with you. She stayed away from the ball last night simply because she did not want to meet you. That’s the kind of a girl she is.” “By jove, I take off my hat to her!” cried Rpbin. “She’s a brick, after all. Take it from me, Mr. Blithers, you will not be able to hand over twenty millions without her consent. 1 believe that I should enjoy meeting her, now that I come to think of it. It would be a pleasure to exchange confidences with a girl of that sort. Shall I instruct your chauffeur to come for you up here, or will you walk back to”— "I’ll walk to Red Roof,” said Mr. Blithers doggedly. “I’m going to ask Mrs. King to let you off for tonight.” (To be continued.)

“I shall marry to please myself and no one else,” said Robin.