The Argosy, March 1907 — page 139: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Be Ne NN ne ge ee agen Mee Yr eS “What shall we do with him?” asked the princess of the premier. “Our course is plain,’ replied the baron grimly. ‘To avert a terrible scandal there is only one thing for us to do. The king must be found dead to-morrow. He must die suddenly—of heart failure.” ‘““No—no,” cried Gaspard, in terror. “Don’t kill me—don’t kill me. I am not fit to die. Have mercy on me!”’ The princess shuddered. “Ts this absolutely necessary, baron? ’’ she whispered. “It is,” answered the premier grave- ly. “ His life is forfeit in any case. He is the son of a Nordinian, and there- fore, by the laws of our country, guilty of treason, which is, as you know, pun- ishable by death—death on the gallows. The wretch must choose between that sort of death or an end by which he can make partial reparation to his country for the wrong he has done. He can take his choice.” — CHAPTER XXIV. HOW IT TURNED OUT. Wuart followed is more or less a mat- ter of newspaper history. His majesty, King Carl Richard of Nordinia, was found dead in his royal bed next morning, and Baron Zilla, sur- geon to the king, pronounced the death due to heart failure. The whole country was unutterably shocked, and the world sympathized. Messages .of condolence poured in from every country. Baron Zagart, the aged premier, announced the death of his sovereign in the lower chamber of the Nordinian Parliament. There were tears in the old man’s eyes, and his voice broke several times, as he spoke of the great loss his country had sustained and of the splendid quali- ties and numerous virtues of the dead king. His panegyric was so eloquent that most of his hearers were in tears before he had proceeded far. The people of Nordinia were anxious to look upon the features of their dead monarch—a last farewell look as is the usual custom in such cases. But this privilege was denied them. The funeral arrangements were somewhat hurried. _KING OR COUNTERFEIT? | 7 This occasioned some comment and quite a little criticism. . The people of Nordinia felt that they had been cheated of their rights, and also that scant respect had been shown their. sovereign. Ensign Robert Willis to this day de- clares that there was good reason for this unseemly haste on.the part of the Nordinian authorities. He affirms that he is positive that the man who was buried in royal state was not the King of Nordinia, nor even the impostor who had called himself the King of Nor- dinia and usurped the throne. His theory is that the aged Premier Zagart, not wishing to commit crime of murder, and at the same time being anxious above all things to avert a scandal, availed himself of a subter- fuge by no means unknown in history, and caused the body of an unknown pauper to be interred in the royal mau- soleum, while the late counterfeit king -was allowed to leave the country in disguise. Of course, this is only a theory on the part of Ensign Willis; but Willis’s theories are listened to more politely now, even by Ensign Richard Cales. While the government of Nordinia has never admitted to anybody that it was buncoed out of its throne, Ensign Willis had the satisfaction of receiving a visit from no less eminent a personage than Baron Zagart, who begged him to accept the sum of ten thousand dol- lars as a slight token of friendship and admiration, and requested him kindly to do his best to forget a certain wild story about a fakir on a throne. Willis gave his promise never to re- peat what he knew on that subject to anybody. The ensign fully recovered from his sad mental condition after his fatal struggle with the villainous Frenchman, - Duval... By the testimony of Baron Zilla, the eminent surgeon, to the effect that the American was insane when he attacked Duval (which was undoubtedly the case), Willis was able to get off scot free. It is also a pleasure to record that on account of secret representations made to Washington by the government of Nordinia, Willis also escaped punish- ment for his wilful violation of naval rules and his defiance of his admiral. | Gomicbooks-co: 711 : the . im me oa ~~