The Puppet Crown | Page 7

could claim his unreserved
admiration, it was the Princess Alexia. She never talked nonsense to
him in their rambles together, but treated him as he should be treated,
as an animal of enlightenment.
"And here is Bull," said the princess, tickling the dog's nose with a
scarlet geranium.
"Your Highness thinks a deal of Bull?" said the dog's master.
"Yes, Monsieur, he doesn't bark, and he seems to understand all I say to
him."
The dog looked up at his master as if to say: "There now, what do you
think of that?"
"To-morrow I am going away," said the diplomat, "and as I can not
very well take Bull with me, I give him to you."
The girl's eyes sparkled. "Thank you, Monsieur, shall I take him now?"
"No, but when I leave your father. You see, he was sent to me by my
son who is in India. I wish to keep him near me as long as possible. My
son, your Highness, was a bad fellow. He ran away and joined the army
against my wishes, and somehow we have never got together again.
Still, I've a sneaking regard for him, and I believe he hasn't lost all his
filial devotion. Bull is, in a way, a connecting link."
The king turned again to the gravel pictures. These Englishmen were

beyond him in the matter of analysis. Her Royal Highness smiled
vaguely, and wondered what this son was like. Once more she smiled,
then moved away toward the palace. The dog, seeing that she did not
beckon, lay down again. An interval of silence followed her departure.
The thought of the Englishman had traveled to India, the thought of the
king to Osia, where the girl's mother slept. The former was first to
rouse.
"Well, Sire, let us come to the business at hand, the subject of my last
informal audience. It is true, then, that the consols for the loan of five
millions of crowns are issued to-day, or have been, since the morning is
passed?"
"Yes, it is true. I am well pleased. Jacobi and Brother have agreed to
place them at face value. I intend to lay out a park for the public at the
foot of the lake. That will demolish two millions and a half. The
remainder is to be used in city improvements and the reconstruction of
the apartments in the palace, which are too small. If only you knew
what a pleasure this affords me! I wish to make my good city of
Bleiberg a thing of beauty --parks, fountains, broad and well paved
streets."
"The Diet was unanimous in regard to this loan?"
"In fact they suggested it, and I was much in favor."
"You have many friends there, then?"
"Friends?" The king's face grew puzzled, and its animation faded away.
"None that I know. This is positively the first time we ever agreed
about anything."
"And did not that strike you as rather singular?"
"Why, no."
"Of course, the people are enthusiastic, considering the old rate of
taxation will be renewed?" The diplomat reached over and pulled the

dog's ears.
"So far as I can see," answered the king, who could make nothing of
this interrogatory.
"Which, if your Majesty will pardon me, is not very far beyond your
books."
"I have ministers."
"Who can see farther than your Majesty has any idea."
"Come, come, my friend," cried the king good-naturedly; "but a
moment gone you were chiding me because I did nothing. I may not fill
my coffers as you suggested, but I shall please my eye, which is
something. Come; you have something to tell me."
"Will your Majesty listen?"
"I promise."
"And to hear?"
"I promise not only to listen, but to hear," laughing; "not only to hear,
but to think. Is that sufficient?"
"For three years," began the Englishman, "I have been England's
representative here. As a representative I could not meddle with your
affairs, though it was possible to observe them. To-day I am an
unfettered agent of self, and with your permission I shall talk to you as
I have never talked before and never shall again."
The diplomat rose from his seat and walked up and down the path, his
hands clasped behind his back, his chin in his collar. The bulldog
yawned, stretched himself, and followed his master, soberly and
thoughtfully. After a while the Englishman returned to his chair and sat
down. The dog gravely imitated him. He understood, perhaps better
than the king, his master's mood. This pacing backward and forward
was always the forerunner of something of great importance.

During the past year he had been the repository of many a secret. Well,
he knew how to keep one. Did not he carry a secret which his master
would have