nsul could do nothing for you then."

"Trust me to keep silent, then." He continued: "I have lived a part of
my life on the great plains; have ridden horses for days and days at a
time. As a deputy sheriff I have arrested desperadoes, have shot and
been shot at. Then I went East and entered a great college; went in
for athletics, and wore my first dress-suit. Then my foster-parent
died, leaving me his fortune. And as I am frugal, possibly because of
my German origin, I have more money than I know what to do with." He
ceased.

"Go on," she urged.

"When the Spanish War broke out I entered a cavalry regiment as a
trooper. I won rank, but surrendered it after the battle of Santiago.
And now there are but two things in the world I desire to complete my
happiness. I want to know who I am."

"And the other thing?"

"The other thing? I can't tell _you_ that!"--hurriedly.

"Ah, I believe I know. You have left some sweetheart back in America."
All her interest In his narrative took a strange and unaccountable
slump.

"No; I have often admired women, but I have left no sweetheart back in
America. If I had I should now feel very uncomfortable."

Somehow she couldn't meet his eyes. She recognized, with vague anger,
that she was glad that he had no sweetheart. Ah, well, nobody could
rob her of her right to dream, and this was a very pleasant dream.

"The train is slowing down," he said suddenly.

"We are approaching the frontier." She shaded her eyes and searched
the speeding blackness outside.

"How far is it to the capital?" he asked.

"It lies two miles beyond the frontier."

Silence fell upon them, and at length the train stopped with a jerk.
In what seemed to them an incredibly short time a guard unlocked the
door.

He peered in.

"Here they are, sure enough, your Excellency!" addressing some one in
the dark beyond.

An officer from the military household of the Prince of Doppelkinn was
instantly framed in the doorway. The girl tried to lower her veil; too
late.

"I am sorry to annoy your Highness," he began, "but the grand duke's
orders are that you shall follow me to the castle. Lieutenant, bring
two men to tie this fellow's hands,"--nodding toward Scharfenstein.

Max stared dumbly at the girl. All the world seemed to have slipped
from under his feet.

"Forgive me!" she said, low but impulsively.

"What does it mean?" His heart was very heavy.

"I am the Princess Hildegarde of Ba