article would give us a European reputation. When could you be ready to
begin your journey, Miss Baxter?"

"I am ready now."

"Well, in an affair like this it is best to lose no time; you can go
to-morrow morning, then?"

"Oh, certainly, but I must leave the office at once, and you should get
someone to finish the work I am on."

"I will attend to that," said the editor.

Thus relieved, Jennie betook herself to a telegraph office. She knew
that if she wrote a letter to the Princess, who was now in Vienna, she
would probably herself reach that city as soon as her note, so she
telegraphed that something important was on hand which would take her to
Vienna by next day's Orient express, and intimated that it was a matter
in which she might need the assistance of the Princess. Then she
hastened to her rooms to pack up. That evening there came an answering
telegram from Vienna. The Princess asked her to bring her ball dress and
all the rest of her finery. The lady added that she herself would be at
the railway station, and asked Jennie to telegraph to her, _en route_,
the time of her arrival. It was evident that her Highness was quite
prepared to engage in whatever scheme there was on hand, and this fact
encouraged Jennie to hope that success perhaps awaited her.

CHAPTER XII. JENNIE TOUCHES THE EDGE OF A GOVERNMENT SECRET.

True to her promise, the Princess von Steinheimer was waiting at the
immense railway station of Vienna, and she received her friend with
gushing effusion. Jennie left the train as neat as when she had entered
it, for many women have the faculty of taking long journeys without
showing the dishevelled effect which protracted railway travelling seems
to have upon the masculine, and probably more careless, portion of
humanity.

"Oh, you dear girl!" cried the Princess; "you cannot tell how glad I am
to see you. I was just yearning for someone to talk English to. I am so
tired of French and German, although they flatter me by saying that I
speak those two languages extremely well; yet English is my own tongue,
and it is so delightful to talk with one who can understand every
blessed word you say, which you can easily see those who pretend to
speak English in Vienna do not. What long chats we shall have! And now
come this way to the carriage. There is a man here to look after your
luggage. You are coming right home with me and are going to stay with me
as long as you are in Vienna. Don't say,