fact,
he was a German by birth--and they had no difficulty in presenting their
request. Mr. Fraasch--Jacob Fraasch--was at first dubious, but their
frank, eager faces soon gained for them his consent to see that part of
the great park open to the public. Beyond certain lines they were not to
trespass. Anguish asked how they could be expected to distinguish these
lines, being unacquainted, and the steward grimly informed them that the
members of the royal guard would establish the lines so plainly that it
would be quite clear.

He then wrote for them a pass to the grounds of the royal palace of
Graustark, affixing his seal. In giving this last to them he found
occasion to say that the princess had instructed him to extend every
courtesy possible to an American citizen. It was then that Anguish asked
if he might be permitted to use his camera. There was an instant and
emphatic refusal, and they were told that the pass would be rescinded
if they did not leave the camera outside the gates. Reluctantly Anguish
deposited his luckless box in the steward's office, and they passed into
the broad avenue which led towards the palace.

A guard, who served also as a guide, stepped to their side before
they had taken ten paces. Where he came from they never knew, so
instantaneous was his appearance. He remained with them during the two
hours spent in the wonderful park.

The palace stood in the northwestern part of the grounds, possibly a
half mile from the base of the mountain. Its front faced the mountain
side. The visitors were not permitted to go closer than a quarter of a
mile from the structure, but attained a position from which it could
be seen in all its massive, ancient splendor. Anguish, who had studied
churches and old structures, painted the castles on the Rhine, and was
something of a connoisseur in architecture, was of the opinion that
it had been standing for more than five hundred years. It was a vast,
mediaeval mass of stone, covered with moss and ivy, with towers, turrets
and battlements. There had been a moat in bygone days, but modern ideas
had transformed the waterway into solid, level ground. This they learned
afterwards. Broad avenues approached in several directions, the castle
standing at the far side of a wide circle or parade ground. The open
space before the balconies was fully three hundred yards square, and was
paved. From each side stretched the velvety green with its fountains,
its trees, its arbo