onument which marks the boundary between Lutha
and her powerful neighbor upon the north.

Barney held out his hand. "Good-bye, old man," he said. "If I've
learned the ingratitude of kings here in Lutha, I have found
something that more than compensates me--the friendship of a brave
man. Now hurry back and tell them that I escaped across the border
just as I was about to fall into your hands and they will think that
you have been pursuing me instead of aiding in my escape across the
border."

But again Butzow shook his head.

"I have fought shoulder to shoulder with you, my friend," he said.
"I have called you king, and after that I could never serve the
coward who sits now upon the throne of Lutha. I have made up my mind
during this long ride from Lustadt, and I have come to the decision
that I should prefer to raise corn in Nebraska with you rather than
serve in the court of an ingrate."

"Well, you are an obstinate Dutchman, after all," replied the
American with a smile, placing his hand affectionately upon the
shoulder of his comrade.

There was a clatter of horses' hoofs upon the gravel of the road
behind them.

The two men put spurs to their mounts, and Barney Custer galloped
across the northern boundary of Lutha just ahead of a troop of
Luthanian cavalry, as had his father thirty years before; but a
royal princess had accompanied the father--only a soldier
accompanied the son.

PART II

I

BARNEY RETURNS TO LUTHA

"What's the matter, Vic?" asked Barney Custer of his sister. "You
look peeved."

"I am peeved," replied the girl, smiling. "I am terribly peeved. I
don't want to play bridge this afternoon. I want to go motoring with
Lieutenant Butzow. This is his last day with us."

"Yes. I know it is, and I hate to think of it," replied Barney;
"but why in the world do you have to play bridge if you don't want
to?"

"I promised Margaret that I'd go. They're short one, and she's
coming after me in her car."

"Where are you going to play--at the champion lady bridge player's
on Fourth Street?" asked Barney, grinning.

His sister answered with a nod and a smile. "Where you brought down
the wrath of the lady champion upon your head the other night when
you were letting your mind wander across to Lutha and the Old
Forest, instead of paying attention to the game," she added.

"Well, cheer up, Vic," cried her brother. "Bert'll probably set
fire to the car, the way he did to their fir