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"Carrick," he said indignantly, "that country ought to be free. Russia stole it by a shabby trick. Two hundred years ago the reigning king of Krovitch was a chap called Stovik. The head of another royal family there named Augustus was his rival for the crown.
This is about all, Captain Carter, except that when King Stovik fled he was supposed to have worn the medal found on your chauffeur. Doubtless at some time a member of Carrick's family received it as a mark of royal gratitude." "I thank you for the story," said Carter. "Now that my identity is established, may I ask for a place in your army? The cause of your country shall be my own."
Russia, already dazed, can do nothing against the flame of my people's ardor." "But the Almanac de Gotha," insisted Carter to whom the reference to the invisible king was a puzzling one. "Knew nothing about King Stovik after his deposition and flight," she interrupted with a charming smile.
Although he got off all his usual quips and jokes, he could not seem to infuse any life into the bidders on this occasion. At last, not knowing what else he could do, he put down his hammer saying he was too hoarse to do any more crying. "The senator will have to get some one else to offer the wares," he told Carl Carlson of Stovik, who stood sponsor for the auction.
"But King Stovik, though deposed, was the rightful sovereign, not my ancestor. The fugitive monarch left a scion whom Josef as a faithful servitor has attended from his infancy. Finding in recent events that the time was ripe for his crownless prince, he came to tell us that we had a king, if we dared to strike for him. He showed us proofs.
After the formalities had been attended to, and he had received the sincere good wishes of his nobles, the King turned to the beautiful girl at his side. "Do you leave with us to-morrow?" he asked. "Of our future plans I have had necessarily only a sketch. So little time has elapsed since Colonel Sutphen visited Eugene Delmotte that King Stovik can readily be forgiven for some slight ignorance."
The narrative from where general information ends," she continued, "briefly is as follows: King Stovik with his queen and infant son escaped by the connivance of a loyal nobleman on the midnight of the intended assassination of the overthrown dynasty.
I am not going to give up without just one more fling at the pomps and vanities of this wicked world." To emphasize his assertion, he smiled gaily at the pretty woman, whose lips parted in audacious invitation. "But the Duchess," Carter persisted, frowning. "That's just it," Stovik replied unblushingly. "I am not accustomed to such women as Her Grace.
"You are descended from Stovik she from Augustus, the last King of Krovitch, Stovik's rival." So step by step they disclosed their plans, their hopes and ambitions to the dazzled Parisian. Finally, his mind was surfeited with the tale of this country which was claiming him; he turned and, with sweeping gesture, indicated those present. "And you?" he asked. "And these?
Although Stovik replaced the glittering loop upon the velvet pall, he smiled to think how little the Church had entered into his former scheme of life. Trusia seemed to divine his thoughts, for, as his ascending eyes met hers, she continued speaking of the aged prelate. "He is a dear old man, sire, kindly and gentle. The beggars and little children call him their patron saint.
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