The Mad King | Page 4

old fox has always made it a point to curry favor with
the common soldiers. When he was minister of war he treated them better than he did his
officers."
"It seems strange, Coblich, that so shrewd a man as you should have been unable to
discover some irregularity in the political life of Prince Ludwig von der Tann before
now," said the prince querulously. "He is the greatest men- ace to our peace and
sovereignty. With Von der Tann out of the way there would be none powerful enough to
ques- tion our right to the throne of Lutha--after poor Leopold passes away."
"You forget that Leopold has escaped," suggested Coblich, "and that there is no
immediate prospect of his passing away."
"He must be retaken at once, Coblich!" cried Prince Peter of Blentz. "He is a dangerous
maniac, and we must make this fact plain to the people--this and a thorough descrip- tion
of him. A handsome reward for his safe return to Blentz might not be out of the way,
Coblich."
"It shall be done, your highness," replied Coblich. "And about Von der Tann? You have
never spoken to me quite so--ah--er--pointedly before. He hunts a great deal in the Old
Forest. It might be possible--in fact, it has happened, before--there are many accidents in
hunting, are there not, your highness?"
"There are, Coblich," replied the prince, "and if Leopold is able he will make straight for
the Tann, so that there may be two hunting together in a day or so, Coblich."
"I understand, your highness," replied the minister. "With your permission, I shall go at
once and dispatch troops to search the forest for Leopold. Captain Maenck will command
them."
"Good, Coblich! Maenck is a most intelligent and loyal officer. We must reward him well.
A baronetcy, at least, if he handles this matter well," said Peter. "It might not be a bad
plan to hint at as much to him, Coblich."
And so it happened that shortly thereafter Captain Ernst Maenck, in command of a troop
of the Royal Horse Guards of Lutha, set out toward the Old Forest, which lies beyond the
mountains that are visible upon the other side of the plain stretching out before Lustadt.
At the same time other troopers rode in many directions along the highways and byways
of Lutha, tacking placards upon trees and fence posts and beside the doors of every little
rural post office.

The placard told of the escape of the mad king, offering a large reward for his safe return
to Blentz.
It was the last paragraph especially which caused a young man, the following day in the
little hamlet of Tafelberg, to whistle as he carefully read it over.
"I am glad that I am not the mad king of Lutha," he said as he paid the storekeeper for the
gasoline he had just pur- chased and stepped into the gray roadster for whose greedy maw
it was destined.
"Why, mein Herr?" asked the man.
"This notice practically gives immunity to whoever shoots down the king," replied the
traveler. "Worse still, it gives such an account of the maniacal ferocity of the fugitive as
to warrant anyone in shooting him on sight."
As the young man spoke the storekeeper had examined his face closely for the first time.
A shrewd look came into the man's ordinarily stolid countenance. He leaned forward
quite close to the other's ear.
"We of Lutha," he whispered, "love our 'mad king'--no reward could be offered that
would tempt us to betray him. Even in self-protection we would not kill him, we of the
mountains who remember him as a boy and loved his father and his grandfather, before
him.
"But there are the scum of the low country in the army these days, who would do
anything for money, and it is these that the king must guard against. I could not help but
note that mein Herr spoke too perfect German for a foreigner. Were I in mein Herr's place,
I should speak mostly the English, and, too, I should shave off the 'full, reddish-brown
beard.'"
Whereupon the storekeeper turned hastily back into his shop, leaving Barney Custer of
Beatrice, Nebraska, U.S.A., to wonder if all the inhabitants of Lutha were afflicted with a
mental disorder similar to that of the unfortunate ruler.
"I don't wonder," soliloquized the young man, "that he ad- vised me to shave off this
ridiculous crop of alfalfa. Hang election bets, anyway; if things had gone half right I
shouldn't have had to wear this badge of idiocy. And to think that it's got to be for a
whole month longer! A year's a mighty long while at best, but a year in company with a
full set of red whiskers is an