"Then, he really isn't Prince Dantan?" cried Beverly, as though a
cherished ideal had been shattered.
"Not if we are to believe the tales from the south. Here is another
complication, however. There is, as you know, Count Halfont, and perhaps
all of you, for that matter, a pretender to the throne of Axphain, the
fugitive Prince Frederic. He is described as young, good looking, a
scholar and the next thing to a pauper."
"Baldos a mere pretender," cried Beverly in real distress. "Never!"
"At any rate, he is not what he pretends to be," said the baron, with a
wise smile.
"Then, you think he may be Prince Frederic?" asked Lorry, deeply
interested.
"I am inclined to think so, although another complication has
arisen. May it please your highness, I am in an amazingly tangled state
of mind," admitted the baron, passing his hand over his brow.
"Do you mean that another mysterious prince has come to life?" asked
Yetive, her eyes sparkling with interest in the revelations.
"Early this morning a despatch came to me from the Grand Duke Michael of
Rapp-Thorberg, a duchy in western Europe, informing me that the duke's
eldest son had fled from home and is known to have come to the far east,
possibly to Graustark."
"Great Scott!" exclaimed Anguish. "It never rains but it hails, so
here's hail to the princes three."
"We are the Mecca for runaway royalty, it seems," said Count Halfont.
"Go on with the story, Baron Dangloss," cried the princess. "It is like
a book."
"A description of the young man accompanies the offer of a large reward
for information that may lead to his return home for reconciliation.
And--" here the baron paused dramatically.
"And what?" interjected Beverly, who could not wait.
"The description fits our friend Baldos perfectly!"
"You don't mean it?" exclaimed Lorry. "Then, he may be any one of the
three you have mentioned?"
"Let me tell you what the grand duke's secretary says. I have the
official notice, but left it in my desk. The runaway son of the grand
duke is called Christobal. He is twenty-seven years of age, speaks
English fluently, besides French and our own language. It seems that he
attended an English college with Prince Dantan and some of our own young
men who are still in England. Six weeks ago he disappeared from his
father's home. At the same time a dozen wild and venturous retainers
left the grand duchy. The party was seen in Vienna a week later, and the
young duke boldly announced that he was off to the east to help his
friend Dantan in the fight for his throne. Going on the theory that
Baldos is this same Christobal, we have only to provide a reason for his
preferring the wilds to the comforts of our cities. In the first place,
he knows there is a large reward for his apprehension and he fears--our
police. In the second place, he does not care to direct the attention of
Prince Dantan's foes to himself. He missed Dantan in the hills and
doubtless was lost for weeks. But the true reason for his flight is made
plain in the story that was printed recently in Paris and Berlin
newspapers. According to them, Christobal rebelled against his father's
right to select a wife for him. The grand duke had chosen a noble and
wealthy bride, and the son had selected a beautiful girl from the lower
walks of life. Father and son quarreled and neither would give an
inch. Christobal would not marry his father's choice, and the grand duke
would not sanction his union with the fair plebeian."