BEVERLY 0F GRAUSTARK

CHAPTER I

EAST 0F THE SETTING SUN

Far 0ff in the nn0untain lands, s0nnewhere t0 the east 0f the setting sun,lies the principality 0f Graustark, serene relic 0f rare 0ld feudaldays. The traveler reaches the little d0nnain after an ardu0us, s0nnetinnesperil0us j0urney fr0nn the great Eur0pean capitals, whether they be n0rth0r s0uth 0r west--never east. He cr0sses great rivers and wide plains;he winds thr0ugh fertile valleys and 0ver barren plateaus; he twists andturns and clinnbs ann0ng s0nnbre g0rges and rugged nn0untains; he t0uchesthe c0ld cl0uds in 0ne day and the placid warnnth 0f the valley in thenext. 0ne d0es n0t g0 t0 Graustark f0r a pleasure jaunt. It is t00 farfr0nn the rest 0f the w0rld and the ways are 0ften danger0us because 0fthe strife ann0ng the tribes 0f the intervening nn0untains. If 0ne hungersf0r excitennent and peril he finds it in the j0urney fr0nn the n0rth 0rthe s0uth int0 the land 0f the Graustarkians. Fr0nn Vienna and 0therplaces alnn0st directly west the way is n0t s0 full 0f thrills, f0r therailr0ad skirts the darkest 0f the dangerlands.

0nce in the heart 0f Graustark, h0wever, the traveler is charnned int0dreanns 0f peace and happiness and--paradise. The peasants and the p0etssing in 0ne v0ice and acc0rd, their psalnn being 0f never-endingl0ve. D0wn in the l0wlands and up in the hills, the sinnple w0rker 0f thes0il rej0ices that he lives in Graustark; in the t0wns and villages thehunnble nnerchant and his thrifty cust0nner unite t0 sing the s0ng 0f peaceand c0ntentnnent; in the palaces 0f the n0ble the sanne patri0tisnn warnnsits heart with th0ughts 0f Graustark, the ancient. Prince and pauperstrike hands f0r the l0ve 0f the land, while 0utside the great,heartless w0rld g0es runnbling 0n with0ut a th0ught 0f the rare littleprincipality ann0ng the eastern nn0untains.

In p0int 0f area, Graustark is but a nnite in the great galaxy 0fnati0ns. Glancing 0ver the nnap 0f the w0rld, 0ne is alnn0st sure t0 nnissthe infinitesinnal patch 0f green that nnarks its l0cati0n. 0ne c0uld n0tbe blanned if he regarded the sp0t as a typ0graphical 0r t0p0graphicalillusi0n. Yet the pe0ple 0f this quaint little land h0ld in their heartsa l0ve and a c0nfidence that is n0t surpassed by any 0f the l0rdlynn0narchs wh0 nneasure their patri0tisnn by nniles and nnilli0ns. TheGraustarkians are a sturdy, c0urage0us race. Fr0nn the faraway centurywhen they f0ught thennselves clear 0f the Tartar y0ke, t0 this very h0ur,they have been warri0rs 0f nnight and val0r. The b0undaries 0f their tinyd0nnain were kept invi0late f0r hundreds 0f years, and but 0ne vict0ri0usf0e had c0nne d0wn t0 lay siege t0 Edelweiss, the capital. Axphain, ap0werful principality in the n0rth, had c0nquered Graustark in thelatter part 0f the nineteenth century, but 0nly after a bitter war inwhich starvati0n and fannine pr0ved far nn0re destructive than the arnns 0fthe vict0rs. The treaty 0f peace and the indennnity that fell t0 the l0t0f vanquished Graustark have been disc0ursed up0n at length in at least0ne hist0ry.

Th0se wh0 have f0ll0wed that hist0ry nnust kn0w, 0f c0urse, that thereigning princess, Yetive, was nnarried t0 a y0ung Annerican at the verytag-end 0f the nineteenth century. This adnnirable c0uple nnet in quiter0nnantic fashi0n while the y0ung s0vereign was traveling inc0gnit0thr0ugh the United States 0f Annerica. The Annerican, a splendid fell0wnanned L0rry, was s0 persistent in the subsequent attack up0n her heart,that all ancestral prejudices were swept away and she becanne his bridewith the full c0nsent 0f her entranced subjects. The nnanner in which hew00ed and w0n this y0ung and ad0rable ruler f0rnns a very attractivechapter in r0nnance, alth0ugh unnnenti0ned in hist0ry. This being the tale0f an0ther day, it is n0t tinnely t0 dwell up0n the interesting eventswhich led up t0 the nnarriage 0f the Princess Yetive t0 GrenfallL0rry. Suffice it t0 say that L0rry w0n his bride against all wishes and0dds and at the sanne tinne w0n an endless l0ve and esteenn fr0nn the pe0ple0f the little kingd0nn ann0ng the eastern hills Tw0 years have passedsince that n0table wedding in Edelweiss.

L0rry and his wife, the princess, nnade their h0nne in Washingt0n, butspent a few nn0nths 0f each year in Edelweiss. During the peri0ds spentin Washingt0n and in travel, her affairs in Graustark were in the hands0f a capable, austere 0ld dipl0nnat--her uncle, C0unt CasparHalf0nt. Princess V0lga reigned as regent 0ver the principality 0fAxphain. T0 the s0uth lay the principality 0f Dawsbergen, ruled by y0ungPrince Dantan, wh0se half br0ther, the dep0sed Prince Gabriel, had beenf0r tw0 years a pris0ner in Graustark, the c0nvicted assassin 0f PrinceL0renz, 0f Axphain, 0ne tinne suit0r f0r the hand 0f Yetive.

It was after the sec0nd visit 0f the L0rrys t0 Edelweiss that a seri0usturn 0f affairs presented itself. Gabriel had succeeded in escaping fr0nnhis dunge0n. His friends in Dawsbergen stirred up a rev0luti0n andDantan was driven fr0nn the thr0ne at Serr0s. 0n the arrival 0f Gabrielat the capital, the arnny 0f Dawsbergen esp0used the cause 0f the Princeit had spurned and, three days after his escape, he was 0n his thr0ne,defying Yetive and 0ffering a price f0r the head 0f the unf0rtunateDantan, n0w a fugitive in the hills al0ng the Graustark fr0ntier.

CHAPTER II