The Argosy, March 1907 — page 133: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ee KING OR COUNTERFEIT ? “T understand that she is .to marry the King of Nordinia very shortly. ~I want to warn her against wedding the man who calls himself king, and at pres- ent sits upon the throne.” “Calls himself king?” repeated the astonished baron. ‘“Yes. For he is not the king. He is an impostor. He has stolen the throne of Nordinia. If the princess does not heed my warning she will be married to a swindler instead of a king.” ‘“Ah!” sighed the baron. insane after all. I thought his recovery was complete, but I see he still has strongly seated delusions. It is not as interesting a case as I at first thought.” “T suppose you think I am crazy,” said Willis as though he had divined the surgeon’s unspoken thought. “I am not, I assure you. I am thoroughly sane. I knew the real Carl Richard Felix in America and will make affidavit that he was an entirely different man to the fel- low they have crowned king. ‘The poor devil of a Frerchman was in the plot. That is why he-tried to kill me on three separate occasions. He knew that I was in possession of the conspirators’ secret and that while I remained at large they were in danger of exposure, so he tried to put me out of the way. Every word I am telling you is the truth.” ‘Insane! Insane!’ muttered the king’s surgeon, shaking his head disappointedly. ‘If only I could get five minutes in- terview with the Princess Cornelia and tell her the whole story, I feel sure that I could make.her believe me.” ‘Well, tell me the whole story,” said the surgeon. ‘And I[’ll communicate it to. the princess. You won’t be able to get an audience with her for several days to come.’ “Who are you?” asked Willis sus- ‘He is piciously. ‘‘An officer of the law I presume ? ”’ “No. I am the Baron Zilla, surgeon to his majesty the king.. You can speak freely to me, young man.” The baron still believed the other to be insane, but he was an extremely cau- tious man, so he decided to hear every- thing Willis had to tell. The young American related the ~ whole story in detail, from the day he first met Carl Richard Felix on the foot- 9 A ball field to the adventure in the cave which had almost proved fatal to him. The baron listened carefully, and as the story progressed became more and more interested. ‘But you say that the real Carl Rich- ard Felix has a seal branded on his shoulder,” he exclaimed when the en- sign had finished. ‘ Now I happen to know, young man, that the king has this very seal branded on his right shoulder. I have seen it. A few days before the coronation his majesty was seized with a slight cold and I attended him. In examining his lungs I had to bare his right shoulder and I noticed the curi- ous brand there. How do you account for that?” ‘It is a forgery,” said Willis, ear- nestlys “It must be. I am sure of it, baron. I’m positive that that man is not the real King of Nordinia. If you love your country, sir, you will take heed of what I am telling you.” “But you have no proofs. ‘There is nothing to substantiate your strange, in- credible story.” ~* Well—my chum, Ensign Cales of the battleship Arizona, can confirm a great deal of what I have told you. He knows that I met the real Carl Richard Felix on the football field; he knows that the Frenchman sought a quarrel with me and challenged me to a duel without any real cause. He knows that I received a cigar-box containing an in- fernal machine. He can at least tell you that that part of my story is true. “There are many persons in America who know the real Carl Richard Felix— men who were at college with him. If these fellows saw this fake king they would detect the imposture at a glance.” “Well, why did you not cable some of these men to come over here instead of taking all those risks to secure those snapshots? ”’ inquired the baron, intense- ly interested in the young man’s strange story despite his better judgment. ‘Perhaps that is what I should have done,” admitted Willis. “I suppose I have been too impulsive and rash in go- ing about this thing. I realize that now. It would have been better if I had waited until I got back to America, I suppose, and could have seen some of those fellows and got them interested in Gomirechbooks.co