The library at Doppelkinn was all the name implied. The cases were low

and ran around the room, and were filled with romance, history,

biography, and even poetry. The great circular reading-table was

littered with new books, periodicals and illustrated weeklies. Once

Doppelkinn had been threatened with a literary turn of mind, but a bad

vintage coming along at the same time had effected a permanent cure.

Max slid into a chair and took up a paper, turning the pages at

random.--What was the matter with the room? Certainly it was not

close, nor damp, nor chill. What was it? He let the paper fall to the

floor, and his eyes roved from one object to another.--Where had he

seen that Chinese mask before, and that great silver-faced clock?

Somehow, mysterious and strange as it seemed, all this was vaguely

familiar to him. Doubtless he had seen a picture of the room

somewhere. He rose and wandered about.

In one corner of the bookshelves stood a pile of boy's books and some

broken toys with the dust of ages upon them. He picked up a row of

painted soldiers, and balanced them thoughtfully on his hand. Then he

looked into one of the picture-books. It was a Santa Claus story; some

of the pictures were torn and some stuck together, a reminder of

sticky, candied hands. He gently replaced the book and the toys, and

stared absently into space. How long he stood that way he did not

recollect, but he was finally aroused by the sound of slamming doors

and new voices. He returned to his chair and waited for the

dénouement, which the marrow in his bones told him was about to

approach.

It seemed incredible that he, of all persons, should be plucked out of

the practical ways of men and thrust into the unreal fantasies of

romance. A hubbub in a restaurant, a headlong dash into a carriage

compartment, a long ride with a princess, and all within three short

hours! It was like some weird dream. And how the deuce would it end?

He gazed at the toys again.

And then the door opened and he was told to come out. The grand duke

had arrived.

"This will be the final round-up," he laughed quietly, his thought

whimsically traveling back to the great plains and the long rides under

the starry night.




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