LBATROS
 
 THE 
 
 ALBATROSS NOVELS 
 
 By ALBERT ROSS 
 23 Volumes 
 
 May be had wherever books are sold at the price you 
 paid for this volume 
 
 Black Adonis, A 
 Garston Bigamy, The 
 Her Husband's Friend 
 His Foster Sister 
 His Private Character 
 In Stella's Shadow 
 Love at Seventy 
 Love Gone Astray 
 Moulding a Maiden 
 Naked Truth, The 
 New Sensation, A 
 Original Sinner, An 
 Out of Wedlock 
 Speaking of Ellen 
 Stranger Than Fiction 
 Sugar Princess, A 
 That Gay Deceiver 
 Their Marriage Bond 
 Thou Shalt Not 
 Thy Neighbor's Wife 
 Why I'm Single 
 Young Fawcett's Mabel 
 Young Miss Giddy 
 
 G. W. DILLINGHAM CO. 
 
 Publishers :: :: New York
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 BY ALBERT Ross. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "Tnou SHALT NOT," "His PRIVATE CHARACTER,* 
 
 " A NEW SENSATION," "THE NAKED TRUTH," 
 
 "STRANGER THAN FICTION," ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 OOPYRIQHT, 1100, T 
 
 G. W. Dillingham Co., Publishers. 
 
 [All rights reserved.} 
 
 - Ave.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTKR 
 
 I. A Bird of 111 Omen. .... 9 
 
 II. " Half Dutch, half Dago." . . .22 
 
 III. " Was there no rupture between you ?" 31 
 
 IV. Mr. Pyne, the Detective. . . 43 
 V. Mr. Barney has a Plan, . .52 
 
 VI. Scenes on the Wharf. . . .63 
 
 VII. " That's the whole story, girls." . 73 
 
 VIII. Carl Meets Mr. Van Steuben. . . 84 
 
 IX. The Burial of a Queen. . . 93 
 
 X. Going over to Hawaii. . . .102 
 
 XI. " You left him there to die !" . . in 
 
 XII. Search for a Dead Man. . . .118 
 
 XIII. Invited out to Dinner. . . .126 
 
 XIV " The only sweetheart I've got." . 138 
 
 XV. The Need of Strong Play. . . 149 
 
 XVI. On the Steamer Coptic. . . .157 
 
 XVII. A Day at Yokohama. . . .165 
 
 XVIII. Amy Writes a Letter. . . 174 
 
 XIX. An Evening with Geishas. . .183 
 
 XX. " Do you love her very much 7* . 191 
 
 XXL Her First Proposal. . . . 203 
 
 m 
 
 2061879
 
 6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTBR PAC 
 
 XXII. A Real English Lord at Last. . 213 
 
 XXIII. " It was his spirit." . . . .226 
 
 XXIV. An Unwelcome Checque for $500. .235 
 XXV. On the Road to Kusatsu. c . .247 
 
 XXVL " You speak so sadly." . . .253 
 
 XXVIL The Story of Chatham Stone. . .259 
 
 XXVIII. " I love you, Carl ! I love you !" . 267 
 
 XXIX. Lending a Passport. .... 275 
 
 XXX. A Shock for Mrs. Van. . . .284 
 
 XXXI. The Marquis of Maebashi. . . .293 
 
 XXXII. " Across oceans and continents." 300 
 
 XXXIII. Amy Writes to Olive. . . . 3<>7 
 
 XXXIV. " All's well that ends welL" in
 
 TO MY READERS. 
 
 When a novelist has written twenty-two books, all 
 of which from the standpoint of his publisher's 
 ledger, at least have proved " successful," it may 
 not be out of place for him to review his work. I 
 therefore ask your indulgence for a brief retrospect. 
 
 You noticed that " Stranger than Fiction " marked 
 a decided departure in my style of writing, and will 
 see that "A Sugar Princess" adheres to the new 
 lines. Inexhaustible as the old field is, valuable as it 
 may be to any sensible reader, there are other paths 
 which I prefer to explore. 
 
 44 Thou Shalt Not " was a bold tale, but I have 
 never been sorry I wrote it. To relate such a 
 story in language fit for the nursery would be im- 
 possible. It was intended for men and women and 
 a sale of nearly a quarter of a million copies proves 
 what a vast number must have read it. I hope and 
 believe it has done some good. 
 
 About " His Private Character " I have more doubt. 
 There are moments of flippancy in that novel which, 
 perhaps, had better not be there; though the moral 
 lesson is -unmistakable. It was written under the 
 
 [7]
 
 8 TO MY READERS. 
 
 intoxication of my first great hold on the reading 
 public and without due thought in all respects. I 
 mean to revise it by-and-by. 
 
 " In Stella's Shadow " was also a novel for grown 
 persons, which if modified would lose its force. 
 44 Speaking of Ellen " (the work of which I am 
 proudest) has, on the other hand, a vein (that re- 
 ferring to Nathalie) which could have been treated 
 in wiser fashion. 
 
 When a man's hair begins to turn white he cannot 
 help glancing back along the road he has travelled. 
 I have written conscientiously, if sometimes mistak- 
 enly. There is little in my other books that I would 
 alter much, from the moral side. As a critic said 
 long ago if I have often presented vice I have never 
 made it attractive. 
 
 But vice is not the only thing worth writing about, 
 though it is common enough, God knows ! I ask to 
 be excused from discussing it further. Surely I have 
 done my share. 
 
 My publishers seem to prosper, when " greater " 
 book houses are falling around them. Their returns 
 to me for 1899 show larger sales than for some years 
 past. 
 
 For eighteen months I have been engaged in a 
 journey around the world. When the Paris exposi- 
 tion is over I expect to return to America and greet 
 you again. With deep appreciation and regard, 
 
 ALBERT ROSS. 
 
 PARIS, June^ 1900.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A BIRD OF ILL OMEN. 
 
 "YES, I'm going to leave Carl nearly every dollar 
 I've got." 
 
 Old Peter Meyer sat on the opposite side of the table 
 from his friend, Marcus Lmdes, in the little private 
 room over the St. Louis restaurant. They had just 
 completed their dinner, and the cloth was covered with 
 the usual disarray that follows such a meal. Meyer was 
 upwards of seventy years of age, not over strong, and 
 yet not done with by any means as far as the natural 
 eye could judge. His rather tall and slender form 
 was wiry, his gray eye clear. His hair, streaked liber- 
 ally with white, still retained much of its original 
 dark color; and his cheek, though pale, showed the 
 effects of a life of right living. He was dressed in 
 dark clothes, carefully and neatly in short, a clean, 
 affable old gentleman, who evidently believed he knew 
 what he was about. 
 
 "He's as honest a lad as breathes. I've had him with 
 
 C9l
 
 IO A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 me long enough to know him thoroughly. I really 
 think an own son couldn't be dearer to me than 
 Carl is." 
 
 The last expressions were uttered very slowly, with 
 long pauses between them. It was as if the speaker 
 expected to be interrupted by some remark from his 
 friend. 
 
 Mr. Lindes, who was like his companion of German 
 stock, was somewhat shorter and stouter and perhaps 
 ten years younger. The carelessness of his apparel 
 formed a vivid contrast to that of the other and his 
 face wore an expression much less open and ingenu- 
 ous. By one of those contrasts so often seen, these 
 men had become closely attached to each other, years 
 and years before the opening of our story. Though 
 there was almost nothing, apparently, which they had 
 in common, unless it was their mutual liking for a 
 good dinner, a stein of lager and a clay pipe, they- 
 managed to endure a great deal of each other's com- 
 pany without having any serious falling out; and this 
 also without ever agreeing wholly on any subject what- 
 ever. 
 
 In fact, Mr. Lindes made it a point never to agree 
 with anybody if he could possibly help it. If he had 
 heard someone say that the sun would rise on the fol- 
 lowing morning he would probably have entered at 
 once into an argument to prove that it would do noth- 
 ing of the kind. Still he was not a bad follow at 
 heart, and though Meyer knew him as well as one man 
 can know another after forty years acquaintance, he 
 endured this idiosyncrasy and usually managed to 
 laugh it off, when obstinacy degenerated into sulkiness.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. It 
 
 "You have no blood relations?" said Marcus, in a 
 sort of interrogation, as if this was merely a prelimi- 
 nary to what he intended to say. Simple as was the 
 question, Meyer scented a disagreement. 
 
 "Only some distant cousins who are well enough 
 off to need no aid from me. Carl calls me uncle,' 
 but that is, as you know, merely a matter of form. His 
 affection for his dead father is a sacred thing, and 
 though he really occupies the place of a son to me, I 
 could not ask him to give me a nearer and dearer 
 title." 
 
 Marcus Lindes knew Carl Meyer, as the subject of 
 this conversation was now called by nearly everybody, 
 though his original name was Muller. He had no more 
 reason to doubt that the young fellow deserved the 
 confidence and affection of his adopted parent than 
 he had that he sat there by that table. But as he 
 blew the froth off a fresh stein of beer that the waiter 
 had just brought his love of controversy was too strong 
 to be overcome. 
 
 "Of course Carl knows of your intention that you 
 mean to leave him your property?" he began. 
 
 "Well, supposing he does,'' said Peter, shifting his 
 long legs uneasily. He wondered what could be 
 coming next. 
 
 "It's natural that a lad who has nothing of his own 
 should do the best he can to secure himself a fortune," 
 answered Lindes, with aggravating slowness. 
 
 An expression of pain not unmixed with anger 
 crossed Meyer's wrinkled face. 
 
 "You do like to ascribe mean motives to people," 
 was his tart reply.
 
 la A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "I know human nature," drawled Lindes. 
 
 "But you don't seem to know Carl ! " replied the 
 other, with rising inflection. "I'll wager he has never 
 thought of money in that connection from the day I 
 took him in charge till this minute." 
 
 Lindes shook his head with an incredulous smile; 
 one of those smiles that can be almost as insulting as 
 a slap in the face. Then, with the freedom of an old 
 acquaintance, he ejaculated, "Pooh, pooh ! " 
 
 "He's not a fool, Peter," he added. "He saw 
 through you from the start. He knows, as well as if 
 you said it to him in so many words, that if he does 
 as you wish he'll get your money when you're through 
 with it. And that's nothing against him, as I see. In 
 this world every man has got to look out for his own 
 interests." 
 
 Peter Meyer struck the table with the flat of his 
 hard hand, and the beer in the two steins jumped re- 
 sponsively. 
 
 "If I had as low an idea of Carl as you, I'd send 
 him packing tomorrow and leave what I've got to an 
 orphan asylum ! " he cried, sharply. 
 
 "And break your old heart over it afterwards ?" 
 
 "No, he wouldn't be worth another thought. Why ! 
 After I've taken him to my breast like a father, like 
 a mother! When I've treated him as tenderly as a 
 ewe could treat a lamb ! You know all about it, Mar- 
 cus. That boy and I have been more than companions, 
 we've been chums. With nearly fifty years between 
 us we've met on equal ground. The relation couldn't 
 have been dearer if he'd been part and parcel of my
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS, 13 
 
 flesh. An3 you," the speaker paused, his voice shak- 
 ing as if it could hardly utter the words, "would have 
 me believe that, all this time, he's been counting the 
 hours before his fingers woul'd handle my cash and I 
 be under ground ! " 
 
 A tear gathered in the grey eye and rolled down the 
 furrowed cheek. The man had been hurt in his tend- 
 erest place. Already Lindes regretted the effect of 
 his insinuations, but his innate mulishness kept him 
 to the argument. 
 
 "Oh, he may be all right," he admitted. "But have 
 you ever tested him ? A hard-headed business man 
 like you shouldn't trust altogether to appearances. If 
 the boy is really the idealic creature you think you 
 can leave him your fortune, if you want to. If the 
 case was mine, though, I'd prove that before I did 
 'so." 
 
 Meyer absently finished the beer in his stein and 
 rang to have it refilled. His gaze wandered over the 
 walls of the room, from the portrait of the "Old Em- 
 peror" William on one side to that of Grover Cleve- 
 land on the other. His mind was not, however, oc- 
 cupied with thoughts of either of those worthies. He 
 was too much distressed over the matter under con- 
 sideration. 
 
 The entrance of the waiter aroused him from his 
 revery. "Prove it?" he repeated, vaguely. 
 
 "Certainly ; arfd in a way that would settle my douibts 
 lor good and all." 
 
 "Go ahead ! go ahead ! " was the impatient rejoinder. 
 "You've got some sneaky notion ; out with it ! "
 
 14 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "Well, before I'd risk making a young beggar too 
 glad at my death I'd be convinced that he was the 
 sort I wanted to endow with my property or the 
 contrary." 
 
 "How? how?" Meyer rose from his chair in ihis 
 excitement 
 
 "There are a hundred ways. For instance, you 
 might disappear for awhile and leave him to his own 
 devices; make him think you are dead be dead as 
 far as he is concerned. That wouldn't be difficult. 
 You've made a will, I suppose. Let him secure tem- 
 porary possession of the property, and then judge by 
 his actions how deep his grief is. If he should turn 
 out the angelic fellow you've settled it in your mind he 
 is, of course he'd be delighted to have you return and 
 take possession again. If, on the contrary, he is a 
 designing schemer, he'd show that pretty plainly, too; 
 and if he is one of these fellows who make ducks and 
 drakes of an inheritance you'll not be long in discover- 
 ing it. There's your chance, roughly outlined," said 
 Lindes, as Meyer sank again into his seat. "But," he 
 added, sarcastically, " you won't take advantage of it, 
 not you. You'd rather shut your eyes and ruin any 
 risk than to learn the truth, for you're afraid it might- 
 n't suit you when you got it." 
 
 The old gentleman sipped at his beer and then mut- 
 tered that the idea advanced was contemptible, mean 
 and tricky. 
 
 "Carl need never know there was any trick if he 
 turned out the dear, broken-hearted son you think he 
 would. All you've got to do is to take a journey
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS, 15 
 
 and neglect your correspondence with him. Reasons 
 are easy to give afterwards distance, illness, unre- 
 liable mails; and rumors of sudden death in a foreign 
 land are not hard to set in circulation. But," Lindes 
 returned again to the satirical strain, "that's the use? 
 You'll do nothing of the kind ; you'd rather be fooled." 
 
 Although Meyer knew to the core the mental make- 
 up of the man, he was dazed for a moment at the ap- 
 parent strength of his argument. He muttered weak- 
 ly that he could trust Carl implicitly that it was un- 
 necessary to try any such miserable game. But all 
 the time he was thinking, thinking. Suppose he (had 
 really taken an ingrate to his heart? What if the 
 kind manner, the filial attitude, the affectionate ex- 
 pressions, had all been influenced by sordid motives! 
 Oh, it was unendurable ! 
 
 "I'm too old to go on a long journey alone," he 
 muttered at last, when the pendulum had swung in 
 both directions many times and at last stood still. 
 
 "For the sake of preventing your being swindled, 
 I'd go witih you. This is a serious matter." 
 
 Meyer arose to his fe and took his overcoat from 
 its hook, leaving half the beer in his stein undrained. 
 No single act could better have shown the extent of 
 his perturbation. He twisted a long muffler about his 
 neck and drew his slouch hat well down on his head. 
 
 "I won't !" he said, in so low a tone that tihe words 
 were scarcely audible. He was talking rather to him- 
 self than to his companion. "It's the most outrageous 
 thing I ever heard of." Then he looked Lindes full 
 in the eyes and shot the next words at him : "I would-
 
 l6 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 n't have as suspicious a mind as you for all the gold 
 in Alaska ! " 
 
 Remarking nonchalantly that if Meyer preferred be- 
 ing made a fool of he would have nobody but himself 
 to blame, Lindes drank the rest of his own beer and 
 prepared to accompany his companion to the street. 
 They walked along the chilly way, for it was mid- 
 winter, in silence for some time. In spite of all he 
 could do the leaven was working in Peter Meyer's 
 brain. When his residence was reached the men went 
 in together. 
 
 For years they had been in the habit, whenever they 
 were both in St. Louis, of dining in the same room in 
 which we found them, walking together to Meyer's 
 house, and of spending an hour or two afterwards in 
 the sittingroom there. Soon they were seated before 
 a bright fire of logs, in a chimney patterned after the 
 fireplaces of long ago, with a singing teakettle hang- 
 ing from a hook and implements for smoking adorn- 
 ing the mantel. It was a thoroughly comfortable old 
 place, one of the kind more common half a century 
 since than now, when fashion has got in its deadly 
 work in every corner of the modern home. Two cosy 
 old chairs that had been brought originally from Ger- 
 many received the host and his guest. Lighting their 
 long clay pipes the old men puffed away, silently, for 
 some time. 
 
 " You knew Hans Muller," said Peter, at last, for 
 but one thought had occupied his mind during this 
 interim. "Can you imagine that such a father could 
 have a son who was a scoundrel?"
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS, I? 
 
 was ready witih his reply. He asked if Meyer 
 had forgotten what the play-actor said, the other night, 
 (in the "Old Homestead") "Pedigree may be all 
 right in horses and cattle, but it don't count much 
 with human beings." 
 
 "You knew Linda Goepper, too, before Hans mar- 
 ried her," persisted Peter, refusing to be convinced 
 by the illustration. 
 
 "I can only give you the same answer." 
 
 "But," was the impatient query, "has there been 
 anything, in what you've seen of Carl, that makes you 
 distrust him?" 
 
 Lindes hestitated a moment before replying; that 
 second or two which is always more eloquent than 
 words to a troubled or doubting mind. 
 
 "I haven't said there was anything," he answered, 
 evasively. "But, consider a moment, Peter. Matters 
 that involve money should be treated in a business fash- 
 ion. You wouldn't hire a cashier without knowing 
 more about him than that he had a good mother and a 
 respectable father. Why, you wouldn't even buy a 
 horse until you'd had him tried around steam trains 
 and electric cars. And yet you'd leave the savings of 
 a lifetime to a boy that you really know very little 
 about." 
 
 The host sat with both elbows on his knees, lean- 
 ing over toward the fire. The ashes in his long pipe 
 were cold. 
 
 "You've heard some jealous busybody talking about 
 Carl," he muttered, querulously. 
 
 "No, I assure you."
 
 10 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "What do you want to annoy itte for, then?" 
 
 "I don't want you to make a mistake," was the im- 
 pressive reply. 
 
 Apparently somewhat relieved Meyer took a coal 
 and relighted his tobacco. The pipes sent out their 
 smoke together after that without interruption till a 
 grandfather's clock in the corner rang the strokes of 
 ten. At which sound Lindes arose, according to his 
 usual custom, knocked the ashes out of his pipe, laid 
 it on the mantel, stretched himself and said he must 
 go. 
 
 "I won't do it, I tell you," Peter repeated three or 
 four times, as he bade his friend goodnight at the 
 door. "I won't do it; and I won't even think of it 
 again. It's too silly." 
 
 "As you like," responded the other, with a disagree- 
 able laugh. *' I shall always be glad to know I did my 
 duty." 
 
 Meyer did not go to bed at once. He sat before 
 the fireplace for an hour alone, peering into the coals 
 as if he might gain from them some indication regard- 
 ing the matter that troubled his mind. The next morn- 
 ing he arose far from rested. All the long night he 
 had tumbled and tossed. The current of a life that 
 had seemed to flow on most pleasantly was stirred 
 to its deptlhs. At the bottom of what had looked like 
 a pelucid stream he thought he could discern a darker 
 stratum. The little stir which Lindes' pole had made 
 had caused a decided discoloration. 
 
 Peter met Carl at the breakfast table at the usual 
 hour. The latter had retired early and enjoyed the un-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 1$ 
 
 disturbed rest of youth and health. He was twenty- 
 two years of age, of medium height, with a well-knit 
 frame, straight, well-poised, athletic. He had German 
 blond hair, German blue eyes and a complexion in 
 which the red blood showed. Naturally not over-com- 
 municative, he merely said good-morning to his adopt- 
 ed uncle and devoted himself with a fine appetite to 
 the meal which Matilda Metzger, the housekeeper, 
 had set out. 
 
 Peter, from across the table, glanced at him from 
 time to time, eating little on account of a lump that 
 seemea to fill his throat. He was still revolving in his 
 mind the insinuations he had heard on the previous 
 evening. If what Marcus Lindes had hinted were true, 
 life had for him lasted too long; the sooner he could 
 rearrange his testament and leave this earth the better. 
 
 All the affection of his old heart fought against the 
 monstrous proposition that his adopted boy was actu- 
 ated in every move by the despicable motive of per- 
 sonal gain. And with his grief came also the convic- 
 tion that, if Carl was really such a wretch as this 
 would make 'him, it would not satisfy justice merely 
 to turn him out to earn his living ; he deserved strang- 
 ling 'where he sat ! 
 
 For in that case he had robbed an old man of his 
 happiness, murdered the love given him so freely, des- 
 troyed as by fire a structure built to shelter and sustain 
 the closing years of a lonely life. Oh, it was unbear- 
 able! 
 
 "You are not eating," said the bright young voice, 
 Carl's attention being attracted at last to the silent 
 figure.
 
 2T A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "Iso, I'm not feeling just right this morning. I 
 think perhaps I'd better take a little journey. I 
 believe I need a change." 
 
 "All right," was the immediate reply. "We can 
 pack up in an hour or two, as we've done before. 
 Where do you think of going?" 
 
 "I don't know yet." 
 
 Carl looked at his benefactor more intently, struck 
 by something peculiar in his tone. 
 
 "You are pale," he said, anxiously, at the same time 
 rising from the table. "Let me call the doctor." 
 
 But Peter indicated a negative, saying it was noth- 
 ing and would soon pass away. 
 
 Carl was not satisfied, however. He went behind 
 his companion's chair, took the gray head between his 
 broad hands and smoothed the thin hair away from the 
 temples. 
 
 "This may make you feel better," he said gently. 
 "It does sometimes, you know." 
 
 The health of the youth seemed to enter rlie veins 
 of the other from between those broad palms. Witli 
 the touch Meyer found the lurking fears vanishing 
 and indignation taking their place. It was not Carl 
 now who deserved strangling. It was Marcus Lindes. 
 
 "I wish you would let me call the doctor," Carl 
 said, after a little while. "Your head is hot. He 
 might give you something to afford relief." 
 
 "No, no, I am much better." The old man roused 
 himself and smiled up into the anxious face. Putting 
 his trembling hands above his head he took the strong 
 young palms in them, pressing the fingers with ail his
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 91 
 
 strength. He was better indeed. He had regained 
 a great treasure he had feared was lost. 
 
 "I am much better," he repeated. "Go out now and 
 take your exercise. And please stop at Mr. Lindes' 
 rooms and say I would like to have him call here this 
 morning." 
 
 It required a little further persuasion to induce the 
 young man to obey the request to leave the house. 
 Before he was quite convinced Peter had to ring for 
 Matilda to bring him a fresh breakfast, which he at- 
 tacked with an appetite that was not simulated. 
 
 "I'm all right now. Ask Marcus to come as soon 
 as he can. I have some business to do with him." 
 
 The old gentleman was impatient for the moment 
 when he could throw the evil prophecy back in the 
 face of that bird of ill-omen. He could only wonder 
 as he devoured his chop and drank his coffee that he 
 had let it worry him for a moment.
 
 22 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 "HALF DUTCH, HALF DAGO." 
 
 MD now if the reader has no abjection (and who 
 was ever known to object to a trip of that kind?) we 
 will ask him (or her) to accompany us for a little 
 while to Honolulu, in Oahu, the capital of the group 
 of islands now commonly called the Hawaiian. The 
 beautiful town lay basking in the sun on an April 
 morning following the events narrated in the preceding 
 chapter. While all the plain that stretches from Dia- 
 mond Head to Pearl Harbor, and from the mountain 
 ranges to the sea was, as ever, clothed in luxuriant 
 tropical vegetation, the villas on King Street, half 
 hidden in bowers of gigantic palms, presented perhaps 
 the most perfect appearance. And on this famous 
 avenue no home had more attractiveness than that of 
 the far-famed Sugar King, Abel Van Steuben. 
 
 If we pass under the massive gateway and traverse 
 the thirty or forty yards between the sidewalk and the 
 house, we may ascend the stone steps and enter the 
 central hall of this mansion. If we inquire for its own- 
 er a courteous Chinese servant dressed in the costume 
 of his country will inform us that Mr. Van Steuben 
 has not yet left his breakfast table. If, however, we 
 avail ourselves of the privilege which is ours as novel- 
 ist and reader, we may penetrate with our vision the
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 2$ 
 
 walls that separate us from him. We shall find a man 
 of fifty years or so, rather large, with a face that be- 
 trays his Dutch origin ; a grizzled beard carefully trim- 
 med and an upper lip clean-shaved. We shall notice 
 tlhat he wears a business suit of mixed itweed, an old- 
 fashioned collar and stock and, at this precise moment, 
 a very disturbed expression. 
 
 Opposite to him, the only figure in the room, is 
 Mrs. Van Steuben, a portly lady some five years young- 
 er, clad in a gorgeous morning gown and having on her 
 fat fingers, even at this early hour of the day, a very 
 large assortment of rings that cost a great deal of 
 money and look as if they were worth it. 
 
 "I really think, the richer you get, the stingier you 
 grow," was the remark which caused the expression on 
 her husband's face just referred to. "With all your 
 money, you'd like to have your only daughter return 
 in a holoku and a fifty cent straw hat. She's been 
 three years now at that school in California and she's 
 got to look decent when she comes off the 'Australia.' 
 You may as well make up your mind to it, first as 
 last." 
 
 "All right, my dear, have your way," was the feeble 
 response. "Cover the child with silks and jewels till 
 there's nothing left of the little darling I used to know. 
 Teach her to look down on the girls she raced with 
 along the beach at Waikiki. Tell her her father is an 
 old-fashioned fellow she should be ashamed of, since 
 her mother has got her head full of high notions. Per- 
 haps," he added, "you can make people forget that I 
 came here as a stowaway on a schooner, that youf
 
 24 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 mother was a Portuguese immigrant, and that we were 
 married on a hundred dollars a month. Of course 
 they'll do it if you hold your ohin high enough." 
 
 Mrs. Van Steuben utters an exclamation of im- 
 patience. It was a disagreeable habit of her husband, 
 whenever he "got riled," to bring up the fact that they 
 were once in a much "lower grade of society." 
 
 "What is the use of your having made four or five 
 million dollars if your child is not to have some ad- 
 vantage from it?" she demanded, with flushed face. 
 
 "I don't know," was the sharp retort. "I didn't mean 
 to, I'm sure. I remember, when we had been married 
 a year, and Amy came, our one ambition was to own a 
 little house on a leased bit of land 'something that 
 would cost, with the furniture, perhaps a couple of 
 thousand. How we used to talk about it in the even- 
 ings, when I came home from work! You thought 
 you'd be 'perfectly happy' if we could ever accomplish 
 that wonderful thing. Well, we did it, and I don't 
 know as you're any happier now than you were then. 
 I'm sure I'm not. I wish I'd never bought a share of 
 sugar stock. That's what's made all the trouble." 
 
 It was idle to talk with a man who could advance 
 such views as these and Mrs. Van Steuben returned 
 wearily to the main question. 
 
 "I want ten thousand dollars to go to San Francisco 
 with," she said. "You may as well give me the money 
 first as last." 
 
 "I suppose so," he sighed, "When are you going?" 
 
 "Next week. I've got to be there early to see about 
 Amy's graduation dress and attend to lots of little
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 2$ 
 
 things. She's the ridiest girl at that school and has 
 got to make a decent show. You know you don't want 
 her to look like a fright and you only talk for the sake 
 of it. You'll be as pleased as anyone, when she conies 
 home, to have the Waterman's and the Millinhams 
 and the Stookses find her looking so well and perhaps 
 a little better than any of their own tribe." 
 
 Mr. Van Steuben went silently to his desk and drew 
 out his cheque-book. Slowly and carefully he wrote 
 the cheque demanded, filling in the ciphers with many 
 a suppressed groan. He did not care at all for the 
 money he was honest in the wish he had expressed 
 that Fortune had been less lavish in her gifts to him. 
 The oppressive thought in his mind was that this in- 
 strument would be used to help destroy what was left 
 of the sweet, lovable, little girl who had climbed on his 
 knees and called him "Papa." 
 
 For three years he had not seen his idol, though he 
 exchanged weekly letters with her. He could not bear 
 the sea. His experience on the schooner in which 
 he rounded the Horn had given him a dread of the 
 ocean that time did not lessen. That voyage had been 
 for him one long horror and the smell of a bit of tarred 
 rope brought fresh qualms to his stomach after nearly 
 forty years. 
 
 He had hidden himself on board the craft at Boston, 
 with a boy's idea that he wanted to be a sailor, and had 
 been given the usual experience of a detected stowa- 
 way. Arriving at Honolulu he managed to escape 
 and hid in the hut of a friendly islander till the hate- 
 ful sails of the schooner were out of sight. Then,
 
 26 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 from the lowest of positions, he had crept upwards, un- 
 til he was now justly reckoned among the richest half 
 dozen residents. 
 
 1 hough the comfortable steamers of many lines 
 ply between the island and his native country, he could 
 never bring himself to take passage in one of them. 
 When his business interests made it imperative that he 
 visit the other islands in the group he suffered all he felt 
 he could endure, although the trips only occupied a 
 few hours. His daughter, deeply loved as she was, 
 seemed while in California in a land almost as inac- 
 cessible as the moon, from his standpoint. He could 
 only await her return. 
 
 Amy's letters had as yet given no indication that she 
 had experienced any serious change. She still began 
 with "My Darling Popsie" and closed with "Yours de- 
 votedly." Still the father had hours of fear lest the 
 little girl who had twined around his heartstrings 
 wpuld ultimately be replaced by a fashionable young 
 lady, who would not, to his mind, fill her place at all. 
 He had listened, pained, to some of her mother's care- 
 ful instructions. Amy had been told. never to forget 
 for one instant that she was the daughter of a million- 
 aire. She was urged to imitate carefully the manners 
 of the young ladies with whom she would be brought 
 in contact. In short, she was directed by Mrs. Van 
 Steuben to repress all naturalness and eliminate as 
 fast as possible the unaffected ways she had learned 
 in her happy childhood, before the great rise in 
 sugar stocks gave her the position of an "heiress." 
 
 All this went sadly through the father's mind, as
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 2/ 
 
 he filled out the dieque for which his wife was wait- 
 ing. 
 
 "We shall never feel the same way about this mat- 
 er," he remarked, as he handed her the piece of paper. 
 "I only hope you'll leave a little of the natural girl in 
 Amy. Judge by her latest photograph she is pretty 
 enough without being decked out in all the finery you 
 can buy. You've begun," he continued with a sigh, 
 "and I suppose you'll have to finish, but I wish you 
 would give her time to enjoy her girlhood before you 
 push her into that 'fashionable swim' you're always 
 talking about." 
 
 The lady uttered another groan. 
 
 "You'd like to see her running barefooted along the 
 beach at Waikiki again, I suppose," she exclaimed, 
 spitefully. 
 
 "Wouldn't I, though !" murmured her husband, clos- 
 ing his eyes reminiscently. "In that light print dress 
 she used to wear, with her hat hanging down her back 
 by its red ribbons and her hair blowing in the wind ! 
 I used to looked at her and say God never made any- 
 thing else so sweet." He turned toward his wife en- 
 treatingly. "Don't utterly spoil her, Gusty." 
 
 If there was anything that Mrs. Van hated 
 more than another it was having her husband shorten 
 her name of Augusta to this affectionate diminutive. 
 It was all right enough when he came a^courting to her 
 father's lowly cottage, but the time when it pleased 
 her ears was long past. It did not fit with her new 
 rvealth and dignities. 
 
 "You talk as if I didn't have as much interest in
 
 28 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Amy as you," she answered, peevishly. "And yet 
 you'd have left her here in Honolulu, to get no educa- 
 tion beyond a term in Punahou and a few piano les- 
 sons ; and for all of you she might marry a plantation 
 luna." 
 
 Mr. Van Steuben blinked at this remark. 
 
 "Marry? Amy marry?" he repeated, half blindly. 
 He had never thought of his daughter in that con- 
 nection. 
 
 "Of course she'll marry ! Do you want her to be an 
 old maid? Now that she's somebody, she can get a 
 husband -worth having. I really think you'd be satis- 
 fied to have her marry a clerk at Hackfeldt's." 
 
 "Like I was When you thought me a pretty good 
 catch ?" he asked, desperately. 
 
 Whenever Mrs. Van got excited she was quite apt 
 to forget the delicacies of language which had come 
 to her late in life. 
 
 "I guess you was as warm to get me as I was to get 
 you. Don't be silly, Abel. You know you'd be will- 
 ing as anybody to have a great man's son in your fami- 
 ly, when the right time comes." 
 
 "A great man's son ! " He wandered what was the 
 extent of this woman's ambition. 
 
 "Neither of us have any family to brag of, Gusty," 
 he replied, "and great men's sorts tihink of such things 
 when they get spliced. My father was a Dutch imi- 
 grant and your mother a Portuguese woman whose 
 father came out here as a laborer." 
 
 The wife began to rub her eyes wMi her handker- 
 ehrif. Allusions to her humble ancestry always annoy-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS, 29 
 
 ed her and Mr. Van Steuben was needlessly brutal 
 this time, she thought. 
 
 "I pity the poor child, with such a father," she 
 sobbed, "Nobody will think of these things, now you've 
 got your money, unless you force it on 'em. Half the 
 big families in New York came from Dutch settlers 
 men who landed with packs on their backs. I've heard 
 that a Congressman from Massachusetts is descended 
 from a French baby rescued from a stranded vessel 
 and brought up in the poorhouse, My mother used to 
 say her folks were big people in Europe before her 
 father lost his property, I'm going to make a lady of 
 Amy in spite of you, so there ! With the money she'll 
 have when you 
 
 "When I'm dead, eh ? Spit it out ! " 
 
 "You don't expect to be an exception to the rule, 
 do you? I say, with Amy's fortune she can get the 
 kind of husband you'd want, for your daughter if you 
 had the least speck of fatherly feeling in your heart." 
 
 "You're looking for a duke or something of that sort, 
 I suppose ?" he said, it being the most sarcastic idea he 
 could think of, 
 
 "Well, I don't think a duke would be any toe good 
 for her! A duke or a markee or a count," replied 
 the lady, stoutly, "Vanderbilt's daughter married a 
 duke and he came of a Dutch family as well as you." 
 
 "Vanderbilt had a hundred millions ! " retorted the 
 husband, overcome at the discovery that his wife was 
 really speaking in a serious vein. 
 
 "And you've got five and growing richer every day. 
 There's only Billy and Amy to share &''
 
 3O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Mr. Van Steuben uttered a deep sigh. 
 
 "I wish to the Lord I hadn't fifty thousand," he said, 
 earnestly. "If it's going to put you into any such race 
 as this my money will be simply a curse, Well, go 
 after Amy and bring her home; we'll see if the child 
 has got any more sense than her mother. 
 
 "Whew ! " "he added, after a pause, during which 
 his wife had left the room. "Half Dutch and half Dagc 
 and looking for a Duke ! Gora'mighty ! "
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "WAS THERE NO RUPTURE BETWEEN YOU?" 
 
 MARCUS Lindes had 'his way at last. From the day 
 when Peter Meyer hurled his insinuations back in his 
 face he determined there should be no doubt about that, 
 He played with his friend as a sportsman does with a 
 fish that has been indiscreet enough to nibble at his 
 hook. He let Peter have all the line he wanted for a 
 time and then slowly but surely wound up his reel. 
 
 Carl might be just the sort of young man his "uncle" 
 believed him very likely he was, he repeated over and 
 over: in that case it would not only do no harm to 
 prove it, but 'Meyer would feel all the better when tihe 
 last trace of doubt was removed. 
 
 And thus it came to pass that the adopted parent 
 was beguiled into putting Carl to a test which he had 
 pronounced "mean, contemptible and tricky/' but of 
 which he had never quite relinquished the idea, under 
 the shrewd manipulation of its keen proposer. 
 
 When Carl was told that Mr. Meyer was going to 
 take a journey without him he was surprised, for he 
 had come to think himself indispensable on such oc- 
 casions. He was not, however, in the habit of ques- 
 tioning his benefactor's decisions. It was adroitly re- 
 presented -that he ought to devote some time to study, 
 his college career having been broken up by his devo*
 
 $S A SUGAR PRINCESS 
 
 tion to Meyer's welfare. A special tutor to coach him in 
 such branches as he had left unfinished was secured; 
 and he was advised to make the best of his time, which 
 he dutifully promised to do, 
 
 Marcus was to go along with Peter, which seemed 
 to assure him of necessary companionship and assis- 
 tance in case of possible illness. While nothing was 
 said definitely about the length of time they would, be 
 absent, Carl got the idea that a tour of only ,a few 
 months was contemplated. 
 
 "I shall leave a balance at the bank for you to draw 
 upon," said Peter, the day before his departure, in a 
 voice whidh he did his utmost to keep from trembling, 
 "If anything happens to me yon understand Uhrig 
 has my will, which leaves you fully provided for. I 
 have given you nearly everything I own, and in ad- 
 dition to my estate I have, as you know, an insurance 
 for $100,000 in the Northwestern of Milwaukee/'* 
 
 Meyer threw out this statement in the expectation 
 that some reply would be given by which he could 
 form an opinion from the words and tone used; but 
 Carl merely pressed the hand held out to him, He 
 was not demonstrative, as a rule, and his action in this 
 matter was entirely in keeping with his ordinary con- 
 duct, as Meyer was instantly obliged to admit to him- 
 self. 
 
 Another fellow might have cried, "Oh, my dear 
 uncle, you are too kind !" or "I hope you will live long 
 years yet, sir !" Neither action was what Meyer had 
 any reason to expect from "his boy." 
 
 As a matter of fact, Carl would have parted from
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 33 
 
 him with the same warm grasp of the hand had he said 
 instead, "I have made a will leaving all my money to 
 a public institution." The young man was thinking of 
 what he already owed his kind friend rather than of 
 what he might expect in the future; and, more than 
 anything else, that he must keep a bright face to 
 the end. 
 
 "Come, we must get aboard," said Lindes, who stood 
 at their elbows at the moment of their final parting. 
 He feared to leave them together too long lest Peter 
 should inadvertently betray the depth of his feeling. 
 
 "Good-bye," said Carl, patting Mr. Meyer encourag- 
 ingly on the shoulder. "You're in good hands. If any- 
 thing should happen that you need me even if you are 
 taken with only a slight illness just telegraph and I'll 
 come at once. You know I understand you a little 
 better than anyone else. Take care of yourself and I'll 
 make the very best progress I can at my studies." 
 
 The train had hardly pulled out of the station when 
 Meyer confided to his companion, as he wiped the 
 moisture from his glasses, that he felt like a villain ; he 
 had half a mind, he said, to leave at the next station, 
 return and confess the whole plot to Carl. Marcus 
 knew his friend was not the man to do this, having 
 once started on his road, and only smiled indulgent- 
 ly. He was sorry to find him so utterly downhearted 
 and began to talk of the probability, the almost cer- 
 tainty, that the young man would justify his highest 
 hopes. He also pictured the great satisfaction that 
 would follow w*hen all doubts had been set at rest. 
 
 "I never had any until you put them in mv head," 
 said Meyer, reproachfully.
 
 34 A SUGAR PRINCESS, 
 
 "They'd have been sure to come, sooner or later. It 
 won't hurt you or him, when it's over." 
 
 "It hurts me now, though," said the shaking voice. 
 
 "You'll be happy enough to make up for it if he 
 proves all right." 
 
 "And supposing mind, I only say supposing he 
 should prove the other way " 
 
 There was such agony in the trembling tones that 
 Lindes felt a touch of contrition. In his heart he had 
 little doubt of Carl. At any rate it was too late now 
 to back out. He had got Meyer into this thing and 
 he must see it through. 
 
 During the first month two letters were received 
 from Meyer by his ward. Both were very brief and 
 contained little besides the information that he had 
 reached Omaha and San Francisco. Later a third 
 came from Mr. Lindes and contained the disquieting 
 news that Mr. Meyer was acting queerly. A physician 
 who had been called in feared that his brain was af- 
 fected, but was not yet certain of it. Lindes said he 
 had suggested that Carl be sent for, but his "uncle" did 
 not wish him to leave his studies. 
 
 Then another month went by without a word from 
 either of the voyagers. Though much perturbed, Carl 
 remained at his post, like the Boy on the Burning 
 Deck, as he had been instructed to do. He continued 
 to write to his friend, directing to the last address he 
 had received, that of the Palace Hotel in San Francis- 
 co, until at last his missives were returned to him, 
 marked "Not called for." Much distressed he now
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 35 
 
 began to have fears that something extraordinary had 
 occured. 
 
 Mr. Lindes surely must be able to write, in ordinary 
 circumstances, if Mr. Meyer was not. He could not 
 understand how both of them could be silent. Then a 
 crisis occured which had to be met heroically. The 
 bank from which Carl had been told to draw funds 
 sent word that the balance was nearly extinguished 
 and requested Mr. Meyer's present address. 
 
 Carl went immediately to the officers of the institu- 
 tion and explained why he could not give the informa- 
 tion they desired. He asked if they would not honor 
 his cheques until he could obtain news of the absent 
 one, but this on consideration they felt obliged to de- 
 cline to do. 
 
 He next went to Lawyer Uhrig's and asked that gen- 
 tleman for advice, but cbe attorney offered nothing of 
 value. He did, however, mention that Meyer's will 
 was locked up in his safe and that it left Cafl practic- 
 ally the whole of the old gentleman's fortune. If Peter 
 should prove to be dead, the lawyer said his course of 
 action would be simple. In that case he would sub- 
 mit the will to the Court and turn over the estate to 
 the legatee. He added, as if to anticipate the question, 
 that until there was no doubt of Meyer's decease he 
 had no authority to alienate a nickel of the funds in his 
 hands. 
 
 "Was there any rupture between you before he went 
 away ?" he asked, pointedly. 
 
 "Rupture? Oh, no!" 
 
 "It's a strange affair. Have you got Lindes' letter 
 in your pocket?"
 
 36 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Carl produced the document and the lawyer read H 
 through several times. 
 
 "I don't wish to alarm you, young man," he said, 
 after a pause, "but don't you think it rather queer that 
 Peter didn't want you sent for when he was feeling ill ? 
 Doesn't it seem as if he had changed his mind about 
 you? He may have decided to make a new will, be- 
 queathing his property in some other way." 
 
 "Yes," said Carl, trying to make out the connection. 
 "But I don't see as that would be any reason for not 
 sending for me. Nobody understands him as well 
 as I. Of course," he added, slowly, "if there's any 
 trouble with his brain Don't you think I ought to go 
 to him anyway, Mr. Uhrig? that he would be glad to 
 have me come, even if he didn't feel like sending for 
 me?" 
 
 The lawyer was silent for some seconds. 
 
 "You don't know where he is," he said, finally. 
 "And if you did it costs money to travel." 
 
 "I could raise enough to get to San Francisco. If 
 he is very sick he can't have gone far from there. I'm 
 going." And Carl roused himself and put on a look of 
 determination. 
 
 Mr. Uhrig grew thoughtful again. 
 
 "If he has made a new will or decided to, which I 
 suspect, you'll have to be pretty quick if you expect to 
 influence him," he said. 
 
 The young man flashed a look of indignation at the 
 speaker. Twice he opened his mouth, but could not 
 find words deep enough to utter the thoughts in his 
 mind. He arose instead and turned abruptly to the 
 door.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS, 3 
 
 "I suppose I could lend you a hundreci OT two on 
 
 my own account," Uhrig called after him. 
 
 Carl shook his head, without glancing back. He 
 would have accepted the offer gladly a moment earlier, 
 but now that the lawyer had practically accused him 
 of wishing to wrest a fortune from Mr. Meyer on his 
 deathbed, he could not touch his money. It would 
 burn his fingers. 
 
 The same evening Carl telegraphed to the Palace 
 Hotel, asking if they could give him the present ad- 
 dress of Peter Meyer. One of the hotel people respond- 
 ed that it was supposed the gentleman had gone to the 
 Hawaiian Islands, but they were not sure about it. 
 The anxious inquirer waited two weeks longer, hoping 
 each day a letter would arrive to relieve his suspense, 
 but none came. In the meantime he dismissed his 
 tutor and reduced his living expenses to the narrowest 
 limit. He had acquaintances to whom he might have 
 applied for a loan, but with such uncertain prospects 
 of payment he hesitated to ask aid of any of them. 
 
 At last he resolved to set out on a personal tour 
 of investigation. The continued silence of the absent 
 men was susceptible of the most alarming interpreta- 
 tion. If he could reach San Francisco he felt that he 
 should be able to trace their movements in some way 
 and the telegraph and mail had proved unsatisfactory 
 mediums. He pawned his watch and chain, with what 
 other things he could spare, and drew out the last cent 
 of the small balance remaining to his credit in the 
 bank. Leaving word where a dispatch or letter would 
 reach him, he then began his journey to the Pacific 
 Slope.
 
 38 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 As it was imperative that he should travel economi- 
 cally, he did not secure Pullman accommodations either 
 for day or night. He even packed a basket with edi- 
 bles, instead of dining at restaurants on the way. It 
 was a hard experience, used as he was to traveling re- 
 gardless of cost, but he bore it bravely. The hope 
 that he would find his lost friend buoyed him up 
 through everything. 
 
 Arriving at San Francisco, Carl lost no time in 
 visiting the agents of the lines that run steamers to 
 Honolulu, but the sought-for names were not found on 
 any of their lists. As late passengers sometimes get 
 their tickets from the purser, this did not absolutely 
 prove that the men had not taken passage in one of 
 tfiese boats. All the other lines that leave San Fran- 
 cisco by sea were next investigated, with the same re- 
 sult. 
 
 The clerk at the Palace who thought he had heard 
 Mr. Meyer and his friend talking of going to Honolulu 
 was found, but was unable to swear that he was cor- 
 rect in his recollection. He remembered Mr. Meyer 
 very well and recalled the fact that Carl had been there 
 with him on two previous occasions. All he was 
 sure of was that the old gentleman was in very feeble 
 health, the books showing that his meals were sent to 
 his room frequently during his stay at the hostelrie. 
 Mr. Lindes and he left the house together in a carriage 
 after their bill was paid, but the utmost efforts failed to 
 locate the cabman who took them. 
 
 Grown quite disconsolate over tihis condition of 
 things, Carl wandered aimlessly about the city for
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 several days, peering into every face he met in tKC 
 vain hope that it might be one of the lost ones. Find- 
 ing his nerves getting shaky, it occured to him one. 
 afternoon to take a row in the Bay as an economical 
 method of pulling himself and a boat together. Per- 
 haps but for the incident which accompanied this de- 
 cision, you might not have found this story worth- 
 reading. 
 
 Although the day was cloudy and rather cold Carl's 
 attention was soon attracted by a party of pleasure 
 seekers who were navigating the waters in a small 
 sloop and of wJhom only one seemed to find cause for 
 fear in the occasional gusts of wind that bent the mast 
 and caused the little vessel to careen. The ferry-boats, 
 passing and repassing on their trips to and from Oak- 
 land and Alameda, as well as occasional other steam 
 craft, took up more of the attention of the party, on 
 account of the rocking motion caused by the wake 
 each left behind it. There were two young men and a 
 young lady, who seemed to be enjoying themselves 
 hugely. They had as chaperon a more mature wo- 
 man, who uttered little screams from time to time, 
 which it was evident she did her best to suppress. The 
 elder of the young men, who was managing the boat, 
 took a quiet delight in her alarm, though he was heard 
 to assure her that there was not the slightest danger. 
 As the sloop tacked up and down the Bay it passed 
 close to Carl's and the voices of those on board could 
 be heard distinctly. 
 
 "Mr. Loring knows how to manage a boat as well
 
 ifO A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 as a sailor," said the young lady, a slight but well- 
 made brunette with very large and expressive black 
 eyes. "You needn't give yourself the least uneasi- 
 ness, Miss Stevens. Besides, we are going ashore now 
 in a few moments." 
 
 "Can can you swim?" asked the lady addressed, 
 anxiously. 
 
 "A little, and Mr. Loring can and Billy can't you, 
 Billy ? If we get tipped over there are people all about 
 who would rush to our rescue. A little adventure 
 would only add to the romance of the sail." 
 
 "Don't joke about it ! " was the nervous rejoinder. 
 "I think none of us wants to risk death." 
 
 "Why, aren't you prepared ! " asked the young man 
 who had been designated as "Billy;" at which Miss 
 Stevens only looked more worried than ever. 
 
 So occupied was the party with this debate that none 
 of them saw until it was too late an actual danger that 
 threatened them. A tug which had been hidden by a 
 large vessel was bearing down upon them with velocity. 
 Even Carl Meyer, who had been listening with some 
 amusement to the conversation, did not notice the tug 
 until it liad become a source of peril to the little sloop. 
 He perceived it, however, a second before the yacht- 
 ing party did, and uttered a cry at the top of his voice, 
 which was heard by the steersman of the tug and the 
 skipper of the sloop at the same moment. 
 
 It was now too late to prevent the impending crash. 
 Mr. Loring, thoroughly aroused to his danger, did his 
 utmost to keep his slight craft out of the path of the 
 coming monster, but to no purpose. Though a direct
 
 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 41 
 
 collision was avoided, the tug struck the side of the 
 sailboat just at the sternsheets and threw it violent- 
 ly over. In a second all of its passengers were flound* 
 ering in the water and none of them found it quite as 
 amusing as the recent discussion might have led them 
 to suppose. 
 
 Probably there never was much danger that any 
 of the wrecked people would actually drown. The 
 men on the tug hastened to bring it into position to 
 assist them. Another sailboat that was but a few hun- 
 dred feet away, and had thought a sufficient distance 
 for safety allowed between the sloop and the tug, bore 
 down toward the struggling ones. Quicker than any 
 of the others, Carl Meyer, as good a swimmer as ever 
 traversed the blue waters of San Francisco Bay, pulled 
 his skiff with rapid movements to where the brunette 
 beauty had sunk; and, springing over the side, he 
 caught her as she came up after going down but once. 
 
 The young lady had not lost her presence of mind, al- 
 though she was naturally much startled. She caught 
 a long breath as she felt a strong arm encircle her 
 waist, and then let her head rest peacefully on a broad 
 shoulder to which the arm belonged. Feeling the 
 strength with which she was supported she speedily 
 came to the conclusion that she was as safe as if on 
 land, though it must be admitted she was hardly as 
 dry. 
 
 Something which may best be described as a species 
 of inertia prevented her struggling to escape the clasp 
 of this total stranger or even of making the least in- 
 quiry as to her late fellow passengers. Presently she
 
 A2 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 felt herself lifted aboard the steam tug, where to her 
 partly benumbed senses there came words which 
 showed that her friends were also safe. And it was 
 then, when there was no longer the slightest danger to 
 anybody, that she did the distinctly feminine thing and 
 lost consciousness. 
 
 As soon as Carl had relinquished his pretty burden 
 to the outstretched hands awaiting her, he took up his 
 oars and pulled hastily for the shore. He wanted to 
 escape the infliction of thanks, which he supposed 
 would be showered upon him for doing a simple act 
 of duty. In the excitement his escape was not noticed 
 at first and then the rescued people were too busy 
 congratulating themselves on the safe ending of their 
 mishap to dwell long on his part in the affair. 
 
 "I wish that fellow had waited, Amy," was the only 
 remark about him at the time, and this by Brother 
 Billy. "I would have liked to give him something 
 handsome."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MR. PYNE, THE DETECTIVE. 
 
 As he rowed back to the place where he had hired his 
 skiff Carl thought of little in connection with this ad- 
 venture except that he was very wet and rather chilly. 
 Or at least if he had other thoughts he was not at first 
 conscious of them. The substratum of special interest 
 in the fair creature he had rescued did not make it- 
 self immediately apparent to his somewhat slow intel- 
 lect. 
 
 He had a methodical habit of doing things in a 
 regular order of rotation. When he saw a young lady 
 sinking in the water it was the natural thing to dive 
 after and bring her to a place of safety. This finished, 
 it was equally natural to row without delay in the di- 
 rection of dry clothing and a hot bath. 
 
 His landlord was much surprised when he saw his 
 guest alight from a cab, which by some miracle Carl 
 had discovered near the boat landing. As a general 
 thing cabs are not obtainable in San Francisco during 
 the daytime without ordering them from a stable. The 
 young man's drenched condition aroused the land- 
 lord's curiosity, but Carl passed him with a mere nod 
 and went to his room, as if he was in the habit of swim- 
 ming in the Bay fully dressed, every afternoon of his 
 life.
 
 44 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Disrobing as speedily as possible he got into a tub 
 of hot water. Then he rubbed himself briskly with a 
 rough towel, to bring back the full measure of his 
 natural circulation, and habited himself in dry gar- 
 ments throughout. Calling a servant he sent his wet 
 clothing to be dried and pressed, after which he lit a 
 pipe and puffed meditatively. 
 
 Naturally the experience through which he had just 
 passed was the theme that filled his brain. The young 
 lady he had rescued was decidedly pretty. His mind 
 lingered over the lines of her face, as he remembered 
 them. He saw again her dark eyes, filled with innocent 
 fun as she chattered over the possibility of a danger she 
 little thought so near ; then charged with a wild alarm, 
 as the tug bore down upon the frail craft on which 
 she rode; then closed, as her head lay quite still on 
 4he shoulder of her rescuer. 
 
 Carl's breath came more quickly as he scented again 
 the ambrosia of the mouth that had been pressed 
 against his cheek. The pulsations of her heart had 
 struck through to the hand that clasped her gown and 
 he felt it still tingling. 
 
 For some seconds he had held her as closely as \1 
 she were his accepted sweetheart ; then other hands 
 had snatched her from him; and he had awakened 
 roughly from his di earn not even half f ormed j and that 
 was, and was to be, the end of it all. 
 
 It came into his mind disagreeably that it was not 
 merely because he was cold and wet that he had made 
 h : s hastv exit from the scene of his exploit that 
 there were stronger reasons why he had wished to es-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 45 
 
 cape unnoticed, without giving his name or inquiring 
 hers. A few months ago, when his prospects were wide- 
 ly different, when he had a rich adopted father and 
 could hold up his head in any society, he would certain- 
 ly have introduced himself to the friends of the girl he 
 had saved and begged them to send him word how she 
 came out of the accident. 
 
 Today he was a pauper. Those people were of an- 
 other rank. Had he overheard the suggestion of one 
 of the party that he could have something in a pecuni- 
 ary way he would not have been surprised. It was a 
 perfectly natural thought. 
 
 Slowly he pulled away at his meerschaum. Tobacco 
 can yield some comfort in most disagreeable situa- 
 tions. 
 
 A knock on his door aroused him. Presuming that 
 it was one of the hotel people he called, "Come in!" 
 but arose with an apology when he discovered his 
 error. The caller was a fellow of about his own age, 
 who roomed in the house, and with whom he had pass- 
 ed a few words at the dinner table. They had ex- 
 changed cards and he knew that the name of his visitor 
 was Sumner Barney. 
 
 "I hope I don't interrupt you," said Barney, good- 
 naturedly, "but I heard you came home soaked and 
 my curiosity got the better of me. Would you mind 
 telling how it happened?" 
 
 "Not at all." 
 
 Rather glad to have someone to talk to, Carl related 
 th particulars of the incident, while the other listened 
 with undisguised interest.
 
 46 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "What was the young lady's name ?" asked Barney, 
 when the brief tale came to an end. 
 
 "I haven't the least idea." 
 
 "You didn't ask!" 
 
 "No, I was glad enough to hurry home and get into 
 something dry. Her friends were abundantly able to 
 take care of her." 
 
 The visitor whistled, "Send me a kiss by wire- 
 Baby, my heart's on fire," and then paused abruptly, 
 
 "You're not very romantic," he said, with a laugh. 
 "But to tell the truth your adventure wasn't original. 
 The story papers wouldn't give a fiver for it. Young 
 and pretty girls she was pretty, of course?" 
 
 Carl's disturbed face was his only answer. 
 
 "Young and pretty girls have been rescued from 
 drowning in half the novels ever written. Why 
 couldn't you have dragged her from in front of an 
 automobile even locomotives are done to death. I'm 
 trying to make a hit in the short story line and had 
 great hopes this was something I could use. Just pull- 
 ing a beauty out of the Bay wouldn't buy the ink it 
 would cost to write it up." 
 
 The ridiculousness of the idea finally forced itself 
 through the young German's brain and a smile came 
 to his features. 
 
 "I am sorry it wasn't an automobile, for your sake," 
 said he. "Besides, that would have been more com- 
 fortable for me than icewater. I only hope the lady 
 won't get an illness from the effects of her ducking." 
 
 Mr. Barney reluctantly bade farewell to his hopes of 
 a romance and resumed his pumping operations in an- 
 other direction.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 47 
 
 "I suppose you're looking for a business opening?" 
 he suggested. 
 
 "No, I'm looking for a friend who has disappeared." 
 
 "Ah ! " Barney brightened up again. "That's more 
 in my line. A mystery, eh?" (He got out a notebook.) 
 "Is it anything I could use for a magazine I beg 
 your pardon, I hope I don't seem inquisitive. Have 
 you tried the detective agencies ? No ! I'm well ac- 
 quainted with Maple & Pyne, the best people around 
 here, and I will introduce you to them with pleasure." 
 
 This interested Carl, but at the very moment he 
 started to catch at the straw held out he remembered 
 that he lacked the first essential to make use of it 
 funds. 
 
 "No, I thank you," he answered. "I'm afraid they 
 couldn't help me. I've got no money to use in that 
 way." 
 
 "Let's hear the story," exclaimed the breezy Mr. 
 Barney. "I might use it in one of the evening papers 
 I mean, perhaps I might be of service to you in some 
 way you may command me, I'm sure," he rattled on. 
 "I've lots of time on my hands and I'd be glad to 
 put it at your disposal." 
 
 Slowly the main points came out. It seemed to Carl 
 that there could be no harm in setting another brain 
 to work on >his problem, where help was so necessary 
 and so hard to obtain. 
 
 The strange cessation of correspondence and the dis- 
 appearance of Mr. Meyer and his friend interested 
 Barney very much. He murmured several times that 
 it was "most extraordinary," and at the close of the
 
 48 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 recital declared with enthusiasm that he would start 
 a serial on it at once if he only knew how it would 
 end. 
 
 "Have you tried the steamboat people ?" he asked, as 
 if thinking hard. 
 
 "Every one." 
 
 "You're sure he hasn't gone back to St. Louis ?" 
 
 "I left word to have a dispatch sent in case they re- 
 ceived any news, and I've heard nothing." 
 
 "You've notified the police here?" 
 
 "Why, no," said Carl, astonished at the suggestion. 
 
 "Then you must do so at once ! " cried Barney, ex- 
 citedly. "It's more than likely your friend is being held 
 for a ransom." 
 
 "Mr. Lindes was with him and in that case would 
 have appealed to the authorities long ago." 
 
 "But supposing a gang of thugs had got them 
 both?" Barney suggested, as if overjoyed with the 
 idea. "Perhaps they've been murdered ! " he added, 
 cheerfully. "Did they carry much money about them ?" 
 
 The idea of assassination, which brought to Barney 
 merely the prospect of a striking plot, sent a cold 
 shiver down his companion's spine. He could hardly 
 speak for emotion as he contemplated the terrible pos- 
 sibility. 
 
 It was clear to him now that he ought to communi- 
 cate with the police that he should have done so long 
 before. He regretted bitterly his lack of means to 
 prosecute this search and began to dread the discover- 
 ies that such an investigation might reveal. However 
 he agreed at once to the suggestion of his new ac-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 49 
 
 quaintance, an'd, as Barney was the originator of the 
 idea, put himself unreservedly in his hands, 
 
 "The first thing we'd better do," said Barney, "is 
 to go to Maple & Pyne's office. I'll have a talk with 
 one of the firm and see if they'll undertake the job on 
 chances. You say you've got no money to spare, but 
 if Mr. Meyer is found they'll come out all right. They're 
 worth all the police departments in the state. Your 
 man will be discovered, if he's above ground, as sure 
 as you put these fellows on the scent." 
 
 "How can I thank you?" asked Carl, as they took 
 their way toward the office in question. 
 
 "I don't want any thanks. All I ask is that you 
 let me use the plot. Why, it will be a regular god- 
 send ! " 
 
 Mr. Howard Pyne was in his office, though the 
 evening shadows had fallen and his usual hour for 
 closing had passed. He nodded familiarly to Barney 
 and bowed with more* dignity to Carl. In the sober 
 attitude of the latter he scented a case. And when 
 Mr. Pyne scented a case his every faculty was roused 
 to the utmost. 
 
 Without delay Barney outlined the history of Mey- 
 er's disappearance from St. Louis, as he had just learn- 
 ed it. Before he paused for breath he had presented 
 the wihole situation the impecuniosity of the applicant 
 who accompanied him and the certainty that sufficient 
 means to pay for the work would follow its success- 
 ful completion. Mr. Pyne kept his eyes fixed on a 
 sheet of paper that lay on his desk and never moved a 
 muscle till the voluble talker came to a full stop.
 
 5O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "He was going to the police headquarters but I per- 
 suaded him to come to you," were Barney's closing 
 words. 
 
 Then Mr. Pyne looked up. He was a man of forty, 
 with a clean-cut face and particularly bright eyes. 
 
 "What is the name of the missing gentleman?" he 
 asked. And with that word "gentleman" Mr. Barney 
 knew he had succeeded. Otherwise Pyne would have 
 referred to the missing "man." 
 
 "Peter Meyer," said Carl, his voice shaking a little. 
 
 The fear that some of Barney's lugubrious prognosti- 
 cations might come true were troubling him. 
 
 "Pe-ter Mey-er," repeated Mr. Pyne, writing the 
 name slowly on the paper before him. "Of St. Louis ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Describe him as accurately as you can." 
 
 The description was given, to the minutest detail. 
 Mr. Pyne made careful notes, using shorthand, iii 
 which he was proficient. 
 
 "You may return tomorrow morning," he said, 
 quietly, when this task was ended. And 'he added in a 
 tone that was meant especially to impress Mr. Barney,, 
 "alone." 
 
 "I trust you will begin your search without delay," 
 said Carl, anxiously. 
 
 "I must study the case first. It does not do to leap 
 before we look in such a matter as this." 
 
 "You don't think he has been murdered?" asked 
 Carl, huskily. 
 
 "No, I think we shall find him and his friend alive. 
 Make your mind as easy as you can. We may need 
 your assistance and you must keep a cool head."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 5* 
 
 Carl's head was anything but cool. He had half ex- 
 pected that the detective would produce Mr. Meyer 
 from some mysterious hidden recess. Pyne's calm 
 manner disconcerted and distressed him. There was 
 nothing to be done, however, and after uttering his 
 thanks for the interview, Carl took his leave with 
 Mr. Barney; 
 
 "You see he means to freeze me out," were Barney's 
 first words when they were again upon the street. 
 "I've got to rely on you to let me dish the thing up 
 when it's over. It ought to make a full-sized romance. 
 I intended at first to offer it to Short Stories, but noth- 
 ing less than the Century will do if it comes out as 
 I expect. Say, you'll deal square with me ?" he added, 
 anxiously 
 
 Carl hastened to assure him on that point. "You 
 heard Mr. Pyne say he didn't believe he was dead," 
 he added, joyfully. 
 
 "Neither do I. He's held for ransom, you may be 
 sure. Forty chapters at least! Ta-ra-ra! Of course 
 I shan't use real names, but the plot will be splendid, 
 Boorn-de-ay! Old, rich, feeble, held by thugs! I 
 wish you'd do something about that pretty girl, though. 
 It wasn't exactly new, the way you rescued her, but it 
 might work in with the history of the crime. By 
 Jove ! " he added, effusively, "you must hunt her up, 
 if only out of gratitude to me.'*
 
 52 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MR, BARNEY HAS A PLA.N". 
 
 THE sleep which came that nigtrt to the eyes of our 
 young hero (as we might as well begin to call him)' 
 was much disturbed. Now that he had begun to 
 entertain apprehensions regarding a real danger to 
 his friend and patron he wanted each move made 
 as quickly as possible. He felt a sort of guilt be- 
 cause he had delayed to start inquiries by trained 
 experts a month ago; news of the lost ones might 
 have been obtained before this and who could say 
 how important a single hour might be ? 
 
 Nothing in Carl's previous career fitted him in the 
 least to meet such an emergency. He knew of course 
 that Mr. Meyer was old and feeble, and that he often 
 carried money enough on his person to tempt die cu- 
 pidity of thieves, but such things as abduction and 
 murder belonged to spheres of life about which he had 
 only a very remote conception. When he had puzzled 
 over his "uncle's" strange silence the fact that the 
 stronger and well-contained Lindes was with him had 
 prevented all fears of that nature. 
 
 He even began to hope, sadly enough, that the real 
 explanation would be found in Mr. Uhrig's hint that 
 Peter intended to abandon him and had taken this 
 strange method of doing it Even that would be better
 
 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 53 
 
 t.han these horrible possibilities regarding the old gen- 
 tleman's personal safety. 
 
 There were several facts that could not be disguted. 
 Meyer had not written to Carl or any other of his 
 closest friends for six or seven weeks. He had dis- 
 appeared as if my magic. It was the duty of one who 
 had been treated so long like an adopted son to follow 
 every clue until he learned the truth. The introduction 
 to the firm of Maple & Pyne seemed like a piece of 
 special Providence. Those wise unravellers of tangled 
 skeins would surely find some solution to the puzzle. 
 
 While preserving his unruffled exterior, Mr. Pyne 
 didsa great deal of thinking during the evening follow- 
 ing Carl's call at his office. It was often said of his 
 firm that Pyne's part of the business called for the 
 most thought, while Maple's demanded the most act- 
 ion. Pyne's closest friends often asserted that he 
 could study out a case in his sleep; and it did fre- 
 quently happen that an affair which puzzled him when 
 he dropped off to slumber came out clear and plain 
 when he awoke from a rest that had been absolutely 
 undisturbed. 
 
 It was while dressing, on the morning following his 
 introduction to the reader, that Howard Pyne remark- 
 ed to himself, in the solitude of his chamber, that his 
 agency was in a fair way to make a good thing. And 
 when Howard Pyne got this far he generally had a 
 pretty clear idea of what he was talking about. 
 
 While sipping his coffee, in dressing-gown and slip- 
 pers, he had the morning paper brought to him. He 
 glanced over its columns rapidly, with the trained eye
 
 54 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 of an expert, pausing occasionally for a second or two 
 at some piece of news. Suddenly he chanced upon one 
 which caused even his steady head to vibrate. He 
 caught his breath several times as he read and re-read 
 the paragraphs that riveted his attention. 
 
 Putting down the paper at last, he rang for hot 
 water and proceeded leisurely to shave himself. When 
 this was done 'he wrote a brief note to his partner, ask- 
 ing him to call on him before going to the office. 
 
 Mr. Pyne had never known the "shaving test" to 
 fail. He did not wish Mr. Maple to see that he had un- 
 dergone the least trace of excitement. The dexterous 
 manipulation of the razor showed that he could appear 
 as calm as an iceberg, notwithstanding the tempta- 
 tion to show nervousness. 
 
 The reason why he had sent for his partner was 
 that he wished to consult with him alone and knew 
 that Carl would be certain to put in an early appear- 
 ance at the office. When Mr. Maple appeared he did 
 not look in the least like the Hawkshaw dear to the 
 readers of fiction. He was, on the contrary, apparently 
 an everyday sort of mam, who might have been a 
 grocer or drygoods dealer. He seemed a combina- 
 tion of earnestness and taciturnity ; the embodiment of 
 force, 'but of the quietest kind. When he was admit- 
 ted he did not evince the least curiosity as to why he 
 had been summoned. He merely uttered a conven- 
 tional good-morning, and took a seat. 
 
 "It's aibout iihat affair of Peter Meyer's," said Pyne, 
 speaking with directness. "The nephew was in to 
 see me last night/'
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 5$ 
 
 Mr. Maple listened, but made no remark. 
 
 "He's been hunting for the old man, in the natural 
 channels, and had an idea that he'd been abducted or 
 murdered. I'm going to take the case on speculation. 
 Have you seen the morning papers ?" 
 
 Mr. Maple shook his head. 
 
 "Well, listen to this:" (He read aloud:) 
 
 An aoddent occurred in the Bay yesterday after- 
 noon, which happily resulted in noifliing worse than a 
 scare and wetting for a party of yachting people. A 
 sloop containing Mr. William Van Steuben, Miss Van 
 Steuben, Miss Stevens and Mr. S. Loring was run 
 doswn not far from tihe Ferry House by the tug 
 ''Lucky Baldwin," through what seems to hJave been 
 aflmoist criminal carelessness. All the people men- 
 tioned were thrown inlto tihe water, but were luckily 
 rescued by the tug and a young man Whose name has 
 not been ascertained. The Van Steubens are of the 
 family well-known in Honolulu and Miss Van Steuben 
 recently graduated from Miss Williamson's school on 
 the Heights. 
 
 Mr. Maple listened attentively enough, but his face 
 gave no sign that he found the paragraph particularly 
 exciting. 
 
 "Well?" he remarked at last, interrogatively. 
 
 "Just this. The young man's name has been as- 
 certainedby me. And he is the nephew of his long- 
 lost uncle." 
 
 "Queer," was the quiet remark of the other man. 
 
 "It would be, in any business but ours. Now, I 
 should say this young man, Carl, had best be left to 
 me to manage."
 
 56 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "As you please. How is he off for funds ?" 
 
 "Pretty short." 
 
 "And you'll let him get a little shorter?" 
 
 "Naturally." Mr. Pyne's inexpressive face soften- 
 ed into something almost like a smile. 
 
 "Is there anything else," asked Mr. Maple. 
 
 "No. I only suggest that the boy had better not 
 see you around the office. If you can come an hour or 
 two late for the present I will get rid of him before 
 you arrive." 
 
 No reply was needed to this and Mr. Maple took 
 his leave as silently as he had made his appearance. 
 An hour later when Mr. Pyne entered his business 
 rooms he found Carl there, as he expected. The young 
 man looked the eager inquiry that was in his mind. 
 
 "You had quite an adventure yesterday," said Pyne. 
 
 "A very slight one. But about Mr. Meyer? Have 
 you learned anything?" 
 
 "I think I can assure you that he is alive and safe." 
 
 "Where?" asked Carl, breathless. 
 
 "It may tike several days before I can answer that 
 positively." 
 
 A dis pnointed look filled the anxious eyes. 
 
 ''Have you formed any theory as to his strange sil~ 
 ence other than" (the questioner spoke hoarsely) "the 
 one you advanced yesterday?" 
 
 Mr. Pyne nodded, like a man to whom all secrets 
 were onen. 
 
 "That^ ju=t wtat I have done, though I can bring 
 as yet n^ absolute proof. I think he has gone insane." 
 
 Carl uttered a quick exclamation of dismay.
 
 'A SUGAR PRINCESS. 5? 
 
 "That would not account for Mr. Lindes Disap- 
 pearing also," 'he suggested. 
 
 " Yes, it would. At present I do not care to say 
 too much in relation to the matter. I have set in- 
 vestigations on foot which will reveal 'something in 
 a few days. Till then I must ask you to have patience." 
 
 A few days may not seem long in ordinary matters, 
 but the time was likely to be wearisome enough at 
 that juncture. Carl's funds were nearly exhausted. 
 He had nothing left that would bring muoh if pawned. 
 With the uncertainty that hung over him he could not 
 engage himself at any remunerative occupation. He 
 was stranded on a barren rock, from which he did not 
 even dare depart, should any friendly sail come hi 
 sight except the one he most longed for. 
 
 "Come in any morning at this hour," continued Mr. 
 Pyne. "Not later, as I am very busy. I have your 
 address. If anything important occurs I will send for 
 you. Good-day." 
 
 Nothing could be gained by confiding to this man 
 of steel the extreme paucity of his resources and Carl 
 left the office much disheartened. Arriving at his 
 room his heart gave a bound to find that a letter 
 had arrived, bearing his name and also the printed 
 address of the sender, Lawyer Uhrig of St. Louis. 
 Eagerly he tore open the envelope. 
 
 But the contents were merely formal. No news of 
 Mr. Meyer or his companion had been received. Uh- 
 rig wrote principally to say this and to add that if it 
 shou'd be shown that the worst had happened the will 
 in his safe left Carl the bulk of the old gentleman's
 
 $8 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 fortune. In 'the circumstances a telegram sent to the 
 lawyer would be promptly met with whatever funds 
 he migttit need for immediate use. 
 
 Carl's spirits, which had risen at sight of the en- 
 velope, fell with equal rapidity. He had no idea of 
 accepting anything from the lawyer. He believed, 
 if everything else failed, he had acquaintances who 
 would respond to an appeal. He could not receive 
 any sum contingent upon the death of his old friejid. 
 One of the first things he did was to have a talk 
 with his landlord, in which he asked for credit for a few 
 weeks ; and the good-natured boniface, reading probity 
 in his eyes, readily acceded to his request. Then he 
 wrote to one of his St. Louis friends, requesting the 
 !oan of a hundred dollars, with no doubt whatever 
 that the answer would be favorable. 
 
 A fortnight passed, during which nothing of value 
 was imparted to him by the detective to whom he had 
 intrusted 'his cause. To make matters worse no reply 
 
 'was received from the person whom he had asked for 
 a remittance. Sumner Barney's frequent calls were 
 the only breaks in the terrible monotony, and even 
 they served to accentuate the hopelessness of the situa- 
 tion. Barney was impatient over the slow develop- 
 ment of the mystery, declaring that he could not even 
 begin his "romance" until he had an inkling of the 
 
 iJenouement. He did, however, aid in keeping up 
 
 * Carl's faith in the ultimate success of Mr. Pyne, whom 
 he described as the shrewdest man of his profession 
 
 *j America. 
 
 "He's working the thing all right," he used to say. 
 can't hurry such matters."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. *g 
 
 .* 
 
 When things are at their worst, says the proverb, 
 they sometimes mend. Three weeks from the day on, 
 which Carl had first seen Mr. Pyne, he received a 
 note from fhat gentleman asking him to call that af-^ 
 ternoon at five o'clock. Punctual to the moment he 
 was at the place appointed. 
 
 "I have heard from your friend," were the cheer- 
 ing words that greeted him. 
 
 "Where is he ?" the young man almost shouted. 
 
 "He was recently in Honolulu, though he mlay Have 
 left tihere now." 
 
 "Can't you cable?" 
 
 "No, there is no telegraphic communication. The 
 day after I first saw you I found that passengers ans- 
 wering the description of those you seek had boarded 
 the Doric just before one of her sailings last month. 
 From a Honolulu correspondent I now learn that two 
 men whom I feel reasonably certain are the ones 
 were recently at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel." 
 
 Carl's excitement did not abate. 
 
 "The strange thing aboult the matter," continued 
 Pyne, "is that both registered under different names 
 from those we suppose them to own. The one I take 
 to be your friend has attracted notice by the oddity of 
 his conduct, which confirms my belief that his mind 
 is unhinged." 
 
 "But why ftias not Mr. Lindes written?" 
 
 "Perhaps because he has some purpose of his own 
 in connection with Mr. Meyer's estate. Mind, I only 
 say 'perhaps.' My advice to you is to take the next 
 s ! earner and satisfy yourself that your uncle is being 
 fairly dealt with."
 
 6O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 There was no help for it now; Carl was obliged to 
 reveal the fact that his purse was empty, that he owed 
 quite a sum for board, and that a friend to whom he 
 had written for aid had not replied to his communica- 
 tion. It was a bitter pill, but he had to swallow it. Mr. 
 Pyne listened and looked thoughtful. 
 
 "Who has charge of Mr. Meyer's affairs ?" he asked. 
 
 "A lawyer named Johann Uhrig." 
 
 "Wouldn't he advance you what you need?" 
 
 "I would not permit him to do so. I do not feel 
 justified in using any funds of Mr. Meyer's." 
 
 Mr. Pyne said this was unfortunate. Much might 
 depend on quick action at the present moment. His 
 firm had gone on thus far at its own expense, but it 
 would not be justified in continuing without having 
 its costs guaranteed. He told Carl to call again on 
 the following morning and in the meantime he would 
 study the problem. He earnestly advised the young 
 man, however, to think over his list of acquaintances 
 and try some of the others for a loan. 
 
 "Little can be done in this world without money," 
 was the very sagacious and very true remark which he 
 made in closing. 
 
 The next evening Barney called at Carl's room to 
 see why he had not come down to dinner. He had 
 waited for him half an hour already, he said. Carl re- 
 sponded that he had no appetite, but finally consented 
 to try to eat something. At the table the latest de- 
 velopments in the Meyer case were related and dis- 
 cussed. 
 
 "I can't think of any way out of my dilemma,** was
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 6 1 
 
 Carl's doleful exclamation when he had finished the 
 recital. 
 
 The soup and fish had been removed untouched. 
 The young men were too much engaged to attend 
 to either. 
 
 "I've got it ! " exclaimed Barney at last, so loud 
 that several diners in the vicinity turned their heads. 
 "You must go to Honolulu." 
 
 "Without a dollar to pay my fare?" 
 
 "If that could be arranged? You'd jump at the 
 chance, eh?" 
 
 "Indeed I would ; but what is your plan ?" 
 
 Barney studied a moment before he replied. 
 
 "Pyne is a stayer," he said at last. "When he's got 
 started with a thing he don't like to give up beaten. 
 He may hate to put his hand in his pocket, but I 
 think he'll do it if he's approached in the right way. 
 Go around there in the morning 1 and tell him if he'll 
 furnish the tickets you'll make the trip, giving him 
 a note for the amount they cost. I'd bet my head 
 that'll fetch him ! Hold on," he added, "it won't do 
 to wait. The Australia sails tomorrow. We must see 
 him tonight. Come, never mind the dinner. I'll go 
 right over with you." 
 
 Although it occurred to Carl that Mr. Barney's in- 
 fluence was not likely to have much effect, he could 
 not resist the only person who held out a chance to 
 him. With quick steps they reached the house they 
 sought and presently were closeted with the detective, 
 who listened to the plan outlined. 
 
 Mr. Pyne was in the habit of thinking rapidly and
 
 62 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 as soon as the scheme was duly unfolded he lifted a 
 finger to indicate that he wished to be undisturbed. 
 After awhile he went to a desk, took out writing ma- 
 terials and drew up a document, which, first reading 
 over several times slowly, he passed to Carl. It was 
 an agreement for a loan of two hundred and fifty 
 dollars, to be repaid within nine months, with interest, 
 or within two months of any previous date at which he 
 might receive his inheritance as Peter Meyer's heir. 
 
 "I decline to sign that, sir ! " was Carl's exclama- 
 tion, as he handed the paper back, "unless you erase 
 the second provision." 
 
 Mr. Pyne reddened, swallowed hard, and seemed 
 in doubt for an instant what to do. 
 
 "All right, 111 erase it," he said finally. "And you're 
 to go on the Australia tomorrow."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 63 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 I 
 
 SCENES ON THE WHARF. 
 
 THE scene at the wharf when the Australia was 
 about to depart on her trans-Pacific trip was the one 
 common on such occasions and yet full of interest to 
 all who witnessed it for die first time. The steamer's 
 deck was crowded with passengers and with friends 
 who had come to bid t ( hem good-bye. The decks and 
 cabins were so jammed with people that locomotion 
 was well nigh impossible. When the signal was giv- 
 en, "All ashore who are going!" dozens of people 
 went down the plank, where an officer was stationed 
 to see that none returned unless provided with passage 
 tickets. 
 
 The pier remained to the last crowded with those 
 Who had left the steamer, most of them occupied in 
 shouting farewell messages. Many of the ladies on 
 board the vessel had their arms full of flowers. One 
 newly wedded couple was almost buried in gifts of 
 that description. The mails were the last thing to ar- 
 rive, but finally the whistle was heard, the propeller 
 began to revolve and the boat moved slowly from her 
 position, as the cables were loosened and drawn on 
 board. 
 
 As the vessel's prow turned toward the wide wa- 
 ters frantic efforts were made by scores of people on
 
 64 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 and still waving handkerchiefs and umbrellas, 
 to get the best position's for a final look at their de- 
 parting friends. When the last form had faded from 
 sight the passengers began to make themselves com- 
 fortable in what was to be their home and prison for 
 at least six days, the time which must elapse before 
 they could set foot on land again. 
 
 Carl, who had registered in the passenger list by 
 the name of Muller, leaned listlessly on the guard-rail 
 and watched the scenes described. The first thing that 
 aroused him to special interest was a general murmur 
 that a party of unusual importance had come on board. 
 This consisted . of the wife, son and daughter of a 
 millionaire sugar king, to see whom every neck around 
 him was strained eagerly. 
 
 Carl's breath came quicker as he recognized one of 
 the figures in the group to which everybody's attention 
 was drawn a handsome young woman with dark fea- 
 tures, dressed in a most becoming tailor-made cos- 
 tume. The last time he had seen that face salt water 
 drenched it, and around that slender form his sttrong 
 arm had been thrown. He trembled at the recollection 
 of that head on his shoulder, of that heart beating 
 against his protecting hand. He started sharply as 
 the girl's quick gaze searched the group in w<hicih he 
 stood, wondering what he should do if she identified 
 him. And when he passed unnoticed among the others 
 he turned away much relieved. 
 
 A young man at his elbow, in the confidential man- 
 ner common among voyagers, spoke to him. 
 
 "Do you see that stout lady, in black and white silk?
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 65 
 
 That's Mrs. Van Steuben, wife of the Hawaiian sugar 
 king. That's her son in the checked suit, with the 
 light hat, and the pretty girl just in front of them is 
 her daughter. Except old man Spreckles I suppose 
 Van Steuben has made more money out of sugar than 
 any of the Honolulu crowd. She'll be a catch in the 
 matrimonial way, that girl, and they say she's bright 
 as she's pretty." 
 
 Meyer had heard of Van Steuben as who has not? 
 had indeed had him pointed out in Honolulu a year 
 or two before. He knew of the man's undoubted 
 wealth and of his homely ways which money had 
 never spoiled. He had heard of Mrs. Van, too of 
 her ambition to shine in "society," of her diamonds 
 and Paris costumes, of her turn-outs, the best that 
 the "Paradise of the Pacific" could boast. The Van 
 Steubens were part and parcel of the stock gossip of 
 their city, where gossip thrives as nowhere else, hard- 
 ly exceeded in interest by the family of the Oriental 
 who left thirteen daughters of very much mixed blood, 
 giving a fortune to each, when he returned to the 
 almond-eyed wife of his youth in China. It came 
 slowly back to Carl that he had heard Miss Amy's 
 beauty praised by an enthusiastic admirer, she being 
 at the time absent in the States. 
 
 Quite a number of friends had come to the wharf 
 to bid this party good-bye, and as the Australia moved 
 slowly from her moorings, on the upper deck, all 
 waved adieu to their acquaintances on shore. Miss 
 Amy carried several immense bouquets, which she 
 kissed from time to time and extended toward her
 
 66 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 young lady chum's, alternating the exercises by apply- 
 ing a lace handkerchief to her eyes in mock similitude 
 of weeping. Her mother stood by her side, coaching 
 her in tones apparently intended to escape the ears of 
 others, but quite clearly heard by all about her. 
 
 "That's quite enough," she said, when the boat had 
 moved its length away from the wharf ; "you must not 
 be too demonstrative, dear. Remember we are the ob- 
 served of all observers. There, wave them a last 
 good-bye, for we must go down to our cabin and dress 
 for tiffin." 
 
 "Where is Billy?" asked a most melodious voice, or 
 at least one that sounded melodious to a certain pair 
 of ears. 
 
 "I <lon't know, I'm sure. He's old enough to take 
 care of himself." 
 
 "He may be old enough, but " 
 
 As they turned, the eyes of Miss Van Steuben 
 looked straight into those of Carl Meyer, who was 
 standing a few feet from her. He was much pleased 
 to note that not the faintest sign of recognition il- 
 lumined their depths. 
 
 It was evident that, so far as she knew, she now saw 
 the blond-haired young man for the first time. The 
 test was a good one. Carl felt that he need have no 
 further fears as far as she was concerned. The next 
 test would be that of the brother, though so far as 
 he could judge "Billy" had not observed him at all 
 during the adventure of the Bay. He was thrown 
 into the water at precisely the same moment as his 
 sister, and had seemed quite sufficiently engaged with-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 6^ 
 
 out studying the individual countenances about him. 
 Neither of the other persons in the sailing party were 
 among the passengers, though Carl thought he dis- 
 cerned the features of Miss Stevens among those on 
 shore. 
 
 As he walked slowly from the place where he had 
 been standing, a clerical appearing gentleman called 
 his attention to the pair who were just disappearing 
 through a doorway. 
 
 "You know who they are, I suppose?" he said. 
 "Mrs. Van Steuben of Honolulu and her daughter." 
 Carl was a little proud that he could impart informa- 
 tion on so interesting a subject, or at least show he 
 was not ignorant at what seemed to have excited gen- 
 eral remark. 
 
 "Yes," assented the gentleman. "The daughter has 
 been in California for several years acquiring her edu- 
 cation. She has a brother on board also." 
 "William," replied Meyer, nonchalantly. 
 Apparently crushed by finding that the young man 
 knew as much on the subject as he did himself the 
 clerical gentleman moved on. But the presence of the 
 Van Steubens seemed to set everybody to talking. The 
 most absolute strangers found the matter sufficient to 
 justify remarks to each other. Before the tiffin bell 
 rang half the passengers had exchanged information 
 about it, incidentally giving their names or exchang- 
 ing cards, with the breezy freedom that exists among 
 Americans on an ocean liner. 
 
 "My name is Billings, I am from Omaha, in the 
 grocery business; who are you?" was the usual for-
 
 68 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 mula with variations. One remarked to anotlher, "See 
 that fellow in the brown derby? They say that's Gen- 
 eral Smithkin's son father in the regular army, you 
 know going out to the islands to buy coffee lands." 
 Or, "I heard that man by the door say he's lived for 
 twenty years at Hankow; do you know his name?" 
 There was a wild anxiety for the dullest information 
 as to their fellow passengers pervading most of the 
 people in the smoking room, whidh made Carl feel 
 behindhand in the race. 
 
 The steward, aided and abetted to some extent by 
 the purser, had arranged the seats in the dining sa- 
 loon, and when each voyager descended he found a 
 little card bearing his name on the plate assigned him. 
 Some of these glaces were assigned by request, so 
 that friends might be seated near together. Many of 
 those least used to travel had asked specially to be 
 placed at the captain's table, under the impression that 
 it would give them an air of importance in the eyes of 
 their less fortunate fellows. Wiser ones had put in 
 a claim for the purser's, but in both cases some were 
 necessarily doomed to disappointment. Having no 
 particular choice, among a party of people with whom 
 he had no previous acquaintance, Carl waited to take 
 any seat that might be given him. He was rather sur- 
 prised, therefore, when the secorld .steward scanned the 
 list in his hand for the fiftieth time, to hear him say, 
 "Mr. Muller, at the left hand of the purser." 
 
 The table was not a large one and the majority of 
 those seated there were ladies. On the purser's right 
 was a Mrs. Marlowe, going out to meet her husband
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 69 
 
 in Foochow. Next to her was a married couple, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Latham, who turned out to be weal/thy peo- 
 ple, traveling for pleasure. Next to Carl was the Rev. 
 Eli Love joy, the clerical gentleman to whom he had 
 already spoken on deck. A Mrs. Colonel Bentley, with 
 two grown daughters, completed the list. 
 
 The soup was hardly served before Mrs. Bently be- 
 gan to whisper question to the purser in relation to 
 the Van Steubens, whose backs were toward 
 the party, as they sat in a row at the Captain's table. 
 The great subject was too important to drop even in 
 the midst of a meal. 
 
 "You've heard about that terrible accident, of 
 course? Wasn't it a narrow escape! I was talking 
 with Mrs. Dexter she's a great friend of the Van 
 Steubens', and she said it was simply awful. Amy's 
 got over it well, hasn't she? You can't see any trace of 
 it. Those Honolulu girls are so strong. They say she 
 didn't mind the wetting at all, and never once lost her 
 presence of mind." 
 
 Before the purser could open his mouth to reply 
 Mrs. Latham broke in: "There never was any real 
 danger. Miss Van Steuben learned to swim when she 
 was a child and with the little Kanakas has ridden a 
 surfboard in the breakers at Waikiki many a time." { 
 
 "But she had no surfboard here," said Mrs. Bentley, 
 determined to maintain her thesis. "And it's not so 
 easy swimming with a woman's clothing around you; 
 is it, Mr. Lovejoy?" She appealed to the clergyman, 
 to Whom she had been introduced but five minutes be- 
 fore, having a general idea that whatever side a 
 ister took would be henceforth unassailable.
 
 7<3 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "I I really 'have had no personal experience," was 
 the stammering reply, "but I should suppose not." 
 
 "It is generally understood," said the purser, spring- 
 ing into the breach through the first opening, "that 
 women float longer than men. I've heard that where 
 a husband and wife were lost together 'at sea, the jury 
 disposed of the estate on the theory that the wife prob- 
 ably lived some seconds the longer, and therefore in- 
 herited her legal share of her husband's property, 
 which thus went to her heirs." 
 
 The two daughters of Mrs. Bentley exclaimed, 
 "How dreadful!" but exactly what they meant by it 
 has never transpired. 
 
 "At any rate," said their mother, "a man in a boat 
 sprang after Miss Amy and held her up till she was 
 pulled aboard the tug. I got that straight and it was 
 in the newspaper too. And then, not even waiting to 
 be thanked, he rowed away. In these times it does one 
 good to hear of an honorable and brave action without 
 hope of pecuniary reward." 
 
 She turned toward Mrs. Latham, as much as to say, 
 "will you dispute that, now? I'd like to see you do 
 it!" 
 
 The challenged lady would undoubtedly have en- 
 tered the lists again if Mrs. Marlowe had not uttered 
 the very thought that was in her mind. 
 
 "Probably the man didn't know her father was a 
 millionaire," she said, with a little laugh. 
 
 "No, indeed!" agreed Mrs. Latham. And both of 
 Mrs. Bentley's daughters cried in one breath, "Oh, isn't 
 that funny!"
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. ?I 
 
 Carl felt the flush mounting to his cheeks. His 
 color did not lessen as the purser turned to him and 
 said, "Everybody has given his opinion but you, Mr. 
 Muller; \vhat do you think about it?" 
 
 Knives that had begun work were laid dowm. Porks 
 half poised in the air waited in expectation. The hos- 
 tile camps of the Bentleys and the Lathamses lay on 
 their arms anxiously. 
 
 "I I'm sure I don't know," was all Carl could 
 manage to answer. 
 
 The opinion of the table was unanimous as far as he 
 was concerned. He was not going to be much of an 
 addition to their set. Both of the champions felt that 
 he had better have gone over to her opponent than as- 
 sumeid that lame and impotent position. 
 
 The talk about the Van Steubens came to a sudden 
 end. All at once it was discovered that the steamer 
 was rolling a little. The probability of rough weather 
 during the next twenty-four hours was discussed with 
 vigor. Mr. Latham, who had made this voyage sev- 
 eral times before, talked wisely of his previous trips. 
 Mrs. Marlowe, having been twice across the Pacific, 
 added her mite to the stock of information. Mr. Love- 
 joy hazarded a few useless guesses and all talked of 
 seasickness and its disagreeable qualities. The two 
 Miss Bentley exclaimed, " Oh my !" not less than 
 twenty times. The only ones who said nothing were 
 the purser and Mr. Meyer; the former because he 
 wanted to make the women happy and knew they could 
 not be so if their tongues were idle; and Carl, because 
 he was still worried by the talk about Miss Van 
 Steuben and the accident in which he had figured.
 
 ?2 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 A sudden thrill passed through the dining saloon. 
 Miss Van Steulben had risen and was making her way 
 toward the stairs. 
 
 "She's giving up already," said Mrs. Bentley, in a 
 surprised tone. "Who would have thought a Honolulu 
 girl would get sick is this little swell ?" 
 
 "Do you want me to go with you?" inquired the 
 voice of Mrs. Van. 
 
 "Oh, no, mother." 
 
 Something possessed Carl with the idea that he 
 ought to go on deck. Who could tell but a lurch of 
 the vessel might throw that young form violently 
 against a railing, perhaps into the sea itself. Her bro- 
 ther sat at the table, dividing his attention between a 
 plate of nuts and a bottle of something liquid. Mrs. 
 Van resumed the conversation she had broken off for 
 the moment. 
 
 " I have finished," Carl remarked to the purser and 
 nobody seemed to mind it when he took his departure. 
 Instead they took the opportunity to agree on one 
 thing the only one on which they could probably have 
 been unanimous that he was very dull. 
 
 "I gave him this seat because he was alone and there 
 was just one remaining," explained the purser, in a 
 half-apology.
 
 SUGAR PRINCESS. 3 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 ^THAT'S THE WHOLE STORY, GIRLS." 
 
 MOST men who are traveling by sea without ladies 
 in their party, as well as many who have that pleasant 
 addition to their baggage, find the smoking room a 
 convenient place in which to spend a portion of their 
 time. Tobacco is consumed there at dou'ble t!he rate 
 it would be on shore and the boy who takes orders 
 for liquid refreshment finds his position no sinecure. 
 A game or two of cards is generally in progress. The 
 story-teller is in great demand. Travelers learn that 
 they have been to the same places in distant lands and 
 compare notes, to the great edification of listeners. 
 Others discover somebody who is acquainted with a 
 place to which they intend to go and pump him dry 
 for information. 
 
 The decks afford a better view of the pathless waters 
 and more salubrious air, but people who stay there are 
 longer in getting acquainted. It is in the smoking 
 room that they unbend to eadi other, lolling comfort- 
 ably on the dhairs or sofas. 
 
 Although Carl Muller was the quietest passenger 
 on board the Australia he managed without effort to 
 pick up a good deal of information concerning tihe 
 Others. By the third day he knew most of the male 
 Voyagers by name and was also aware which of them
 
 $4 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 were accompanied by ladies or children. There were 
 about a dozen detached females of various degrees, 
 witih whose cognomens he was longer in getting fam- 
 iliar, but even these were revealed, one by one. There 
 were two or three maiden ladies, a widow traveling 
 alone, several women going out to meet husbands who 
 had preceded them, and one who admitted that her 
 journey was undertaken with a bridal ceremony at the 
 other end of the road as its object. Two women were 
 missionaries on their way to India. 
 
 On Sunday morning religious services were held in 
 the dining saloon. Carl was pursuaded to play the 
 cottage organ for the singing, it appearing that he was 
 the only passenger able to manipulate the instrument. 
 Rev. Mr. Love joy proved to be the only clergyman on 
 board and was impressed by the Captain into reading 
 the lesson. 
 
 It seemed as if the simple act which Carl had per- 
 formed for Miss Van Steuben would never cease to be 
 a topic of conversation. When everything else failed 
 this always served to interest a group. Not only was 
 it referred to in the smoking room and at the table, 
 but it interested many parties gathered on the deck. 
 Once, when Carl was buried in a book, out of sight 
 of the Van Steubens around the corner, he heard the 
 members of that family urged to relate tihe particulars 
 of the incident. 
 
 "Do td'l us how it was !" said a young miss, one of 
 the Bentley gushers. "I've heard so many stories." 
 
 "Why, there wasn't much to it," responded Miss 
 ? Amy. "A tug-boat ran us down and we were thrown
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 75 
 
 overboard. When I came to the surface I felt a strong 
 arm around my waist " 
 
 "Don't dwell on the point !" interposed the distressed,, 
 voice of her mother. "It is quite dreadful. I don't see 
 why Billy or Mr. Loring couldn't have seen to you and 
 let that boatman attend to Miss Stevens." 
 
 "Billy was rather busy attending to himself," laugh- 
 ed her daughter. "I think he was more scared than 
 any of the others. Mr. Loring naturally attended to 
 the lady nearest him, and can be excused because she 
 threw her arms around his neck the minute she came 
 to the surface." 
 
 "Amy ! I must protest !" 
 
 "Well, I can't see what difference it made," replied 
 the girl. "My life was saved and even if my rescuer 
 had been a negro I should have been grateful. When, 
 as a matter of fact, (for which information I am in- 
 debted to the captain of the tug) he was white and 
 young and rather handsome " 
 
 "Amy! Please!" cried the mother again, shutting 
 her eyes. 
 
 Both the Miss Bentleys drew long breaths, as if tjheir 
 thoughts were too deep for utterance. Miss Van 
 Steuben laughed merrily. 
 
 "That's the whole story, girls. Except that I made 
 Billy put a notice in the papers that the lady wfao was 
 nearly drowned in the Bay would be glad to recom- 
 pense her rescuer handsomely and nobody ever an- 
 swered it." 
 
 Mrs. Van Steuben looked relieved, now that her 
 "barque had got into safer waters at last.
 
 76 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "I am very sorry he did not respond tb the offer," 
 
 she remarked, loftily. "I should feel much better to 
 have paid him for the service." 
 
 "Did you affix your name to the advertisement?" 
 asked Mrs. Latham. 
 
 "Gracious, no! You can't tell what the man might 
 have done. Mr. Van Steuben is known by reputation, 
 I may say everywhere! I should have feared black- 
 mail or something equally dreadful." 
 
 "But the accident was related in all the papers, 
 mamma," protested Amy. "The man probably knew 
 the next day who we were. I don't see Why you need 
 be unfair to him. Possibly he was not a commtin fel- 
 low, but a gentleman out for amusement." 
 
 "Quite unlikely, my love. In that case he would cer- 
 tainly have handed you his card." 
 
 "His card case must have been soaked with the rest 
 of him; I don't think people, as a rule, present their 
 cards under such conditions." 
 
 "It is a very painful subject," replied the mother, 
 shaking her head. "I hope we shall hear no more about 
 it. People in our position are obliged tio be so care- 
 ful." 
 
 The elder Miss Bentley inquired if it were true that 
 Miss Van Steuben was a good swimmer and oould 
 have saved herself unaided. 
 
 "Oh, I don't think I should have drowned," was 
 Amy's coy response. "But when a girl finds a strong 
 manly arm around her mamma, let me finish it is 
 much easier, as well as more graceful to rely on it 
 than to splash and paddle ; and besides the white caps
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. J>7 
 
 and that nasty tug 1 complicated thing's. I rather wish' 
 the young man had made his appearance in answer to 
 the advertisement; though. If he wanted caslh I Would 
 have been glad to accommodate him ; and if not, a few 
 words of gratitude would have been easy to say." 
 
 Long before the conversation reached this point Carl 
 had found it unbearable and had moved his dhadr to a 
 point out of hearing. His book had suddenly grown 
 dull to him and he sought the smoking room, where 
 among the other occupants he found Brother Billy. 
 The boy, as everybody considered him, though he was 
 quite twenty years of age, was an object of interest to 
 everybody on 'his father's account. He was full of 
 life and spirits, dressed with much style, good-looking 
 and agreeable. There was a strong family resemblance 
 between him and his sister. When any of the passen- 
 gers tried to draw him out about his father's affairs 
 he sheered to one side like a colt with. "Oh, I don't 
 know anything about that!" in a way that biockdd the 
 path entirely. Even when the fertility of Hawaiian 
 lands or the system of contract labor was on the tapis, 
 he declined to interest himself. "Haven't the least 
 ide-a," he would answer, with jusrt the suspicion of a 
 drawl. 
 
 "I tell you it's the same thing as slavery!" said a 
 passenger named Hicks, hailing from KalamazoOo 
 "Those Japs and Chinamen are brought out under 
 what is called a three years' contract, and during that 
 time they are driven into the field witfh black-'snake 
 whips, sick or well, and treated like dog's Although 
 legally they can be made to work but ten hours a day,
 
 JT8 A SUGAR PRINCESS, 
 
 the clocks are kept to please their masters, and the* 
 often put in more than twelve,, As soon as the country 
 is fully annexed to the United States there'll be an end 
 to this business/ 9 
 
 "I should have thoughl the people would have fore- 
 seen that and fought annexation," suggested a young 
 man from Connecticut. 
 
 "If we hadn't taken them pretty soon, the Japanese 
 Government would," said Hicks "They would have 
 attacked the place to secure justice for the Japs abused 
 there and held on, just as England anJ Germany have 
 done in similar cases " 
 
 "The Japanese pooh!" interrupted a gentleman 
 from New York City "What do they amount to?" 
 
 "Amount to?" repeated Hicks, indignantly. "Do 
 you ask what a nation of forty 'million people amounts 
 to* with one of the biggest navies in the world ? They'd 
 have taken the island so quick it would make your 
 head swim, if Uncle Sam hadn't forestalled them. The 
 Hawaiian Government didn't own a ship, a fort or a 
 full regiment of soldiers." 
 
 The New Yorker disdained to reply, It is often as 
 effective to assume that air, in the eyes of those who 
 listen, as to bring forwafd the most conclusive argu- 
 ments, The passengers were led to believe that the 
 New Yorker could have annihilated Mr, Hicks if he 
 had been willing to enter into a wrangle with that hot- 
 headed person. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Love joy did not disdain to spend a part of 
 his time in the smoking room or to indulge in an occa- 
 sional cigar there. He smoked solemnly and slowly,
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS 79 
 
 as befitted his cloth, and his presence certainly had a 
 restraining influence on the things said around him. 
 
 "If you will permit me a word," he ventured, tc Mr. 
 Hicks, "I think you do an unintentional injustice to 
 the sugar-planters. I have spent some time there and 
 have found no such condition as you describe/' 
 
 "In what respect?" demanded Hicks, fiercely. 
 
 "About the men being driven to work with whips, 
 for one thing," was the mild reply. "I do not say it 
 is never done, but I saw no evidence of it. And as to 
 the hours the laborers work, most of them carry nickel 
 watches and are very quick to notice when their day has 
 expired." 
 
 To this Mr. Hicks responded warmly thait he had 
 his information from good sources and believed it to 
 be true, 
 
 "I think if you will look thoroughly into the matter," 
 said Mr. Love joy, gently, "you will find that these be- 
 nighted heathen are brought to a Christian land by 
 gentlemen of character, who defray their passage out 
 of their own pockets; that they receive several times 
 as much pay as they would earn at home at the same 
 work i that nothing is required of them except to keep 
 an agreement which they fully understood before leav 
 ing fliei'r own country ; and that most of them manage, 
 during the time they remain, to lay up a goodly amount 
 of money with which many go into business and amass 
 small fortunes." 
 
 The conversation was interesting all who sat about 
 the room and every eye was turned toward Mr. Hicks 
 when tois turn came to speak.
 
 80 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "What is done with a laborer who refuses to woric?" 
 he demanded, "Tell me that I" 
 
 "He is taken before a judge and given his choice of 
 carrying out the agreement he made when his fare was 
 paid from Japan or of going to jail." 
 
 "Exactly. Ex-actly I" said, Mr, Hicks. "Now if that 
 don't make a slave of him I'd like to know wliat would. 
 It is contrary to the laws of the United States to en- 
 force labor by contract and 'the moment we get full 
 possession of the country every workingmari will be 
 free to quit his employment, if he pleases." 
 
 Mr, Lovejoy asked quietly if Mr. Hicks thought ifc 
 would be honest for a man who had accepted money 
 to cross the Pacific to refuse to carry out his agree 
 ment and for a Christian nation to abet him in the 
 act, 
 
 "Christian nation!" repeated Hicks, with scorn. 
 "Who says America is a Christian nation? What is 
 a Christian nation ; anyway? One that helps a lot of 
 money-grabbers to swindle coolies out of the value oi 
 their labor ? The missionaries came to Hawaii and stole 
 the land from the Kanakas; and now tiheir sons are 
 making themselves millionaires by bringing poor Japs 
 and Chinese over to work for half the wages a white 
 man would, require. I've no patience to talk with you !" 
 
 The indignant speaker flounced out of the room with 
 his concluding words, as if he required the entire 
 width of the deck to contain himself, The clergyman 
 puffed his cigar peacefully in silence, not appearing in 
 the least disturbed. Mr. Latham, who had remained 
 silent till now, leaned over to ask if the reverend chain*
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 8l 
 
 pion of the sugar-growers had any knowledge of the 
 various plantations and of the best place to invest 
 capital. 
 
 "I couldn't say, really," was the answer he received, 
 "what is the best purchase just now. But I think the 
 'Never' is paying about five per cent." 
 
 " Only five per cent!" Mr. Latham's jaw dropped. 
 
 "That's sixty per cent, a year. They reckon these 
 plantation stocks by their monthly dividends. You will 
 have to pay about four hundred dollars or so a share, 
 which will reduce your net returns to fifteen per cent, 
 per annum. It's not quite what they ought to pay, but 
 we shouldn't think of this matter from the pecuniary 
 side altogether. What gratifies me is the glorious op- 
 portunity these poor heathen have to learn true religion 
 and see it exemplified in the lives of their employers. 
 Who can doubt that the time they spend among such 
 refining influences will ultimately have a great effect in 
 destroying the superstitions and idolatries of Japan 
 and China ?" 
 
 A young man named Selover, who Was secretary of 
 the Y. M. C. A. in his town in Iowa, inquired if much 
 attention was given to instructing the laborers in reli- 
 gious matters. 
 
 "Why," was the somewhat hesitating reply, "there 
 are churches which they can attend and some missions. 
 They can learn the true path if they wish to." 
 
 "I trust there are no saloons or anything of that 
 sort?" 
 
 "There are, I am sorry to say, a very few in 'some 
 of the larger places. High license prevails in Honolulu,
 
 82 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 for instance. It is a serious question, where so many 
 sailors come ashore, men from the warships and that 
 sort of thing. There's not much drunkenness though, 
 as a rule, and the places have to close early." 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy resumed a book he had been reading 
 and another passenger essayed to furnish Mr. Latham 
 with a little more information. 
 
 "I would advise subscribing to the new ventures that 
 are being put on the market," he said. "The average 
 assessment is two dollars a month on each share. Even 
 house servants and cabmen have become rich by sub- 
 scribing for these shares and selling out again. You 
 see the Hawaiians have several advantages over other 
 countries. Not only is their soil exceptionally fertile, 
 but their product is admitted to the United States free 
 of duty, thus putting two cents a pound into the pockets 
 of the producers. I've heard of plantations that are 
 good for eight hundred dollars' worth of sugar per 
 acre in a single crop. With annexation that's pretty 
 sure to hold. Old Van Steuben" (the speaker looked 
 cautiously around to note that Billy had left the room 
 again) "came to Honolulu a beggar boy and now he's 
 worth the Lord only knows how much ! And there's 
 Millenham and Waterman and the Snookses and the 
 Castletons, all made millionaires witihin the last five 
 years." 
 
 The Y. M. C. A. secretary from Iowa walked out on 
 the deck, somewhat troubled in his mind. A text of 
 Scripture kept vibrating in his brain, "Seek ye first the 
 kingdom of God and His righteousness." He hoped 
 these planters had done that before they realized so
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 83 
 
 fully the succeeding words, "and all these things shall 
 be added unto you." 
 
 It comforted him, however, to know that Rev. Mr. 
 Lovejoy, the benevolent looking clergyman, had looke'd 
 into the matter, and was quite satisfied with the treat- 
 ment accorded to the laborers in these remarkably pro- 
 ductive vineyards.
 
 84 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER VHI. 
 CARL MEETS MR. VAN STEUBEN. 
 
 EACH arrival of the steamship Australia at Hono- 
 lulu is celebrated by the inhabitants as an occasion of 
 great rejoicing. Her departure is also the signal for 
 special ceremonies, the like of which are observed for 
 no other vessel. Though many liners of a much super- 
 ior class are now constantly coming and going from 
 that port, the Hawaiian's are faithful to their old love. 
 They greet the Australia precisely as they did when 
 she was their only mail packet and everyone was 
 obliged to rely on her for passage to or from the 
 United States. 
 
 Carl, who had grown nervously anxious, was disap- 
 pointed to find that the first land in sight was not that 
 of Oahu. At his previous visit he had approached from 
 the west and paid little attention to the geography of 
 the coast. As hour after hour passed before he could 
 discern the familiar face of Diamond Head, he paced 
 the deck, hope and fear alternating in his bosom 
 
 It was nearly night when the strains of the Goverm 
 ment Band met his ear that excellent organization of 
 'forty pieces which is invariably sent to welcome the 
 'coming and speed the parting Australia. A throng of 
 people covered the wharf, embracing every hue from 
 nearly black to pure white, the native race predomina'v-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 85 
 
 ing; for, like children, the latter invariably flocked to 
 see the landing and hear the music, just as if the same 
 event did not occur many times each year of their 
 lives. 
 
 Half the crowd were women, dressed in the loose 
 flowing robe which the natives call a "h'oloku," and 
 which is known in the States by the more prosaic title 
 of "Mother-Hubbard." All of them were bareheaded, 
 but their luxuriant tresses afforded a sufficiently ample 
 covering. Around many necks were hung wreaths of 
 bright flowers, called leis, while other bits of color set 
 off their swarthy faces. The men, who were inudh less 
 interesting, lounged about in a listless way, -clad in a 
 mixture of half-civilized, half-barbaric garments. The 
 few Caucasians looked whiter by contrast and those 
 who happened to have light hair appeared the blondest 
 of their class. A few daintily dressed children showed 
 conspicuously in the throng and the members of the 
 Band, in their uniforms of white, added to the pictur- 
 esqueness of the scene. 
 
 Without troubling himself about fais baggage, further 
 than to leave it addressed with his name so that it could 
 be sent for, Carl hastened down the plank and made 
 his way as rapidly as possible to the Royal Hawaiian 
 Hotel. As he entered the grounds, beautifully tropical 
 with palms and brilliant flowers, he took in with one 
 (quick glance everybody on the veranda, hoping to 
 discover among them the one for whom he was search- 
 ing. All the faces were, however, unfamiliar, and 
 Springing up the high steps he sought the manager it* 
 his office.
 
 86 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "Is Mr. Peter Meyer one of your guests ?" he asked, 
 breathlessly. 
 
 The manager shook his head. "You are young Mr. 
 Meyer, I believe," he said. 
 
 It was clear that the manager remembered him. He 
 must also then remember his "uncle" and would 
 know if he had seen him. 
 
 "But Peter Meyer and Marcus Lindes they surely 
 have been here within a short time ?" 
 
 "Sit down," said the manager. "Yes, Peter Meyer 
 was here a few weeks ago and another gentleman with 
 him. That is to say, I have no doubt whatever about 
 the matter, though when I called him by name he denied 
 it positively and said he had never been in Honolulu 
 before." 
 
 "Where are they now ?" Carl inquired, distressed. It 
 was all he could do to contain himself. 
 
 "They went to Maui" (one of the other islands in the 
 group) "and have not returned. What is the matter 
 with Mr. Meyer ? His actions here were certainly very 
 peculiar." 
 
 The hotel man talked of the matter at length. He 
 said Meyer had registered under the name of Hans 
 Fischer, while his companion had called 'himself Jacob 
 Swartz. They had tried to avoid publicity, dining in 
 their room and holding little converse with anyone. 
 Fischer had been addressed as "Meyer" by several peo- 
 ple who recognized him, but invariably replied, "I do 
 not know you, sir," and refused to be drawn into con- 
 versation. To add to the strangeness of the affair, let- 
 ters addressed to "Hans Fischer" were opened and
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 8^ 
 
 read by him and he even carried a letter of credit in 
 the same name. 
 
 "He almost convinced me that I was mistaken," said 
 the manager, "but although he created a doubt among 
 many of us, there was one man who had been very in- 
 timate with him on his previous visit who never had 
 the slightest question of his identity. That was Abel 
 Van Steuben." 
 
 Carl caught his breath and closed his tired eyes for a 
 moment. 
 
 "Van Steuben told me that, as Mr. Meyer 'had evi- 
 dently some reason for wislhing to remain incognito, I 
 had best humor him, and I took his advice. I always 
 called him 'Fischer' when we had any business. But 
 people kept coming in and claiming a recognition, and 
 after a week or so he and his friend moved up to 
 Wright's Villa, at Waikiki, where they stayed until 
 they went off to Maui." 
 
 The young man asked if it were possible his two 
 friends had left the group. Could passage be taken 
 from any other port except Honolulu ? 
 
 It was possible, but very improbable. None of the 
 ocean steamers touched anywhere else. Sometimes 
 people embarked from Hilo (in Hawaii) on sailing 
 vessels. 
 
 The hotel man, having communicated so muoh in- 
 formation, now set about acquiring some for himself. 
 He plied Carl with questions, to which only evasive 
 answers were returned. 
 
 " Who was with him?" asked the manager. 
 
 "An old friend. But I must go at onte to the Villa 
 and see what I can learn there about tfoera."
 
 88 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Wright's Villa is situated four miles from the Royal 
 Hotel, and the slowest street-car line in the world 
 "runs," or did at that time, up King Street, and past 
 that hostelrie. Not only was the line exceedingly slow, 
 but the cars ran at doubtful and infrequent intervals. 
 Each was propelled by a pair of diminutive animals, 
 ordinarily a mule and horse harnessed abreast, though 
 why this strange mixture was preferred to coupling 
 two beasts of a kind together is a mystery. There be- 
 ing but a single track, turn-outs were numerous, and 
 tfie waits at each of them prolonged enough to discour- 
 age tihe traveler who had need of haste. The cars were 
 antiquated specimens, wholly anachronistic in a push- 
 ing and in many respects modern town like Honolulu, 
 and seldom patronized by residents above the grade of 
 a native or white laborer. 
 
 >Car*l did not fed, however, like paying the two dol- 
 lars which a cabdriver would charge when ten cents 
 would answer the purpose, and as he reached King 
 Street he looked anxiously for the cheaper conveyance. 
 None being in sight he started to walk, hoping that a 
 car would overtake him eventually, thougli this was by 
 no means sure. 
 
 After going something like half a mile, the young 
 man came opposite to a handsome residence, embow- 
 ered in tropical foliage, at which some special event 
 was evidently taking place. Carriages bearing the 
 marks of private ownership stood along the curb to 
 the number of forty or fifty, the residence was ablaze 
 with light, amd many voices blended with the music of 
 an orchestra. As he reached 4ihe massive gateway a
 
 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 8q 
 
 carriage passed in, containing a gentleman who bowed 
 to him affably. 
 
 For a moment, so preoccupied was Carl with his 
 thoughts, he did not recognize the occupant as Rev. 
 Mr. Love joy, whom he had met on the steamer. In- 
 stead of entering the house, the clergyman hastened to 
 the sidewalk and extended his hand. 
 
 "Aren't you coming in ?" he asked. 
 
 "I do not understand you." 
 
 "Why, the Van Steubens are having a reception on 
 account of their daughter's return from America. 
 Were you not invited ?" 
 
 "I do not know the family," was the rather cold 
 response. "I was not presented to them during the 
 voyage." 
 
 "What a pity!" exclaimed Mr. Loveiov. "Thev are 
 such delightful people. I met Mr. Van Steuben when 
 I was here before. Miss Amy is a dear girl, whom you 
 would find it a pleasure to know. Ah," he continued, 
 as a gentleman approached bareheaded from the house, 
 "here is Mr. Van Steuben now. You must let ms 
 present you. There is still time to go to the hotel and 
 get into your evening clothes. Almosit everybody who 
 came on i:he Australia will be here." 
 
 Though not having any idea of executing this sum- 
 mary arrangement, Carl reflected that a presentation to 
 Mr. Van Steuben was something he could not afford 
 to refuse just then. He had no idea, of course, of ac- 
 cepting an invitation to the party, if it was obtained in 
 this manner. Undoubtedly Mr. Lovejoy meant well 
 in his simplicity. When he called out, "Mr. Van
 
 9O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Steuben, I want to introduce a fellow passenger," tfie 
 young man murmured the usual commonplaces. 
 
 "Come right in," said the sugar planter, in his unaf- 
 fected way. "I'll show you where to put your things." 
 
 "Excuse me it is quite impossible. I am going to 
 Waikiki. But," added Carl, in a lower tone, relieved 
 that the minister had been taken in charge by a ser- 
 vant, "I would like to speak to you just a moment on 
 another matter." 
 
 Mr. Van Steuben bowed. 
 
 "I am looking for Mr. Peter Meyer, an adopted uncle 
 of mine, whom I understand you have seen 
 recently in Honolulu." 
 
 The planter lifted his eyes and took a careful survey 
 of his companion's features. "So you are that young 
 man?" he said, thoughtfully. "Let us walk into the 
 garden. There is less confusion there." 
 
 Too anxious to decline, Carl followed immediately. 
 
 "What have you done to forfeit M>r. Meyer's good 
 opinion?" was Van Steuben's sober query, when they 
 found themselves alone. 
 
 "Nothing, that I am aware of," said Carl, looking at 
 his questioner unflinchingly. 
 
 "It is very strange. Pardon my directness. Mr. 
 Meyer came here under an assumed name, with his 
 chief object, as I gather, that of evading you. While 
 here, I learned from the attorney who did the work, 
 he executed a will disinheriting you (who had pre- 
 viously been his principal legatee) and devising his es- 
 tate to dharity. And you say you can assign no reason 
 for these proceedings ?"
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 91 
 
 '''Not only do I say that," was the impatient answer, 
 "but I care nothing about the matter, in itself. Mr. 
 Meyer has already done more for me than I had any 
 right to expect; though he had formerly executed a 
 will in my favor, he did it without consulting me at all. 
 It was not to talk of his property but of himself tlhat I 
 accepted Mr. Love joy's offer to present me to you. I 
 want to find my friend. The mystery is a painful one. 
 He left St. Louis several months ago, promising to 
 write often, and I have received but two letter's. If in 
 either of them he had intimated .that hie wished our 
 friendship to end, and had given the slightest reason 
 for such a wish, I would have resigned myself to his 
 desire. I am sorry to annoy you with this matter, 
 when you have duties so important tonight, but the 
 sudden close of years of fatherly kindness puzzles me 
 beyond expression. I only ask one minute in Mr. 
 Meyer's presence, one word from him that he means 
 what his silence leads me to fear." 
 
 The gaze that was fixed on tihe speaker seemed to 
 pierce him through and through. If there was one 
 trait which Abel Van Steuiben believed he possessed 
 it was to read his fellow men. He saw into Carl's mind 
 as if with the Roetgen Rays. What he discovered 
 there the reader must be content to learn some chapters 
 further on. 
 
 "There are no steamers going to Maui tomorrow, 
 where I believe he is now," he said, slowly. "If you 
 will call at my office between nine and noon I will talk 
 with you. In the meantime you had best spend the 
 evening here/'
 
 92 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Carl adcepted the invitation to call at the office, 
 declined that to join in the reception. He wanted t 
 get to Wright's Villa as quickly as possible and see 
 if any clue could be obtained there to the mystery that 
 troubled him,
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS^ 
 
 THE BURIAL OF A QUEEN". 
 
 ALTHOUGH it was earlier than moonrise the night 
 was nearly as bright as day, and the fascination of the 
 tropical air was at its height. Carl walked with long 
 strides up the road he knew so well, breathing the per- 
 fume of flowering shrubs and trees with which the way 
 was lined, catching occasionally also the breath of the 
 sea, from across the meadows, When the lumbering 
 street car finally overtook him he let it pass unchal- 
 lenged. He was rather glad of the chance to stretch 
 his legs after the confinement of six days on shipboard. 
 
 At Wright's Villa there was little to learn. He 
 asked for his uncle in the name of Fischer, inquiring 
 as guardedly as possible whether anything special in 
 his manner had attracted attention, Mr. Hayden, the 
 landlord, met the question with a prompt affirmative. 
 
 "He didn't seem more than half in his right mind," 
 he said. "He was quiet enough, perfectly polite, but 
 sort of wandering in his thoughts, uneasy and queer, 
 Has he had a fit of illness lately ?" 
 
 Several of the "stand-bys" among the regular board- 
 ers, wlho were on the lanai when this conversation took 
 place, joined in. 
 
 "If you want my opinion I think the fellow's nutty," 
 said a dark-eyed and rather slender young man, in a
 
 94 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 chipper tone. "He wouldn't know enough to come in 
 when it rains, only for that chap with him. I said so 
 the first time I saw him; didn't I?'' (appealing tc the 
 others.) 
 
 "You certainly did," said a second boarder, who 
 wore glasses and was in the lumber trade, "I heard 
 down street, too, that Fisdier wasn't his right name." 
 
 A Mr. Slitt, from Chicago, joined in the talk, agree^ 
 ing with the others that Fischer had seemed decidedly 
 strange. As there was nothing more to learn,, Carl 
 took his leave with thanks, and, happening tc catch a 
 car, rode back to his hotel. 
 
 The next morning, at the hour stipulated, he found 
 Mr. Van Steuben ready to receive him, The conversa- 
 tion between them, though it lasted for several hours, 
 need not be repeated here at length, Suffice it to say 
 that the planter drew from the young man his entire 
 history and seemed impressed by the answers to his 
 numerous questions. Peter's conduct during the past 
 few months, the planter admitted, could be reconciled 
 with no theory except that of a confused brain or a 
 determination to rid himself forever of his protege. 
 
 To the latter's suggestion Car! gave a melancholy 
 assent. He was coming tc fee 1 that this offered the 
 only solution of Meyer's strange conduct. 
 
 "But he need not have put himself to all this 
 trouble," said he, with a clouded brow "I have no 
 claim upon him. A few words or a brief note if he 
 did not like to tell me directly -would have been suf- 
 ficient. It is true I should have asked an explanation, 
 not as a right, but to satisfy myself as to the cause ol
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESa, 95 
 
 his changed attitude; and still he could have declined 
 to answer. I wish I knew what to do. If he is acting 
 under a mental delusion it is my duty as well as 
 pleasure to give him any assistance in my power." 
 
 "As he certainly executed a new will while here, 
 w ! hich disinherits you, is it not wiser to face the in- 
 evitable and look about for some means of earning your 
 livelihood? From your own statements you cannot 
 much longer put off that necessity," 
 
 "I think I will try a little longer to settle the main 
 question. Mr. Meyer is somewhere in this group 
 of islands. It cannot be long now before I shall either 
 find him or convince myself that he does not wish to 
 see me," 
 
 "Very well," was the reply. "As a friend of Mr. 
 Meyer's, you may apply to me for any financial aid 
 you find necessary, the amount to be repaid when 
 convenient." 
 
 Showing the dejection he could not shake off, Carl 
 thanked the merchant in his usual quiet way and took 
 ihis leave respectfully. 
 
 The first steamer which arrived from a tour of the 
 islands brought some information about the wanderers. 
 The travelers, identified by the names of Fischer and 
 Swartz, had recently left Maui for Hilo, with the ex- 
 pressed intention of visiting the volcanic district. Carl 
 at once booked for Hilo, feeling that he was at last on 
 the right track. 
 
 The next morning an event occurred whioh served 
 to distract his attention, and whidh may be said to have 
 put the entire population in mourning. The Queen
 
 90 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Dowager, Kapiolani, the much-esteemed widow of 
 Kalakaua, who had lived in retirement since the death 
 of her husband, breathed her last, To the native Ha- 
 waiians it was as if the death of a dearly beloved rela- 
 tion had occurred. More than this, it was another re- 
 minder to this rapidly vanishing people that the last 
 of their old rulers were going with themselves "the way 
 of all the earth '" 
 
 The monarchies of these islands seem to many jour- 
 nalists a theme for jesting, but they certainty fitted wel 1 
 with their surroundings, The> gave color and beauty 
 to life in the most picturesque of countries With very 
 limited means at their disposal the entire line, from 
 Kamehameha I. to Lilioukalani, have shown a liberal- 
 ity toward objects of public welfare which nc royal 
 house of Europe has ever approached, proportionately. 
 That this tendency has affected even the white con- 
 sorts of their princesses the magnificent endowment, of 
 the public schools by Mr. Bishop well attests. No queen 
 among the great dynasties abroad has a memorial tc 
 her generosity comparable to Queen Emma's Hospital, 
 standing in the most beautiful grounds in all Honolulu. 
 Kapiolani Park, the broad recreation ground open to 
 all, to which the municipal band attracts thousands on 
 Sundays and holidays, was the free gift of t!he dark- 
 skinned lady for whom it was named. 
 
 The generosity of these sovereigns to old retainers 
 and dependents was unstinted as wel! as unassuming. 
 There are many people of pure Caucasian lineage in 
 Honolulu who openly express regret at the passing ol 
 the old order, and find their eyes filled with tears when-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 9 
 
 ever the band sends out upon the balmy air the tender 
 strains of "Hawaii Ponoi." 
 
 Every man and woman whom Carl met that morn- 
 ing, as he strolled slowly toward the dead queen's late 
 home, showed traces of weeping. The women wore 
 without exception black holokus. Throngs of them 
 were marching bareheaded and barefooted towards 
 Waikiki, sure that no senitry would bar their way to 
 the side of the queen they had adored. 
 
 As soon as the body could be placed on its bed of 
 State all visitors were freely admitted, and from that 
 time until the end of the funeral ceremonies, some days 
 later, the grounds around the residence were filled with 
 hundreds of people, day and night. Liberal provision 
 for supplying food freely to all comers was made by 
 the two princes, Kapiolani's adopted sons, and the soft 
 herbage and warm air made no other shelter necessary 
 than the star-studded vault of heaven. The moon hap- 
 pened to be full and the scene when the numerous 
 groups were seated on the ground around old men and 
 .women, who chanted the "sagas" of the race, was one 
 never to be forgotten. The writer of these lines was 
 there also and found few things more interesting in the 
 travels which took him around the globe. 
 
 This is not the place pefhaps to detail the strange 
 mixture of ceremonies, half-barbaric, half-Christian, 
 that accompanied the funeral. Others have told how 
 the but recently raised American flags on the public 
 buildings were lowered to half mast ; how the American 
 troops quartered in the outskirts paraded in the pro- 
 cession, including four hundred Hawaiians who drew
 
 98 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 the catafalque, while minute guns announced the fact 
 that a former ruler was being borne to her grave. But 
 Carl will never forget the tall figures of the numerous 
 chiefs who came from all quarters of the realm, with 
 their feather cloaks of ancient make and "kahilis" that 
 had waved over lines of dead princes whose very names 
 are now forgotten. 
 
 From the balcony of the native ahurdh he heard the 
 words of the English burial service read before an aud- 
 ience composed of many colors, races and costumes. 
 Representatives of foreign governments were there, 
 some in gorgeous insignia of rank, but few could have 
 seen in their own land a pomp more fitting or a grief 
 more real. The plumes of a hundred tall kahilis, 
 of nearly every color, waved from poles of immense 
 height and seemed to bend in sympathy toward the 
 throng where every person was a real mourner. 
 
 A few days later, as if like the music of a returning 
 drum-corps at a military burial, the first Fourth of 
 July under which Hawaii had been an American Col- 
 ony was ushered in with noise and excitement. The 
 mercurial natives, with citizens and visitors born else- 
 where, made the best they could of the occasion, while 
 almond-eyed Celestials and Japanese lined the streets 
 and looked on with wonder. The pretty town was en 
 fete, but while the mass were joining in the celebration 
 there were others hidden behind closed doors and shad- 
 ed windows, with saddened hearts. 
 
 Our young friend stood on the sidewalk till the 
 parade had passed, but the shouts and music jarred on 
 his overwrought brain. Wlhen it was over he walked
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 99 
 
 slowly up to Waikiki and took a long swim among tihe 
 breakers. 
 
 The beach was a scene of gaiety interesting to be- 
 hold. Hundreds were there besides himself. Occa- 
 sional groups of native boys and girls were to be seen, 
 as much at home in the water as a school of fishes, and 
 in many cases clad in raiment hardly more elaborate. 
 The survivors of the Hawaiian people are not ham- 
 pered very seriously in their old habits by tihe white 
 residents. Their brown skins, apparently of the tex- 
 ture of velvet, answers very well for a covering, and 
 regulations wliich custom has prescribed for the ligfhter 
 races are stretched good-naturedly for them. 
 
 This beadh is so shallow that bathers can walk three 
 or four hundred yards from shore without finding the 
 water above their necks, if they are careful to avoid a 
 few spots where the shelving sand takes a sudden and 
 deep descent. Far out from the land are reefs over 
 which the waves break ddiciously, and there the native 
 surfboard is a delight both to the Caucasian and 
 Kanaka. 
 
 When he had been in the waiter nearly an hour, Carl 
 became aware that among the swimmers near him were 
 young Van Steuben and his sister. Billy recognized 
 him and nodded pleasantly, while Misis Amy stole a 
 giance in his direction as if she remembered seeing him 
 before. 
 
 "Splendid surf, isn't it?" said Billy, when he got 
 nearer. "We've known this beach ever since we were 
 babies, and it's grand to get back to ft again. You're 
 making quite a stay. I hope you'll find our liMe island 
 interesting."
 
 100 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Carl answered with some uneasiness that it was a 
 very beautiful place. The closeness of Miss Amy, who 
 was but a hundred feet away, confused him. He could 
 not quite get over the fear that she would address him 
 suddenly with, "Aren't you the man who rescued me 
 at San Francisco?" 
 
 Miss Van Steuben was not of the build which is con- 
 sidered tihe true type of a water nymph by artists and 
 novelists in general. She was too slender to fill tihe 
 picture usually drawn. But to the eyes that now 
 watched her she was very lovely in those clinging gar- 
 ments, with her dark hair half hidden under the oil- 
 skin cap. Her face lost nothing of its dharm with the 
 exercise and her laugh rang out like music when 3he 
 placed her surfboard before her and let a huge wave 
 carry her with the speed of a racehorse toward the land. 
 
 "She can swim like a porpoise," laughed the brother, 
 as he caught a nervous look on Carl's countenance. 
 "She learned that playing with the little Kanaka girls 
 when she was a mere baby. Yes, I'm coming!" he 
 Shouted, as Amy signalled to him. 
 
 Carl realized perfectly that he was desperately in 
 love with this siren, but he realized still more that his 
 passion must be a hopeless one. He was not only pen- 
 niless; the life he had led as the companion of Peter 
 Meyer had left him without any profession by which 
 money could be obtained. He was even in debt for 
 the amount of his fare to the island and the price of 
 his board at the hotel. He felt a sharp pang as he 
 reflected on the wide distance that must henceforth 
 separate him from every ambition but the sole one of 
 earning an honest livelihood.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. IOI 
 
 He turned his face resolutely away from his fasci- 
 nator and, returning to the bathhouses, pulled off his 
 bathing suit and stood for some moments under the 
 cooling water of the shower bath. When he was 
 dressed he slowly strolled back to town. Street cars 
 passed him, crowded with merry passengers, Hawaii- 
 ans, Chinese, Japs, Portuguese and the nondescript 
 population which is growing out of their intermar- 
 riages. 
 
 When it comes to matrimony the Hawaiian girls pre- 
 fer any race, apparently, to their own, and the reason is 
 not far to seek. Few Kanaka lads have either com- 
 mercial instinct or industrious habits. To become the 
 wife of one of them promises little but the necessity of 
 earning the family's support on the part of the woman. 
 
 The native girls who have white fathers form a very 
 pretty type. With their brunette complexions, no 
 darker on an average than a Spaniard's, their luxuriant 
 black hair and unapproachable soft brown eyes, 
 they are generally successful in the desire of their 
 hearts to marry a white man. Those who cannot se- 
 cure so high a prize usually accept a Chinaman or 
 Japanese, who as a rule provide well for them and treat 
 them kindly. 
 
 It being a general holiday every public carriage was 
 in requisition and every person who owned a "rig" of 
 any description had it out. The National Band was 
 discoursing sweet music at Kapiolani Park, to which 
 point most of the merry-makers were tending. Saddle 
 animals were also numerous, many of them surmounted 
 by native women riding astride, in flowing garments
 
 IO2 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 which reached nearly to the ground, and bicycles 
 abounded in full force. 
 
 It has doubtless been noticed by most readers that a 
 low condition of spirit is accentuated by the gaiety of 
 others. Carl's were at a very low ebb indeed that July 
 afternoon. Peter Meyer and Amy Van Steuben strug- 
 gled for first place in his worried brain. Though he 
 knew he must devote all his energies to the former and 
 blot out the image of the latter entirely, Nature would 
 have her way for the present. As he approached the 
 mansion where she lived, a carriage in which the 
 brother and sister were seated drove past him. To 
 Billy's cheery "Hello!" Carl lifted his hat and bowed; 
 and Miss Amy, apparently from pure thoughtlessness, 
 bowed in return as if he had saluted her also. 
 
 The throb which his heart gave contained a mixture 
 of pain and pleasure. She knew at least that he existed. 
 It was something. He straightened up and walked on 
 with just a shade less of depression on his mind.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 803 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 GOING OVER TO HAWAII. 
 
 ANXIOUSLY impatient to reach the island where he 
 had last heard of Peter Meyer, Carl was early at the 
 wharf on the morning following his swim, and boarded 
 the steamer Kjnau. There were quite a large number 
 of passengers in the first cabin and many Asiatics in 
 the steerage. As Carl was leaning listlessly on the 
 rail and watching these latter below him, engaged in 
 their interminable games of chance, he heard a familiar 
 voice at his elbow, and turned to see the smiling face 
 of young Van Steuben. 
 
 "Going over to Hilo?" he cried, heartily. "So am 
 I and my mother and sister. That's jolly ! Amy," he 
 called, before Carl could interpose an objection, "let me 
 
 introduce you to Mr. Muller of I don't know 
 
 where," (bursting into a laugh) "but it makes no dif- 
 ference. He came with us on the Australia and he's 
 going to Hilo." 
 
 A weight as of tons of lead pressed on the young 
 man's breast as he heard the silvery voice murmur the 
 commonplaces ; and he breathed easier when Miss Amy 
 excused herself, saying she must go to her mother. 
 
 "Look here!" cried Billy. "I do believe you're the 
 fellow my father was talking about at the table last 
 night. Aren't you hunting for a friend or relation or
 
 104 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 something who's acting queer? Yes, I thought sot 
 The way the old gent made it out, he's treating you 
 mighty mean. I " 
 
 Something that scintillated in the blue eyes caused 
 the speaker to pause suddenly. It was quite as well, 
 for Carl had no notion of standing by and listening to 
 harsh criticisms of Mr. Meyer. At the same time, he 
 realized that an altercation with "her" brother was 
 something to be avoided if possible. 
 
 "Do you think the voyage is likely to be rough?" he 
 asked, to change the subject. 
 
 "Oh, I don't know. You never can tell. It's not 
 generally any too smooth. Sometimes I've seen old 
 sailors laid out going through the channel ; then again 
 it's like a millpond. What about the weather, George?" 
 he called familiarly to a dark man in semi-uniform. 
 
 "We'll have to wait and see," was the non-committal 
 reply. And then Billy explained that George's other 
 name was Barkley and that he was a "half-white" of 
 Hawiian extraction, of considerable importance on the 
 steamship line. Thoug'h nominally holding a minor 
 position, he was often dubbed "Commodore," for, being 
 a very large stockholder, he could give orders on occa- 
 sion even to the captain. 
 
 As various passengers passed near most of them 
 spoke to Billy and were presented by him to Carl. The 
 most noticeable was a certain Col. Park, also a half- 
 Hawaiian, a millionaire, (an especial distinction in that 
 fast-fading race) an ex-member of Kalakaua's cabinet 
 and perhaps, take him all in all, the finest living speci- 
 men of his type. Another was John Barker, Governoc
 
 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 10$ 
 
 of the island of Hawaii under the oM regime, a Jolly 
 
 man of middle age with infinite capacity for fun. 
 
 Between each introduction young Van Steuben would 
 exclaim, as if he had been struck with an entirely ori- 
 ginal idea, "I say, come down and have a drink !" and 
 when, after accepting a couple of bottles of beer, Carl 
 begged to be excused, he took the refusals so much 
 to heart that his guest was seriously disturbed. 
 
 The afternoon passed without special incident. The 
 vessel took her course along the shore, which presented 
 a beautiful appearance with its lofty hills and tropical 
 vegetation. Miles of sugar-cane skirted the littoral and 
 most of the conversation among the passengers had ref- 
 erence to that industry in some form or other. One 
 who had recently been appointed luna of an immense 
 plantation that was yet undeveloped was plied with 
 questions as to the prospective value of shares recently 
 placed on the market. 
 
 Stories of the wonderful yield of particular acres in 
 various places were circulated and the general feeling 
 was what a stockbroker would term " bullish." What 
 effect the war in the Philippines, the possible action of 
 Congress, the growing importance of the beet indus- 
 try, and a dozen other items might have kept the 
 talkers busy. Carl listened silently, for even if he had 
 felt like joining in he could have contributed nothing 
 to the discussion. 
 
 "I'd be glad to present you to my mother," remarked 
 Billy, at the dinner table, "but she's regularly knocked 
 out and Amy's taking care of her. She's the worst 
 sailor I know, is mother, except my father, and it's
 
 1O6 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Strange, too, for one who's travelled as much by water 
 BIS she has." 
 
 Though it can hardly be said that Cafl was glad to 
 hear of Mrs. Van Steuben's discomfort, he was not 
 Sorry to miss the proposed introduction. He was also 
 relieved at the non-appearance of Miss Amy, witti 
 whom he had feared he might have to carry on a 
 conversation. If he and that charming girl should be 
 by any accident left together for half an hour the secret 
 he wanted to keep from her might come out in some 
 way. 
 
 Fortune favored him, for with the exception of a 
 short walk on deck just before retiring, Amy did not 
 make her appearance, and Carl seized even that oppor- 
 tunity to absent himself. He accepted an invitation of 
 John Barker to try two of the Hawaiian national dishes 
 of which he had heard much, raw fish and poi. 
 
 Now poi, that mainstay of all native tables, is simply 
 a preparation of the taro root, a perfectly healthy and 
 harmless vegetable of which many Europeans and 
 Americans grow inordinately fond. The young man 
 was able to eat a fair-sized dish of it without a wry 
 face, though he insisted on making his initial meal by 
 the aid of a spoon rather than with the first two 
 fingers, as Barker, following the native custom, did. 
 The raw fish gave him more trouble, though to tell the 
 truth the fish did not seem to deserve the eoithet anv 
 more than salt cod would, having been specially pre- 
 pared with condiments. The favorite native way is to 
 alternate a mouthful of the fish with one of poi; and 
 the Kanaka does not object if these are interspersed
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 wrth a drink of oka-la-hao, a fiery fluid extracted from 
 the root of the "ti" plant. Barker's contagious laugh 
 and a number of Hawaiian songs which he accom- 
 panied with the mandolin, entertained many of his fel- 
 low passengers till nearly morning, but shortly after 
 midnight Carl excused himself and went to hrs cabin. 
 
 "If you get anywhere near my house while you're in 
 Hawaii," were Barker's last words to him, "make your- 
 self at home there as long as you like. And then," he 
 added, "go off like the rest of them and say I'm nothing 
 but a blankety-blank Kanaka !" 
 
 A healthy and hearty laugh shook his rotund and 
 somewhat adipose figure a frame it was hard to be- 
 lieve had been some years before the model for that 
 perfection of symmetry, the bronze statute of Kameha- 
 meha which adorns the square before the Government 
 Building. 
 
 Just before retiring Carl had his attention attracted 
 to a strange light in the sky for which nobody had been 
 able to account. Some thought it was a large build- 
 ing on shore undergoing consumption by fire. Others 
 believed it a bit of meteorological phenomena. The 
 young man was early on deck the next morning and 
 learned that the cause of the illumination had been as- 
 certained. The great volcano of Mau'na Loa had sud- 
 denly burst into activity. There were those among the 
 passengers who connected the outburst at once with the 
 'death of the queen, and stories began to circulate of 
 strange incidents which had always followed misfor- 
 tunes to native sovereigns. Others said jestingly 
 that the mountain was merely celebrating the first
 
 IO8 SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Fourth of July it had spent under the American 
 As Carl was waiting for an opportunity to go ashore, 
 hoping for information about his beloved friend, "Com- 
 modore" Barkley brought him some interesting news. 
 
 "You're anxious to meet a man named Fischer, aren't 
 you ?" he said. "Well, I learn that he was at the Club 
 in Kohala a few days ago. You could reacih Kohala 
 from here in a few hours, while if you stay on the 
 Kinau as far as Hilo it will take you several days. 
 Here is a man who saw him day before yesterday." 
 
 The man referred to, who was introduced under the 
 name of Fredenborg, and who had just come aboard, 
 corroborated this story. He was a bright appearing 
 person, dressed like a cowboy, but with a face of un- 
 usual intelligence. A brief talk with him convinced 
 Carl that he had really seen both Meyer and Lindes. 
 After inquiring as to the means of transportation, Carl 
 was not long in deciding to disembark at once. He 
 took his "grip," the only article of baggage he had 
 brought over, arid after thanking Barkley, went at 
 once to a little train of cars that stood a few rods away, 
 looking as if they had come out of some prehistoric 
 ark. Neither of the Van Steubens were in sight and 
 there was no other passengers to whom Carl felt 
 obliged to say good-by. 
 
 It seemed as if the diminutive engine would never be 
 set in motion, nor would get anywhere when its wheels 
 did begin slowly to revolve. A time-table is not im- 
 portant in a country with only one short piece of track. 
 Carl's nervous anxiety was intense, but there was noth- 
 ing to do but await the deliberate movements of the
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 109 
 
 concern. When it arrived eventually alt a place 
 called Union Mills (though why it bore that name was 
 not apparent) a crazy old carriage was found in readi- 
 ness to take people to "The Club" a mile and a half 
 further on; The Club being, it appeared, the name of 
 a hotel kept by a Japanese named Sakai, but more gen- 
 erally called "Jim." A Honolulu dentist, wtho was to 
 locate at The Club for a few weeks, with the intention 
 of pulling the teeth and the legs of the inhabitants 
 simultaneously (to use Che cheerful phrase of one of 
 the men on the Kinau) entered the carriage with Carl 
 
 Although almost sure he would find Mr. Meyer and 
 Mr. Lindes at Sakai's, Carl had been disappointed too 
 often to feel much surprise when he learned that they 
 had departed on the previous day. The eruption at 
 the volcano had interested them and they had an- 
 nounced their intention of starting immediately for the 
 Volcano House. "Jim" said there was a commercial 
 traveler in the neighborhood who was going on the 
 following day to Waiamea, and Carl could doubtless 
 make arrangements with him for the journey. 
 
 The traveler turned up in the evening and readily 
 agreed to share his vehicle and expenses to the point 
 suggested. But -when they reached Waiamea Carl 
 found he was again too late. The sought-for travelers 
 had spent a night at Akona's, and driven on early the 
 next morning. 
 
 As the team with Which Carl had made the journey 
 had been hired by the commercial man, and no oilier 
 could be easily obtained, he was obliged to content him- 
 self with the latter's slow movements. He was given a
 
 IIC A SUGAF PRINCESS. 
 
 room in a small cottage some distance up the street, 
 which Akona was using as an annex to his hotel, and 
 which was very comfortable and inviting. Most of the 
 cottage was reserved on this particular night for some 
 court officials, who were to pass through on their way 
 to the opening of a session some distance further on. 
 
 When the party arrived Carl experienced tihe honor 
 of dining with a live Judge, though he might easily 
 have been mistaken in his traveling clothes for a fire- 
 man. The stenographer of the Court, a young Irish- 
 man of bright wit and musical tastes, usually referred 
 to by his companions as the "Minnah Bird," for some 
 occult reason, tihe clerk, and one or two lawyers com- 
 pleted the party. They proved on the whole very 
 agreeable and had Carl not been oppressed by his 
 troubles he could have passed a delightful evening 
 with them.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. III! 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 "YOU LEFT HIM THERE TO DIE?" 
 
 MUCH of the conversation at the cottage had refer- 
 ence to the outbreak of the Volcano. It seemed that 
 the inhabitants of the island were much excited over 
 the eruption. All sorts of rumors were in circulation 
 as to its direction and the distance it had covered. One 
 story indicated that the flow had already traversed t!he 
 distance between mountain and sea and cut off all 
 communication with Hilo by a river of liquid fire. 
 
 There was nothing for it but to push on tlhe next 
 morning and find out. Carl readied Honokaa at noon, 
 where he had the good fortune to meet a sheriff w*ho 
 had just come from Hilo and told him flhe road was 
 still open in that direction. At Lapahbehoe he ex- 
 changed his seat in the carriage for a saddle horse and 
 after a difficult ride reached Hilo late at night. At tihe 
 hotel he was not surprised to learn that Fischer and 
 Swartz had gone already to the Volcano House, as had 
 almost everybody else who was able to do so. 
 
 Another restless night followed for our young friend. 
 He drew consolation, however, from the belief that 
 another day would surely bring him to the end of his 
 journey. At eight o'clock in the morning he mounted 
 to his place on the stage wagon and tried to take an 
 interest in the beautiful road that led, slowly rising, to
 
 112 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 the heights beyond. It was a remarkable highway in 
 many respects, being so perfectly graded that a 
 bicyclist of average powers could climb the entire dis- 
 tance of thirty-five miles without dismounting, and ride 
 without touching pedals back to Hilo at a rapid and not 
 dangerous pace. 
 
 The views of mountain and sea were delightful, and 
 the air, straight from the hills, most refreshing. All 
 the other excursionists were in a state of high glee, 
 exchanging witty remarks, in which for obvious rea- 
 sons Carl did not join. It was evening when they ar- 
 rived at their destination, a long stop having been made 
 at noon. Springing from the vehicle Carl lost no time 
 in asking for the proprietor and propounding the ques- 
 tion that trembled on his lips. 
 
 It turned out that the proprietor knew rather less 
 about his guests than one of the wooden posts on the 
 veranda, but his wife, a half-white woman of intelli- 
 gent appearance, said the gentlemen had departed very 
 early that morning with a party for the scene of the 
 flow. She addeld, in response to further inquiries, that 
 Mr. Fischer seemed quite weak. She had done her best 
 to dissuade him from going, but he had paid no atten- 
 tion to her advice. 
 
 Carl felt now that he had tracked the men dotwn and 
 that if he remained at this post they could not pass 
 without his knowledge. He ate a light dinner which 
 was not difficult at that table and retired to a dark 
 corner of the veranda to meditate. It was nearly ten 
 o'clock when he heard a step approaching, scad looked 
 up to meet the eyes of Marcus Lindes.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 There was something in the expression of those eyes 
 that froze the words whidh sprang to the younger 
 man's lips. Lindes was haggard, as if from a severe 
 mental strain. For some seconds he did not speak. 
 Then, throwing himself on the floor, he ejaculated, 
 "Oh, Carl, Carl!" in a way that sent terror into tihe 
 breast of his astounded listener. 
 
 Carl ro>se, his lips set, his teeth grinding, He did not 
 know what to fear, but his heart throbbed violently. 
 
 "Where is Peter Meyer ?" he demanded. 
 
 "Oh, Carl ! He wouldn't have gone if it hadn't been 
 for me !" Marcus groaned. "Adh, Gott !" 
 
 The strong young hands grasped the coat collar of 
 $he kneeling figure and the trembling form was pulled 
 to its feet as if it had been of a feather's weigfot. 
 "Where is Peter Meyer?" repeated Carl. "Answer!" 
 
 A shiver passed over Lindes' body. He had no 
 strength to keep his erect position, now that he had 
 been raised to it. "He fs DEAD !" he whispered, in a 
 horror-stricken voice, and collapsed entirely. 
 
 Carl released the man so suddenly that he fell to his 
 knees. Stepping back he raised his clenched fist and 
 had half allowed it to descend when he controlled him- 
 self. Before he struck this man into insensibility he 
 must hear some explanation of his dreadful message. 
 
 A word at a time it came out. The party that had 
 gone to the lava floiw had readhed its destination. 
 Peter insisted on being among the foremost to inspect 
 the great wonder. Old and weak though he was, BO 
 one could restrain him. All the travelers tied their 
 animals and moved forward in small parties. Sudden-
 
 1 14 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 ly a gust of sulphur fumes rose about Meyer and 
 Lindes. For some moments the narrator foug'ht for 
 his life, covering his mouth and nostrils with his 
 handkerchief and trying to grope blindly toward a 
 place of safety. The density of the fumes was so 
 'great that he could see nothing, nor could he call out 
 without danger of immediate aspliyxiation. Hi's hope 
 was to reach a spot of comparative safety and then get 
 his companions to go to Peter's assistance. Alt last tihe 
 wind changed, the smoke lifted, he could see for a 
 short distance about him, and breathe with more free- 
 dom. But, though he looked in all directions, and cried 
 loudly, Meyer had entirely disappeared. 
 
 "And you left him to die while you saved your 
 worthless self !" muttered Carl between his teeth. 
 
 "Aoh, Himmel! the others came, we searched in 
 every direction, but it was of no use. The lava crust 
 was thin oh, Carl! I cannot bear it! He was my 
 friend of forty years, and / brought him to this I, I, 
 I did it!" 
 
 Lindes rocked to and fro, sobbing like a child. 
 
 "What do you mean?" demanded tihe icy voice of 
 his companion. 
 
 "A minute, a minute ; let me get a little strength . . 
 . . I wish to keep back nothing. I am guilty, before 
 
 God and man You shall hear all. It was I who 
 
 pursuaded him to come out here and not to write you. 
 Yes, Gott forgive me ! Why did I do it ? Just to satis- 
 fy my contrary nature. He had been boasting of his 
 faith in you, and I told him to put you to t?he proof. . . . 
 We came to Hawaii and then to this damnable place. .
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 115 
 
 . . .And in a few days more he would have been your 
 dear friend of the old time, for he knew how faithfully 
 you had followed him, how you had refused to accept 
 
 Ulirig's money, he knew all ! Had he found you 
 
 here, that would have been an end of the trial He 
 
 loved you with every drop of blood in his noble old 
 heart ! And now " 
 
 The speaker broke completely down, sobbing wildly. 
 
 Carl Muller's brain had always worked slowly and 
 just now it was under a terrific strain. He saw only 
 that this crouching figure 'had led his dearly loved 
 friend to death. The contrition which Lindes exhibited 
 was an insignificant matter compared with his crime. 
 Carl tfhrew the kneeling figure prostrate and bent over 
 it. His fingers began to twine themselves around tihe 
 trembling throat. This creature had murdered good 
 Peter Meyer. Why should he not pay the penalty? 
 
 The bright laug>h of a young girl broke the spell. 
 On the other side of the house a party of sightseers 
 who had recently arrived in a private carriage, were 
 enjoying the cool air in each other's society, quite 
 oblivious of the tragedy that was so near being enacted 
 within a hundred feet of them. Carl knew Who h'ad 
 uttered that laugh. He knew also the voices that soon 
 joined hers, those of her mother and brother. The 
 diversion aroused him to the knowledge that he had 
 been about to repay a dastardly act by one still more 
 reprehensible. He rose instantly and walked twenty 
 steps to regain his senses. 
 
 "By your own admission you are responsible for the 
 death of my best friend," he said in a low voice, when
 
 Il6 SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 he returned to Lindes' side. "For a momettt I was 
 about to render you the punishment you deserve. Go 
 to your bed and sleep, if your conscience will permit 
 you; and tomorrow at daylight start with me to tihe 
 place where Peter Meyer was last seen, that I may, 
 if God wills, give his bones a Christian burial I" 
 
 Lindes, overcome with emotion, tried to grasp the 
 young man's hand, but Carl folded his arms rigidly 
 and, turning away, staggered to his room. 
 
 The happy party of which Miss Van Steuben was 
 one had been increased by several late arrivals. Their 
 gaiety jarred on the mourner as the sounds were 
 wafted to his open window over their heads. He sat 
 down and buried his face in his hands, nearly pros- 
 trated in his bereavement. To be so near to his friend 
 to learn that there had been no real intention to dis- 
 card him, that it was all the work of a senseless mis- 
 chiefmaker! And then to hear in the same breath 
 that the eyes into which he would so soon have looked 
 with the old love were forever closed! It was over- 
 whelming. Carl could not remember when he had 
 last shed a tear, but his hands were now wet with the 
 torrent streaming from his aoihing lids. 
 
 He did not think of going to bed, for he knew no 
 sleep was likely to come to him. 
 
 "Oh, don't tell me any more!" he heard Mrs. Van 
 Steuben exclaim, after an interval of comparative quiet 
 "It's the most dreadful thing I ever heard of. I hope 
 it will satisfy you, William," she added impressively, 
 44 and that you won't think of going an inch further 
 toward that awful Volcano."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 ""lit is terrible indeed P assented Miss Amy. "How 
 did you hear_of it, Billy?" 
 
 The brother repeated the story whidh some of the 
 party that had participated in the accident had just 
 told in the hotel. 
 
 "And that young gentleman you introduced me to on 
 the steamer was "his nephew," said Amy, sadly. "Think 
 what he will suffer when he learns of it !" 
 
 "If fehere is a searching party organized, I stall go," 
 said Billy, with determination. 
 
 "Of course you will do nothing of the sort," inter- 
 posed his mother. "It would be absolute suicide." 
 
 "Everyone ought to go who can render any service/' 
 said Amy. "If you go, Billy, will you take me?" she 
 added, with a sudden thought. 
 
 "You'll do as you've a mind to, as usual, I suppose. 
 But if you ask my opinion " 
 
 "Then I won't. Now don't you say a word against 
 it, mamma, for I'm going. Yes, I am. I can take care 
 of myself and I'll keep out of all danger." 
 
 "Just as you did on that sailboat, I presume," was 
 the ironical suggestion. 
 
 "What harm happened fo me there, except a little 
 wetting? You'll be throwing that up forever. Billy, 
 tell the men who are going that I shall join the party 
 and won't be the least trouble. I feel so sorry for 
 that young man I can't keep the tears 'back. It's just 
 awful ! " 
 
 And muffled sobs were wafted to the ears of the sad 
 .watcher overhead.
 
 1 18 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SEARCH FOR A DEAD MAN. 
 
 IT was early in the morning when Carl arose, but it 
 was late before the exploring party started on its 
 journey. He met Lindes at breakfast and, having now 
 complete control of his brain, talked with him calmly 
 as to the best method to pursue. It was clear that 
 Marcus did not believe the expedition would amount 
 to anything, as it was impossible in his opinion to 
 find any trace of a body swallowed up in a river of 
 burning lava. He was quite willing, however, to take 
 any steps that would gratify Carl. 
 
 The story of the accident was now known generally 
 m the hotel and several gentlemen who were contem- 
 plating a trip in the vicinity offered their services. Carl 
 accepted them all, including one of those who had been 
 there on the previous day, a Mr. Bass. When the 
 proper quantity of provisions and water had been laid 
 in for, over a great part of the way, no food or drink 
 could be obtained even for the horses the cavalcade 
 took up its march. 
 
 Miss Van Steuben soon entered into a talk with 
 Carl, and her sympathetic and hopeful attitude encour- 
 aged him greatly. It was not a time when he need 
 avoid her presence. Little by little she drew from him 
 the history* of his connection with Mr. Meyer and the
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS JIQ 
 
 incidents relating to the latter's disappearance, except 
 the part which Lindes had played. Of that he did not 
 feel that he could speak yet to anyone. 
 
 It is not necessary that a full description should be 
 made of the profitless journey, for profitless it was. 
 Before Carl had reached the scene of the accident he 
 was obliged to admit that no human frame engulfed 
 in that molten sea could escape annihilation. He kept 
 on, however, as far as the animals could safely go, 
 and then started with Messrs. Lindes and Bass toward 
 the point where Mr. Meyer was last seen, urging the 
 others to observe the utmost care for tfieir own safety. 
 
 "We shall only go a little farther," added Mr. Bass. 
 "There is no need of risking another casualty." 
 
 A light touch on Carl's coatsleeve caused him to 
 turn. Miss Amy was at his elbow. 
 
 "Let me go a little way," she pleaded. "I will be 
 very careful. I have splendid eyesight. Please!" 
 
 "No !" he answered, almost sternly. Then, when she 
 began a new argument, he called to Billy: "Do not 
 let your sister run any risk." And he was gone. 
 
 Five minutes passed, ten, and still the men who were 
 conducting the hopeless search went on. Occasionally 
 the undulations of the ground hid them from the eyes 
 that would have followed their movements. Frequent- 
 ly a gust of sulphurous air compelled them to pause. 
 At last Carl was obliged to admit that it was folly to 
 continue further and listened to the urgent advice of 
 Mr. Bass to retrace his steps. 
 
 With the fumes of sulphur coming, now from this 
 side, now from that, the men had to stop more than
 
 I2O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 once, covering their mouths and nostrils. Mr. Bass 
 came in first, quite exhausted. He staggered and al- 
 most fell, and the efforts of the others were at once 
 devoted to his succor. Mr. Lindes came second, in 
 even a worse condition. The watchers began to realize 
 what a hell raged within a thousand feet of where they 
 stood. 
 
 "He has not come!" cried Amy, frantically, to her 
 brother. "Are you going to let him die there ! Well, 
 I'm not !" and before he had any idea of her intention 
 she started towards the lava flow at her utmost speed. 
 
 Billy shouted "Come back!" but the girl paid no 
 attention to him. He was obliged to follow her in a 
 run, but she kept her lead. When the lava was readied 
 he saw her pause and look anxiously in all directions. 
 Then she waved her hand to him to hasten and disap- 
 peared into the ravine. 
 
 Carl lay prostrate, though not unconscious. The 
 sulphurous gases were rising all about him, but he was 
 fighting bravely for breath. Just as his strength and 
 courage seemed failing together he saw Amy Van 
 Steuben coming in his direction. He struggled to his 
 feet, waving the handkerchief that had been placed over 
 his mouth, hoping it would stop the girl's forward 
 movement. Finding it did not do so, he began to 
 move with slow and painful steps in her direction. Be- 
 fore he reached her side Amy's slight strength gave 
 way. She made a misstep and would have fallen had 
 he not caught her in his arms. 
 
 Despairing with a conviction that Peter Meyer's 
 body could never be recovered, fainting from the ttt>
 
 X SUGAR PRINCESu. 
 
 rible fumes lie had been breathing, the siglit of that 
 white face, the pressure of that limp body, put new. 
 life into him. Without the least idea of What he was 
 doing he pressed his lips to hers for one brief moment, 
 and murmured, "My darling!" Then, carrying his 
 burden, he walked rapidly, almost running, till he met 
 Billy, who insisted on relieving him of her weight. 
 
 Half crazed by the conflict of emotions Carl made a 
 momentary effort to retain possession of the still form, 
 but Billy, at that moment the stronger, had no hesita- 
 tion in taking it from him. Two of the others now 
 came forward and offered their assistance to Carl, who 
 began suddenly to realize how much he needed it. 
 
 As soon as he was safely out of danger he hastened 
 to ask about the young lady. 
 
 "She's all right!" shouted Billy. "The Lord takes 
 care of children and fools. What the dickens did sihe 
 expect to accomplish by running into that fire !" 
 
 Carl was not content till he had staggered to his feet 
 and seen for himself that Miss Van Steuben was sitting 
 up and had her eyes open. 
 
 "They've all been scolding me," sihe said, hysterical- 
 ly. "I don't suppose anybody has thought to thanlc 
 you for saving me." 
 
 "Saving you!'' he answered, surprised. "Oh, yes, 
 but you saved me first. I had almost given up, the gas 
 was so powerful, and I must have breathed a lot of it. 
 Then I saw you were in danger and that spurred me 
 up, you see and I succeeded in escaping." 
 
 A smile crossed the faces of the onlookers. Amy 
 exclaimed, "There! You see I did some good, after
 
 122 A SUGAR PRINCESS, 
 
 aM." Then m response to earnest advice she consented 
 to lie down for a few moments. Carl refused to take 
 the same counsel, feeling that a man should exert all 
 the strength he had. And it was quite as well that he 
 kept his feet and took in full breaths of the pure air 
 of the mountainside. 
 
 Soon it was time for lunch. Around the circle that 
 was formed congratulations were poured in on both the 
 young people for their escape from danger. The won- 
 derful sight all had witnessed was discussed at length, 
 only Carl and Mr. Lindes remaining silent. At last 
 the lively talkers began to remember that there was a 
 special sadness in the occasion for these two, and their 
 loss was referred to in low tones. 
 
 "I should think an old man, overcome with sulphur 
 gas, would not experience much suffering," said one. 
 "We are naturally shocked at such a death, because it 
 is sudden and mysterious; but people dying in tiheir 
 beds must often have a larger share of pain." 
 
 The suggestion, though well meant, did not Wave 
 the intended effect, and no one attempted to repeat the 
 experiment. An hour later Miss Van Steuben said Slhe 
 felt quite able to mount her horse, and presently the 
 party started on its homeward journey. 
 
 "I am more grateful to you than I am afraid I ap- 
 pear," said the young lady, in a low voice, as her horse 
 came alongside Carl's. 
 
 "But it is I who owe you gratitude," he replied. "If 
 it had not been for you I never should have come out 
 of that place alive." 
 
 "I am so glad you feel that way. I want to get a
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 123 
 
 -.r - 
 
 little credit for something besides recklessness. I don't 
 know what mother will say. This is the second time I 
 have been nearly killed within a few months. Did you 
 hear how I fell into the Bay at San Francisco ?" 
 
 He seemed to ruminate for some time, and finally 
 stammered that he believed he had heard somebody 
 mention it on the steamer. 
 
 "You don't seem much interested," she began. "No, 
 I beg your pardon. It was this way : I was out yacht- 
 ing, and was run down by a tugboat. All our party, 
 including myself, were knocked overboard instantly. 
 I thought I knew how to swim, but when I struck the 
 water I was dazed. What would have happened I 
 don't know had not a young gentleman who was out 
 rowing sprang after me. And wihen the excitement 
 abated a little and Billy wanted to thank him or in 
 case he would accept it offer him a reward " 
 
 "You could not tihink he would take money!" cried 
 Carl, shutting his teeth together. 
 
 "Why, don't you think I'm worth paying for?" 
 
 He could only turn his eyes in the opposite direction. 
 Had he looked into hers he would have seen the sup- 
 pressed merriment in them. 
 
 "Well, at any rate, he had disappeared ; and though 
 we advertised in the papers we never got the faintest 
 trace of him. It's awfully embarrassing for a girl to 
 owe her life to some man whom she doesn't even 
 know by name. It's a little that way when she does 
 know it," she added, thougihtfully. "But of course, 
 in this matter that's just happened, if it was I who 
 saved your life, you're the one to feel embarrassment."
 
 "KM. A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 He did not know enough about young women's style 
 of light conversation to understand her badinage, 
 though it struck him there was a false note in it some- 
 where. He answered in his usual straightforward way. 
 
 "No, Miss Van Steuben, I don't feel embarrassed, 
 especially as I was able to in some slight degree return 
 your kindness. I feel very grateful, however, and I 
 shall say as much to your father, if I have the pleasure 
 pf meeting him again." 
 
 She did not speak for some time. 
 
 "It really makes me out a heroine, doesn't it?" she 
 said finally. "I shall positively become vain." 
 
 Then seeing how sober his face was she exclaimed, 
 "Please forgive me. I would do anything to lighten 
 your grief if it were in my power 'believe me." 
 
 They were never to be more than ordinary acquain- 
 tances and there was no reason wny he should decline 
 to clasp the hand she extended. 
 
 "I thank you with all my heart," he said, simply, 
 (dropping the hand as quickly as he had taken it. 
 
 Soon Miss Van Steuben's horse dropped behind and 
 her place was taken by Mr. Bass. Seeing that Carl 
 was Inclined toward taciturnity that gentleman made 
 only occasional remarks and nothing worthy of note 
 transpired during the rest of the trip. 
 
 When Amy related her adventure to her mother Mrs. 
 Van Steuben held up both hands in despair. 
 
 "I felt that you ought not to go," she said. "When 
 will you learn that such actions are not becoming to the 
 Slaughter of a sugar king." 
 
 "Poolh!" was the unfilial response. "My dear oW
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. i^j 
 
 Popsie is just the same bundle of sweetness he was be- 
 fore the rise in sugar gave him that title you like so 
 well. He wouldn't have had me let a poor boy perish 
 when I could rush in and save him just as easily as 
 not; and you wouldn't, either; you know you 
 wouldn't!" 
 
 "At the rate you're going on you'll have a regiment 
 of young men you've saved, or who've saved you, an- 
 tioying the life out of us. I wouldn't have this last 
 exploit made public for anything. It might ruin your 
 chances forever to have it know you are such a tom- 
 boy." 
 
 "My chances for what ?" was the impatient question. 
 "For marriage, I suppose ! Well, as I'm never going to 
 get married, that won't matter." 
 
 "What did that Mr. What's-his-name say to you 
 when he recovered ?" 
 
 "He just said he was much obliged. He's a sour, 
 misanthropic sort of chap, I think, though I suppose 
 the death of his poor uncle is partly to blame for it 
 just now." 
 
 "Oh, yes, he's the one your father was talking about. 
 He won't be very gay, of course, till he finds out 
 how the will reads." 
 
 And Mrs. Van Steuben wondered what made her 
 daughter fling herself out of the room as if a mine was 
 about to explode in her proximity.
 
 126 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 INVITED OUT TO DINNER. 
 
 THOUGH Mr. Lindes took the next steamer back to 
 Honolulu Carl did not speak to him on the way. 
 Neither did he have any formal parting with the Van 
 Steubens, but this was rather on account of his early 
 departure than from any intention of slighting them. 
 The new condition, or rather the fixed condition, in 
 which the catastrophe left him made prompt action 
 necessary. There was every reason now Why he should 
 return as soon as possible to the United States and take 
 up the battle of life in earnest. 
 
 The first thing he did after reaching Honolulu was to 
 go to Mr. Van Steuben's office, and relate the fate 
 which had overtaken Mr. Meyer, witih the fruitless re- 
 sult of the search that had been made. The sugar 
 planter listened to the detaik with genuine distress. 
 
 "Has Mr. Lindes given no explanation of your 
 friend's strange actions concerning you ?" he inquired, 
 .When tine story came to an end. 
 
 "Yes, sir, but I would rather be excused from going 
 into that matter. Will you kindly direct me to the 
 office of the lawyer who I understood you to say has 
 executed Mr. Meyer's latest will, that I may put him in 
 possession of the facts of his death." 
 
 Mr. Van Steuben offered to accompany him to the
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. I2jj 
 
 lawyer's office and they walked there together. The 
 will was produced, signed and sealed in proper form, 
 and the lawyer saw no objection when Mr. Van 
 Steuben asked the privilege of reading it. 
 
 "He has bequeathed you only the sum of one hundred 
 dollars," he said to Carl. "All tlhe rest goes to found 
 an orphan asylum." 
 
 '"And the executor " 
 
 "There are two, Mr. Lindes and Mr. Uhrig of St. 
 Louis." 
 
 "Then I will inform you," said Carl to the attorney, 
 "that Mr. Lindes returned this morning from the 
 Island of Hawaii, and is at the Royal Hotel. As I 
 can be of no further use here," he added, rising, "I 
 Shall take the first steamer to the States." 
 
 When Mr. Van Steuben and Carl reached the latter's 
 office again, Carl declined an invitation to enter. 
 
 "Don't be too down-hearted," said the planter, kind- 
 ly. "Your friend has done you an injustice, Mr. 
 Meyer, but you have youth and health and a long life 
 before you." 
 
 "I don't think I can make it quite plain to you ju'st 
 how I feel," was the choking answer. "And you rriust 
 not call me Meyer. My name is Mufller. I used Mr. 
 Meyer's name to please him, though it was never made 
 mine legally, and my right to it has certainly expired." 
 
 Mr. Van Steuben felt more than ordinary interest in 
 the protege of his old friend. He was more than half 
 convinced that the will made in Honolulu could be set 
 aside, for it was clear that the testator was not in a 
 perfectly sound state of mind wfliem it was executed.
 
 128 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 He determined to see Mr. Lindes as soon as possible 
 and ascertain his attitude in the matter. In the mean- 
 tfrne he desired to keep Carl from leaving the island 
 and set about some way to accomplish it without excit- 
 ing the young man's suspicions. 
 
 After long thought he evolved a plan. The Rev. Eli 
 Lovejoy, who was making a protracted stay in Hono- 
 lulu, made frequent calls at his residence. To him Mr. 
 Van Steuben unbosomed as mudh of the proposition as 
 he thought wise and asked his co-operation. 
 
 "Certainly, certainly," replied the minister, dream- 
 ily. "What do you wish me to do?" 
 
 "Well, let us see. You are traveling alone, going 
 to take a long journey, perhaps around the world. You 
 need to engage a young fellow who has been over the 
 same route to accompany you as a sort of companion 
 and secretary." 
 
 "Yes, yes," mused the clergyman, nodding several 
 times. "Now that you suggest the idea, I see it is just 
 what I do want. I wonder I haven't thought of it be- 
 fore." 
 
 "I don't know as our young friend will accept that 
 sort of position, but it will be easy to ascertain. The 
 Gaelic will be here in a few days and if I don't do 
 something he will sail off to San Francisco, which may 
 be the last we will ever see of him. You must meet 
 him at the hotel, get into a conversation and put out 
 a feeler." 
 
 "Y-e-s," was the drawling reply. 'Til I'll put out 
 a feeler." 
 
 It may be enough for the present to say that the
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 129 
 
 "feeler" was "put out," and that in his condition of im- 
 pecuniosity Carl did not hesitate long in his answer. 
 
 "It is not a question of what I would like to do, but 
 of what I must," he said frankly. "I have a fair edu- 
 cation an'd am willing to do any honest work. I realize 
 the difficulty of finding a position, without influence 
 or capital I therefore accept your offer, Mr. Lovejoy, 
 with the understanding that if I can better myself I 
 shall be at liberty to give you a month's notice. There 
 is one stipulation that I would like to make. It is 
 very important for me to have two hundred and fifty 
 dollars in advance, to liquidate a debt I owe." 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy agreed to this without debate. 
 
 "You may make your cheque payable to Howard 
 Pyne," said Carl. 
 
 "What! Mr. Pyne of the detective firm in San 
 Francisco ?" 
 
 "Yes. It was he who located Mr. Meyer in this part 
 of the world and was good enough to lend me that 
 amount." 
 
 Carl began his new duties at once, w*hich proved to 
 consist for the present of nothing more arduous than 
 attending his patron on various excursions, which they 
 generally took in a carriage. Mr. Lovejoy was an ex- 
 tremely absent-minded man and a very dull compan- 
 ion. He asked the same questions over and over and 
 frequently forgot appointments he had seemed anxious 
 to make. However Carl got along with him quite well 
 and tried to look on the bright side of a future that 
 seemed unusually devoid of sunshine. 
 
 As the minister insisted that he wanted his secretary
 
 130 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 to act on terms of perfect equality, Carl was obligeu 
 to accompany him to several private houses to which 
 he was invited. One of these was Mr. Van Steuben's, 
 into whidh he was inveigled almost before he knew it. 
 They were taking a short drive, and as they reached 
 the residence, Mr. Lovejoy said he must stop there 
 for a moment. Van Steuben insisted upon both of 
 them coming in and an instant later Carl found his 
 hand grasped by Brother Billy, while Miss Amy stood 
 near, regarding him with an expression of interest and 
 amusement. 
 
 "So you've forgotten me already," she said. "That's 
 tihe way of the world. Papa, here is a man whose life 
 I saved less than a fortnight ago, and he doesn't even 
 return my bow." 
 
 Then the maternal voice was heard from the next 
 room and with a smile the young lady withdrew. 
 
 This affair so upset Carl that when he was asked to 
 return to dinner, in company with Mr. Lovejoy, he 
 could not invent any reason for declining. His tacit 
 consent was accepted before he was aware of it. 
 He framed a slight hope that his absent-minded em- 
 ployer might forget the engagement when evening 
 came, but for once Mr. Lovejoy's memory served him 
 in good stead. 
 
 The dinner was not, on the wnole, an unpleasant ex- 
 perience. Among tfhe guests were several people whom 
 Carl had not met before, one of whom he thought he 
 should like particularly. This gentleman was intro- 
 duced as Capt. Ambrose Thorn, and seemed to be a 
 general favorite. He was about thirty years of age,
 
 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 13! 
 
 w<bat is called a well-groomed man, of intelligent face 
 and agreeable manners, and was accompanied by his 
 sister, Miss Olive, a young lady of perfiaps twentty. 
 Carl learned that Thorn represented a syndicate of 
 capitalists and had some projects under way in which 
 he was interesting local people. Mr. Van Steuben de- 
 voted a large Share of his conversation to him and his 
 sister. 
 
 Another guest was introduced as Mr. Somerset Lor- 
 ing, and after a surprised moment of doubt Carl iden- 
 tified him as the skipper of the sloop which had been 
 upset by the steam tug. Loring, who had, it appeared, 
 arrived on the latest liner from California, was an 
 Englishman making his way around the world in 
 leisurely fashion. He had made the acquaintance of 
 Billy in California, and through him of his mother and 
 sister. Mr. Loring had that well-bred air which edu- 
 cated Englishmen seem to have inherited as a matter of 
 right. He was about the same age as Capt. Thorn, 
 and was almost exactly the same build and height. 
 Good health imparted a ruddy color to a face that 
 might fairly be called intellectual. He was a litttle dif- 
 fident among so many strangers, but made fliat valu- 
 able addition to a dinner table which the late Mr. Nye 
 has called a "fluent listener." 
 
 The third stranger was Mrs. Caroline Young, a wid- 
 ow, who had come to Honolulu recently, bringing 
 letters of introduction to prominent people. She ad- 
 mitted possessing but little of the goods of flirs world, 
 but gave the impression of having laid up vast treas- 
 ures where moth and rust do not corrupt in other
 
 132 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 words of being a very religious person. She was ex- 
 cessively plain in features and dress, and, if one might 
 be so bold as to hazard a guess, not far from fifty. 
 
 Mrs. Young had endeared herself to her hostess al- 
 ready by great humility and the high opinion slhe had 
 a/t once voiced of the eminent qualities of Mrs. Van 
 Steuben. That lady had long desired to meet some 
 woman of sufficient intelligence to thoroughly appre- 
 ciate her qualities. Mrs. Young furnished a valuable 
 perspective that had been wanting in the setting of the 
 picture of whidh she was the natural center. 
 
 Mrs. Van had been at one time decidedly good-look- 
 ing and would not for a moment have conceded tihat 
 her beauty had yet entirely vanished. She was dark, 
 as might be expected from the race of which she 
 sprung, and her hair showed few streaks of gray; 
 though there were malicious persons wfao hinted that 
 silver threads wouM have been more numerous if left 
 entirely to the due processes of nature. She had taken 
 on rather more avoirdupois that a sculptor might ad- 
 mire, but such things happen, with advancing years 
 and good living, even to the most charming of ladies. 
 By the aid of specially made stays and other devices 
 she concealed to some extent the ravages time was 
 making in a form that had once been more sylph-like* 
 Her gowns, if not always becoming, were at least al- 
 ways expensive; and her jewelry, as has already been 
 noted, was abundant and costly. 
 
 To paint the opposite side of the picture, Mrs. Young 
 was much taller than her hostess, and extremely ang- 
 ular. She had no ornaments but her wedding ring and
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 133 
 
 was without the slightest pretension, not orily to pre- 
 sent good looks, but to what are called "traces of form- 
 er beauty. Her hair was of a disagreeable shade 
 of brown, with streaks of brick red; her eyes of a 
 wholly uninteresting grey, and her features, when in 
 repose, as they generally were, of a sort that reminded 
 one of putty sprinkled with freckles. 
 
 It was a long time before Amy comprehended the at- 
 traction that Mrs. Young possessed for her mother, 
 which it may as well be stated grew stronger hour 
 by hour. The genius which impels a woman to select 
 as a companion one of strikingly inferior looks had 
 taken possession of the sugar king's wife and the con- 
 trast was decidedly favorable to her own appearance. 
 
 It should be said right here that, before accepting 
 Mrs. Young as a "chum," if such a low word can be 
 used in this connection, Mrs. Van Steuben had made 
 perfectly sure that her new friend was in the highest 
 degree "respectable." By this I do not mean merely 
 that she was of good moral character, for that is taken, 
 in a story of this kind, to be understood. What Mrs. 
 Van was most pleased with was the assurance Mrs. 
 Young gave her that, though at present reduced to a 
 modest competence, she belonged to a family which had 
 in its time stood high in the aristocratic circles of 
 Nortih Carolina. The Civil War had, it appeared, im- 
 poverished the Morgans, to which race she belonged, 
 and the Youngs as well ; and when her "late husband" 
 had succumbed to his trials she had felt compelled to 
 sacrifice the family estates and remove to the north. 
 
 But though poorer than she had once been, Mrs.
 
 134 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Young still retained (as she took occasion to mention) 
 her preference for the society of high-bred people 
 (such as Mrs. Van Steuben) and would have found it 
 quite impossible in any circumstances to associate with 
 ordinary persons. All of which delighted Mrs. Van 
 and made her ding closer than a sister to the putty- 
 faced addition to her list of acquaintances. 
 
 The conversation at dinner turned mainly upon a 
 project which the hostess had been maturing, of taking 
 a trip around the world, in company with her son and 
 daughter. The fact that Rev. Mr. Lovejoy was bent 
 on that errand, and had readily acceded to her sug- 
 gestion of joining his "party" made the opportunity 
 seem most opportune ; Mr. Van Steuben, as the reader 
 is already aware, not being of a traveling disposition, 
 on account of his intense dread of the sea. Mrs. Young, 
 who had come to Honolulu with no intention of pro- 
 ceeding farther, had reluctantly accepted a proposition 
 to accompany Mrs. Van as the latter's guest, though a 
 strong disinclination to permit her expenses to be paid 
 had to be overcome by artful argument. 
 
 As the talk passed around the table Mr. Loring made 
 bold to mention that he expected to start in a few weeks 
 for Japan and would consider it a high honor if he 
 might join the others. This being welcomed by all, and 
 particularly by Billy, the motion was carried ; where- 
 upon the gentle voice of Miss Olive Thorn was heard. 
 
 "I wish Ambrose and I could go, too," she said, in a 
 charming, childlike way. 
 
 "Why don't you?" exclaimed Billy who, though he 
 had formed no particular admiration for Miss Thorn
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 135 
 
 (which was rather strange, ais he had knOwn Iter for a 
 month) could see that it was a case of "the more the 
 merrier." 
 
 "Oh, that would be perfectly splendid!" cried Amy, 
 pressing beneath the table the hand of the young lady 
 who sat next to her. "Capt. Thorn," she continued, 
 coaxingly, "If you can't go, yourself, you might let me 
 take Olive ; won't you, please ?" 
 
 Before the Captain could reply Mr. Van Steuben 
 spoke. 
 
 "Have you fully decided to go, yourself, Amy ?" 
 
 The girl noticed that he was a shade paler. 
 
 "Of course I mean, if I do," was her answer. She 
 was still unsettled about joining her mother's excur- 
 sion, as her father had intimated. The dislike to leave 
 him again so soon had hitherto left her uncertain. "If 
 I don't go," she explained, "of course I'd rather Olive 
 stayed here. But if I do if Papa thinks, on reflection, 
 that it would be best" (she lowered her voice delicious- 
 ly) "it would add so much to my pleasure to have her 
 with me !" 
 
 Capt. Thorn smiled at the ingenuousness of the pro- 
 position and asked, with good-natured raillery, where 
 his interests came in. 
 
 "Oh, I suppose you could come, too, if you really 
 wanted to," Amy replied, with a blush. 
 
 "And if you decide not to go, Olive and I can govern 
 ourselves accordingly?" 
 
 "I think, Amy, you are rather selfish," said Mrs. 
 Van, rebukingly; and though Mrs. Young did not 
 speak, it was quite clear that she agreed in the observa- 
 tion.
 
 1136 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "Well, I am," Amy admitted, with a disturbed laugh. 
 "I don't know anyone who isn't, when you come right 
 r down to what they most want ; nobody in all this world, 
 excepting- darling old Popsie there ; and I ought to be 
 ashamed to think of leaving him so soon, when I've 
 been away nearly all the time for three years." 
 
 The thought brought the tears to her eyes and she 
 drew out her handkerchief to wipe them away. 
 
 "I'm not going," she said, as soon as she could 
 control her voice. "No, I'm not. So I hope you won't, 
 either, Ollie. I'm going to stay at home and be a nice 
 little girl to my dear father. Now it's settled, once 
 for all." 
 
 And with the latter words she broke into a laugfh tihat 
 was a mixture of happiness and pathos. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Love joy regarded the girl with paternal 
 benignity, through his spectacles. Carl stole glances 
 at her and at his plate alternately. He observed two 
 thing's, like flashes of lightning out of a troubled sky : 
 Capt. Thorn's face brightened when Miss Amy de- 
 dared her intention of giving up the journey and a 
 sliadow stole slowly over Mr. Loring's. 
 
 Were both of these men in love witih the young 
 lady? Why not? How could anyone see her for an 
 hour and escape her fascinations? He wondered, with 
 a pang, if either of them was to succeed, which it would 
 be. 
 
 "Well, some of us are going, I suppose," Billy broke 
 in, suddenly. "We shan't give up the trip on account 
 of one person backing out, sfaall we? I tihink if we're 
 going we might as well start."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 137 
 
 "We can safely engage passages for a month from 
 now," responded his mother, to whom the appeal was 
 directed. 
 
 "A month! And there's a steamer tomorrow !" he 
 replied, regretfully. 
 
 "It takes a little time for ladies to prepare for a long 
 journey," said Mrs. Van, with dignity, while Mrs. 
 Young looked as if she could not conceal her contempt 
 for a young man who did not know as much as that. 
 "But, Amy," Mrs. Van added, to her daughter, "you're 
 not really going to be insane enough to give up the 
 trip?" 
 
 "Let her think of it till tomorrow," said Mr. Van 
 Steuben, gently. "There are many reasons in favor 
 of going," he added, as his daughter started to inter- 
 rupt him. 
 
 "Mr. Meyer of course I mean Muller (I never 
 shall get that name right very sad) don't you think 
 she will be a foolish girt if she neglects such an op- 
 portunity ?',' 
 
 At this question, which Mrs. Van addressed unex- 
 pectedly to Carl, he turned very red and could not 
 utter a syllable.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 "THE ONLY SWEETHEART I'VE GOT." 
 
 IN Abel Van Steuben's office, the day before Marcus 
 Lindes sailed on the China, he revealed in full his con- 
 nection with the Meyer case. 
 
 "I shall never live long enough to forgive myself," 
 he said, with a deep groan. "There never was the least 
 reason to suspect the boy and I knew it well. After I 
 began the work I would gladly have stopped it if I 
 could, but whenever I hinted at anything of the kind 
 Peter set his foot down. He had got it into his head 
 that there might be something in my suggestion and 
 there was nothing to do but let him run his course. 
 
 "He learned from Maple & Pyne, the detectives, that 
 they had seen Carl. Peter had consulted with that firm 
 before he left California and wrote them to test Carl 
 thoroughly. They were to send him here, with very 
 little money in his pocket, and see how long he would 
 keep up his search. Oh, Peter was in. earnest by this 
 time. He had it partly arranged that we should take a 
 sailing vessel for Seattle, but the outbreak of the Vol- 
 cano induced him to delay a few days." 
 
 There was a short pause and then Mr. Van Steuben 
 said impressively "What is your honest opinion about 
 Mr. Meyer, I mean in regard to his capacity for mak- 
 ing a will ?"
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 139 
 
 "He was totally unfit for it," was the unhesitating 
 reply. "I shall do all I can to have the one he made 
 here set aside. If necessary I will even tell t!he court 
 the full story of my fault." 
 
 "You can rely on me and on others htere for affi- 
 davits," said the planter. "He meant his property to 
 gx> to that young man and it is our duty to darry out 
 his wishes." 
 
 Lindes said he was afraid that even if the did will 
 was re-established Carl would refuse to accept anything 
 under it. 
 
 "We will see to that later," was the smiling reply. 
 "People don't refuse fortunes so easily. Let the court 
 decide that the estate is his and the rest will cdme af- 
 terwards." 
 
 So Lindes went home and began the attempt to right 
 the great wrong he had done. The Van Steubens 
 pushed their preparations for the trans-Pacific voyage, 
 to which Amy had at last given her consent. Mr. 
 Lovejoy and Carl got along nicely together and Broth- 
 er Billy had but one thing to sigh for the fact that he 
 was to be absent for a long time from a certain olive- 
 tinted, brown-eyed girl of whom he was very fond. 
 
 The product of the mixture of European races with 
 the native Hawaiian's has haid, at least on the feminine 
 side, a marvellously pretty result. The gentleness of the 
 old race has had combined with it from the new a 
 greater intelligence and higher ambitions. The daugh- 
 ter of a Hawiian mother and a wlhite fatiher never 
 marries a native if any other alliance is open to her. 
 The result is that, in spite of the protests of Cau-
 
 I4O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 casians, their sons often unite in matrimony with the 
 "half-whites," and children born of these marriages 
 are quite apt to excel in physical attractiveness the pure 
 bloods around them. 
 
 It was one of the " three- quarter- whites " that 
 weakened the intensity of Billy Van Steuben's desire 
 to see foreign countries. Minna King was no darker 
 in complexion than many a Southern brunette. Her 
 features were as classic and regular as a sculptor, 
 could desire and she had one of those willowy forms 
 over which poets rave. Above all she had the great 
 attraction never inseparable from her class the soft 
 yet brilliant brown eyes, of a shade verging toward 
 tawny. These, with a wealth of coal-black hair, gave 
 her a charm that might well set a susceptible youth's 
 heart to palpitating. 
 
 The girl traced her ancestry on the mother's side to 
 the third Kamchameha and to one of the foremost 
 families among the "missionary element" on the other. 
 But Mrs. Van Steuben, notwithstanding her own weak- 
 ness in the matter of ancestors, was horrified when it 
 was hinted to her that her son had serious intentions 
 regarding the pretty maiden. She would not discuss 
 the subject seriously, declaring it preposterous; but she 
 was, for all that, very glad at the prospect of getting 
 Billy out of the country for a long period. 
 
 It was such a pity, she often remarked to her hus- 
 band, that their children showed so little regard for 
 their high position. And he only laughed at her, be- 
 lieving in his simple old heart that Mirma King was If 
 anything a little too good for his son.
 
 'A SUGAR PRINCESS. 84! 
 
 As for Billy, he had never in do many words aslced 
 Minna to be his wife, but he was very fond of her. 
 She realized fully the disparity between them, for while 
 his father was the richest man in the island, where 
 plutocrats are almost as plenty as canefields, hers had 
 kft barely money enough to support her and her 
 mother. When Billy came to say good-by her lip 
 trembled, but she concealed her feelings. He asked if 
 she would answer his letters and s(he replied, with a 
 toss of her head, "Perhaps, if I have time." 
 
 The reason Billy did not press for anything more 
 definite was that he feared a scene might follow. He 
 need not have been afraid. Minna was too proud to 
 show deep feeling for a man who dared not speak 
 definitely. He only answered, "Don't forget, now," 
 and so they parted. 
 
 Two encumbrances which Mrs. Young had brought 
 with her were kept carefully in the background until it 
 was too late to realize their full significance. She had 
 spoken of her children, mentioning that they were a 
 boy of fourteen named "Angel" and a girl of eleven 
 called "Seraph," but Mrs. Van had shown no further 
 interest in the matter. The young folks were at pres- 
 ent in an Alakea Street boarding house, where a sort 
 of governess was supposed to be attending to them. 
 
 It is more than probable that had tihese sweet young 
 creatures been exhibited in all their glory some means 
 would have been found to cancel the arrangement by 
 which the family was added to the Van Steuben group. 
 Perhaps Mrs. Young had some apprehension that this 
 aright be the case. Certainly neither of the infants 
 were exhibited until it was too late to retreat
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 During the two or three days before starting Carl 
 found himself the recipient of confidences from several 
 of the travelers with whom he was to be thrown in 
 company, as we'll as from Mr. Van Steuben. Mr. Love- 
 joy left him with Mrs. Van one afternoon, asking him 
 to consider any wislh of that lady quite as if it had been 
 uttered by him. As Carl was only an employe, accept- 
 ing a salary for duties which had thus far been exceed- 
 ingly light, he could hardly decline to listen to whatever 
 the lady had to say. 
 
 "My husband tells me, Mr. Meyer (I mean Mul/ler, 
 I wonder if I shall ever get your former name out of 
 my head) that I may have full confidence in you and 
 speak with perfect freedom. I will therefore say that 
 I have two principal objects in taking my children 
 abroad at this time. One is to remove William from 
 the society of a girl who has formed, I learn, an attach- 
 ment for him that is ludicrous when the difference in 
 their stations is considered, and who is, to make it still 
 worse, tainted with the blood of the native inhabitants 
 of these islands. The other is to introduce my daugh- 
 ter to more refined circles than can be found here, 
 where the people are as a rule very common. She has, 
 I believe, a brilliant future before her, if She is brought 
 in contact with the the right sort of people." 
 
 Quite stunned to be made the confidant of such in- 
 timate secrets, Carl could not find words to reply. 
 
 "But why," he managed to say at last, "why " 
 
 "Simply this. You are going to be, to a large ex- 
 tent, in charge of our party while we are abroad. I 
 wish you to have an eye on nay son, as reasons may sug-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 143 
 
 > 
 
 ^ast themselves to you, from time to time an influence 
 over him, if I may call it that, should you find him 
 inclined to lower himself in any way. And knowing 
 as you now do, my other purpose in making this jour- 
 ney, you may also be able to help me from time to time 
 in that matter." 
 
 Thunderstruck, the young man kept a dead silence. 
 
 "You are under an arrangement with Mr. Lovejoy," 
 pursued the lady, "and I have no wish to interfere with 
 it in the least. I only want you to understand that I 
 am not apt to forget a service, and that you will be 
 handsomely recompensed for anything you may do on 
 the lines I have laid down. Good-day." 
 
 As Carl walked down the steps of the mansion he 
 felt his cheek burning with something akin to shame. 
 Mrs. Van evidently considered him entirely in the light 
 of a servant, to whom s'he could confide any of her 
 wfhims, and who would have no other consideration hi 
 his minid than the amount of cash he was to receive for 
 the service. 
 
 For the first time his new position galled him. Had 
 there been any feasible way to escape his arrangement 
 with Mr. Lovejoy he would have done so that very 
 night. He felt that if he were to tell his employer that 
 he could not undertake any affairs for Mrs. Van Steu- 
 ben, it would simply mean a termination of his engage- 
 ment. In what sort of position would that leave him ? 
 He owed Mr. Lovejoy $250, borrowed money. He had 
 not enough in his pocket to get back to the States, not 
 half enough to reach St. Louis. And even if he arrived 
 at his old home who was there that he could ask for
 
 144 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 assistance with the certainty of getting it tmtil he could 
 look for some way to earn his living? 
 
 He was as much a contract laborer as any coolie from 
 Japan or China, out on the plantations. He almost 
 wished that he had a cane knife in his hand and their 
 $15 a month for awhile. 
 
 After the hotel was still, that night, he sat for hours 
 in his room thinking of Amy Van Steuben. Her 
 mother's wish to introduce her to "refined circles" 
 could mean but one thing. She was going to put that 
 delicate, beautiful, sensitive child up for the highest 
 bidder in the markets of the world. He realized again 
 the strength of his love and his helplessness to prevent 
 the contemplated outrage. 
 
 The talk that decided Amy in favor of going abroad 
 was held at a late hour on the evening following tine 
 dinner at which she had announced her intention ot 
 giving up the trip. She and her father were devotedly 
 attached to each other, and his delight in having her 
 at home was shown in a hundred ways that touched 
 her deeply. Wihen none of the others were present 
 it was her habit to creep into his lap, in the old fashion 
 of her childhood, and spend blissful hours for both of 
 them, her arms twined about his neck, her cheek press- 
 ed to his. 
 
 After the guests had gone she souglht him in his 
 library and ran joyfully to the profered embrace. 
 
 "I have thought it all over, my little Wild Goose," 
 (his favorite name for her) he began, in a firm voice, 
 "and I am sure it is best for you to go with your 
 mother."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 145 
 
 "But ycu don't really wish me to, Fopsie," she an- 
 swered, sitting up and touching his lips softly with her 
 own. "Just say you don't and that will end the thing. 
 Mamma and Billy can go and I'll stay here with you." 
 
 " No, dear," he answered, " I want you to see the 
 world. It will be a great education in many ways and 
 when you come back you'll be all the better for it. 
 You will come back?" he added, earnestly, making it a 
 plaintive interrogation that went to her heart. 
 
 "Come back?" she echoed. "What do you mean?" 
 
 "You know," he said, hugging her closer, "that your 
 mother has ambitious ideas that she wants you to 
 make a grand marriage with some titled foreigner. In 
 that case you might never see poor Honolulu again." 
 
 She gently pressed a delicate hand over his mouth. 
 
 "Whatever happens, you needn't be afraid of that !" 
 she cried. "When I marry, which won't be right away, 
 my husband will have to wed me right in this dear 
 island and make me a home here and nowhere else. 
 Mother gets queer notions into her head, but I'm a 
 little set in my way, too. She says I get my con- 
 trariness from you," and the girl laughed. "Now 
 listen. You're the only sweetheart I've got or am 
 likely to have for a long time. And if any man ever 
 does get me into other notions I shall just bring him 
 here and let you talk it over and do exactly as you 
 think best. There'll never be any friend who can take 
 the place of my dear, indulgent, kind old Popsie." 
 
 "What about that chap who sprang to your assistance 
 at San Francisco," he asked, mischievously. "You 
 jwned to me that his protecting arm sent new sensa- 
 jfons Jfcroug'h your little heart"
 
 146 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Amy sat up and laughed again, half seriously. She 
 parted her father's beard with her fingers and looked 
 brightly into his smiling face. 
 
 "It was romantic," she admitted, biting her lip. 
 "Though it would seem more so if he had cared enough 
 to come and ask whether I lived or died." She took a 
 locket from her neck and opened it, revealing its con- 
 tents archly. "I wonder what he'd say if he knew I 
 had some of his hair ? I found those six strands twisted 
 around a button on my dress. They're all I've got of 
 my preserver and I can't marry just them, cam I ?" 
 
 He joined in her mood and inspected the hair inter- 
 estedly. "He was a blond, I see," he remarked. "Do 
 you like blond men?" 
 
 "I believe I do. Especially great, strong ones, that 
 make a girl feel as if they could crush her with one 
 embrace or save her from a wild lion in the forest. 
 Ah, Popsie, I ought to have taken more pains to find 
 that man, if you are ever to have a son-in-law. It will 
 either be he or no one; and that means, I guess, that 
 you'll have me on your hands forever." 
 
 She closed the locket and, carrying out the play to 
 the last, kissed the gold clasp as it closed on her 
 treasure. 
 
 It had already been arranged that Olive Thorn 
 should make one of her party. The Captain obtained 
 due credit for his sacrifice, and the girls were wild wkh 
 joy that they were not to be separated. 
 
 On the next day it was Mr. Van Steuben's turn to 
 load Carl with responsibilities. He was very glad that 
 the young man had accepted the engagement with Mr.
 
 A SUGAR PRI N CESS. i 47 
 
 Ix>vejoy. With his experience in travel over the coun- 
 tries the party proposed to visit he would be invaluable 
 in many ways. The planter was interested in him also, 
 as has been intimated, because he was a former protege 
 of his friend Meyer. The wisest thing was to keep 
 him away from St. Louis for the present. Sending for 
 Carl to come to his office he talked witih him for an 
 hour in the most confidential manner. He spoke in 
 plain language of his wife's aristocratic ideas, saying 
 he did not share them, and of his fear that sfhe wiould 
 endeavor to engage her daughter to some gentleman 
 of rank during her absence. 
 
 ''You may guess how thoroughly I trust you," he 
 said, with great impressiveness, "when I say frankly 
 that I would advise Amy not to take the trip but 
 for the fact that you are to be in the party. If you find 
 my child likely to become entangled with a foreigner 
 no matter what his rank or station I want you to 
 Interpose in any way you deem necessary. These islands 
 are soon to be a part of the United States ; if Amy is 
 to marry, an American is good enough for her, and no 
 man can be too good for the dearest child in the world. 
 Please take this letter, giving you authority to draw 
 on me for money in case of emergency, and promise 
 that whatever happens you will guard my daughter 
 like a brother." 
 
 "I promise, with all my heart," was the answer, de- 
 livered with much feeling. "And I thank you sincerely 
 for your confidence." 
 
 As Carl rose, the subject of tlhis conversation looked 
 in at ihe doorway, radiant as an angel. Mr. Midler's
 
 148 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 presence did not prevent her going to her father's 
 and kissing him affectionately. 
 
 "I have been asking Mr. Muller to take good care 
 of you," said Mr. Van Steuben, holding her face 
 between his hands. 
 
 "And I am sure he will do so," dhe replied, looking 
 confidently at the blushing countenance of tihe young 
 man.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 149 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE NEED OF STRONG PLAY. 
 
 DURING this time Howard Pyne had not been idle. 
 He had found the Meyer case (as the affair was 
 labelled on his books) a most interesting one. As is 
 sometimes remarked by persons who use slang, he was 
 not in business entirely for his health, and this affair 
 had given him no cause for regret from a pecuniary 
 standpoint. He had asked and received a substantial 
 retainer from Peter, when the old gentleman came to 
 him and revealed the details of his scheme to settle 
 beyond a shadow of doubt tfhe suspicions of Marcus 
 Lindes. 
 
 The talk which Lawyer Uhrig had with Carl, in the 
 first place, was an arrangement suggested by the detec- 
 tive. The first thing was to see how he would treat an 
 intimation that Meyer's fortune could be drawn on un- 
 der the supposition that its owner had departed this 
 life. Lindes, who had no idea that Carl would do any- 
 thing of the kind, endorsed the scheme, thinking it 
 would enable him the sooner to withdraw from the 
 plot. Uhrig acted according to instructions and Carl's 
 declination to touch a penny while the fate of its owner 
 was in doubt was communicated to Mr. Meyer at once. 
 
 Peter read this letter to Pyne and Lindes, wrtli a 
 triumphant expression on his face, but to the surprise
 
 I5O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 of both, and the consternation of one, he was still un- 
 satisfied. He had been slow to accept the idea that 
 his beloved boy could do anything dishonorable, but 
 now that the tests had begun he was determined that 
 they should be thorough. Nothing less than the reduc- 
 tion of Carl to penury would satisfy the unreasonable 
 old man. There would be time enough to recompense 
 the. boy for his sufferings When the ghost that Lindes 
 had raised was laid forever. 
 
 "I'm going to do this thing now in my own way," 
 said Meyer, doggedly. "Carl has acted the part of a 
 decent fellow thus far, but I want something more. 
 I'm going to see how earnestly he will try to account 
 for my vanishing. Mr. Pyne can keep me informed of 
 every move he makes and I can judge him as if in a 
 mirror. I don't doubt the boy I never did. It was 
 you who called him a scoundrel and an ingrate, not I. 
 I'm going to prove now, not only that he's all I claimed 
 when we first talked the matter over, but more. I love 
 the lad as my own soul. I'll show you the sort of 
 metal he's made of. If he's unworthy of my affection 
 he'll give up the search for me, especially now he's been 
 told he can have my money by applying to the court. 
 You wanted a test, Marcus. I'm going to give you 
 one no man can shake !" 
 
 "But, my dear friend," Lindes expostulated, "do be 
 reason-able. How can you expect a boy left with noth- 
 ing in his pocket to follow you around the world, when 
 he don't even know in what direction you have gone?" 
 
 "I expect him to do what I'd do for him," retorted 
 (Meyer. "I'd follow him on foot, to the seaside, beg-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 15! 
 
 ging my way; I'd work my passage before the mast 
 on any vessel that was going to a port where I guessed 
 he might have gone. When my feet became too sore 
 to walk I'd crawl on my knees. If he loves me less 
 than that I'll never call him son again. He's got to 
 find me ; and he'll do k, Marcus, I give you my word, 
 he'll do it ! I'm going to Honolulu, to begin with. If 
 he loves me as I love him he'll either get there by boat 
 or swim. The boy," he added, wiping away the tears 
 that excess of emotion had brought to his eyes, "that 
 you said was a crawling, contemptible wretch, unfit 
 to lick the dust off my sfaoes !" 
 
 Lindes and Pyne exchanged glances of dismay. The 
 old gentleman had dwelt on his theme until he was 
 perilously near to an unbalanced mind. He arose, 
 tcok up his stout walking stick, and striding to the 
 door, announced that it was time for lunch. As he 
 siw Lindes' strange expression he muttered ill-natur- 
 edly, "Oh, I know the way to the hotel ; you can come 
 when you're ready." And he went out, closing the 
 door loudly behind him. 
 
 "I've got myself into a nice scrape, haven't I ?" said 
 Lindes pressing his lips tightly together. "Look here, 
 Pyne, you must help me out of this. Can't you let 
 Carl know we've gone to Honolulu and that this 
 thing all through was a damnable scheme?" 
 
 "Why don't you write him that yourself?" asked 
 the other, coolly. 
 
 "I'm too much ashamed. I shall have to meet them 
 both for the rest of my life and Peter's reproaches are 
 all I shall be able to bear. He'll be so pleased when
 
 152 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 he's proved me an imbecile he won't hold any reai 
 grudge against me, but the boy's made of different 
 material. He's one of those quiet fellows that are 
 terrible when aroused. If he finds out bow deep I 
 am in this thing, there'll never be any peace for me 
 again." 
 
 "I've got to keep faith with my client," Pyne re- 
 marked, thoughtfully. 
 
 ''Make me a client and keep faith with me," cried 
 Lindes, with eagerness. "Carl will come to San Fran- 
 cisco beyond doubt. Get into communication with 
 him and let him know where we are. If he's not got 
 funds to travel help him to find some. I tell you, man, 
 if this isn't cleared up soon Peter Meyer will be in 
 an asylum, a raving maniac. And any harm that 
 happens to him will be on my conscience for an idiotic, 
 meddling old dummkopf!" 
 
 Mr. Pyne still seemed to have doubts as to whether 
 he could reconcile his ideas of the fealty he owed Mr. 
 Meyer with the plan outlined ; but when Lindes placed 
 two bills on his desk, each of the denomination of one 
 hundred dollars, he went so far as to say he would 
 think about it and serve him as well as he could 
 "in fairness and honor." Later in the day he succeed- 
 ed in gaining Meyer's consent that he should give 
 Carl a hint where he had gone, sending Peter word 
 in season for him to double on his tracks if he wished 
 to prolong the hunt. Meyer admitted, on having the 
 case presented to him again, that his idea of swimming 
 a couple of thousand miles was rather visionary and 
 that few modern vessels wanted green hands before 
 the mast.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 153 
 
 It was agreed, moreover, that Pyne might aid the 
 young fellow to a small amount of cash if he thought 
 wise. The detective was thus enabled to satisfy both 
 his new client and his conscience, which it must be 
 conceded is a nice thing for a man in his line of busi- 
 ness to do. 
 
 But the luck which had come to the firm of Maple 
 & Pyne did not end even here. While the Meyer matter 
 was moving along smoothly a letter was received from 
 the Sugar King of Honolulu asking that a trustworthy 
 representative of the firm be sent to him on a matter of 
 importance. It was considered best, considering the 
 financial station of the applicant, to entrust this mis- 
 sion to no less a person than Mr. Maple, who accord- 
 ingly took passage without delay for the Paradise of the 
 Pacific. Perhaps no better way of learning the result of 
 his mission can be obtained than looking over Mr. 
 Pyne's shoulder (begging that gentleman's pardon for 
 the liberty) and reading his transcription of a commun- 
 ication which his partner sent him some days after 
 reaching Honolulu. 
 
 My dear Pyne (said this letter) : The matter on which 
 Mr. X. sent for me is a rather peculiar one. It seems 
 that his wife is about to start on a trip afound the 
 world, with his son, aged 20, and his daughter, aged 
 21. Mr. X. and his good lady have widely different 
 views on many subjects, notably in reference to the 
 marriage prospects of their daughter and son, the 
 former especially. The wife is determined to wed 
 the young lady to nothing less than a duke, thus daz- 
 zling the social set of Honolulu and compelling it to 
 forget her own origin, which was decidedly humble.
 
 154 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 The husband has old-fashioned notions that sudh 1 
 matters should be influenced by love; that "True 
 hearts are more than coronets" as Tennyson remark- 
 ed some years before he accepted the title of Baron. 
 
 To make my story short, X. wishes me to send a 
 representative with his party, introduced in such a 
 manner that he will not be open to suspicion. Hav- 
 ing thought the matter over, I have concluded that Y. 
 will about fill the bill and shall so direct. The young 
 Nephew of his uncle has also been engaged by a mem- 
 ber of the party, a Rev. Eli Lovejoy, as his pfivate 
 secretary and may be relied upon to aid if required. 
 The others who are to go include a Mr. Somerset 
 Loring, from England, and possibly a Capt. Thorn 
 and his sister Olive, from the United States. Also 
 a Mrs. Caroline Young and her two children, Angel 
 (a boy) and Seraph (a girl). It is as yet uncertain 
 whether the Thorns will go, but I think it probable. 
 
 The loss of his uncle still keeps the Nephew in a 
 state of depression, but I hear it would be useless to 
 approach him just yet with reference to the estiate. 
 As soon as Z. has secured a decision of the court that 
 the property is his we must have the information 
 conveyed to him gently. 
 
 Please write by each steamer and I will do tihe 
 same. X. has paid me a retainer of $1000. If you 
 have any suspicions about Q. you had best see thait 
 K. is set right. 
 
 Yours &c. MAPLE. 
 
 Now, Mr. Maple, being a very careful man, (as is 
 becoming in a detective) did not send even this am- 
 biguous letter in the language in which it is render- 
 ed here. It was written in a cypher, of which his 
 partner alone had the key, and it took Mr. Pyne the 
 better part of an hour to translate it. When he had
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 155 
 
 done so a contented expression stole over his count- 
 enance. He mused for some time before he wrote his 
 reply, which was also in cypher, but much briefer than 
 Mr. Maple's letter. 
 
 If you find the hunting satisfactory among the 
 islands (he wrote) there is no reason you should 
 hurry back. It might be a good idea to break in a pup 
 or two if you have a chance. 
 
 Let us now return for a few moments to the mem- 
 bers of the party preparing to cross the ocean. Mr. 
 Loring was troubled for some time at the prospect 
 that Capt. Thorn would be one of the number, feel- 
 ing that his opportunities for tete-a-tetes with Miss 
 Amy would be much lessened by the presence of the 
 lively and dashing American. He was highly grati- 
 fied, therefore, a week before starting, to learn that 
 Thorn's business interests would not permit his leav- 
 ing Honolulu at present. Mr. Loring had been a dis- 
 turbed witness of Miss Amy's enthusiasm when the 
 Captain said definitely that Olive might go. 
 
 "You are a perfect darling!" she had cried, grasp- 
 ing both of Thorn's hands. "I have a notion to kiss 
 you, you dear good fellow. I would do it, too," she 
 added, in response to the challenge that shown in his 
 laughing eyes, "If you wasn't a man there ! " 
 
 "Oh ! " said Capt. Thorn, smiling at her ingenious 
 statement. "Then perhaps you won't mind giving it 
 to Olive, just to keep it in the family." 
 
 Amy threw her arms around Miss Thorn's neck and 
 paid the penalty with gusto. Capt. Thorn had gained
 
 156 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 a certain momentary a'dvantage over his rival, if eitHer, 
 of them might by any straining of words be said to 
 occupy that position. However, Mr. Loring reflected, 
 weeks and months passed together should more than 
 compensate for this ; and he consoled himself with the 
 prospect that such incidents would soon become im- 
 possible. 
 
 Having a sister who had been adopted as Amv's 
 dearest friend was something, though, that might tell 
 against him, and must be met with strong play.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ON THE STEAMER COPTIC. 
 
 IT was on the Steamer Coptic that the party sailed 
 for Yokohama, and surely no better managed boat 
 ever carried passengers across the broad Pacific. From 
 captain to chief steward each officer with whom our 
 friends came in contact did his very best to make the 
 voyage agreeable. 
 
 It was in what is generally called the dull season and 
 besides those with whom our story has to deal there 
 were few passengers worthy of special mention. All 
 of the adults were placed at one table, while Mrs. 
 Young's infants took their meals at the separate hour 
 reserved for those of their years. Carl would have 
 been glad o have been seated elsewhere, but he was 
 under Mr. Lovejoy's directions and did as he was bid- 
 den. He tried to master the sentiments which he 
 dreaded anyone should suspect and his excessive taci- 
 turnity served him in good stead. 
 
 Mrs. Van Steuben, in her aristocratic way, thought 
 the young man's reticence highly becoming to him. 
 His position was one which did not call for partici- 
 pation in the general conversation. She reproved 
 Billy several times, after meals, for asking "Mr. Love- 
 joy's secretary" for his opinion about matters which 
 did not particularly concern him. But her son re-
 
 158 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 plied flippantly that he guessed Muller was as good 
 as the rest of them, even if he did have to earn his 
 living through a piece of bad luck. 
 
 "I must ask you to have a little higher regard for 
 my wishes," protested the lady. "Amy watches every- 
 thing you do and is inclined to imitate vour indis- 
 cretions." 
 
 "Amy would pay about as much attention to what 
 
 I did " Billy started to say "as she would to 
 
 what you thought" but checked himself in time. He 
 did not mean to be unfilial in his speech. "I can't sit 
 at the table with a good sort of fellow like him and act 
 as if I thought him a doormat, mother. He's been 
 well brought up and only a miserable accident keeps 
 him at this moment from belonging to What you would 
 call 'our class.' " 
 
 It was Mrs. Van's usual way, when any argument 
 was prolonged, to cease from continuing it verbally. 
 She heaved a slight sigh, which said in effect that if 
 people would talk nonsense she could not stop them, 
 and seeing Mrs. Young approaching, turned her at- 
 tention to her. That lady brought the interesting in- 
 formation that a party of three young Japanese, who 
 formed a group by themselves, were titled gentlemen 
 and stood very high among the nobility of Japan. 
 
 "They are returning to their own country after some 
 years in Europe," she said. "Mr. Richgood, the pur- 
 ser, says they speak English with perfect fluency. The 
 one nearest us is the Marquis of Maebashi and very 
 rich. The one next to him is the Count of Kobe and 
 the other one is Baron of Nagasaki. They are all
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 159 
 
 graduates of Oxford University and are returning to 
 take their seats in the House of Lords." 
 
 Mrs. Van, to use a slang phrase, "pricked up her 
 ears," and was all attention. 
 
 "Why," she exclaimed, "I didn't know there was a 
 House of Lords in Japan. Is it like the one in Eng- 
 land, with dukes and that sort of thing?" 
 
 "I believe so. Japan is now one of the great powers 
 and I presume her nobility ranks with that of Europe 
 in every way." 
 
 Mrs. Van was in a decided flutter. She lost no time 
 in asking Mr. Richgood to present her to these dis- 
 tinguished strangers, to whom an hour before she 
 would not have dreamed of vouchsafing: so much as 
 a nod. The purser said he would try to arrange the 
 matter, but understood that the Orientals were in- 
 clined to maintain their seclusion during the voyage. 
 With a little diplomacy perhaps he could accomplish 
 what the lady desired. He added considerablv also to 
 her stock of information respecting the strangers. 
 
 In the meantime Billy had already got on friendly 
 terms with the young men. They were evidently travel- 
 ling incognito, for tfiey were registered on the pas- 
 senger list as Messrs. Kato and Kaito and Kitto. While 
 they did not attempt to put on the slightest airs, they 
 were very reticent, replying to all remarks, in an ultra- 
 English accent, with "Ya-as?" or "Rea'l-ly!" and 
 smoked cigarettes without cessation. They talked to 
 each other in their native tongue a great deal, but 
 when questioned in relation to Japan answered that 
 they had been abroad so long they knew very little
 
 l6o A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 about it. However, Billy, who was not a youth to be 
 easily "bluffed," had already managed to get on pleas- 
 ant terms with them and when his mother breathlessly 
 revealed what she had heard he remarked that he 
 would make the introductions himself, if the chance 
 came in his way. 
 
 "Only please don't kneel down on the floor to them," 
 he begged. "Hawaii is annexed to the United States 
 now or pretty nearly so and that makes us all 
 Americans and all sovereigns. I consider myself jst 
 as good as any count or baron living." 
 
 "But a markee that's a very high rank indeed, 
 William. I think it comes next in order to a duke." 
 
 "Pshaw! Father's got a thousand of 'em cutting 
 sugar on his plantation ! The time for titles is past. 
 The best thing about these fellows is thev don't put 
 on any lugs. If they were to try it with me, I'd soon 
 take it out of 'em," he added, savagely. 
 
 The tired look which he understood so well came 
 into his mother's face and Billy withdrew. A little 
 later Amy, who had been talking with a group of 
 young people in the saloon, came up and Mrs. Van 
 asked her if she knew there was a "whole royal family" 
 on board. 
 
 "Well, it amounts almost to the same thing," she 
 said, when the girl's eyes were stretched to their ut- 
 most. "There's a markee, whose father was born a 
 prince and whose grandfather was just like a king in 
 one of the biggest provinces in Jaoan till he was 
 patriotic enough to surrender his rights to the em- 
 peror. The father is still one of the richest men in
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. IOI 
 
 the country and has been master of ceremonies at 
 court." 
 
 "This is the chance you've been looking for," cried 
 Amy, laughing. "Do you want me to set my cap 
 for the marquis ?" 
 
 "My dear, I wish you would have some dignity." 
 
 "I'm going to try it," laughed the mad,cap. " 'March- 
 ionness of Maebashi ! ' Doesn't that sound swell ! Much 
 better than 'Countess of Kobe,' I'm sure. It wouldn't 
 do for the daughter of a King a Sugar King, ha, ha ! 
 to lower herself to that level." 
 
 "My child, I entreat you ! " cried the mother, fearful 
 that the gentlemen who were the subjects of this badi- 
 nage might overhear the remarks through the smokiner 
 room windows, which were very near and wide open. 
 
 "But these chances are not thrown in a ooor eirl's 
 way every day," presisted her daughter, lowering her 
 voice to a whisper and pretending to be very much in 
 earnest. "You wouldn't let me try for Prince Daniel 
 Of Hawaii " 
 
 "Prince Daniel is is dark," interrupted the mother. 
 "And what is more to the point, the throne has been 
 taken away from his family." 
 
 "If it hadn't been you'd have liked to have me marry 
 him, wouldn't you ? You'd rather have seen me crown- 
 ed 'Queen of Honolulu,' like the girl in the song, than 
 to have me marry some nice, sensible man of no rank 
 and perhaps no fortune? And you'd be very proud 
 when I rode out in my state carriage, with a dozen 
 more or less of molasses-colored pickaninnies " 
 
 "This is beyond all reason ! I shall not stay to listen 
 to such unmaidenly remarks ! "
 
 1 62 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 And while Amy doubled herself up with laughter at 
 the picture she had drawn her mother stalked off to 
 the other end of the deck. 
 
 Immediately a red-headed boy peered around the 
 corner of the cabin and grinned fiendishly at the 
 young lady. 
 
 "That was a good one you give 'er," he remarked, 
 with frank approval. "Niggers and Japs and Chinee- 
 men ain't for white gals to git thick with." 
 
 Amy surveyed the freckled face with amusement. 
 
 "Your name is Angel, isn't it?" she asked. "Angel 
 Young?" 
 
 "M ni," he assented. 
 
 "Got any other name?" 
 
 "Gabriel." 
 
 "Angel Gabriel ! Whatever put it into your mother's 
 head to give you that combination?" 
 
 "Dunno," said the boy. "Don't you like it ? 'Cause 
 if you just mention it probably she'll have it changed." 
 
 Miss Van Steuben tried to look severe. 
 
 "Don't be too smart, little boy," she replied. "I 
 might take a notion to put you across my knee and 
 spank you." 
 
 He looked as solemn as she. "You wouldn't do 
 that," he said. 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "It wouldn't be doing as you'd be done by. You're 
 a Christian, ain't you?" 
 
 "I trust so." Amy spoke now quite free from levity. 
 
 "So's ma, and so's Eli." 
 
 "Who?" cried Amy, startled.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 163 
 
 "Old man Lovejoy," answered the boy, with a erie- 
 gle. "They're both Christians, but they don't like 
 each other for a cent, just the same. You never seen 
 'em purring together in a corner of the deck 'when 
 the lights are dim and low,' and you won't neither. 
 Ma's never spoken to him since we've started. I don't 
 know what the trouble is, but I expect some day you'll 
 see the fur fly." 
 
 Another freckled face and head of red hair aooeared 
 suddenly on the scene. Perhaps it would be more cor- 
 rect to say gradually, since the owner's movements 
 were rather sinuous than precipitate. 
 
 "This is your sister, I suppose," said Amy, glad to 
 alter the subject. "Her name is Seraph, I believe? 
 Has she any middle name?" 
 
 "No," squeaked the little girl, speaking for herself, 
 like a talking doll. "Ma said there wa'n't no other 
 word in the language to express it." 
 
 "You must have been a very beautiful baby," said 
 Amy, with a smile. 
 
 "Yes ; just the same as now." 
 
 There was a yell of sudden pain, not from Seraph 
 but from her brother ; for she had taken the opportuni- 
 ty while 'his attention was fixed on other things to in- 
 sert a pin in his flesh. Angel started to box the cul- 
 prit's ears; she dodged and left the wall of the cabin 
 to receive the blow instead. There was a muttered 
 exclamation and a chase, but the girl eluded her pur- 
 suer. 
 
 While Angel was hunting for her in another part 
 &f the boat, his hand still smarting, Mrs. Young emerg-
 
 164 A SUGAR fRINCISS. 
 
 ed from a passageway with Seraph clinging to fier 
 skirts. 
 
 "Have you a headache, darling ! " said the mother's 
 voice. "Get up in my lap and see if I can't rub it 
 away." 
 
 She took a chair near Amy's and lifted the child, 
 who laid her face against the maternal bosom and 
 closed her eyes. "She suffers dreadfully from head- 
 aches," exclaimed Mrs. Young to the astonished Miss 
 Van Steuben. "Go away at once," she continued, in 
 a stage whisper, as she saw her son aooroachinsr 
 stealthily. "I'm trying to get Seraph to sleep and 
 you must not disturb her." 
 
 "I've got something that belongs to her," remark- 
 ed the boy, sidling nearer. "Just a common, ordinary 
 pin I've no further use for." 
 
 Seraph nearly wriggled out of her mother's arms 
 in her anxiety to escape the stab she had good reason 
 to expect. Mrs. Young caught hold of her son's arm 
 and held him gently away. 
 
 "There, you've woke her up ! " she exclaimed. "Go 
 away and be a good boy." 
 
 As Angel sulkily obeyed, unwillingly postponing his 
 revenge, she added, raising her eyes solemnly, "Chil- 
 dren are a great blessing, Miss Van Stuben, but they 
 are a great care, too."
 
 A SUGAR 1'RINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A DAY IN YOKOHAMA. 
 
 THE first view of Yokohama filled all the Coptic's 
 passengers with excitement. The steamer arrived 
 very early in the morning and those who had been 
 there before did their best to convince the others that 
 the summit of Fujiyama was to be seen in the distance. 
 The handsome buildings stretching along the Bund, 
 as the water street is called, together with the stately 
 homes of wealthy residents on the Bluff gave the town 
 a most inviting appearance. 
 
 As soon as the steam launch of the Grand Hotel 
 could be freighted with their baggage all of our 
 friends were taken without delay to that house. The 
 porter was left to struggle with the customs officials, 
 the keys having been given up to him in the sensible 
 fashion most travellers now adopt. It surprised every- 
 body to discover such a comfortable and modern hotel 
 in this part of the world, with little except the Japanese 
 servants to suggest that it was not in Florida or Cali- 
 fornia. The breakfast was found to be good and the 
 rooms airy and commodious. 
 
 As is always the case with arrivals from the States, 
 who have never seen a jinricksha before, the first thing 
 after breakfast was a ride in those comfortable and 
 peculiar conveyances. Amy and her brother could
 
 l66 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 hardly wait till the meal was over. The others were 
 naturally -more sedate, except the children, who deaf- 
 ened everybody with loud cries and interminable ques- 
 tions. 
 
 It was left to Carl by common consent to make the 
 necessary arrangements. But when the required num- 
 ber of 'ricksha-men had responded to his call, Mrs. 
 Van Steuben was seized with a fear that the vehicles 
 did not comport sufficiently with the dignity of a lady 
 "in her position." She asked Mr. Lovejoy if it would 
 not be better for her to order a carriage into which 
 she could invite her daughter, Mrs. Young and him. 
 Before the clergyman could answer, several ladies 
 came out of the hotel and were whirled away at full 
 speed by their two-footed horses, without even an es- 
 cort. Amy was seated already in one of the "baby- 
 carts," as she called them, with Billy and Olive near, 
 and shouted that she was impatient to be off. 
 
 "Here, Mr. Muller, come with us ! " she called. "If 
 the others ever get their minds made up Mr. Lovejoy 
 can look after them. You can spare Mr. Muller can't 
 you?" she said to the minister. "I am just crazy to 
 know how it feels to ride through the streets in this 
 thing." 
 
 Mrs. Van Steuben remonstrated in a shocked tone 
 at the manner of her daughter's address and finally 
 turned to Carl in her perplexity. 
 
 "Is it quite right quite proper, for a lady of my 
 age?" she asked. 
 
 "Certainly," he answered. "You will meet a hun- 
 dred others in similar carriages. In fact, it is the
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. l6? 
 
 vehicle use3 by nine-tenths of the foreign residents 
 of both sexes. After a moment the novelty will wear 
 off and you will find it delightful." 
 
 "Come, Amy," called out Billy, " let's make a start. 
 We can't stay here all day waiting for them." 
 
 Off went the trio, giving joyful little cries as they pro- 
 ceeded through the queer streets. When they came 
 to a large market nothing would do but the girls must 
 alight and inspect the vegetables and fish. Billy did 
 not see the fun in that sort of thing, but humored them 
 good-naturedly. They all paddled along the stalls, 
 over the sloppy earth floors, on which streams of water 
 were flowing from the counters. The fish department 
 interested Amy most of any. She utter many exclama- 
 tions at the long eels and other queer specimens of the 
 fishy tribe that were swimming about in tubs and 
 barrels. 
 
 "What a set of murderers we are ! " she remarked, 
 thoughtfully, as she watched a dealer grab a fish from 
 his bath and prepare him for the frying-pan with well- 
 directed slashes of a big knife. "We're always killing 
 and eating something that has as much right to its 
 existence as we. If I stay here much longer I shall 
 become a vegetarian." 
 
 Ducks, geese and chickens were being suddenly cut 
 off in their prime some of them perhaps a little be- 
 yond it in the next department. Hearing suggestive 
 squawks and blows, Amy and Olive started to run 
 back to their 'rickshas, with skirts carefully held out 
 of the mud. Billy delayed a little longer to inspect a 
 fish that he had never seen the like of before and when
 
 l68 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Amy reached her vehicle she found Carl Muller stand- 
 ing beside it. 
 
 "Your mother concluded I had best come to you," 
 he explained. "She insists that you are too young to 
 go around unattended in this strange city." 
 
 "But," stammered the girl, "we have Billy " 
 
 "I think," he replied, smiling a little, "she does not 
 consider you quite a sufficient chaperon for him." 
 
 "In that case how can I charge myself with the duty 
 of caring for two of you?" 
 
 He laughed at that. She was glad to see a smile on 
 a face generally so sober. The shadow of the disap- 
 pearance of Peter Meyer in that awful eruption at 
 Mauna Loa seldom lifted. 
 
 "Where is Mr. Loring?" asked Olive. "With the 
 others?" 
 
 "Yes, they have gone off in the opposite direction. 
 We can soon overtake them," he said, directing his 
 words to Miss Amy. 
 
 She looked him full in the eyes and asked why he 
 thought she wanted to overtake Mr. Loring. 
 
 "If we were with them," he said, lamely, "the party 
 would all be together." 
 
 "That's exactly what I don't want. There's a con- 
 trary vein in me that makes me hate any sort of a 
 beaten track. Do you know what would delight me 
 above all things? I'd like to give everybody the slip 
 and explore this beautiful country by myself." 
 
 "You wouldn't get far," he answered, indulgently. 
 "As you do not speak the language you would have to 
 give up your plan in about an hour."
 
 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 169 
 
 "But you understand it," she said, regarding him 
 
 steadily. 
 
 "Sufficient for practical purposes." 
 
 "Well, that would answer. I didn't mean to go ab- 
 solutely alone, of course. I meant, it would be a nice 
 thing to do if someone who can talk Japanese-- 
 was to go with me. Well, Billy, I hope you've been 
 Jong enough!" 
 
 They took the vehicles again and the coolies looked 
 up to see what direction they were to go. Amy said 
 to her brother, in a half-sulky way, that Mr. Muller 
 thought they ought to join the rest of their party, 
 and, as it made no difference to him, he nodded an 
 assent. Taking this for an agreement on that question, 
 Carl directed the men to turn about. Other coolies 
 were asked as they trotted past where the foreigners 
 from the Grand Hotel were, and they soon found them, 
 a little way out into the country. 
 
 With his usually slow brain Carl had not at once 
 caught the full significance of Miss Van Steuben's 
 suggestion as to a journey into the interior. When it 
 came to him his breath grew shorter and his head felt 
 faint. What a dream it would be, to take that lovely 
 being, under his protection, through the wonderful 
 scenery of the mountain regions, guiding her to the 
 grandest views, watching her bright eyes open with 
 wonder as the magnificent panorama unfolded! No 
 one there to witness her delight but he, no one else 
 on whom she could rely for direction and care ! 
 
 And then, almost as soon as the picture had out- 
 lined itself, it dissolved.
 
 170 A StTiGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Madness ! mere madness. When would he learn that 
 he was a poor travelling companion to Mr. Lovejoy 
 and that she was the daughter of the richest Hawaiian 
 planter? When would he realize that the difference 
 between them was greater than that between Japan 
 and her island home across the Pacific? 
 
 In speaking of taking him as her sole escort he 
 believed Miss Van Steuben had revealed to the full the 
 place he occupied in her mind. He was to her merely 
 a servant something a little better educated and 
 intelligent, perhaps, but no more to be regarded than 
 the coolies who would draw her 'ricksha or lead her 
 pony. If this were not the case she would not talk 
 to him like that. 
 
 When the party returned to the hotel for lunch Mrs. 
 Van Steuben voted the 'ricksha ride a success. She 
 had seen enough other ladies in the same sort of 
 vehicle to relieve her from worry on the score of pro- 
 priety. To be sure, it was impossible that many of 
 them could hold quite as high a position in life as she 
 did ; that lot was given to but few mortals ; but she was 
 satisfied that she had done nothing outre* from the 
 standpoint of Yokohama Mrs. Grundyism. 
 
 In the course of the ride they had met the Marquis 
 of Maebash: and his friends (to whom she had never 
 succeeded, by the way, in being introduced) and she 
 had bowed with becoming dignity when the gentle- 
 men formally lifted their hats. They could not have 
 been ten days on the Coptic without knowing "who she 
 was." And the lady congratulated herself on this 
 primary entrance into the exclusive circles of foreign 
 nobility.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 The main difficulty during the ride had been tc 
 suppress within reasonable limits the noisy demonstra- 
 tions of Mrs. Young's charming children. The satis- 
 fied air with which the mother heard their shouts and 
 witnessed their pranks, even exceeded' the disgust on 
 the faces of the others. The children made common 
 cause whenever opportunity availed against poor Mr. 
 Lovejoy, apparently on the ground that he, was a natur- 
 al and eminent enemy of their family, though what 
 he had done to deserve this treatment did not in the 
 least appear. It was a sight to witness the soft smile 
 with which he met their most impertinent sallies and 
 the courteous way in which he tried to parry or to an- 
 swer their questions. 
 
 An idolatrous temple which the party visited set 
 Master Angel wild with delight. He entered with the 
 others, staring with wide-open mouth at the grotesque 
 images before whom a dozen worshippers were pros- 
 trate. 
 
 " What a lot of blind people there are in this coun- 
 try ! " remarked Amy, in a low tone. 
 
 "What did you expect?" Angel demanded. "Don't 
 you know your hymnbook : 'The heathen in their blind- 
 ness bow down to wooden stone/ Say, what's 'wooden 
 stone,' anyway?" 
 
 "I think you mean 'wood and stone/ " suggested 
 Mrs. Young, pleasantly. 
 
 "No," he insisted, "it's 'wooden stone/ You read 
 
 it that way on Sunday at the service, didn't you, E , 
 
 I mean Mr. Lovejoy? 'Bow down to wooden stone,'
 
 172 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 yes, sir! Anyway, there's no stone here, it's all wood. 
 Perhaps they think its wooden stone, though," he 
 added reflectively, "because they're blind." 
 
 Then he gave a loud yell, caused by bringing his 
 head into collision with a wooden post. Seraph had 
 made a pass at him on purpose to make him dodge 
 and receive the blow. A rush across the room on his 
 part and an attempt of hers to escape succeeded this 
 effort, and then several resounding slaps broke the 
 quiet of the place. 
 
 On coming out of the temple two large wooden 
 gods at the entrance which the children had not noticed 
 before claimed their united attention. These images 
 had particularly comical faces and their bodies were 
 nearly covered with what are usually called "spit- 
 balls" and which I do not know how to describe with 
 any more delicate term. The worshippers of these 
 divinities believe the most effective way to offer their 
 prayers is to write them on paper, chew them up and 
 throw the wad against these wooden sides. If the 
 missile sticks it is believed the petition has been fav- 
 orably received ; if it falls the contrary interpretation 
 is given to the incident. 
 
 Angel and Seraph got so interested in pelting these 
 images that they could hardly be dragged off to their 
 'rickshas. They resisted noisily when their mother 
 urged them to hasten and finally ended with another 
 pugilistic exhibition. 
 
 "I'd like to have full charge of those infants for 
 an hour," Amy whispered to Mr. Loring, whose vehi-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 1/3 
 
 cle was nearest to hers. "J ust for one brief, glad 
 hour!" 
 
 The smile which he shot back in response to this 
 confidence glanced and struck Carl Muller full in the 
 face. He had not heard the girl's words and only saw 
 the telegraphed signal.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 AMY WRITES A LETTER. 
 
 MY Darling Popsie: (So wrote Amy Van Steuben 
 to her father) We are in one of the mountain dis- 
 tricts of this funny country, at a place called Kowak- 
 odani, and at a hotel bearing the delightful name of 
 Mikawaya. Our entire caravan left Yokohama early 
 in the morning and took a train to Kodzu, transfer- 
 ring to the queerest tram in the world at that point. 
 I would not dare say how many times the car got off 
 the track between Kodzu and Yumoto, where the line 
 fortunately ended, but I think it must have been a 
 dozen. The Japanese drivers abuse their horses shame- 
 fully and know as much about driving as I do about 
 Sanscrit. 
 
 The getting off the track was not really dangerous, 
 but mother and her satellite had regular fits every time 
 it occurred. It also gave Mrs. Young's sweet chil- 
 dren the chance of their lives to profess fright which 
 it was easy to see was simulated and give utterance 
 to screams. Mrs. Young had some sharp words with 
 the driver for the way he abused his beasts, for which 
 she only got laughed at by the saucy fellow. She 
 appealed to the gentlemen to make the man stop 
 whipping the animals, which he always did merciless- 
 ly as soon as they got to galloping at their highest
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 175 
 
 speed. Mr. Muller tried to oblige her, though he 
 must have known how little good it would do, but 
 every time he began his expostulations the car ran off 
 the track again and everybody's attention was monopo- 
 lized by the attempts to get it back. 
 
 When this disagreeable experience was over we all 
 got into 'rickshas, which I have learned to like im- 
 mensely, and with two coolies for each vehicle were 
 dragged four or five miles more to Myanoshita, mostly 
 up-hill, but through a charming country. The coolies 
 were sturdy fellows who looked much like bronze stat- 
 ues in their scant clothing. Most of them wore noth- 
 ing whatever as I'm a Christian! but a towel and 
 sandals. This caused mother to have a terrible palpi- 
 tation of the heart and made her Shadow close her 
 eyes in despair. Mrs. Young, please understand, 
 makes a point of feeling exactly like your esteemed 
 wife on all occasions, a line of conduct that has en- 
 deared her to mother greatly. It wasn't anything we 
 could talk about to the gentlemen, and really one gets 
 used to it here, so we went on without remark. They 
 were handsomely built fellows, and a dark skin makes 
 a difference, anyway. 
 
 Arriving at the Fuji-ya Hotel in Myanoshita we 
 found it full of guests, and were told that our tele- 
 gram had been answered to that effect, though cer- 
 tainly no reply had been received. What were we to 
 do? Carl (of course I refer to Mr. Muller, but it 
 seems ridiculous to call a hired man 'Mister') told us 
 of this place, only a mile away. He said it was nothing 
 so "swell" as the Fuji-ya, but comfortable, and would
 
 176 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 at least give us a chance to see native life. I voted at 
 once in favor of coming here, but mother scented the 
 fact that her pretty gowns would count for little in 
 such a place and was reluctant to give her consent. 
 However, as it was either that or to return to Yoko- 
 hama by the awful tram, she finally gave in. 
 
 The Mikawaya Hotel is a long and what I call a 
 picturesque structure, pleasantly situated on high 
 ground, but rather plainer in its accommodations than 
 the Palace at San Francisco. In fact, there isn't the 
 first trace of luxury in it from one end to theother. Most 
 of the apartments are occupied by Japanese travellers, 
 who have their floors covered with straw matting, 
 on which they sit all day and sleep all night. Such a 
 thing as a chair or bedstead is unknown to their method 
 of life. A little mite of a table about a foot higih 
 is the only furniture they use; and it's excruciatingly 
 funny to see them on the floor in front of it with their 
 feet tucked under them, eating rice and fish with "chop- 
 sticks." which they handle as well as we would a knife 
 and fork. Each guest has a girl servant, looking like 
 a pretty doll, who kneels in front of him and attends 
 to every want. In fact all the Japanese women and 
 children seem as if they had been cut out of pictures, 
 averaging much prettier than the ones in Honolulu, 
 though some of those, you know, are not bad-looking 
 either. 
 
 When mother found that the partitions between the 
 rooms were made of paper she had a collapsej declar- 
 ing that she never could go to bed in the house. As 
 in duty bound Mrs. Young shook her sally head and
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 177 
 
 parrotted her grief. Later, when it appeared that 
 mother was going to make the best of it, her new 
 Shadow made the best of it, too. 
 
 We all got arranged quite comfortably and I was 
 delighted with the whole concern. So was Billy; in 
 fact, Billy was a little too well pleased, if anything. 
 I heard mother put him under the special guardian- 
 ship of Carl Mr. Lovejoy's man >who I fear does- 
 n't realize yet what a responsibility he had assumed. 
 Billy has already given signs of one of his violent love 
 affairs, the object being a fat little doll with a vacuous 
 expression, who calls herself "Mitzu-san." I had to 
 caution him today not to disgrace us before the gen- 
 tkmen in the party. Mr. Loring came within an 
 finch of seeing him with his mouth altogether too near 
 Mitzu's cheek, a courtesy that young minx did not 
 seem to think of repelling. As they say the Japs never 
 kiss, I don't suppose she had any idea whiat it all 
 meant. 
 
 The table here is plain in more 'sertses than one 
 though the Hhingts are good and wholesome. The bill 
 of fare is wirJtten Jn a queer sort of French, though 
 why I can't see, as it is the language of neither the 
 guests nor the proprietor. Each item is numbered 
 and is ordered by those designatiorts. I have already 
 made some progress in the vernacular and call for 
 "Ichi-ban," "Ni-ban," "San-ban," etc. with much 
 pride. Carl knew them all before and Mr. Loring is 
 picking them up slowly. The others just flounder 
 around and have to be helped out by us who are more 
 erudite. (I hope you have a dictionary bandy.)
 
 178 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 I had a moment of real alarm yesterday. I met 
 mother in one of the hallways and found her in a 
 state of mind you can imagine wlhen I say it was some 
 seconds before she could utter a word. When, with 
 Lisette's assistance, I got her to her room 
 and upon the bed, she managed to tell me that sihe 
 had happened to pass one of the bathrooms when the 
 door was wide open and had seen several women in 
 very neglige" costumes. There is a hot spring near 
 the house and one of the great attractions of the 
 hotel is its numerous interior bathrooms supplied with 
 this water. The Japanese have no idea of prudery 
 and the doors on the rooms were never put up for 
 their benefit. When the pretty wife of our proprietor 
 and some of her lady friendls were in the batih and 
 saw mother passing, they smiled and said "Ohio!" 
 wftiidh means, "Good-morning," without a thought 
 that there was anything noteworthy in the situation. 
 
 Wlhen I heard the terrible tale, with mother's gasps 
 for breath, I tried to explain the matter to her, but she 
 said she would pack up and leave the house at once. 
 
 " Imagine," she screamed, " if William had hap- 
 pened to pass that door ! " 
 
 Well, she got over it, and we are still staying here. 
 When it conies to a vote your elder child is gener- 
 ally a majority. But mother isn't happy here at all 
 and I suppose we shalll have to change soon. For 
 myself I never liked anything better. The air is 
 salubrious, the scenery fine, the baths do me a lot of 
 good and I feel like a young colt. What do you think 
 I did one day? I walked ttwelve miles yes, sic,
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. I/Q 
 
 walked all the way from here to Aslhinoyou and 'back, 
 over a terrible road at that. We were all 'going to 
 ride, but as we hadn't notified the owner of the horses 
 a month in advance We found when we were ready 
 (that we couldn't get any before the following morn- 
 ing. When I start to do a llhing one day the next day 
 wont answer at all. So we got mother into a litter 
 (a chair carried on the shoulders of coolies) and Mrs. 
 Young irtto another and the rest of us walked, all but 
 Mr. Lovejoy, who volunteered ito remain and "amuse 
 the kids." 
 
 In the language of California "they didn't do a 
 t'ing to 'im," either, while we were away. 
 
 Imagine mother being carried by those coolies ! She 
 had had some experience at it before, so she was not 
 afraid, butt I heard her request her spiritual adviser 
 to be sure the men's clothing was of a proper magni- 
 tude and for once OUT blushes were spared. I walked 
 behind with Mr. Loring part of the way, but as I 
 feared he wanted to make love to me, I kept Carl with 
 us, asking him su<ih a string of questions about the 
 counftry that he couldn't escape. It's not that I dis- 
 like Mr. Loring particularly, but I don't fancy com- 
 plimentary remarks in the society faslhion. And then, 
 as he is not a Duke, what would be tfhe use in leading 
 him on to a declaration, whidi mother would never 
 listen to for an instant. (Please smile.) But, as I 
 said, I -walked the whole of the way and waisnt a bit 
 tired when I gdt back. In fact I had a splendid ap- 
 petite for dinner and slept like a top that night. 
 
 There are two Englishmen here a Captain Mod-
 
 l8o A SUGAR 
 
 man and a Mr. Robinson w<ho have Japanese wives, 
 real truly ones, and I have "met" both those ladies. 
 One has a little daughter of ten with the same name 
 as myself, a sprite who can talk the language of her 
 mamma much fa/ster than she can that of her sire. 
 The other has a round, happy faced boy, slightly 
 younger, named David. I hear that the mammas have 
 aUready arranged a marriage between the pair, to take 
 place a dozen years later. 
 
 In -spite of mother's protests I dined with Mrs. R. 
 one day, sitting on the floor and trying to eat with 
 chop-sticks exactly as she did. She dines in her own 
 apartment and mother was afraid some of the strange 
 thing's would injure my digestion. I managed not to 
 laugih, even once, though the expression on the face 
 of her "little maid from school" was a severe strain 
 on my gravity. The maid evidently thought me a 
 grossly ignorant person; and judging by the way I 
 let the rice and other things fall between the dishes 
 and my mouth she was quite justified in her supposi- 
 tion. 
 
 Although married for many years Mrs. R. has nev- 
 er succeeded in learning English enough to speak it 
 well, her husband having simplified things by study- 
 ing her language instead. So we just sat there, as 
 Billy would say, "like two Stoughton bottles," and con- 
 sumed our "chow." It was great fun and everything 
 I ate agreed with me perfeddy. 
 
 I say, Popsie, do you think it would do any great harm 
 if I ran away from this pokey crowd for a few days 
 and enjoyed delightful Japan to the full extent of my;
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. iSl 
 
 young heart? I'd just like to get on a party and give 
 him a loose rein till he had trotted fifty miles away 
 over these grand hills. It's putting moDher to positive 
 pain to keep her up here. She constantly talks of go- 
 ing to Tokyo or some "civilized" section of the country, 
 and that's exactly what I don't want to do at all. If 
 only I can persuade Olive to run off with me ! 
 
 I've tdd you before, havent I, how spiteful Mrs. 
 Young is toward the poor minister ? OEie and mother 
 and I have talked about it and we cannot understand it 
 at all. We asked her one day what she disliked in 
 him, but all the answer we got was a shrug of the 
 shoulders. The queer thing is that he doesn't seem 
 to realize how she feels, but treats her invariably with 
 the smirking politeness that seems a pant of his very 
 being. He's the most absent-minded of men, anyway. 
 If he addresses a hundred remarks to Mrs. Young, 
 and she turns her face the other way every time with 
 a sniff instead of replying, he doesn't notice tihe slight. 
 Generally he answers his own inquiry and turns again 
 to his book or view. Even the nasty ways of the chil- 
 dren are lost on him. He told me once with every ap- 
 pearance of sincerity that he thought young people of 
 their age a great addition to a traveling party. They 
 were always in such good spirits, he said! And not 
 an hour before he had come within an ace of sitting 
 on a large tack which the Angelic boy had placed in 
 his chair. 
 
 Poor mother! She does have such a hard time. 
 Among our guests are two Englishmen from China, 
 fellows of the best intentions, but somewhat deficient
 
 1 82 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 in education. They talk uninterruptedly during the 
 dinner hour and drop enough h's to carpet the floor. 
 Every time one of them perpetrates that Cockneyism 
 mother starts as if shocked by an electric current. 
 
 At least once a minute they allude to the fact that 
 they are from " 'Ongkong." One says to the other, 
 "You're looking 'ale an' 'earty, old man." And they 
 talk of " 'am an' heggs" until mother is distracted. 
 She insists they do it just to annoy her and lately has 
 gone to- the extreme of having her meals sent to her 
 room. 
 
 The first time she was absent from tlhe table they 
 sent her a kindly message which I attempted to convey. 
 "Won't yer please tell the missus as 'ow we 'opes she 
 'asn't " But she didn't let me finish. 
 
 Your letters are so charming I read them over and 
 over. With a thousand kisses an ! d all the love in the 
 world, 
 
 Your Own WILD GOOSE.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 183 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 FROM Kawakodani the Van Stetebens and their 
 'friends finally went, at the end of a fortnight full of 
 misery to Mrs. Van, to the more civilized precincts of 
 Nikko. There are many Americans who think Nikko 
 and Myanoshita constitute the whole of Japan, out- 
 side of Yokohama, Tokyo, Kyoto and Kobe. This 
 is a great error, though Nikko is certainly a most beau- 
 tiful place and there will be found at its hotel's in the 
 season a goodly number of well-dressed and well-be- 
 haved people. Mrs. Van looked anxiously from 
 her 'ricksha as she rode up the long 1 street, 
 for she feared a repetition of the experiences 
 through which she had just passed; but when 
 she descended at the Nikko Hotel, a hand- 
 some edifice where a dozen mousmes, garbed taste- 
 fully in kimonos, and with black tresses arranged in 
 the native fashion, bowed before her unitil their fore- 
 heads touched the ground, she felt that she had again 
 reached a spot where she could breathe freely. 
 
 The rooms which the party were given were large 
 and charmingly furnished. The dinner was very good 
 and to Mrs. Van's delighlt most of the guests had 
 "dressed" for the occasion. She had put on an elabbr-
 
 1 84 A SVGAS. PRINCESS. 
 
 ate costume and Amy wore a simple gown, cut m tfi 
 regulation decollete" mode. Mrs. Young, who had not 
 exhibited her charms as yet in anything quite so grand, 
 donned a black silk that was at least rich and becoming, 
 and all of the gentlemen in the party wore evening 
 clothes. 
 
 "I feel," remarked Mrs. Van, as she glanced around 
 the dining room, "as if I had got back from a journey 
 to the center of Africa." 
 
 "But it's not nearly as nice as the dear Mikawaya," 
 protested Amy. "We might as well stay at home if 
 we want to see nothing but good hotels. Don't you 
 think so?" she asked, turning suddenly to Mr. Muller. 
 
 "Why, it depends," he stammered, alarmed at having 
 to settle a point of difference between motiher and 
 daughter, "on the point of view. I think you will 
 find Nikko agreeable. The situation is grand and the 
 temples are thought by many to be the finest in Japan." 
 
 "Temples!" Mrs. Van echoed, as if she could not 
 bear to agree with anybody, even when they took her 
 side. "I had rather see the Central Church at Honolulu 
 than all these debasing heathen buildings. If there's 
 nothing in Nikko but temples the sooner we leave the 
 better." 
 
 "All I have seen here seem tawdry," said Mrs. 
 Young, as in duty bound ; "quite like a lot of glorified 
 New England barns, really. I'm sure they're very un- 
 interesting." 
 
 Nobody wanted to dispute with tfhe ladsies and the 
 matter would have been allowed to drop at this point 
 if Mr. Lovejoy had not branched into an elaborate dis-
 
 X SUGAR PRINCESS, 185 
 
 (Jtftsition on the mythology of the Japanctee and added 
 some learned opinions as to the origin of its ceremon- 
 ies. The respect that Mrs. Van had for "the doth" 
 prevented her expressing the wearisomeness she felt 
 during this period, which happily the miraister did 
 not notice. 
 
 "Mother's found a new use for her comiyanion and 
 friend," said Amy, to Billy, as they strolled up and 
 down the veranda later in the evening, their arms 
 around each other's waists. "When she can't express 
 her feelings, for fear of seeming impolite, she gets 
 'Caroline' to do it for her." 
 
 "Caroline is just as good as 'Gusty' 1" cried a rasp- 
 ing voice from over her head, which sTie easily re- 
 cognized as Angd's. "I'd thank you not to talk about 
 my mother behind her back." 
 
 "If your mother can't keep you from prdwlin-g 
 around and listening to people I'll attend to the matter 
 myself," cried Amy, angrily. She wondered wihen and 
 where the boy had heard that name applied to Mrs. 
 Van Steuben, for nobody used it but her father. Then 
 a second voice was heard. "Angel, you ought to be 
 ashamed of yourself, you saucy boy ! It's lucky Capt. 
 Thorn isn't here. If he heard you say such things to 
 his Amy he'd do something to you you wouldn't like." 
 
 It was Seraph, of course, and between the two Amy 
 thought she would go distracted. Before she could 
 utter another sentence, however, Angel had got in his 
 reply, and then both the children were heard racing 
 away with all their might. 
 
 "Thorn! Thorn! he isn't in it! You mean Lorirag;
 
 1 86 X SUGAR 5PRINCESS. 
 
 he's just as good as engaged to her I heard him tell 
 Eli so." 
 
 Amy was ready to cry with vexation. She announced 
 her intention of warning her mother that if these 
 impertinences were not stopped she would refuse to 
 continue her journey in Mrs. Young's company. 
 Things had gone a little too far and sihe positively 
 would not bear it. 
 
 "But, sister," said Billy, tantalizingly, first glanc- 
 ing around to see that no one could overhear, "which 
 of tihem is it, really? You migfhit let me into the 
 secret." 
 
 "Now, you're as bad as they," she cried, forcibly 
 di'sengaging hi's arm from her waist. "If this is kept 
 up I'll leave the whole party, I will upon my word! 
 What are either of those fools to me ?" 
 
 "Don't be cross," said Billy. "They're very decent 
 fellows and if either has fallen in love with you no 
 sensible man can blame him. I thougtht, honestly, that 
 you liked Thorn best. Now don't run away, for we're 
 all going to a tea-house in half an hour and hear some 
 geishas sing." 
 
 Amy sprang up and clapped her hands like a child. 
 She said she was so glad to hear that. Before leav- 
 ing San Francisco she had seen a musical play called 
 "The Geisha" and thought it deliglhtful. "But you 
 Understand," she added, meaningly, "tUiere is to be no 
 more silly talk, either from you or those brats. 
 If it goes on I shall not be able to treat Mr. Lor ing re- 
 spectably." 
 
 When Mrs. Van was notified of the proposed enter-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 1 87 
 
 tainment she declined at once to go. Anki Mrs. Young, 
 like the echo she invariably was, did likewise. When 
 Mr. Love joy heard of this he went to Mrs. Van and 
 begged that she would reconsider her intention. He 
 said geisha dancing was a national institution tihat no 
 person should leave Japan without seeing. Tihe re- 
 sult of a long talk and many question's was that she 
 went with the others, all except Mrs. Young, who had 
 gone off to bed, and whom it . was thought best not 
 to disturb. 
 
 When the party reached the tea-tfionse Mrs. Van 
 had renewed doubts as to whether she had not better, 
 on the whole, return to the hotel. The exhibition 
 might be all right, in one way, but was k becomiitug for 
 a lady " in her position " to be seen in such places? 
 ''You must remember my standing in Hawaii," sihe 
 said, "and that my actions would be considered quite 
 differently from those of an ordinary individual." 
 
 The minister listened in his usual absent-minded 
 way and then saying, "I think it's time we were up- 
 stairs," walked off. As all the others had preceded 
 him, Mrs. Van had nothing to do but follow, but slie 
 fidgeted more than ever when she found the party in 
 a room devoid of furniture and squatted, native fash- 
 ion, on the mat-covered floor. 
 
 Mrs. Van at once declared that she could not assume 
 that position that someone must bring her a dharr; 
 but there being nothing of the sort in the building she 
 was finally prevailed upon to make the best of it. 
 When she had finally seated herself, she did not look 
 particularly graceful, it must be admitted, and a smile
 
 j88 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 crossed the faces of those about her in spite of aH 
 their efforts. 
 
 A moment later two geishas entered arid began tiheir 
 iwork. One said afterwards, in answer to a query of 
 Billy's through Mr. Muller, that sfhe had readied the 
 age of sixteen years, while the other, mucih the more 
 diminutive and pretty of the pair, confessed to twelve. 
 The latter was most picturesquely arrayed and had a 
 piquant face which has been immortalized in many 
 plhotogfraphs and engravings, she being one of the 
 best known geishas of her age in Japan. 
 
 Billy regarded this child with such undisguised ad- 
 miration that his mother was obliged to reprove him 
 with a severe frown. His pleasure at the girl's beauty, 
 however, was soon dampened by the monotonously un- 
 musical quality of her voice, judged by western stand- 
 ards. A tame crow could hardly have furnished less 
 melody. Her companion's notes were if anything 
 worse and the instrumental part of the affair was com- 
 posed principally of pounding on a sort of tom-tom, 
 which gave out a banging noise anything but agree- 
 able to the ears of the guests. 
 
 "Is this a fair specimen of geisiha music?" asked 
 Mr. Loring, when there was a lull. 
 
 "Yes," replied Carl. "The Japanese think these 
 sounds seraphic and never tire of them. Foreigners 
 are usually content with one experience of tihe sort." 
 
 "I should think so," put in Mrs. Van, wiho had cov- 
 ered up her ears in pain during the progress of the af- 
 fair. "How anybody could like that sort of thing puz- 
 
 rles me. Why, I'd rate- " She paused for f> 
 
 Simile and gave it up.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 189 
 
 The supper, always served after the music, was then 
 brought in, and everybody except Mrs. Van tasted of 
 the dishes, though without finding any of them es- 
 pecially fascinating. The fun of trying to eat with 
 chop-sticks set all who made the attempt to laughing 
 violently. Next the sake (rice wine) was passed, and 
 an elaborate ceremony which accompanied it was ex-- 
 plained. 
 
 The younger geisha had seated herself by Billy's 
 side and seemed to find the position entirely congenial. 
 
 "William!" exclaimed his mother, as she saw the 
 cup passed back and forth between them. "Be careful ! 
 I've heard that drinking sake together constitutes a 
 legal marriage in this country." 
 
 "Then I am already a benedict," he responded, with 1 
 a burst of merriment. "Mrs. Van Steuben, allow me 
 to present your daughter-in-law." 
 
 "There is a second married couple here already, if 
 this is true," commented Mr. Lovejoy, waking up to 
 the occasion. "Miss Amy, you and Mr " 
 
 The girl stopped him by the speedy method of put- 
 ting her hand over his mouth. Mrs. Vain Steuben re- 
 gained her feet, with Carl's assistance, and said she 
 thought it quite time for them to return to the hotel. 
 
 "Wait just a minute, mother," pleaded Amy. "T 
 want to have a little talk with this pretty child." 
 
 "So do I," said Billy, holding out his cup for the 
 geisha to fill again. 
 
 Ko'Cho-san, which was the name of the precocious 
 infant, Insisted that Carl should tell her in 'Japanese 
 everything the others said, and he managed with some
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 difficulty to give her an idea of most of it. She 
 laughed very much at the notion that Billy 'had become 
 her husband, and nestling coquettishly to his side 
 to Mrs. Van's horror murmured that she was his 
 oke-san (wife). 
 
 "The trouble would be I should never know him 
 from any other foreigner," she said to Carl. "They all 
 look exactly alike to me." 
 
 "That's as much as to say I'm a 'coon/ " retorted 
 Billy, when this was translated to him. 
 
 "How far from Nikko do these ladies and gentlemen 
 live ?" was the little geisha's next question. 
 
 "If they travelled as rapidly as possible it would 
 take them twenty days and nights to reach home." 
 
 She drew a long breath. 
 
 "I should think they would be sleepy before they 
 got there," she remarked, with innocent sincerity. 
 
 Amid the laughter that followed an interpretation of 
 this speech, the bill was brought in and paid and the 
 party left the house. 
 
 "I never shall forget that cunning child," said Amy 
 to Mr. Loring, as their 'rickshas happened to come 
 abreast in the dimly lighted street. "She makes rne 
 think of the song in that charming story called 'Mad- 
 ame Butterfly' 
 
 " Rog-a-by, Bebby, ofen Japan, 
 You jus' a picture ofen a fan.''
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "DO YOU LOVE HER VERY MUCH?" 
 
 QUITE a pleasant surprise, for at least one of the 
 party at Nikko, occured on the following day. When 
 they returned to the hotel from a visit to the temples 
 they were met at the door by no less a person than 
 Capt. Thorn, into whose embrace Olive sprang with 
 a cry of joy. As soon as he could disengage the cling- 
 ing arms without undue haste, Thorn greeted the oth- 
 ers, beginning with Mrs. Van and ending in a half- 
 bashful sort of way with Amy. 
 
 "I didn't write that I was coming," he explained, 
 "because I wasn't sure till the last minute I could 
 get away and didn't wish to arouse false hopes in my 
 sister." He pressed closer the girl around whom his 
 arm was still placed, and she hid her face again in 
 pure happiness on his shoulder. 
 
 "I hope Olive has been a good girl," he added, 
 playfully, addressing the question especially to the 
 clergyman. 
 
 "I have not observed any particularly reprehensible 
 conduct on her part," Mr. Love joy responded, as he 
 gazed at the young lady through his glasses. 
 
 "She's been an angel!" vociferated Amy, witK 
 warmth. "But do let us sit down. We act as if we
 
 192 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 were going to have our pictures taken in a group. 
 Don't tell me, Capt. Thorn," she added, "that you've 
 come with any idea of taking Ollie away from me, 
 for I just couldn't bear it." 
 
 Miss Thorn looked startled at the suggestion 
 and eyed her brother anxiously. He set their fears at 
 rest at once by responding that he had no such dis- 
 agreeable idea. He wanted instead, if agreeable to all 
 parties, to join them for a month or two. Mr. Loring, 
 who was not skilled at concealing his emotions, color- 
 ed slightly. Amy thought the next two or three sec- 
 onds like hours. She did not consider it her place to 
 reply, having a suspicion that she was the main reason 
 whioh actuated Cap't. Thorn's request. At last her 
 mother came to the rescue, saying he would be very 
 welcome and asking when he had last seen her husband. 
 
 "May I be forgiven !" cried Amy, drawing her chair 
 nearer Thorn involuntarily. "I never thought. Do tell 
 us the very latest news." 
 
 Capt. Thorn said he had not, unfortunately, seen 
 Mr. Van Steuben on the eve of his departure, as that 
 gentleman had gone to Kauai. He believed him, how- 
 ever, to be in excellent health, as he had heard nothing 
 to the contrary. 
 
 As it was nearly time to dress for dinner, an opera- 
 tion which took a full hour in the case of Mrs. Van, 
 that lady asked to be excused. With her departure the 
 party on the veranda broke up. Only the two girls 
 and Capt. Thorn lingered a little longer. 
 
 "It is evident you have taken excellent care of my 
 sister," he said to Amy, with an affectionate gaze at 
 Oiive. "I never saw her looking better."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 193 
 
 "Indeed she has!" Olive answered, warmly. "And 
 now that you are to be with us nothing is wanted to 
 make my happiness complete." 
 
 "Do you feel sure, Miss Van Steuben, that I shall 
 be a welcome addition to your traveling party?" 
 
 In spite of him, his voice trembled slightly and Amy 
 realized that there was more in his words than appeared 
 on the surface. 
 
 "Mother has invited you to stay," she replied, "and 
 I don't see what possible harm your presence can do. 
 There's surely room enough in all the hotels for one 
 more. I must leave you now, but we shall meet at 
 the table. If you want to talk a little longer with your 
 brother, Ollie, I'll send my maid to help you when she 
 gets through with me." 
 
 With a bow that was all dignity and yet full of 
 courtesy, Amy bade good-by to the Captain, at the 
 same time pressing a kiss on his sister's cheek. She 
 had hardly vanished when a shrill voice was heard 
 from the balcony overhead. 
 
 " The queerest thing you'll find in posies 
 Is a Thorn between two Roses !" 
 
 Somewhat startled, the Captain glanced in the di- 
 rection of the sound. 
 
 "It's those children of Mrs. Young's," Olive ex- 
 plained, with a frown. "They are simply unbearable. 
 Whenever we imagine we're alone those imps are 
 peeping and spying and interjecting remarks." 
 
 "Mrs. Young's?" he repeated, vaguely. 
 
 the woman you met at Mrs. Van Steuben's,
 
 194 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 don't you remember, with the reddish-brown hairr 
 She came along as Mrs. Van's guest and brought her 
 two brats with her." 
 
 They had lowered their voices now so that even if 
 the scamps were trying to listen from their perch over- 
 head they could not succeed. Observations were 
 thrown down from time to time, nevertheless, sudh as, 
 "Whisperin's always lying," and "The Englishman's 
 cut you out, all right." When Thorn could stand 
 it no longer he raised his voice and remarked. "The 
 first time I catch you, young man, I'll cuff your ears." 
 To which Seraph's voice replied, "That's slander. I 
 ain't no young man ; and I'll tell my mother what you 
 called me." 
 
 Retreating steps indicated that the girl had gone 
 in the direction referred to. 
 
 "Olive," whispered Thorn, when the incident was 
 ended, "has Miss Amy said anything " 
 
 She shook her head dejectedly. 
 
 "I'm sorry to say she hasn't. It's just as I wrote 
 you the last time. She seems exceedingly fond of me, 
 but when I talk of you she doesn't utter a word. I've 
 gone as far as I dare. I've talked of you by the half 
 hour, saying how I wished you'd find some dear girl 
 for a wife and settle down in a home of your own: 
 I've told her you never had a love affair and that if 
 you ever formed an attachment it would be of a 
 kind to last forever. And she's listened, as if juist out 
 of politeness, and when she's spoken again it's been 
 about something else." 
 
 Thorn's hands were clenched till the finger nails cut
 
 A SUGAR PRJNCESS. 
 
 into the flesh. His face was set and pate. His dark 
 eyes gleamed in the half light like polished jewels. 
 
 "Tell me about the other one," he said, presently. 
 "Does she give him any encouragement?" 
 
 "Mr. Loring? I don't think he's had the courage 
 to lisp a word to her." 
 
 "Has she met anyone else on this journey?" 
 
 "No one who could be thought of in that connec- 
 tion." 
 
 "Then I'm going to ask her, within a week. There's 
 nothing to be gained by waiting and she can't get 
 angry with me for an honest declaration. You remem- 
 ber the poet's words 
 
 " ' He either fears his fate too much, 
 
 Or his desert is small, 
 Who will not put it to the touch, 
 To win or lose it. all !' " 
 
 Miss Thorn lifted her eyes sympathetically to her 
 brother. 
 
 "Do you love her very, very much?" she whisper- 
 ed. "Couldn't you learn to bear it if she said no ?" 
 
 "I came here because I could not endure the sus- 
 pense," he said, with short breaths ; "if she refuses me 
 it will break up my life." 
 
 "Poor boy ! " she murmured. "Don't give way to 
 discouragement. You may win her yet." 
 
 Looking stealthily around to make sure there were 
 no spectators present, Capt. Thorn pressed a warm 
 kiss on his sister's cheek. She had given him hope 
 that he needed badly. As he entered the hallway he 
 saw Carl Muller dressed for dinner already.
 
 196 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "It can*t be He, that would be impossible," whisper- 
 ed Thorn to himself, as the idea struck him for the 
 first time. "Her father objects to men of title, but 
 he would hardly consent to a man who is little more 
 than a personal servant. Taint heart never won fair 
 lady.' I must win! I must!" 
 
 The dinner passed quietly, Capt. Thorn taking pains 
 to be agreeable to everybody and not to address un- 
 necessary remarks to the object of his hopes. 
 
 Mr. Loring was even less talkative than usual. He 
 too was thinking of the best way to impart to the fair 
 daughter of the sugar king the desire that rilled his 
 heart. The coming of Capt. Thorn made it seem dan- 
 gerous to postpone the important question too long. 
 
 The party had adjourned to the veranda as usual for 
 coffee, when Seraph Young appeared and sought her 
 mother for the purpose of saying good-night. She 
 looked as innocently at Capt. Thorn and his sister as 
 if she had not excited their wrath less than two hours 
 ago, and bore herself in short quite like the kind of 
 creature for which she was christened. As soon as 
 Mrs. Young had pressed her lips to the child's freck- 
 les, Seraph suddenly asked, in her shrill, piping voice 
 
 "Mother, what's a nim bezzler?" 
 
 The proverbial pin, had it fallen upon the floor of 
 the veranda, could easily have been heard. Such a 
 question, coming from the mouth of so young a child, 
 was enough to rivet general attention. 
 
 "What makes you ask?" was the maternal way of 
 putting an inquiry, that did not originate, I think, 
 with Mrs. Young.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 197 
 
 " 'Cause Angel was reading in a paper in the par- 
 lor about a nim bezzler that is badly wanted, a long 
 way from here. And when I asked him what it was 
 he told me 'a kind of blackbird.' That's the way he 
 always makes fun of me. What is a nim bezzler, 
 mamma? Tell me, please!" 
 
 "Angel should not pick up every paper he finds in a 
 hotel," commented Mrs. Young, but this did not sat- 
 isfy the child's curiosity. 
 
 "What is it what is it what is it?" she cried 
 stamping her feet. "Somebody tell me, oh ! I won't go to 
 bed tonight unless they do. Angel will keep nagging 
 me till I find out. You tell me, Mr. Loring," she 
 continued, appealing to that gentleman in her despair. 
 
 The Englishman was overcome by the battery of 
 eyes that were turned upon him and hesitated how 
 to frame a reply. 
 
 "Go to bed, that's a good girl," said Mrs. Young, 
 soothingly. 
 
 "No, no! He's just going to tell me!" 
 
 "Why, an embezzler," said Mr. Loring, clearing his 
 throat, "is a man who er takes for his own anything 
 that is er left in his care; for instance, money." 
 
 "That's a lie!" retorted the minx. "If he was, no- 
 body would 'want him badly.' Capt. Thorn, you tell 
 me ! I'll go right to bed, if you'll just say what a nim- 
 bezzler really is." 
 
 All eyes were now turned upon Thorn, but before 
 he could speak Amy interposed sharply. 
 
 "If you'll excuse me, Mrs. Young, that child's com- 
 pany has ceased to be agreeable."
 
 198 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "Amy!" said Mrs. Van Steuben, severely. "Mrs. 
 Young is my guest." 
 
 "So are these gentlemen, whom she permits her 
 child to annoy and insult," was the quick reply. "It is 
 not the first time, and I insist it shall be stopped." 
 
 Capt. Thorn and Mr. Loring rose quietly and stroll- 
 ed out upon the lawn. Olive went upstairs. Billy and 
 Carl were missing from the group, and were supposed 
 to be away somewhere together. Mr. Lovejoy looked 
 on without moving, in a fatherly sort of way. Mrs. 
 Young seemed in doubt what to do, but when she. half 
 rose from her chair Mrs. Van insisted that she remain 
 where she was. 
 
 "You have made a nice scene," she remarked, sharp- 
 ly, to her daughter. "I think you owe Mrs. Young an 
 apology." 
 
 "I hope she'll sit there till she gets it!" was the 
 immediate response. "I owe her child a sound whip- 
 ping. She and her 'Angel' brother have insulted people 
 in this party quite enough. Now, mother, there is no use 
 in arguing this point. If Mrs. Young allows it to go 
 on, and you endorse her, I shall certainly go on my 
 way without you." 
 
 The clergyman, with the blundering faculty for 
 which he was noted, seemed to think this declaration 
 demanded a mild reproof. He therefore began to 
 remind the young lady that her mother was the best 
 judge of her conduct, when he was suddenly interrupt- 
 ed. 
 
 "Did anybody ask your opinion? I would suggest 
 that you join the other gentlemen who are inspecting 
 the moon yonder."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 199 
 
 The mild and benignant smile with which this idea 
 was received only exasperated Amy the more. Mr. 
 Lovejoy looked at her over his glasses, and refused to 
 take the least offence. Mrs. Van Steuben. thousrh she 
 had not relished his taking part in the conversation, 
 was horrified at her daughter's manner toward a man 
 of "the cloth." After several gasps for breath she rose 
 and started for her room, followed majestically by 
 her satellite. The small cause of the disturbance, too 
 evidently pleased at the excitement she had created, 
 waited till the last with a grin on her freckled face and 
 then joined the procession with her chin in the air, 
 in imitation of those who preceded Tier. 
 
 "I didn't mean to be saucy to you," said Amy, when 
 she was alone with Mr. Loveiov. "but that child oro- 
 vokes me beyond endurance. I was sincere in what 
 I said to my mother. If it is not stopped I shall go on 
 the rest of my journey without her. And now what I 
 want to ask you is and I know you'll do anything for 
 me, for my dear papa's sake if Olive and I do run off 
 together will you let us have Mr. I mean your man 
 Carl for our courier. You and Mr. Lorinsf are old 
 travelers and could get along without him better than 
 two young girls like us." 
 
 The minister shook his head like one of the toy 
 donkeys that fill the shop windows at Christmas, mur- 
 muring that she must be a good girl and do nothing 
 rash. 
 
 "Listen, and don't wiggle your face!" retorted Amy. 
 "If we do go, Ollie and I, will you let us wander off 
 alone in a country where we don't know our way and
 
 200 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 may get into all kirids of trouble? Perhaps I'd better 
 not go, and maybe I won't have to, but if I do that's 
 the question. Can I have Carl if I need him ?" 
 
 He digested the new form of the question for a 
 minute and then asked why she could not take Mr. 
 Loring. 
 
 "Oh, can't you think of something less ridiculous!" 
 she cried, forgetting her resolution to be polite. "You 
 know he doesn't understand the Japanese language 
 any better than I." 
 
 The minister scratched his beard and seemed to 
 admit that here was really a difficulty. "Capt. Thorn 
 would hardly want his sister to go away without him," 
 he suggested, feebly. "You won't go ; you'll be a good 
 girl and obey your mother." 
 
 "Then you refuse to let me have Mr. I mean Carl ? 
 I'll write to my father the kind of a friend you are, 
 before I go to bed !" 
 
 As she turned away the clergyman relented enough 
 to call after her that of course he would do anything 
 she wished, if things came to such a pass that it was 
 necessary. But he modified her joy by inquiring, when 
 her face was turned toward him aeain, if her brother 
 was not after all best fitted to fill the emergency. 
 
 "Oh, what a man you are !" she cried. "Billy knows 
 nothing about Japan, he knows nothing about the 
 language, he knows nothing about taking care of any- 
 body, not even himself. He must stay with mother, 
 not to take care of her, but to let her take care of him. 
 I don't know where he is at this blessed minute, but I 
 presume he's drinking sake with sdme almond-eyed
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 2OI 
 
 mousme* and saying a lot of silly things that she 
 doesn't understand. You will lend Carl to me is that 
 it? If I need him, you will lend Carl to me and Olive?" 
 
 He had one more suggestion left. 
 
 " I suppose you wouldn't object to my going, 
 too?" 
 
 She said it was not to be thought of for an instant. 
 She should go quite into the interior of the country, 
 up among the mountains on horseback, a journey no 
 gentleman of his years could possibly take. Probably 
 when Mrs. Van Steuben saw the effect of her action 
 in siding with a stranger against her own daughter she 
 would give Mrs. Young to understand that Seraph 
 must be kept within bounds. In that case Amy said 
 she would return and all would be aeain serene. 
 
 Fearful that he would invent some new plan if she 
 did not clinch the nail, she repeated her question. 
 
 "Mr. Lovejoy, answer me, and don't beat about the 
 bush ! If Ollie and I go off by ourselves do you mean 
 to let us go alone, or will you let us have the only 
 practical guard we can possibly obtain?" 
 
 "Why," he stammered, "of course, in that case *' 
 
 With a hop, skip and jump she danced up to him 
 and caught his head between her fair hands, giving it 
 a delighted squeeze; and a second later she was out 
 of sight. 
 
 When Carl returned he found his employer on the 
 veranda and heard this solemn statement : 
 
 "Miss Van Steuben and her mother have had a 
 slight difference and she talks of going off for a little
 
 2O2 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 while with Miss Thorn to some of the mountain re- 
 sorts. In case she does I have consented, reluctantly, 
 to let you accompany them as guide and interpreter. 
 I hope it will not be disagreeable to you."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 2O$ 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 HER FIRST PROPOSAL. 
 
 MARCUS LINDES returned to St. Louis heart-broken. 
 Nothing but the hope of setting aside the latest will 
 that Mr. Meyer had executed kept him from utter 
 despair. Mr. Uhrig joined him ardently in this task, 
 for he had a little of the matter on his conscience too. 
 Affidavits of Meyer's condition while in Honolulu were 
 presented to the court. Marcus added his own con- 
 trite evidence, supported by Mr. Uhrig's and Mr. 
 Pyne's. The second will was thus opposed by both the 
 trustees named therein and the court was not lone 
 in coming to a decision. A record was made that 
 Carl Muller was Peter Meyer's rightful heir. 
 
 Neither Lindes nor Uhrig had much prospect of 
 finding themselves warmly received by Carl, either 
 in person or by letter. In this dilemma Mr. Pyne was 
 consulted, with the result that newspaper publicity 
 was decided upon as a beginning. He thought if Carl 
 saw in the public prints that the estate had been 
 awarded to him without effort on his part he could 
 hardly do less than return to claim it. 
 
 An article was prepared for the San Francisco Hexa- 
 meter, which took up the better part of a column, and 
 related the principal facts in the interesting case. The
 
 204 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 fact that CarJ was at present journeying in Japan was 
 
 carefully inserted. 
 
 To make it more likely that he would have these 
 facts brought to his attention, Mr. Pyne marked copies 
 of the newspaper and had them mailed to all periodi- 
 cals printed in the English language in Japanese cit- 
 ies. The young man was so very peculiar, he did not 
 send any to him direct, though he debated for some 
 time the idea of doing so. The article would naturally 
 attract notice among Americans and Carl's attention 
 could hardly escape being called to the_ matter. 
 
 Although Lindes did not think it wise to follow 
 Carl to the Orient, he compromised with his impa- 
 tience by going to Honolulu, where he had many inter- 
 views with Abel Van Steuben. The sugar king had 
 frequent news of the young man and every move he 
 made was duly reported to the anxious waiter. 
 
 In the meantime our friends in Japan finished the 
 sights at Nikko and, in spite of Mrs. Van's repeated 
 statements that she would not go another foot into 
 the country, which she declared (with an idea that the 
 expression, being English, must be aristocratic) was 
 "perfectly beastly," took horses and made the trip 
 over the mountains to Ikao, via Chuzenji. The alter- 
 native was to part company with her headstrong 
 daughter, whose dislike of the Young contingent did 
 not abate in the least. Mrs. Van had said a few mild 
 words to her friend in reference to the children, but 
 they seemed to have little effect. On the evening be- 
 fore leaving beautiful Lake Chuzenji an incident oc- 
 curred which nearly disrupted the party. Seraph had
 
 S SUGAR PRINCESS. 2O$ 
 
 an out anil out tiff with Amy, in which very warm 
 language was used on both sides. 
 
 However, when word was brought in the morning 
 that the child was quite ill, and that a doctor had been 
 called, Amy went impulsively to the bedside and ex- 
 pressed regret for her sharp words. When Mrs. 
 Young left them alone Seraph took the young lady's 
 hand and pressed it to her hot head, while her heavy 
 eyes opened and closed languidly. 
 
 "I didn't want to make any trouble," murmured the 
 thin voice. "Tell Mr. Loring I'm sorry I said you 
 wanted to marry him. I didn't mean any harm by 
 it." 
 
 Sobs shook the little form as the child buried her 
 head in the pillow. Amy was much distressed. 
 
 "I will forgive you," she responded, "if you'll never 
 say anything like that again. I do not want to marry 
 Mr. Loring, and 'such expressions are very annoying." 
 
 The freckled face was revealed and the red hair 
 was brushed back. The swollen eyes opened. 
 
 "You might tell me," said the child, eagerly. "I'll 
 never say a word to anyone. Captain Thorn is it 
 him?" 
 
 "Is what 'him'? My dear dhild, please say nothing 
 more about my affairs !" 
 
 "All right," was the weary response. "I know it 
 is Thorn. I wonder I didn't understand before. When 
 are you going to be married ?" 
 
 "Seraph!" Amy spoke sharply in spite of herself. 
 
 "Yes, it must be Thorn," pursued the young thing, 
 as if to herself. "There's nobody else but Mullerj
 
 206 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 and though he worships the ground you walk on, he's 
 too poor to marry a rich lady." 
 
 Miss Van Steuben had reached the door and open- 
 ed it a little way, prepared to end the interview, but 
 she paused, red as a peony. 
 
 "What right have you to speak in that way about 
 about Mr. Lovejoy's man ?" she asked, in a faint voice. 
 
 "Poor fellow!" was the soft reply. "I pitv him so 
 sometimes ! He sits by himself and looks so down- 
 hearted. And when you come he brightens up like the 
 sky when the sun breaks through the clouds. But 
 he's poor," she droned on sleepily, "he has no family 
 or friends, mamma says. So it must be Thorn ; yes, it's 
 Thorn. I'll never say a word to anybody, if you'll 
 just tell me it's Thorn." 
 
 Seraph did not even turn her gaze toward her 
 listener. She seemed as if merely thinking: aloud. Anx- 
 ious to end the conversation in a way to prevent its 
 ever being reopened, Miss Van Steuben tarried a mo- 
 ment longer, foolish as it seemed. 
 
 "I'm not going to marry anybody," she said, "and 
 I don't see what put such ideas into your little head. 
 Never speak about it again or you'll distress me very 
 much." 
 
 Seraph turned her head on the pillow and looked 
 earnestly at her visitor. 
 
 " But all the others speak about it," she persisted. 
 "Angel offered to bet me one day you'd marry Hi, 
 but mother's setting her cap for him and nobody can 
 cut her out if she makes up her mind. I see through 
 her pretence of quarrelling with him. She can't fool
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 2O7 
 
 me. Rut I'm sure you are going to marry Thorn. You 
 didn't say you wasn't," she added, slyly. 
 
 "Well, I say it now," was forced from Amy's lips, 
 almost before she was aware of it. 
 
 A second later she had opened the door and saw 
 Mr. Loring standing there. There could not be much 
 doubt he had overheard her statement. Wondering 
 what construction he would put upon it she confusedly 
 bade him good-morning and hurried away without an- 
 swering the questions he began to ask as to the con- 
 dition of the sick girl. 
 
 Somerset Loring had come to that door for the 
 simple reason that Miss Van Steuben was inside. He 
 had happened to inquire Seraph's condition from her 
 mother and had been directed to the chamber with the 
 information that Miss Amy was calling there. At the 
 entrance he had heard her voice; and as he paused, 
 uncertain what to do, there came those words that had 
 so much meaning to him : 
 
 "I'm just sure you're going to marry Thorn; you 
 didn't say you wasn't." 
 
 And even as his heart sank there came the reply 
 which sent the life blood through his arteries in great 
 leaps, "Well, I say it now." 
 
 In tfie affairs of this life there are really n<o insig- 
 nificant things. "Trifles light as air" may change the 
 course of a human existence. Mr. Loring needed some 
 sudden impetus to awaken his courage. A thousand 
 times he had been on the point of declaring his love ; 
 a thousand times he had let the moment pass. The 
 silly child had obtained for him the one great assur-
 
 2O8 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 ance he wanted. If Capt. Thorn was not his rival he 
 knew of none to fear. Amy's confusion, when she 
 realized that he had overheard her statement, only con- 
 vinced him of what he most wanted to believe. 
 
 Filled with new courage he encountered her the 
 next day as she was about to take a short walk and 
 asked permission to accompany her. The ready con- 
 sent which she gave added to his confidence. As they 
 strolled along a narrow road by the border of the 
 lake he began at once to unbosom his mind. 
 
 "Miss Van Steuben," he began, "may I speak to 
 you on a subject of great importance to me one in 
 which the entire hapiness of my life is bound up ?" 
 
 Now, there is no young woman of the present day, 
 whatever there may have been in past ages, who would 
 have any doubt what such words meant, coming from 
 the lips of an unmarried man. Amy understood him 
 perfectly. 
 
 "You may say anything you think wise and proper/* 
 she answered composedly ; too composedly, he thought 
 afterwards. 
 
 "It is harder to begin than I thought it would be," 
 he said, after a short pause. "Your answer to the 
 question I am going to ask will either make me the 
 most miserable or the most happy of men, I am thirty 
 years of age and this is the first time I have ever 
 said to a woman what I am saying to you. I love you 
 and I ask you to be my wife." 
 
 Amy drew a long breath. The answer she had 
 thought would be so easy did not come at once. 
 
 "One thing more," said Loring, in a very low
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 2OQ 
 
 voice. "I am the only son of one of the wealthiest men 
 in England. I belong to a family that had held a high 
 position for generations. I can say without boasting 
 that my life has been an honorable one in all respects 
 and as open as the day. I have loved you almost 
 from the first moment we met in California. Amy 
 may I call you Amy? may I call you sweetheart?" 
 
 It was much harder than she had dreamed it could 
 be, to tell this man that he was nothing to her but a 
 mere acquaintance, that she did not and never could 
 love him. It grew harder every minute. She wonder- 
 ed if she had encouraged him unwittingly; if she was 
 to blame in any way for the pain she must cause. 
 
 They stopped in the path at the end of a little 
 bridge that spanned a ravine. 
 
 "Mr. Loring," she said, forcing the words lest he 
 should mistake her silence, "let me go back to the 
 hotel now. Tomorrow I will tell you what you wish 
 to know." 
 
 "And in the meantime I may hope ?" 
 
 She looked him full in the eyes, with new found 
 strength. "You must not," she answered. 
 
 " Don't say that !" He paled as he uttered the words. 
 "Think of it a little longer. My proposition was sud- 
 den unexpected perhaps. Take till tomorrow to 
 consider it, as you said." 
 
 "Very well." She uttered the words calmly, trying 
 not to say them coldly. "Tomorrow, then/' 
 
 "And for today," said he, trying to speak more 
 brightly, "we will forget that I have tried to be any- 
 thing more to you than a good friend and companion. 
 Let us continue our walk to the spring."
 
 210 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 But she said she thought she would prefe? to go 
 back. She pointed to Mr. Muller, who was coming 
 from the direction of the hotel. "I will get Mr. Love- 
 joy's secretary to escort me and you can continue your 
 walk. Good-bye, for today." 
 
 She offered him her hand, thoughtlessly, and regret- 
 ted the aot when he pressed it gently to his lips. Then 
 he left her and walked across the bridge rapidly. 
 
 "Will you please escort me back to the hotel ?" she 
 asked Carl when he came up. 
 
 They walked along together in silence for some 
 moments. Then she asked him if he could keep a 
 secret and, when he started from the revery into which 
 he had fallen, she continued, " Mr. Loring has just 
 asked me to be his wife." 
 
 He stopped stockstill in the path. So this was to be 
 the end ! 
 
 "He seems a very excellent gentleman," he forced 
 himself to say. 
 
 Good Heavens ! he must say something ! 
 
 "I have no doubt he is a very excellent gentleman," 
 she answered, "but I did not accept him." 
 
 "You did not !" 
 
 He felt like falling on his knees and thanking Gdd 
 and yet he did not know why. She was not for him 
 and never could be. Why might she not as well marry 
 Mr. Loring as another? 
 
 " No, I told him I would give my answer to- 
 morrow," she said, demurely. "It is not nice for a 
 girl to think of being an old maid. And if no one she 
 really loves offers himself to her, sfhe must con- 
 sider what proposals she receives."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 21 1 
 
 He had recovered from his first shock and was walk- 
 ing so rapidly that Amy was being left behind. 
 
 "Aren't you going to take me to tfhe hotel?" she 
 called after him ; and he retraced his steps, saying with 
 reddening cheek, "I beg your pardon." 
 
 "Papa does not want me to marry a foreigner 
 that's one trouble," sHie continued, as they walked 
 along. "But Mr. Loring isn't a duke, that's something 
 in his favor. Papa would rather I married an Ameri- 
 can without a penny of course one of good reputa- 
 tion 'than the greatest prince in Europe. But a girl 
 cant marry a man who doesn't ask her ; can s!he ?" 
 
 He was dumb as a sheep before its slhearers. He 
 could think of nothing to say. He wanted dreadfully 
 to escape from her presence, but she loitered pur- 
 posely. 
 
 "I don't know what to do," she went on, half to her- 
 self. "Mamma and I never hold the same views about 
 anything, so there's not much use in consulting her. 
 OMie is a dear child, but She has plans for me of her 
 own and is prejudiced. Billy is entirely useless. I 
 wish someone would help me." 
 
 She looked shyly into his face, but the idea that he 
 could be the "someone" she meant never entered his 
 mind. And was he not as prejudiced as Olive Thorn, 
 if it came to that? 
 
 "You're awfully duli to-day," she said presently, 
 when he did not speak. 
 
 "Ye*;," he assented, gloomily. "I am dull to-day. 
 1 always am dull. I can't help it." 
 
 He uttered these words whh strained pauses be-
 
 212 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 tween the sentences. When they readied the hotel 
 entrance he left her abruptly. 
 
 Amy went straight to her mother. "Mr. Loring 
 has asked me to marry him," she said, simply. 
 
 "Impudence!" cried Mrs. Van. "What did you 
 say? I hope you gave him your opinion of his con- 
 duct?" 
 
 "I told him I would give him an answer to-morrow." 
 
 "I'll give it to him to-day if / see him," retorted 
 the mother, spitefully. "I never heard anything so 
 ridiculous. A common, ordinary man to aspire to a 
 girl with your prospects!" 
 
 "I guess you'd better leave him to me," smiled her 
 daughter, pointedly. "My answer will be the same as 
 yours and perhaps a little more considerate."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 213 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 A REAL ENGLISH LORD AT LAST. 
 
 IKAO is one of the most beautiful towns in Japan, 
 which is giving it high praise; for the country is full 
 of picturesque places, which the hurried traveler from 
 the Occident too seldom takes time to see. The or- 
 dinary way is to leave the steamer at Yokohama, run 
 over to Tokyo for a day or two, then to Nikko 
 everybody goes to Nikko then to Myanoshita, and 
 after that a long jump by train to Kyoto. Then the 
 quickest way is chosen to Kobe and the most delight- 
 ful of lands if left behind by misguided people who 
 imagine they have "seen Japan." The real Japan is 
 not to be found along the lines of railway nor in the 
 large seaports. It can only be reached on foot or 
 horseback and the voyager who is afraid of leaving 
 luxurious hotels never "sees Japan" at all. 
 
 And yet even Ikao can be reached with very little 
 trouble. If you are at Tokyo, for instance, you may 
 take a train at half-past eight in the morning and ar- 
 rive at Maebashi at one. After crossing the village 
 you will find at the other end an extremely primitive 
 tram, by which you can reaah Shibukawa at half-past 
 three. From here to Ikao two coolies will pull you in 
 a 'ricksha up a steep and sandy road in two or three 
 hours and you are hi a bit of the real Japan at last.
 
 214 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 The friends in whom we are just now interested 
 did not reach Ikao in this manner, however, but in one 
 requiring much more effort. They came on horseback 
 from Chuzenji through Ashio, entailing a hard moun- 
 tain ride, and compelling them also to spend a night 
 at a very poor native hotel. Mrs. Van Steuben is not 
 to be wholly blamed that one day at an inn of that 
 kind was quite enough for her. The only bed's ob- 
 tainable were made by spreading quilts on the bare 
 floor and the provisions were merely sudh as the trav- 
 elers had brought with them. A large number of fleas, 
 apparently kept for the purpose and trained to their 
 duties, went to work promptly and never stopped to 
 rest during the night. There were also other discom- 
 forts which it is not necessary to mention, calculated 
 to damp the soul of a lady even less squeamish than 
 was Mrs. Van. 
 
 " If I get out of this place alive," she remarked 
 many times during that trip, "it's the last one of the 
 kind you'll ever catch me in." 
 
 Mrs. Young, in her capacity as Echo, joined heartily 
 in these sentiments. The only wholly happy people in 
 the party were Angel and Seraph, who found enough 
 pleasure in the discomforts of other people to forget 
 their own. Both of these precocious infants had to 
 (stuff the ends of their nightrobes in their mouths to 
 keep from screaming with delight at each moan that 
 came through the paper partition that divided them 
 from Mrs. Van. Even Amy came down rather cross 
 in the morning, as she did not enjoy being bitten, and 
 Olive admitted to having had her full share of trouble
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 215 
 
 with the voracious insects. Everybody's wrath was di- 
 rected against the mild Mr. Lovejoy, who had somehow 
 mislaid the "flea powder" which he had undertaken to 
 provide, but as the remarks were somewhat modified 
 on account of his sacred profession he was blissfully 
 unaware of their full significance. 
 
 "I slept very well indeed, thank you," he remarked 
 to Mrs. Van's sarcastic inquiry on that point. 
 
 "Slept!" she echoed. "Do you mean to say you 
 slept, with a thousand fleas running over your body ?" 
 
 "I did not notice them," he replied, with one of his 
 benignant smiles. 
 
 "I've got One bite as big as a Mexican dollar," put 
 in Mrs. Young, in a vigorous "aside." "Not notice 
 them, indeed!" 
 
 "A Mexican dollar is only worth forty-five cents in 
 American money," remarked her son, soothingly. "So 
 you see it's not as bad as it seems." 
 
 "That must have been the 'wicked flea' that 'no man 
 pursueth,' " said Seraph, with a look that left the be- 
 holder in doubt whether she was or was not cross- 
 eyed. 
 
 Mrs. Van took occasion to ask her daughter, when 
 they were again on the road, if she thought sihe would 
 care for any more of the interior of Japan after that 
 night's experience, and she said it in a tone which 
 showed what answer she expecte'd. 
 
 "Why, certainly," was the response. "If that dd 
 ninny of a Lovejoy hadn't forgotten the flea powder 
 everything would have been lovely. I like the pic- 
 nicking immensely, the hard beds, the cold lunches and
 
 2l6 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 the horseback riding. I'm going over a lot more of 
 this country before I leave it." 
 
 "You'll have to go without me, then," sard her 
 mother. "I call this sort of travel unfit for any decent 
 human being." 
 
 Amy saw her opportunity and made good use of it. 
 
 "Oh, mamma, you must go, just on a few more 
 trips," sihe coaxed. "There's a lovely one I read of 
 in the guide book, that leads around the volcano of 
 Fu j iyama " 
 
 "I sihould think you'd want a few more volcanoes !" 
 was the ironical reply. "Oh, yes, I should love to go 
 there above all things." 
 
 "But this volcano hasn't been active for a century 
 or two," broke in Billy, who was ridling near the 
 speakers. 
 
 "I wouldn't trust one of them," said his mother. 
 "If you and Amy want to commit suicide you'd better 
 take some easier way. Remember Mr. Meyer's I 
 mean Mullet's adopted father, buried in the lava on 
 Hawaii." 
 
 Billy here admitted that he had seen all the vol- 
 canoes he wanted to for the next fifty years. As his 
 sister made no remark at the time, Mrs. Van came to 
 the conclusion that the matter would end there and 
 dismissed it from her mind. 
 
 The inn at Ikao, tine "Kimdayo," was so prettily sit- 
 uated anld so well kept tihat all of the party except 
 Mrs. Van and Mrs. Young, who were determined not 
 tb be satisfied with anything, and Mr. Loring, who 
 was in a dejected state over the contents of a note he
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 217 
 
 had received on the day following his proposal of mar- 
 riage became quite enthusiastic over it. The town 
 itself has for its principal "street" a flight of broad 
 stone stairs, of an easy grade, nearly a quarter of a 
 mile in length. This stairway runs from the bottom of 
 a valley, where rice meadow's stretch far away to the 
 mountains beyond, to a Buddhist Temple on the hills 
 above the village. Along both sides of the steps are 
 numerous residences and shops, and hot springs which 
 gush out of the hillside have their waters conducted in- 
 to hundreds of private bathhouses. These baths are 
 commended as cures for many diseases, and, as this was 
 the height of the season, the place was crowded with 
 well-to-do people. 
 
 The effect of the brightly-arrayed natives continual- 
 ly ascending and decending the steps was a reminder 
 of the escalier of the Piazza, di Spagna in Rome, but 
 much more entertaining. Angel said it made him 
 think of his namesakes on Jacob's Ladder. Amy and 
 Olive haunted the vicinity, delighted with everything 
 tihey saw. 
 
 There were tiny women, in kimonos and obis, with 
 their hair in the regulation fashion, stuck through 
 with daggers ; bright slippers on baby feet usually bare 
 of hosiery; odd-looking men and doll-like children. 
 Amy divided her time also between the goods offered 
 for sale at the shops and the magnificent view. She 
 left Olive a good deal to Capt. Thorn, thinking they 
 must be glad to be alone after their long separation. 
 Mr. Loring kept to his room, on the plea that he had 
 letters to write, an'd the others disposed of themselves 
 according to their various fancies.
 
 2l8 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 When they had been at Ikao but a few days a con- 
 tinuous rain that lasted nearly a week drove them in- 
 doors. But even then Amy was happy. She declared 
 that nothing could be pleasanter than sitting in the 
 glass-enclosed balconies which opened from the rooms. 
 Across the immense plain tihe prettiest effects were 
 visible. First came the red roofs of the houses, one be- 
 low the other as the ground descended. Streams of 
 hot water flowing on their mission of utility and health 
 sent up clouds of steam. When the little rivers had 
 finished visiting the bathhouses they swept through 
 long chutes and turned the wfaeels of a number of rice 
 mills ere they made their final plunge into the valley 
 and became part of the larger stream there. 
 
 So full of running water is Japan that the traveler 
 can hardly get out of sound of its musical flow from 
 one end of the green land to the other. The height 
 of Fujiyama most beautiful of isolated mountains 
 could be seen from the hotel, its top now crowned witfh 
 the first snow of the season. And most impressive of 
 all, masses of fleecy white clouds hung like a curtain 
 over the emerald landscape, changing their location 
 and forms with every movement of the breeze. 
 
 Carl Mu'ller paid little attention to these sights. 
 Not only had he witnessed them all before, but his 
 mind was occupied with the confidence Miss Van 
 Steuben had given him, by the lake at Chuzenji, in 
 reference to Mr. Loring. He had no means of know- 
 ing the purport of the "answer" she had given on the 
 Bay following her reference to the matter. He no- 
 ticed the absorption of the Englishman and his with-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS 219 
 
 drawal from t!he young lady's society, but was not 
 sure what this might signify. Possibly it was only a 
 ruse to disarm the suspicions of Mrs. Van until Amy 
 could write to her father and obtain his consent to an 
 open announcement. 
 
 But what had she meant by her veiled references to 
 "noone she liked better" offering himself? Wasshein 
 love with Capt. Thorn, or was there some one he had 
 never head of in Honolulu, or perhaps in California? 
 Notwithstanding his own pain, he was inexpressibly 
 sorry for her. If she really cared for another man it 
 was simply terrible to think of her accepting Mr. Lor- 
 ing. The rule that compelled a young woman to wait 
 for the momentous question must result sometimes in 
 the greatest mistake she could make. 
 
 While the rain lasted the small list of books which 
 the tourists had -with them was drawn upon to the 
 full. Every stray newspaper printed in English was 
 read with eagerness, as food is guarded and doled out 
 on a derelict steamer. The proprietor of the Kindayo 
 Hotel, a bright Japanese who spoke English with con- 
 siderable fluency, brought to the parlor one evening a 
 package of Yokohama papers of recent date, which 
 were received with many manifestations of pleasure. 
 Each guest took a part of the "treasure-trove" and 
 silence fell on the group. 
 
 "Listen, everybody!" cried Amy, suddenly, spring- 
 ing to her feet with her newspaper in hand and going 
 closer to the hanging lamp. "Here is news that you'll 
 all want to hear." CAnd she re^d alodd :),
 
 22O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 The Court at St. Louis, Mo., to which was referred 
 the last will of the wealthy Peter Meyer, who per- 
 ished in the eruption at Hawaii, has disallowed the 
 same, it being proved that the will was executed 
 while the testator was in an unsound state of mind. 
 A previous will, bequeathing nearly the whole of 
 die estate, estimated at over $500,000, to an adopted 
 son named Carl Muller, though generally called Carl 
 Meyer, has been accepted, and the property is now 
 awaiting the rightful heir. As Mr. Muller is visiting 
 Japan with a party of Americans we hope that this 
 paragraph will be the means of conveying to him the 
 pleasant news. 
 
 A visible sensation passed through the room as the 
 girl read these words. For some seconds after she 
 finished nobody spoke. All looked straight at Carl, 
 whose face wore an expression compounded of sur- 
 prise, doubt and grief. Mr. Lovejoy was the first to 
 congratulate him. Rising from his chair, which hap- 
 pened to be next to that of the young man, he placed 
 "his hand in a fatherly way on his shoulder. 
 
 "You are righted at last, my dear boy," he said, 
 impressively. "I shall lose a companion, but you will 
 regain your true place in the world." 
 
 "I am not sure I shall accept this decision," replied 
 Carl, firmly, though he grew pale and red by turns. 
 
 "Not accept it!" exclaimed Billy, who had at last 
 found his tongue. "Not accept it! What do you 
 mean ?" 
 
 "Don't interrupt him," said the sister, impatiently, 
 as she leaned forward with the others awaiting the 
 explanation. 
 
 Carl's brain had begun to grow dizzy. His throat
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 321 
 
 filled arid he could not speak. The memories that 
 ^ thronged upon him unmanned his stout heart. 
 
 "Excuse me or the present," he said hoarsely ; and 
 as he left the room every person rose involuntarily. 
 Yes, even Mrs. Young and Mrs. Van. 
 
 "Well, I never heard anything like that." (This 
 was Billy, of course.) "I thought he'd just jump up 
 to the ceiling with joy." 
 
 "Oh, Billy, did you think he'd lost all his fine feel- 
 ings, just because he's had to take a salary for a few 
 months !" 
 
 Amy spoke with indignant reproach. 
 
 "He evidently had a very deep affection for Mr. 
 Meyer," put in Capt. Thorn. "No amount of material 
 wealth can make him forget the unhappy events which 
 alienated his friend." 
 
 Amy looked her gratitude, which was reward 
 enough for Thorn. Olive came to her side and grasp- 
 ed her hand. Soon after the party broke up. Amy 
 paused a minute on the staircase to ask Mr. Lovejoy 
 in a whisper w*hat he thought Carl's decision would be. 
 
 "I've no means of guessing," he answered. "A little 
 selfishness comes into my view of the caise. I should 
 be very sorry to have him leave me." 
 
 The girl started. 
 
 "Could he not continue with us, even if he accepts 
 the money, as an independent traveller?" she asked, 
 with suppressed eagerness. "It woiild not be absolute- 
 ly necessary for him to return to America now. He 
 could signify his acceptance by letter and you could 
 advance him any money he needs."
 
 222 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 The clergyman dwelt musingly on the suggestion. 
 
 "He has seen all the countries we intend visiting," 
 he said finally, "and I don't suppose would care to go 
 over them so soon again. No, tihere is no reason why 
 he should stay. There's nothing in this part of the 
 world he cares for." 
 
 She turned away, saying gvx>d-night in a husky 
 voice. And the picturesque hotel on the hillside over 
 which the full moon watched lovingly perhaps pity- 
 ingly was soon quiet. 
 
 The next day Carl asked Mr. Lovejoy if he could 
 spare him for a few hours, and was told to consider 
 himself at full liberty. His fellow travelers saw him 
 wander off toward the solitudes. He wanted to think 
 out his great problem with nothing but his own Soul 
 to guide him. When he did not return at noon nor 
 even at dinner time, no apprehension was felt, as there 
 are plenty of tea j houses among the hills where light 
 refreshments may be obtained. 
 
 A mail whidh arrived helped to break the monotony. 
 Among the letters received was one Which seemed to 
 worry Capt. Thorn a great deal. He told his sister 
 hurriedly fhat financial matters required his presence 
 in Yokdhama and started immediately for that city. 
 He said, however, that he expected to return in a 
 few days, and kissed her affectiomiartely at parting. 
 
 There was one person at the hotel w?ho thoug'ht of a 
 way to lessen the dullness. This wais MTS. Van Steu- 
 ben, in whose mind tihere still rankled bitterly the 
 statement that Mr. Loring had asked Amy to be his 
 wife. Her resolution to "have it out with him" was
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 223 
 
 warmly seconded by Mrs. Young, wihen tihe affair was 
 unbosomed to her in one of those confidences that 
 women love. Mrs. Young protested tihat it was the 
 most outrageous breach of hospitality she had ever 
 heard of. Indeed she would give the fellow a piece of 
 her mind, if she was the injured mother. She would 
 not mince her words, either. She would tell him that, 
 after what had happened, his room was better tflran his 
 company. 
 
 An opportunity came late in the afternoon, when 
 Amy and Olive had gone out for a stroll with Ld'sette, 
 Amy's maid, for chaperone, through the village. Mr. 
 Loring, having been watched for carefully, was de- 
 tected in one of the hallways and beguiled into Mrs. 
 Van's parlor, like a fly into that of a spider. Having 
 got him fairly cornered the lady losK: no time in giving 
 him her opinion of what he had done. 
 
 "My daughter begged me not to refer to the sub- 
 ject," she said in closing a very warm arraignment, 
 "but I feel it my duty to ask you to pursue your jour- 
 ney without us. It will not be agreeable to travel with 
 a man who could so far forget himself. When Miss 
 Van Steuben marries she will be able to select her 
 husband from the highest circles. I should have sup- 
 posed you would realize that and save us this humilia- 
 tion." 
 
 Mr. Loring bowed, with the never-failing good man- 
 ners for which he had always been conspicuous, though 
 his cheek burned at the blunft speech. 
 
 "I will certainly obey your request," he said in a firm 
 yoke. "But in justice to myself I ask you to listen to
 
 224 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 a statement which may in some cbgree mitigate you* 
 anger toward me. May I proceed?" 
 
 Half turning from him Mrs. Van remarked flippantly 
 that he could say anything he pleased, but he must un- 
 derstand in advance that it would not have tfhe slight- 
 est effect on her decision. 
 
 "In the first place, then," he began, "my name is 
 not Somerset Loring, but Loring Somerset. I am the 
 eldest son and heir of Lord Somerset of Dorsetshire, 
 and descended on both my father and motiher's side 
 from old and highly-connected families. In due time 
 I shall become not only a member of the British Hbusa 
 of Lords but very wealthy. I thought, in the circum- 
 stances, that I was justified in aspiring to the hand of 
 a young lady whose ancestors have mot, I believe, been 
 higfhly conspicuous in the history of their country." 
 
 Mrs. Van told Mrs. Young afterwards that she 
 thought she should faint. She fumbled in her dress 
 pocket for her smelling salts, but could not find them. 
 Was there ever such a dreadful mistake! 
 
 "I beg your pardon most sincerely, my lord," she 
 exclaimeki, as soon as she could find strength. "I am 
 ooveired with confusion. Why has all this been con- 
 cealed until now ?" 
 
 "Because," he replied, eyeing her fixedly, "I want- 
 ed to win your beautiful child in such a way that I 
 coufld fed she had accepted me for myself. I thought 
 the prejudice of her father against rank might be over- 
 dome in time if he knew me first as a plain citizen. I 
 ami very sorry for what has happened. Although Miss 
 Amy declined my proposal I had sitill hoped that time
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 22$ 
 
 might iriduce her to change her decision. With your 
 prejudice against me it is evident I can have no hope. 
 I will leave here tomorrow, Mrs. Van Steuben, and 
 can only trust that my explanation will lessen your 
 severe opinion of my conduct." 
 
 Mrs. Van hastened to get between her victim and 
 the door. 
 
 "Indeed, my lord, you will do nothing of tihe kind !" 
 she exclaimed. "I beg you to forget all I have said 
 and continue our companion and friend. My lord, 
 I entreat you ! I shall never forgive mysdf if you do 
 not remain."
 
 226 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPrER XXIII. 
 
 "IT WAS HIS SPIRIT/' 
 
 THE decision of Carl MuHer in relation to his in- 
 heritance was never in any serious doubt. His feelings 
 toward his adopted uncle were so tender, his hurt so 
 deep, that he could not bring himself to accept any part 
 of the large fortune his friend had left. There were 
 many reasons why a tidy sum of money would have 
 been very welcome to him just then; and he thought 
 'these over with a fainting heart, during tine long hours 
 he passed alone in the hills above Ikao. 
 
 His position as an underling in the party with Amy 
 Van Steuben nearly drove him to madness. Notwith- 
 standing Mr. Lovejoy's unfailing kindness and the 
 outward consideration with which he was treated by 
 most of the others, he fek that he was something 
 lower than a gentleman, something but little higher 
 than a valet. It was not tihat he despised his position 
 in itself, but because the woman he madly loved had 
 degraded him so far as to pity his sad plight. In her 
 presence he was at the extreme of mental misery. 
 The shackles which compelled him to march like a 
 serf in her train were becoming unbearable. 
 
 Ah! how different if instead of a paid companion 
 lo a doddering old dunce (it was thus he denominated
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 227 
 
 Mr. Love joy in his distress) he were a gentleman of 
 fortune, counted for what he believed himself in- 
 herently to be! Witih as much money as was now 
 offered him he might even aspire to 
 
 The agony of the trial ! But he never for a moment 
 wavered from his rigid determination. He would not 
 assist in altering the disposition Peter Meyer had made 
 of his estate, whether at the time he signed that paper 
 he was sane or insane. It would be sacrilege to alter 
 the last wishes the almost dying wishes of the 
 truest friend he had ever known. 
 
 Not until it was nearly midnight did Carl rouse 
 himself from his revery and rise from the ground 
 where he had flung himself long before noon. The 
 thought of food had not come to him during that 
 long day* and though faint now from abstinence it did 
 not occur to his mind that hunger was the cause. He 
 stood up, stretched his arms above his head and turn- 
 ing to the crescent moon overhead cried aloud 
 
 "I will not do it! I will work at any honest em- 
 ployment, starve if .need be, but I will never touch 
 a penny of that money !" 
 
 Strange hallucinations sometimes come to fevered 
 and overwrought mind's. Before the startled vision 
 of the young mam a sliadowy figure was outlined on 
 tihe hill at some distance above him. As he gazed he 
 saw that it bore an astounding resemblance to his de- 
 ceased foster parent. Its arms were stretched toward 
 him, in an attitude similar to his own. In tihe weird 
 play of the moonlight he thought tihe familiar features 
 awfully distinct.
 
 228 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 A cloud passed across the face erf the Queen of 
 Night and when Carl rubbed his eyes again and peered 
 into the shadow there was nothing to be seen. He 
 stood a moment trembling, not from fear, but w&h a 
 still deeper emotion. Then he fell on his knees and 
 murmured a prayer. 
 
 "It was his spirit!" he said, reverently, as he took 
 his slow way back to the hotel. "He came to tell me 
 I had decided well." 
 
 He was perhaps as free from superstition as a man 
 could be who had never given a moment's thought to 
 supernatural phenomena. He only knew what he had 
 witnessed, or what he thought he had witnessed, if that 
 pleases the critical reader better. The affair did not 
 interfere with his rest that night, nor alter his con- 
 duct in any way; neither did he consider it a matter 
 to be referred to in conversation with the people about 
 him. 
 
 Everything connected with his deceased friend was 
 sacred. He had felt no more alarm at sight of Meyer's 
 wraith than he would have felt at his living presence. 
 It was evident from Lin/das' statement that the old 
 genffleman's mind had become unhinged from very 
 love of him. And though his blood tingled and his 
 hands clenched themselves involuntarily when he 
 thought of Marcus' deception, he had for hfe victim 
 only the tender feeling of a son. 
 
 Mr. Love joy wisely let him take his own time to 
 decide what he would do, though Amy came fre- 
 quently to ask the result, with an anxiety she could 
 not hide. On the third day Carl announced his deci- 
 sion, in the briefest manner:
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 229 
 
 "I have come to the conclusion tihat I wiil accept 
 
 nothing from the Meyer estate and have writtein to 
 that effect to Mr. Uhrig, asking him to mail me any 
 documents whidh I ought to sign." 
 
 The minister murmured that he was glad he was 
 not to lose his valued companion. 
 
 "But," continued Carl, "I have decided also to ask 
 you to release me from my contract. I am at last out 
 of your debt and there are strong reasons, entirely 
 unconnected with yourself, which make me desire a 
 different position." 
 
 For some time Mr. Lovejoy did not speak. He 
 seemed completely nonplussed. 
 
 "You have a more lucrative place in view, I pre- 
 sume," he said, when he found his voice. "I can 
 readily see tihat having very correctly, it seems to 
 me, from your standpoint concluded to earn ycnir 
 living permanently, such a position as mine can have 
 few attractions. Would you mind telling me, as one 
 who has some title to call himself yotif friend, wihat 
 you intend to do?" 
 
 Carl stammered that he had secured nothing as yet. 
 
 "Why, then, must you leave me so suddenly?" in- 
 terrupted Mr. Lovejoy. "Is it not better to continue 
 to draw your salary until you are sure of something 
 better? I will increase it, if you wish, until that time 
 comes, adding, say, $25 a month to what you now re- 
 ceive. Japan is not the best place for a young man 
 to find a good position at short notice unless he has 
 influential backing." 
 
 To this Carl replied that he hoped his conduct had
 
 230 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 not seemed ungrateful. He appreciated the kindness 
 he had received, but desired to obtain a place with 
 some business house as soon as he could possibly do 
 so. 
 
 With the prospect of losing the member of tihe party 
 to Whom all arrangement had been entrusted, Mr. 
 Lovejoy thought he ought to tell Carl's decision to 
 Mrs. Van Steuben. It happened that Amy and Mrs. 
 Young were in her parlor at the time and the effect of 
 the announcement on eadh of the ladies is worthy of 
 notice. 
 
 "I hope he won't leave us in the lurdh," said Mrs. 
 Van, "but I suppose he will No matter how kind 
 one is to servants they only think of themselves." 
 
 "Mother!" broke in Amy's indignant voice. "You 
 have no right to use a term like that in speaking of 
 Mr. Muiler! He is a gentleman who has shown the 
 highest sense of honor. It is an outrage to speak of 
 him as if he were a common laborer !" 
 
 "A person who works for wages is a servant," her 
 mother replied, stiffly. "Mr. Meyer I mean Muiler 
 is no different as I see from anybody else. We have 
 got used to him and he knows our wanlbs ; if he leaves 
 vrs I say again it simply shows the ingratitude of his 
 class." 
 
 The lady was becoming slightly excited, as sftie al- 
 ways did wlhen an argument grew warm, and Mrs. 
 Young sympathetically handed her a smelling-bottle. 
 
 "Don't get nervous," murmured the widow, in a 
 tone which implied that sihe fully agreed with her 
 friend. "You can get a courier quite as good at a
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 23! 
 
 day's notice, by sending to Yokohama. Ahd one who 
 won't think himself above his duties, eitiher," sftie add- 
 ed in an undertone. 
 
 Amy sprang to her feet. 
 
 "Will you be good enough, Mrs. Young," she de- 
 manded, with flashing eyes, "as I have asked you 
 more than once before, not to interfere in conversa 
 tions between my motiher and me? I don't see the 
 difference, myself," she added, wkfli cutting sarcasm, 
 "between accepting a salary and traveling at other 
 people's expense, like some folks I could mention." 
 
 This shot was so severe that its effect was imme- 
 diately apparent. Mrs. Young took oult her handker- 
 chief and buried her face in it. 
 
 "You have gone a little too far, Amy," said Mrs. 
 Van Stetfben, sharply, "When you compare a hired ser- 
 vant with a lady who is my friend. I am going to 
 my room. Until you are ready to apolog'ze you need 
 not come to me.'* 
 
 "Don't neglect to have your meals sent up till I do," 
 was the spiteful retort. "The impudence of this creat- 
 ure," she continued, vehemently, as the ladies started 
 together, "is beyond endurance. I shall go to Mr. 
 Muller myself and beg him to remain, as a personal 
 favor to me." 
 
 Mrs. Van Steu'ben faced about, very white. 
 
 "That would be a fitting climax to your present ac- 
 tions," she said. "Let me tell you, Mr. Lovejoy, that 
 this man cannot remain in my party after today. Be- 
 fore we left Honolulu I made an agreement with him
 
 232 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 to add to the wages he was to receive froim you. So 
 far as I am concerned, I discharge him from this mo- 
 ment." 
 
 She swept through the doorway With Mrs. Young, 
 whose face was still concealed and whose attitude sug- 
 gested deep grief. As the door closed somewhat 
 noisily behind the pair Amy turned to the clergyman 
 with distended eyes. 
 
 "Is it true what my mother said?" demanded the 
 girl. "Has Mr. Muller been receiving pay from her?" 
 
 "Why, I I" he began. 
 
 " Has he, or has he not! Yes or nof* 
 
 "It is news to me." 
 
 "You never heard of it before?" 
 
 He shook his head, like a perplexed sheep. 
 
 "Then I don't believe it. But 111 find out!" she 
 added, with a gasp. "And if it's true that he's taken 
 a penny from her he may go for all I care !" 
 
 Then, to show how little she was interested in the 
 matter, the girl threw herself into a chair and burst 
 into tears. Mr. Lovejoy, as if thankful for the 
 chance, took the opportunity to make his escape. After 
 a little time Amy composed herself and removed the 
 traces of weeping from her face as well as she could. 
 When she opened the door to leave the parlor it 
 struck sharply against an object outside, nothing less 
 than the head of Seraph Young, who immediatetly set 
 up a howl that might have been heard for some dis- 
 tance. All of Amy's wrath burst forth again. 
 
 "You've been listening at that keyhole!" she owed,
 
 'A SUGAR PRINCESS. 233 
 
 grasping the cMd by the shoulder. "What do you 
 mean by doing a thing like that?" 
 
 "Ididn't listen,'' blubbered the child, rubbing her 
 head. "I I was just looking at my face in th 
 doorknob." 
 
 Now the knob of the door was of a reflecting ma- 
 terial which might easily have served as a mirror 
 and was about on a level with Seraph's eyes. Believ- 
 ing that she had perpetrated an injustice Amy was 
 filled with instant contrition. She knelt down, gath- 
 ered the little form in her arms and kissed the freckled 
 face. 
 
 "I'm very, very, very sorry. I tihougiht you were 
 spying and there's nothing meaner than that. Don't 
 mind, dear, please." 
 
 The child did not feel inclined to be mollified at 
 once. 
 
 "You hurt me!" she said, chokingly. "You hurt 
 me very much." 
 
 "But I can't do any more than say I'm sorry," per- 
 sisted Amy. "You'll be over it in a minute." 
 
 " I sha'n't. I'm going to be sick again, I know." 
 
 "Oh, please don't ! I'll do anything you ask if you 
 won't." 
 
 Seraph looked cunningly into the sad face. "Any- 
 thing?" she repeated. 
 
 "Anything." 
 
 "Then tell me I won't say a word, hope to die 
 if I dois it Mutter?" 
 
 Scrambling to her feet Amy flew as fast as pas-
 
 234 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 sible to her own room, shut the door and began crying 
 again. 
 
 It was more than she could bear that this little imp 
 should penetrate a secret that was makimg her the 
 most miserable of women.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 23$ 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 AN UNWELCOME CHEQUE FOR $5OO. 
 
 THOUGH our little heroine had a temper of her own 
 she was not vindictive, nor did she seriously intend 
 to give her mother just cause of offense. The various 
 members of the Young family had annoyed her^ ex- 
 tremely and she had at times been betrayed into lan- 
 guage which she regretted afterwards. That day, 
 when she had sobbed in her room for an hour, she 
 slipped around to her mother's door and knocked 
 softly. As soon as she was admitted she threw herself 
 at the maternal feet, with the exclamation, "Oh, 
 mamma, I'm so unhappy !" 
 
 "Have you come to ask my pardon for your con- 
 duct?" was "the uncompromising way in which this 
 contrite attitude was met. 
 
 "Oh, yes, mamma, anything you like, only let's not 
 quarrel. I am so sick and nervous I don't know what 
 to do. Put your arms around me." 
 
 Before yielding to this request it occurred to Mrs. 
 Van that this was a good time to obtain a complete 
 surrender. She did not even mean to leave the garri- 
 son its side-arms. 
 
 "Will you apologize to Mrs. Youmg lo the way you 
 insulted her?"
 
 336 A SUGAR PRINCESS 
 
 This question came very near spoiling the whole 
 business, for a spasm crossed Amy's brain at the sug- 
 gestion. Her mind was so troubled about weightier 
 tihings, however, that she suppressed the reply which 
 rose to 'her lips. 
 
 "Mamma, dear," she said, pleadingly, "why need 
 that woman come between you and me ? Do you care 
 for her more than for your own child? Can't you 
 dispose of her in some way and let us go on in peace 
 together?" 
 
 The mother still believed that she had -the advantage 
 of position and proceeded accordingly. 
 
 "Mrs. Young is a lady," she answered, "whom I 
 invited to make this trip with me. I have seen noth- 
 ing in her action's to call for criticism. Although you 
 have treated her several times in a scandalous manner 
 she has borne it with a truly Christian spirit. Unles's 
 you can view year conduct in its right light I do not 
 feel that you deserve forgiveness." 
 
 'So even this rock of safety was denied to the glirl 
 except on the most severe terms. 
 
 "I -think you are very -hard, mother," she pleaded. 
 "You never 'before asked your daughter to humble her- 
 self before a person of lower grade. You forget," and 
 at the humourous idea a smile broke through the (tear 
 clouds, "that I am a Sugar Princess, the daughter of a 
 Sugar King." 
 
 As the 'suggestion in reference to Mrs. Young had 
 not panned out very well, Mrs. Van tried another tack. 
 
 "You are a frivolous child," she said, stroking the 
 gfri's hair as she lay on the rug at Hier feet "Ita not
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 sure it wouldn't be the best thing for you if you (had 
 a husband." 
 
 Amy immediately sat up, with every appearance of 
 interest. 
 
 "Haw strange it is you should tsay tihat? Do you 
 know, I think so, too !" 
 
 "You would like to get married !" exclaimed the as* 
 tonished lady. 
 
 "Above all things !" Amy clasped her hands to- 
 gether and raised her eyes ecstatically toward the ceil- 
 ing. 
 
 "You did not give much consideration to Mr. bor- 
 ing's proposal." 
 
 "How could I ? As soon as I mentioned it to you, 
 you said he was out of the question. I 'had promised 
 to tell him the next day and you gave me no choice." 
 
 The eager matrimonial agent did not perceive the 
 light vein of irony that uniderran these statements. 
 She thought she saw a chance to make some effective 
 moves. 
 
 "I fear I was a little hasty," she said. "I was at 
 first indignant that a gentleman 'should ask your hand 
 without coming to your parents. I have had a talk 
 with Mr. Loring since then and his explanation was 
 entirely satisfactory." 
 
 Amy pulled a chair to her mother's 'side. 
 
 " Whatever did he say to make you change your 
 mind so completely ?" 
 
 "Why, he talked like a thorough gentleman, and 
 aid such nice things about you and " 
 
 "But he it not a duke," interrupted Amy. "You
 
 238 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Wouldn't Want tme to marry a man without a title - 
 why, mamma!" 
 
 The wondering eyes were fixed on the maternal! face 
 in a way tihalt caused Mrs. Van great embarrassment. 
 
 "He is well connected and his family 'Stands high in 
 England and are very rich. I never seriously ex- 
 pected you to marry a duke. That was your father's 
 way of expressing my idesire that you would select a 
 suitable -husband. If you want to marry I don't be- 
 lieve that you'll find a better match than Mr. Mr. 
 Loring, if you hunt the world over." 
 
 Drawing a long breath, Amy 'said 'she was too much 
 astonished to know what to say. Encouraged by this 
 attitude Mrs. Van Steuben went on to clinch the nail 
 she had driven. 
 
 "If you 'will tell Mr. Loring you (have reconsidered 
 your refusal," she said, "and let me announce the fact 
 of your engagement, I will do whatever you ask about 
 MIT'S. Young. I must admit that her children are 
 sometimes annoying. And now, darling," it was an 
 expression that Amy could not remember ever having 
 heard from those lips before "give me a kiss and get 
 ready for dinner." 
 
 The Sugar Princess lay awake that night till nearly 
 daylight, trying to find a satisfactory explanation of 
 her mother's change of front. Between times she had 
 little gusts of tears as she thought of Mr. Muller. She 
 had no idea of marrying Lorimg or any other man. 
 She was >bo be an old maid a little, d'ried-up old maid, 
 with -short corkscrew curls and perhaps a red nose, 
 surrounded with cato and parrots. With this dismal
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 239 
 
 forecast the poor ohild fell asleep as the sun was color- 
 ing the eastern sky and did not wake till it was nearly 
 at the zenith, so exhausted was she. with Tier worries. 
 
 Before that hour, however, Mrs. Van Steuben had 
 executed two important pieces of business. In the 
 first place she h'ad written a cheque for $500, payable 
 to Carl Muller at any branch of the Hongkong & 
 Shanghai Banking Co. This her maid put into his 
 hand, with a very brief note saying that if the sum 
 was insufficient for what services he had rendered he 
 could write her to that effect. The second thing was 
 a conversation with Mr. Loring, as we may as well 
 continue for the present to call him, in which she toVl 
 that young gentleman, with so(me embellishments of 
 her own, what her daughter and she had talked about 
 the 'night before. 
 
 The Englishman was not dull enough to be imposed 
 upon as thoroughly as the mother had been. He did 
 not build too much hope on her eager protestations that 
 she would " bring the child around " in a few days to 
 giving him an affirmative answer when next he re- 
 newed his 'suit. But he replied to the lady's state- 
 ments with his accustomed dignity, committing himself 
 no further than to say he 'hoped she was right in her 
 prophesy. 
 
 "And Will you really be an Earl, when your father 
 dies ?" said Mrs. Van. "I hope he is m good health," 
 she added piously. 
 
 "In excellent health, I am glad to say," he answered, 
 keeping his countenance with difficulty. 
 
 "And what do 'they call the wife of 'an Earl?" she
 
 24O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 continued. "You see I don't knew much about titles, 
 as we .have only the royal family in Honolulu she is 
 called an Earless, I suppose." 
 
 " No, a countess. An earl in the English peerage 
 [is of the same rank as a count in some of the con- 
 tinental countries. When I come into the title, if I 
 am married, my wife will be Countess of Somerset." 
 
 Mrs. Van rolled the words under her tongue like a 
 sweet morsel. 
 
 "Countess of Somerset! And at present you are 
 just 'Mr. Somerset?'" 
 
 "I am called by courtesy 'Lord Loring.' But plain 
 'Mr. Loring' suits me quite as well. I have a vein of 
 republican simplicity, and as I understand Mr. Van 
 Steuben objects to titles I should be quite willing to 
 bear only that name until I am compelled to take up 
 the other." 
 
 To this Mrs. Van protested earnestly. "Lord Lor- 
 ing" was ever so much better than "Mr." She told a 
 story of 'how her "ancestors" ihad belonged to a noble 
 family in Portugal, but had succumbed to ill-fortune in 
 one of the civil wars. This was a little fiction that 
 she had long ago invented, and had caused infinite 
 amusement in Honolulu, where many of the inhabi- 
 tants remembered her parents very well. 
 
 While this was going on Carl Muller was pacing his 
 room, with darkened brow. He held the cheque in his 
 Wand, trying to -study out what it all meant, sent to 
 him in that abrupt fashion. He recalled Mrs. Van 
 Steuben's request, made to him in Honolulu, that he 
 would keep a careful eye on her son and remembered
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 24! 
 
 her statement that he would be "recompensed" for 
 anything he might do in that direction. He had want- 
 ed at the time to tell the purse-proud wbman that he 
 would be glad to oblige 'her, but could not dream of 
 taking money for the service. And he had said noth- 
 ing because he hoped that the idea would vanish from 
 her mind of its own accord. 
 
 And here was her cheque representing in t!he blunt" 
 est manner the estimate she put upon him. The slight 
 services he had rendered to Billy because he was 
 Amy's brotiher and to Miss Van Steuben, had been 
 weighed on her balance. This cheque represented the 
 figure at which she estimated him. 
 
 How degrading it was! How bitter this cup of 
 poverty that he had chosen to drink! He could not 
 stand it mudh longer. It would be better to buy a 
 'ricksha and pull strangers over the sandy road from 
 Shibukawa. 
 
 He finally sought Mr. Lovejoy. 
 
 "I am sorry to trouble you again," (he said, in a 
 shaking voice, "bult I must ask you to release me at 
 once." t 
 
 Pausing to allow this strange statement to penetrate 
 his brain, tftie clergyman asked what had happened. 
 
 "That has happened !" was the answer, as the sense 
 of indignity swept over his features. "Read those two 
 pieces of paper and see if you think a man with any 
 delicacy of feeling can remain here after receiving 
 them." 
 
 Wonderingly Mr. Lovejoy took the letter Mrs. Van 
 Steuben had written and perused it word by word. 
 flThen he read the cheque with equal deliberation.
 
 242 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "I don't exactly understand," he began, looking at 
 the young man over his spectacles. 
 
 "I don't suppose you do!" was the quick retort. 
 "Nobody understands ! I was born a gentleman's son, 
 poor perhaps, but with a sense of honor inherited from 
 ancestors who were neither serfs nor lackeys ! There's 
 good blood in my veins and it boils when I am crowded 
 into the mire by people witlh a little money. Confound 
 tihis woman and her gifts!" He reached for the ob- 
 noxious piece of paper and tore it into fragments. 
 "You see by her letter that s%e thinks me her servant 
 and has discharged me. This has become unbearable !" 
 
 The impetuosity of the younger man was in marked 
 contrast to the perfect calmness of the other one. 
 
 "You have had no trouble wrfch any other members 
 of the party?" queried the minister, gently. "With 
 William or Amy " 
 
 "No, no, no! May I consider this matter settled, 
 between you and me? I want to go I must go to- 
 day." 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy slowly drew a letter from his pocket 
 and, after hunting awhile for 'his glasses, made sure 
 it was the right one. 
 
 "Did you not take -some kind of trust from Mr. Van 
 Steuben before we sailed on the Coptic?" he inquired. 
 
 As Carl stared vaguely at the speaker the solemn 
 injunctions of the father edhoed again in his ears. 
 
 "Here are a few words wihich lie has written to me," 
 continued the clergyman, as he found the place : 
 
 I feel easy in my mind about my child, knowing 
 Chat she is in some measure under the eye of my old
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 243 
 
 friend Meyer's adapted son, who promised me to 
 guard her faithfully. I believe him a young man of 
 his word. If I had the least d'o-ubt of th'at I should 
 take the next steamer to Japan notwithstanding the 
 seasickness I should be sure to experience. I have no 
 doubt you will do all you can, but it needs a younger 
 and more active man. Gave Mr. MuMer my regards 
 and %11 him I shall hold him rigidly to his promise. 
 
 'A tremor passed over Carl as he listened. Yes, he 
 had give%that promise, ,fce recalled it with perfect dis- 
 tinctness. The introduction of Peter Meyer's name 
 affected him powerfully. 
 
 "When I had the conversation with Mr. Van Step- 
 hen," he said at last, "I did not anticipate this conduct 
 on the part of his wife." 
 
 "Don't you over-estimate the matter?" asked the 
 minister. "It seems to me that if I were in your place 
 I would simply write a polite note, saying that I had 
 done nothing for wftiidh I desired payment and would 
 be equally as ready in the future to render any service 
 she migfht require. Wouldn't tihat be better than leav- 
 ing us in this impulsive fashion ? I shall t>e surprised 
 and grieved if you abandon Miss Amy after hearing 
 what her father has written to me." 
 
 "What can I do for her that others cannot?" Carl 
 demanded. 
 
 "Her father seems to rely upon you. If you are 
 determined to leave, you should at least notify him 
 of your intention and give him a chance to carry out 
 the alternative of which he speaks." 
 
 For some time Carl was uncertain what to do. 
 There seemed the strongest arguments on both sides.
 
 244 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 On no account, he said, could he remain where h 
 was not wanted. If Mr. Lovejoy wished to see Mrs. 
 Van Steuben and could then assure him that t!he lady 
 wished him to remain, he would consider the sugges- 
 tion of writing to her husband. 
 
 As he could not be induced to modify this in the 
 least it was agreed upon after a little more debate. 
 
 Soon after he left the clergyman a slight figure ap- 
 peared at the latter's door, and a voice asked if it 
 might come in. 
 
 "Always, always !" responded Mr. Lovejoy, cheerily. 
 "What can I do for Little Rosebud ?" 
 
 "Oh, it's noth-ing par-ticular," she began, though 
 her face belied her words. " You heard what mo-ther 
 said about paying Mr. Muller for his ser-vices. Do 
 you believe she ever offered him mo-ney?" 
 
 He nodded in the affirmative; but there was a sly 
 smile on his lips that gave the girl hope. 
 
 "Don't be silly !" 'slhe said, in a vexed tone. "I don't 
 want to joke about the matter. Did slhe offer him 
 money or not?" 
 
 "She did," he repUied, still smiling. "More than 
 that, she gave him a cheque for $500. I saw it my- 
 self/' 
 
 "Oh !" Amy cried, sinking into a chair and pressing 
 her hands to her throbbing head. There was so much 
 pain in that one word that Mr. Lovejoy hastened to 
 expound his riddle. 
 
 "Here are the pieces scattered on the floor," he re- 
 marked. 
 
 Amy blinked rapidly and looked where he directed
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 245 
 
 her. Yes, there were pieces of paper which looked as 
 if they had been parts of a cheque. 
 
 "I don't understand." 
 
 "Sit down, my dear, and compose yourself. Let me 
 be sure the door is shut and I'll make it clear to you." 
 
 When this precaution had been taken he drew a 
 chair dose to the girl's : "Your mother .sent Mr. Mu<l- 
 ler that dheque this morning. He brought it to me, and, 
 in a whirlwind of rage, declared it an insult that he 
 could not endure. Tearing it to pieces he gave me 
 notice that he would at once leave the party for 
 good." 
 
 The joyful look which had begtin to creep into 
 Amy's face gave place to a doleful shadow as she heard 
 the concluding words. 
 
 "Then he has gone!" she gasped. "He has gone!" 
 
 "Why, what a fuss you make over an unimportant 
 matter !" 
 
 "He's gone!" she repeated. And with both hands 
 over her eyes she burst into frantic weeping. 
 
 Mr. Love joy arose and looked at the girl helplessly. 
 "What does this mean ?" he asked. 
 
 "Oh, you blind bat, you deaf post !" 'Sthe cridd, "must 
 I tell you what you have no eyes to see? I love the 
 ground 'that man walks on! I worship the air he 
 breathes! I cannot live without him! Is that plain 
 enough ? Do you understand now?" 
 
 She fell back into her chair, half fainting. The min- 
 ister walked up and down the room, muttering to him- 
 self. 
 
 "Well, I never, never, never! Dear, dear, wlhat a 
 yery istrange thing!"
 
 246 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Finally he seemed to grasp the situation and, lean- 
 ing over the pathetic form, -whispered soothingly : 
 
 " He loves the ground you walk on, too, my child. 
 He worships the air you breathe, also. If he were not 
 over proud in his poverty he would have told you so 
 long ago. Oh, I have watched him very carefully, 
 poor boy !"
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 247 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ON THE ROAD TO KUSATSU. 
 
 IT is neither necessary nor expedient to give the de- 
 tails of the conversation that followed Mr. Lovejoy's 
 assertion. It may be said, however, that Amy's teafs 
 gave way to smiles as she drew out of the old gentle- 
 man his reasons for die faith that was in him. In 
 the hands of the youthful potter he proved a plastic 
 bit of clay and revealed many things that contributed 
 to her satisfaction. 
 
 "Then he is not going away immediately?" she ask- 
 ed, when they reached that point. 
 
 "No. He has promised to stay for five or six weeks 
 at least. But I do not think we can keep him longer 
 than that unless some reason stronger than any I 
 can advance is held out to him." 
 
 Amy determined to lose no time in beginning her 
 campaign. She told her mother that she was suffering 
 for more active exercise and suggested a journey over 
 the hills to Kusatsu. She knew very well that Mrs. 
 .Van would never dream of taking that ride and that 
 she was now in a mood to humor her daughter in 
 every reasonable way. Amy played her cards shrewd- 
 ly and at last it was agreed that she might go, with 
 Olive, Lisette and Mr. Mudler, for three or four days,
 
 248 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 the entire party to start for Tokyo on their return, 
 where Mrs. Van understood something .nearer like 
 "civilization" could be found. 
 
 Carl would have escaped this trip could he have 
 done so in any reasonable way, but there was no evad- 
 ing his latest promise to Mr. Lovejoy. He must not 
 allow Amy to run into danger before her father should 
 arrive. There was no other available escort. He 
 therefore acquiesced, engaging horses, coolies and 
 provisions, and making all necessary arrangements. 
 
 Amy, who had now entirely recovered her spirits, 
 danced joyously about the ho f el. She never came near 
 Olive without catching her around the waist and whirl- 
 ing her in an impromptu waltz. She kissed her 
 mother's cheek many times each day, though this act 
 was generally received with a mild protest. She spoke 
 politely to Mrs. Young, Who assumed a highly injured 
 air ; and even bore with good nature exasperating hints 
 of her "Seraphic" child. To Mr. Loring, though re- 
 served, she was courteous in the extreme. He was 
 wise enough not to allude as yet to the matter which 
 lay near his heart, being assured by Mrs. Van that 
 things would be quite different in the near future. 
 
 When Billy saw the party made up he said he wished 
 he could join it. As all the available saddle horses in 
 the neighborhood had been requisitioned this idea came 
 rather late. 
 
 It was a beautifully clear morning. Nature seemed 
 to smile across the fresh green of meadow and hillside. 
 The horses plodded slowly, each with its owner in 
 charge, and the narrowness of the road compelled a.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 249 
 
 single file for most of fhe way. Cad rode affiead, his 
 thoughts wrapped up in matters not altogether con- 
 nected with the present occasion. Lisette came next, 
 as it happened, and not being well used to the saddle 
 had her attention confined to the novelty of the situa- 
 tion. Olive followed, at some little distance. She was 
 thinking 1 of "her brother, for whose continued absence 
 sfhe found it difficult to account. Had she been able to 
 do so without spoiling her friend's pleasure she would 
 have remained at Ikao and watched for fhe mail's. Amy 
 was occupied with plans as to what she would do in 
 certain conceivable emergencies. So the party went 
 on, almost as sombre as a funeral train, till die stop 
 for lunch and rest at noon. 
 
 Early in the evening the cavalcade came to tfhe ham- 
 let of Sowatari, a picturesque collection of houses and 
 shops, and alighted at the Japanese hotel. From the 
 time the village was entered it became evident that the 
 event was an unusual one. The people turned out en 
 masse to gaze on the strangers, something as an 
 American country population might stare at a menag- 
 erie. 
 
 All of the party were rather tired and soon after 
 the evening meal separated for the night. A little 
 later the sound of a horse's footsteps were heard in tihe 
 yard and a voice called out, in a low tout distinct tone, 
 "Olive!" 
 
 Miss Thorn opened the paper-covered s'lide and 
 recognized her brother, who requested her to come 
 down. As the moon was shining brightly there was 
 light enough to enable her to dress, in Which she was
 
 250 X SUGAR 
 
 assisted by Lisette, dispatched by Amy to her aid. 
 There was no need for the others to interest them- 
 selves especially in the matter and in a few minutes 
 they were all asleep. 
 
 Miss Thorn found her brother in a nervous state. 
 He had many questions to ask. He explained that he 
 had not written because he was expecting hourly to 
 come in person. At the first opportunity he had flown 
 to Ikao, only to learn that she was gone. The landlord 
 had lent him his own horse and he had followed as 
 rapidly as he could. 
 
 "I hope your business matters were all right?" sihe 
 said, interrogatively. 
 
 "Not quite. I am afraid I have slipped up on one 
 or two things. The worst of it is I may have to return 
 to Honolulu and perhaps take you with me." He 
 paused and took a full inspiration. "What have you 
 learned " He inclined his head toward die hotel and 
 did 'not finish the sentence. 
 
 "Dear brother, I wish you had never thought of 
 her," replied Olive, in a sad tone. "You would be 
 much happier if you could dismiss her from your 
 mind." 
 
 "I can't," he responded, gloomily. "I shall propose 
 to her to-morrow ; or if not, the next day." 
 
 "How will you get an opportunity?" 
 
 "You can help me. Arrange the party so that she 
 will be at the rear and keep the others as far ahead as 
 you can. I will make some excuse to be late in start- 
 ing and when I overtake her I shall have her to myself 
 for a few moments It will only take a few mo- 
 ments."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 2$ I 
 
 "And if she positively refuses you?" 
 
 "Why, then then we must go away, as quickly as 
 possible." After a long pause he added, "Have you 
 any money with you?" 
 
 "A little. Do you want it?" 
 
 "I may. We will go together and will you love 
 me just the same, no matter if " 
 
 She assured him earnestly on this point. 
 
 "Something that happened at Ikao today may help 
 me a little," said he. "You had hardly left the village 
 when two detectives arrived and arrested Loring. Be- 
 fore I came they had taken him away with them." 
 
 She was too astounded to speak. 
 
 "Yes, they had a warrant for him for embezzlement 
 a lot of money, I heard. He made a fuss at first, 
 declaring it was a case of mistaken identity and that 
 his father was an English lord, but he decided to go 
 quietly. Nobody would have known it was an arrest 
 if young Angel hadn't been listening and told the 
 story. I I'm so tired!" he continued, yawning. "I 
 must go to my room now and get my sleep. Good- 
 night, clearest." 
 
 They found a mousme, who had waited for them, 
 lying in blissful unconsciousness across the doorway. 
 She lit a candle and escorted the guests to their rooms. 
 
 The procession started in the morning exact 1 y as 
 Capt. Thorn had suggested, Miss Vain Steuiben bring- 
 ing up ^he rear. When Thorn caught up with her, 
 it immediately occurred to Amy that he had remained 
 behind on purpose to obtain a private conversation. 
 Sihe had known for a long time tihat he would ask her,
 
 252 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 sooner or later, to be his Wife, If this was his hrten- 
 tion the sooner it was over the better. 
 
 Passing through a small hamlet they carne to two 
 paths, one of which led through the valley, the other 
 over the hillside. Those in advance had taken the 
 valley road. Amy decided to take the upper path, 
 which she could explain on the ground that it afforded 
 a more beautiful view. 
 
 When she found herself entirely alone, however, 
 with Capt. Thorn, except for their two codlies (who 
 <Jid not count any more than the animals they led) 
 she had a moment of stage fright and began to think 
 of turning back. The Captain, however, did not give 
 her time to consider this plan. Pushing his horse to 
 her side he leaned toward her and said, in a voice of 
 feverish eagerness 
 
 "Can you guess why I am glad we have taken a 
 different path from the others, Miss Van Steuben?"
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 353 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 "YOU SPEAK SO SADLY." 
 
 IT has been the habit of the fair sex from time in> 
 memorial to affect the utmost surprise on sudi occa- 
 sions, and Amy's face bore an utterly blank expression 
 as she looked at the questioner. 
 
 "Is it something about Olive?" she asked. 
 
 "No." He tried to smile, though his countenance 
 was troubled. "It is something about you. Can it 
 be you have not seen, in all the time I have been in 
 your company " He cou'ld not proceed. 
 
 "Oh," she said, composedly, "you want to marry 
 me?" 
 
 "I love you I" he cried. "With all my heart and 
 soul ! Will you trust your future to me ?" 
 
 "I can't," she replied. "I might as well say it in 
 plain words. Not only do I not love you but my af- 
 fections are engaged elsewhere." 
 
 There was a pause of a full minute before he spoke 
 again. Amy glanced toward the valley, where the 
 others of her party were, and thought Carl's face was 
 turned somewhat anxiously in her direction. 
 
 "If you have reference to Mr. Somerset Loring," 
 said Capt. Thorn, gutterally, "he is under arrest for 
 embezzlement and now on his way to Yokohama, 
 where extradition proceedings will take place/'
 
 254 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "Mercy ! Is it possible we have had a man of that 
 character with us and never suspected him? He was 
 a great friend of Billy's. I am very sorry, indeed I 
 am. But it is not Mr. Loring. I don't think I will 
 tell you just yet who it is. Now, Captain, the worst is 
 over. I want to be good friends with you, for Olive's 
 sake. Promise me never to allude to this matter 
 again." 
 
 She held out her little hand. Thorn took it and 
 raised it reverently to his lips. From the valley below 
 Carl Muller was a witness of the act. 
 ,, "He has asked her to be his wife and she has accept- 
 ed. God help me to bear it like a man !" 
 
 Macduff was not the only personage in history who, 
 though he could "bear it like a man" must also "feel 
 it like a man." 
 
 After a painful pause Capt. Thorn said it would be 
 necessary for him to return to Ikao at once and take 
 his sister with him. It would be impossible for him 
 to remain with the excursion in his state of mind. 
 
 "Don't be foolish," she answered, soothingly. " 'Men 
 have died ere now and worms have eaten them, but 
 not for love,' you know. Ollie and I are sisters and I 
 want her to stay with me till I finish my journey. If 
 you are a nice, unselfish brother, you will do her that 
 favor, and if you care at all for me you should think a 
 little of my feelings. If you take Ollie away I shall 
 have to give up my trip." 
 
 "You will still have your maid and courier." 
 
 "Y-e-s, but I'm afraid it wouldn't look exactly right 
 io go on with them alone. I suppose you'll do as you've
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 255 
 
 a mind to. Why couldn't you have stayed away a 
 week longer ? I shall feel like going back to Honolulu, 
 rather than be separated from Ollie." 
 
 They were ascending the green hillside at every 
 step and the view was magnificent in all directions. 
 But the two travelers saw nothing but their individ- 
 ual troubles. 
 
 "Olive may not return to Honolulu," said Thorn. 
 
 "Why, where are you going?" 
 
 "I don't know." 
 
 "You speak so sadly!" 
 
 "What have I to make me happy?" 
 
 "But you might try. I wish I had stayed on the 
 valley road. I want to throw my arms around Ollie's 
 neck and have a good cry!" 
 
 Not having "Ollie's neck" to weep on, Amy took 
 her horse's instead. After a little while she straighten- 
 ed herself up and wiped her eyes. Then for an hour 
 neither she nor her companion uttered a syllable. When 
 she did speak it was to make a strong plea that Thlorn 
 woufld reconsider his intention of taking h'is sister 
 away with him. 
 
 "I could not leave her if I would," he replied. "There 
 has been some trouble with my remittances." 
 
 "What nonsense! You leave Olive's expense to 
 me. She shall be just like a sister, as long as you let 
 her stay." 
 
 "Olive is very dear to me," said Capt. Thorn, after 
 some consideration. "I will leave her in your hands, 
 as you propose, for the present. And if anything 
 serious should happen to me "
 
 256 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Amy interrupted him with a shiver. 
 
 "The way you say that makes my flesh creep!" she 
 exclaimed. "Why should anything 'serious' happen 
 to you?" 
 
 "Accidents may befall anyone. If, as I say, a 
 serious accident should happen to me will you still 
 be Olive's protector?" 
 
 "Always. And now let us talk about something 
 not so sad. We are losing these beautiful views. I 
 wonder if that is Kusatsu in the distance. Shall you 
 really have to go away? What a pity that is about 
 Mr. Loring! One would think a character of that 
 sort would exhibit his nature, and he seemed a per- 
 fect gentleman in every way. I wonder if it's not 
 possible there's some mistake. Embezzling money 
 ,from those who trusted him seems meaner than burg- 
 Jary or highway robbery. 
 
 Capt. Thorn had grown very pale. In answer to 
 Amy's inquiry if he were ill he admitted that he did 
 feel slightly faint. It was now nearly one o'clock 
 and soon they rode into the yard of the " besso " to 
 which they were bound. After waiting a moment to 
 see if it was expected of him, Capt. Thorn assisted 
 Amy to alight. Olive did not need to ask questions, 
 theexpressioninher brother's eyestellingits;own story. 
 
 Carl did not look closely at either of them. He 'had 
 seen enough from the valley. The bending over tlhe 
 young lady's hand was confirmed by their late arriv- 
 al, which indicated the deliberation of lovers rather 
 than the hastening of a maiden from an unwelcome 
 suitor.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Presently Miss Thorn and her brother strolled a 
 little way up the street and there he told her every- 
 thing. 
 
 "I may have to leave you again soon," he said, un- 
 easily. "I have had some business trouble; men v/ith 
 whom I have had dealings are pursuing me with malice. 
 I mentioned this to Miss Van Steuben on the way here 
 and she asked me to leave you with her for the present 
 Are you willing to stay?" 
 
 "When must you go?" she asked. 
 
 "Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps tonight. I may have 
 a message at any moment." 
 
 Olive was much puzzled at his manner, but she 
 tried to conceal her apprehensions. He certainly must 
 know best. 
 
 "There is just one other thing I want to say," he 
 remarked. "I have made some bitter enemies. If 
 you hear anything to my disparagement, don't let any- 
 one make you believe it. These men may annoy me 
 for the present, but I will surely win in the end." 
 
 She responded, with a warm pressure on the arm 
 she held, that no one could ever make her believe any- 
 thing wrong of him, and after a little further talk they 
 returned to the hotel. 
 
 At about the hour of midnight, finding himself un- 
 able to sleep, Capt. Thorn quietly made his way down- 
 stairs and out of doors. He started for a stroll along 
 the deserted street, although it was hardly light 
 enough to see his way. So absorbed was he in his 
 thoughts that he did not notice until it was very near 
 a figure clad in "European" clothing, approaching 
 on horseback, preceded by a coolie.
 
 258 A SUGAB PRINCESS. 
 
 The rider stopped almost at the same moment, di- 
 rectly in front of him. The action might have aroused 
 the apprehensions of a less nervous man than Capt. 
 Thorn was at that moment. He put his hand instant- 
 ly toward his hip pocket. 
 
 11 Why, Captain, don't you know me?" spoke the 
 familiar voice. 
 
 It was Mr. Somerset Loring.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE STORY OF CHATHAM STONE. 
 
 THORN peered into the semi-darkness anid recog- 
 nized the traveller, upon which he returned the weapon 
 to his pocket and put on a more cordial front. Lotting 
 alighted from his horse and indicated to his coolie 
 that he might go on to the hotel. 
 
 "That is the hotel, I suppose," he said, indica!tin/g 
 the building. 
 
 Thorn signified an affirmative. "Will you explain 
 how you are here?" he asked. " I was told at the 
 Kindayo that you had a pressing engagement with 
 some gentlemen who called there." 
 
 "A case of mistaken identity," replied the English- 
 man, quietly. "They had an idea that I was a man 
 named Chatham Stone, wanted for embezzlement 
 somewhere in the States. I humored them so far as 
 to go to Maebashi, when we ran into the British 
 Minister, who was on the train, and I succeeded in 
 convincing them of their error. 
 
 "Lucky for you. They might have taken you all 
 the way to America." 
 
 "Hardly as far as that. I knew I could get identi- 
 fied at Tokyo, if worse came to worst. Well, it has 
 done me no harm and is probably a good thing for
 
 2<5O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 ifie real Chatham Stone, who yery likely will hear of 
 it and be able to profit by my annoyance. My friends 
 the detectives insist that he is somewhere in this part 
 of the country. Do you suppose I could get anything to 
 eat?" 
 
 Thorn said he thought he could arouse some of the 
 servants and soon he succeeded in doing so. While 
 food was being prepared Loring went more particu- 
 larly into his adventure. Soon after the party had left 
 for Kusatsu the detectives came upon him a short way 
 from the hotel. They called him "Mr. Stone" and 
 said they had a warrant for his arrest. " The deuce 
 you have!" he told them. "What have I been doing 
 now?" They showed him a warrant and remarked 
 that they did not mean to stand any nonsense. 
 
 " 'If you want to go to the hotel and get your 
 things, all right/ they told me, 'but if you try to get 
 away you never'll put the Government to any expense 
 for your trial/ I was amued at their impudence, re- 
 turned to the hotel peaceably, got my traps, and went 
 along with them." 
 
 "You are cool enough about it," Thorn remarked, 
 shifting his gaze uneasily. 
 
 "Why, there was no danger. I knew I could send 
 for the British minister, who knows me very well, 
 when we got to Tokyo, but I didn't expect to find 
 him quite so soon/' 
 
 When the eggs and bread were brought he began 
 on them hungrily, drinking large cups of freshly brew- 
 ed tea at the same time. 
 
 "You havan't got a cigar about you, have you?"
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 26 1 
 
 said Loring, when at last he finished the meal. 
 "Thanks. And a match ? Awfully obliged. Mrs. Van 
 Steuben was anything but cordial to me when I came 
 back to Ikao. She wouldn't believe I was un- 
 justly accused, even when she saw me free again. So, 
 thinking the slander might reach the rest of her family, 
 I concluded to come at once and defend myself. Do 
 you know whether Miss Van Steuben has heard of my 
 misadventure ?" 
 
 "She has." 
 
 "And believes me a rascal fit for prison, eh?" 
 
 "Naturally." 
 
 Loring looked searchingly at the speaker. 
 
 "Do you entertain the same view?" 
 
 "I know nothing about it," said Thorn, reddening 
 under the sharp gaze. 
 
 "Don't you ? This isn't a bad cigar. How long do 
 you expect to remain at Kusatsu?" 
 
 "Till the others go, three or four days perhaps." 
 
 "I wouldn't," said Loring, composedly. "This cli- 
 mate is dangerous for a man in your state of health.'* 
 
 There was no longer any mistaking his meaning. 
 Thorn's eyes were fixed upon the ground and the air, 
 about the two men grew oppressive. 
 
 "What do you advise a man in my 'state of health' 
 to do?" the Captain managed to ask after an awk- 
 ward pause. 
 
 "Not to waste an hour in leaving this place ; to go 
 as fast as possible to some point on the railway the 
 nearest way is over the Shibu-toge, I believe. Pick 
 your way carefully out of Japan. The night air may
 
 262 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 be healthier than daylight for the greater part of Hhe 
 journey." 
 
 Thorn was looking anxiously down the road. 
 
 "One word; why do you do this?" he asked, absently. 
 "You must know I tried to save myself by putting the 
 police on your track." 
 
 "Yes, I know. I do this, Mr. Stone," (he spoke 
 the name very low) "on your sister's account." 
 
 Thorn sprang to his feet. 
 
 "You love her !" he exclaimed. "Why, I thought 
 I understood " 
 
 "Hush!" said Loring, warningly. "I do not love 
 Miss Thorn, but I honor and respect her and I would 
 avoid giving pain to her dearest friend, Miss Van Steu- 
 ben." 
 
 " How can I thank you? As soon as I say a few 
 words to my sister I will depart. If you remain you 
 may be able to keep my pursuers off my track a 
 little while." 
 
 "Make the parting short," warned Loring. "Half 
 an hour may mean everything to you. By the way, 
 are you sufficiently well in funds?" 
 
 Thorn shook his head dejectedly. 
 
 "I was afraid not. Here is 500 you can return 
 it when convenient. And what about Miss Olive?" 
 
 Hurriedly Thorn told him of the arrangement he 
 had made. 
 
 He then aroused his sister and had a few sad words, 
 during which he could not keep back the tears. A 
 servant had already summoned his coolie and his 
 horse was ready to mount. Pressing Mr. Loring's
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 263; 
 
 Hand and looking the gratitude he could not speak, 
 the Captain vanished up the dimly lighted street. 
 
 A room was soon found for the new arrival, where 
 he lay down on the "futons" and was tired enough to 
 get a sound sleep until morning. When he met the 
 others the next day he told them, with many a laugh, 
 of the strange mistake by which he had been arrested 
 and of his identification and release. He even 
 alluded to his cool reception by Mrs. Van Steuben, on 
 his return to Ikao, as a partial explanation for pre- 
 f ering to join the rest of the party rather than remain 
 at the Kindayo Hotel. 
 
 Amy, who had heard the first part of the story on 
 the previous day, was sincerely glad everything had 
 turned out so well. Carl's thoughts were too deeply 
 fixed on another subject for him to feel much interest 
 in the matter. 
 
 Presently Loring asked Miss Olive to ac- 
 company him for a walk to a Buddhist Temple above 
 the town, and she accepted. There were no other Eng- 
 lish speaking guests at the inn except Lisette, who 
 was occupied with a paper-covered novel up stairs, and 
 Miss Van Steuben decided she would never have a 
 better opportunity to get a definite declaration out of 
 Carl in relation to his feelings toward her. Mr. Love- 
 joy had convinced her that he only needed a litde en- 
 couragement. Surely the field could not be clearer. 
 
 "I wish Mr. Loring would fall in love with Ollie," 
 she said, looking after the retreating couple. "She's 
 a sweet girl and he's really a good fellow." 
 
 "It's hardly a week since he asked you to be his
 
 $64 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 wife. Do you think a man can transfer his affections 
 Bo easily?" 
 
 "Oh, I don't know," she said, pursing up her mouth. 
 "Marriage is a good deal of an accident in many 
 cases. I hope Mr. Loring won't mope his life out 
 because one girl refused him when there is another 
 just as nice. I didn't want to marry him and I had 
 to tell him so. I've had another offer since then, too." 
 
 "Which you did not refuse," remarked Carl, quietly. 
 
 He had grown very bold to talk to her in that way, 
 but he thought it only a matter of a few weeks before 
 he would part from her forever. 
 
 "Perhaps you know all about it," she pouted. 
 
 "Yes," he assented. "And I take this, my first op- 
 portunity, to congratulate you." 
 
 The girl began to feel chilly. Could it be Mr. Love- 
 joy had made a mistake ? 
 
 "Well, if you'll allow me," she replied, with a toss 
 of her head, "you don't seem to know anything about 
 it. On the way here yesterday Capt. Thorn asked me 
 to marry him and I declined without a moment's hesi- 
 tation. If I had accepted him do you think he would 
 have gone away, as he did, in the middle of the night?" 
 
 "But I could not help seeing you, from the valley,'* 
 said Carl, surprised at his own courage. "He took 
 your hand twice and kissed it." 
 
 The girl uttered a long "Ah-a-ha !" "You're a very 
 poor judge of symptoms," she said, lightly. "If I had 
 accepted the man, he wouldn't have kissed my hand." 
 
 A pain shot through his heart and the muscles of 
 his face twitched.
 
 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 265 
 
 "You seem to tfiink love and marriage very light- 
 things, Miss Van Steuben," he remarked, stiffly. 
 
 "On the contrary, I think them very serious things. 
 Here I have had proposals within a week from two men 
 I care nothing whatever about, arid no one I do care 
 for seems to care anything for me." 
 
 She spoke rapidly, fearing that he would interrupt 
 her. 
 
 "You have had some experience in the world, Mr. 
 Muller. Do you think if a girl liked a gentleman very 
 much it would be an unpardonable sin to tell him so 
 if she thought he was afraid to speak first?" 
 
 " It would certainly be unusual." 
 
 "Yes," she answered, reflectively. "And if he re- 
 fused her, she'd feel badly cut up, too. But if a girl 
 loves a man and he won't speak, what is she to do ?" 
 
 It began to dawn on his mind that she was amusing 
 herself at his expense, and he felt, as he had often 
 done before, the degradation of a position thatf per- 
 mitted such liberties. 
 
 "I have some things to see to and must ask you 
 to excuse me," he stammered, turning away. 
 
 "But Mr. Lovejoy asked you to attend to me; and 
 you're not attending to me at all." 
 
 "Anything I can do I shall find a duty and a pleas- 
 ure," he responded, politely. 
 
 "Well, I want to ask you something of the ut- 
 most importance." 
 
 He placed himself in an attitude of attention. Amy 
 threw back her head and gazed intently into his eyes. 
 Her bosom rose and fell and color filled her fair 
 cheeks.
 
 266 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "It's a very simple question," she continued, "but a 
 very important one. Would you like me for your 
 wife?" 
 
 "Miss Fan Steuben!" Carl straightened him'self to 
 his full height, his eyes ablaze. "Do not go too far !" 
 
 Her color deepened, her breath came in shorter 
 gasps, but she persisted. 
 
 ''You have not answered me. Will you be my 
 husband?" 
 
 "I cannot think what I have done to deserve this," 
 he replied, deeply agitated. "I have conducted myself 
 toward you in all respects as a gentleman and you 
 would make me something lower than a servant. 
 
 He started toward the house, but her voice followed 
 him softly. 
 
 " Carl ! Do you reject me?" 
 
 "Yes!" he retorted, fiercely, flinging t)he word at 
 her as he vanished. 
 
 The Sugar Princess sank into a chair on the veran- 
 da. Had she played her great game and lost? Had 
 she forgotten her maidenly reserve, all to no purpose ? 
 Was Mr. Love joy wrong, after all ? She was the most 
 wretched of human beings.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 267 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 "l LOVE YOU, CARL ! I LOVE YOU I" 
 
 THERE was certainly no reason for staying longer at 
 Kusatsu ; and Miss Van Steuben elected to go on over 
 the mountain pass known as Shibu-toge. From Shi- 
 bu they could easily reach the railway and return to 
 Ikao, with less fatigue. 
 
 Nobody was likely to raise any objections to which- 
 ever path she chose. Mr. Loring was glad to go to 
 Shibu, where he hoped to hear something of Thorn, 
 who was to pass that way. Having undertaken to as- 
 sist the fugitive he was anxious that the flight should 
 be successful. Besides, he felt a chivalrous interest 
 in Olive, whose legitimate protector was now in no 
 position to aid her. As for Carl, he counted the days 
 when all this was to end and he could seek some less 
 disagreeable method of earning his living. 
 
 The start was made rather early in the morning. The 
 procession moved slowly, as the road was not very 
 good and it was necessary to adopt the old single file 
 manner of march. Carl started his horse first, in the 
 hope that he could get a lead which would prevent con- 
 versation, but Amy's animal followed his as if it un- 
 derstood her wishes. When they reached the top of 
 the first range of hills she made several enthusiastic 
 references to the scenery, which fully justified her en-
 
 268 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 coniums. Carl's replies were so monosyllabic that they 
 clearly showed the state of his feelings. 
 
 "You ought not to be angry with me," she said, 
 after several "yes" and "no" answers on his part. 
 "If you act like this you will spoil my whole trip." 
 
 "I cannot forget so easily," he answered. "We shall 
 get along better if you will remember that we are not 
 in any social sense on equal terms. I ask you as a 
 favor not to amuse yourself at my expense again." 
 
 "I never did. You were the one who found amuse- 
 ment in an honest statement of fact. You had a right 
 to refuse my offer, but I think you might at least treat 
 me kindly." 
 
 "I have no more to say," replied Carl, in a tired 
 voice. "If you continue in that vein you must not 
 expect me to answer." 
 
 Amy stole a glance at him. 
 
 "It's a bargain," she replied. "I'm going to talk to 
 you, then, and you are merely to listen. The others 
 are so far behind that neither will hear a word. To 
 begin, I said nothing to you yesterday that I did not 
 mean. I know I am a strange gifl. I never heard of 
 another one doing a thing like tlhat. People say I al- 
 ways was peculiar, that I never act as anyone would 
 expect. Papa calls me his 'Wild Goose' and I guess 
 that's a good name for me. When I've had to refuse 
 offers of marriage it has always hurt my feelings. I've 
 not got a hard heart like some people I could men- 
 tion, if I wanted to be personal." 
 
 His lips were pressed closely together and his form 
 bent over in the saddle.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 269 
 
 "I fell in love with you a very long time ago," the 
 speaker continued in a monotone. " I daresay you have 
 forgotten it, but I never have and never shall. I was 
 
 out in a boat with Mr. Loring and Billy," Carl 
 
 started as if shot " oh, you do remember! We were 
 run down by a tug and I was thrown into the water. 
 'And when I came up from under those waves your 
 strong arm was around my waist and your wet mous- 
 tache was pressed against my cheek." 
 
 He had not 1 looked for anything as hard as this. She 
 was making fun of the most sacred of his recollec- 
 tions. 
 
 "Before the men in the tug boat had taken me from 
 your arms my heart was gone. When they had me 
 safe on board I expected every moment that I should 
 hear the manly voice of my rescuer inquiring into my 
 condition. But there was nothing of the kind ; when I 
 sat up and looked around he was nowhere to be seen. 
 Not a very agreeable situation, was it ? I had met the 
 only man I ever loved and lost him again, all within 
 five minutes. I put an advertisement in the papers 
 offering a reward, thinking that might attract his at- 
 tention. If he should prove the kind of man who 
 would take money for the service he had rendered I 
 would speedily find myself cured of my infatuation. 
 If, on the contrary, as I hoped and believed, he would 
 spurn the proposition, I intended to throw myself on 
 his neck crying, 'Darling, I am yours !' " 
 
 And while he had sat in his room, dreaming of that 
 vision of beauty, and cursing the fate that placed her 
 out of his reach, she had been ridiculing him in this
 
 270 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 fashion! He would not interrupt her. Nothing she 
 could say could wound him more. 
 
 "But you did not come. The instant your clinging 
 arms left my waist you forgot me. Such is the nature 
 of the sex to which you belong. And yet you had some 
 excuse, for you had lost your dearest friend and was 
 bending every effort toward his recovery. When I 
 learned this I said to myself, 'He may be after all 
 worthy to be my idol to fill the vacant niche in my 
 young heart.' Then we came to Honolulu on the 
 same steamer. Dear old Mr. Lovejoy told me all he 
 could learn about you. I began to feel sure I had 
 made no mistake. Alas, how easily one may be de- 
 ceived! Time went on. We happened to take the 
 same boat to Hawaii. There the distressing event hap- 
 pened which " 
 
 Mr. Muller turned to the girl with a face like marble. 
 
 "Please omit references to that point," he said, 
 sepulchurally. "There are some things I cannot bear.'* 
 
 "I sincerely beg your pardon." After a slight 
 pause Amy continued : "You will at least let me say 
 that your conduct excited my admiration. On the way 
 to the Volcano I sought any excuse to be near you. 
 You went with Mr. Lindes into a place of danger and 
 for a few moments I feared you had perished. Ignor- 
 ing all warnings I hastened after you, determined 
 either to save or die at your side. My strength gave 
 way and again I felt your arms around me, your pres- 
 ence the one barrier between me and death. I was 
 more than ever determined that if possible I would 
 teach you to love me as I loved you."
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 271 
 
 The soft cadence of the young woman's voice came 
 to Carl's ears like unholy music. She seemed to him 
 a beautiful serpent that fascinates before it strikes. 
 He would have tried once more to silence her, but his 
 tcngne clung to the roof of his mouth. 
 
 "Then came the trip to Japan. Mr. Lovejoy en- 
 gaged you by my request yes, that is the simple 
 truth. Papa had already, I think, guessed my secret 
 and approved my choice. Mamma wanted me to mar- 
 ry some gentleman of rank, but I had no idea of doing 
 anything of the kind. There have been times when I 
 thought you cared for me arid would yet teli me so. 
 Again you have seemed to avoid, even to dislike me. 
 I planned this trip we are now taking to settle the 
 question definitely. I have settled it." 
 
 Her voice had sunk so low that it was scarcely 
 audible. The young man waited for what he felt sure 
 would follow a peal of laughter at the part she was 
 playing. If she wanted to think she had beguiled him 
 into believing anything she said, that she might make 
 his discomfiture complete by turning him to ridicule, 
 it would be quite as well. The woman he had loved 
 was a myth. This heartless creature had usurped her 
 place. He would bear his pain all the better, knowing 
 that his ideal enchantress had never existed. 
 
 But the peal of laughter did not come. Instead a 
 complete silence followed. Presently he became aware 
 that Miss Van Steuben's horse was not following his 
 and, glancing uneasily back, he saw that slhe had stop- 
 ped in the path and was apparently waiting for the 
 Others. Feeling that in his capacity of guide he ought
 
 272 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 not to leave her alone even for a few minutes, he turn- 
 ed and walked his horse slowly toward her. 
 
 Suddenly a scream of terror came from the girl's 
 lips and at the same instant Carl saw what had caused 
 it. A serpent, quite eight feet in length, was making 
 its way slowly across the path in front of her. 
 
 Now the serpents of Japan are not as a rule danger- 
 ous to the human species. No doubt this one was 
 quite as badly frightened as Amy, when she gave ut- 
 terance to that piercing shriek. Carl saw, however, 
 that her fright might have one serious consequence. 
 She was reeling in her saddle and her stupid betto was 
 making no move to save her from the fall that seemed 
 imminent. Springing to the ground Carl ran to her 
 side, whereupon she fell into his arms in the most ap- 
 proved fashion and for a moment quite lost conscious- 
 ness. 
 
 Neither of the others who belonged to the party 
 was near enough to hear the scream or see the 
 commotion. The coolies looked on stolidly. As there 
 was no water at hand, the road being too high up on 
 the mountains, Carl laid his burden gently on the herb- 
 age and began to slap her hands briskly, as the quick- 
 est means of restoring her circulation. Presently she 
 moved slightly and her eyes opened. Then the recol- 
 lection of what had caused her terror returned and she 
 grasped her protector's arm spasmodically. 
 
 " Don't let it touch me!" she cried, faintly. "Carl, 
 Carl ! Don't let it touch me !" 
 
 "It has gone ; there is nothing to fear," he respond- 
 ed, coldly. "Are you able to sit up?"
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 273 
 
 She looked about her and saw for the first time 
 
 that she was not in the saddle. 
 
 "What a horrible thing it was!" she said, closing 
 her eyes at the recollection. "Did I fall from the horse ? 
 I don't feel bruised." 
 
 The figures of the remaining members of tihe party 
 appeared in the distance and Carl was about to call to 
 them when she raised an objection. 
 
 "I don't think we had better tell them about the 
 snake/' she said. "It might frighten Ollie and it can 
 do no good. I was awfully silly to be alarmed, but 
 really it was a dreadful looking thing. I know," she 
 went on, with a little sob, "you are very angry with 
 me, but you might help me to rise when I am so 
 weak." 
 
 He assisted her to her feet and she leaned her weight 
 upon him till the others were near. When Lisette 
 started to dismount Amy bade her remain where she 
 was. She said she had had a slight attack of dizzi- 
 ness but was all right now. There happened to be a 
 tea-house a short distance away and the new arrivals 
 went on to it to order some light refreshment pre- 
 pared. 
 
 After a few minutes Carl lifted Amy into her sad- 
 dle and then walked by her side, holding her on. 
 
 "Are you never going to forgive me?" she mur- 
 mured. 
 
 "If you won't say such things again I will try," he 
 answered, gloomily. 
 
 "But I must say them again," she said, putting her
 
 274 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 rT 
 
 hand on his arm. "I must say them again and again 
 and AGAIN, for they are TRUE." 
 
 Her voice sunk as low as a zephyr and her sweet 
 breath fanned his cheek. "I love you, Carl. I love 
 you! I love you!"
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 275 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 LENDING A PASSPORT. 
 
 THERE was something in the timbre of the voice that 
 stirred the young man's soul. He turned toward the 
 speaker as if in a dream and involuntarily held out his 
 hand. She clasped it with a convulsive movement that 
 spoke more than words. Before Carl Muller's swim- 
 ming eyes the world seemed vanishing into space. He 
 met the ripe lips that bent down to him ; and a kiss as 
 sweet as the honey of Hybla and delicate as the wing 
 of a butterfly sealed the unspoken troth. 
 
 For several minutes they rode on with their hands 
 clasped and then Amy's was gently withdrawn. She 
 did not mean to attract the attention of her fellow 
 traveler and the tea-house was now within sight. 
 During the time spent for rest she chatted in her or- 
 dinary manner with Mr. Loring and Olive, who seem- 
 ed in very good spirits. They were indeed too deeply 
 engrossed in each other to pay much attention to what 
 anyone else was doing. 
 
 The descent into the village of Shibu would have 
 revealed some wonderful scenery to people who had 
 eyes for anything but each other. But to Carl and 
 Amy there was nothing worth seeing at the present 
 moment but the companion who rode near. The others
 
 276 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 loitered behind, either purposely or by accident, leav- 
 ing them quite alone with their coolies. 
 
 At points where the road grew slippery and stony 
 they dismounted and walked for some distance, fear- 
 ing that the ponies might fall under their weight. Carl 
 helped Amy over many places where her little feet 
 could not otherwise pass dry shod. Sometimes he car- 
 ried her bodily for a few rods, declaring in response 
 to her protests that she was like a feather to him. It 
 pleased her to have his strength exerted for her bene- 
 fit, and she knew well that she formed no heavy bur- 
 den for a man of his physique. 
 
 About four o'clock they came to a second tea- 
 house, where the coolies stopped to rest and to feed 
 their horses and the young couple proceeded on foot, 
 the road having grown much better. There is such 
 sweetness in being entirely alone with those we love! 
 And yet, though one would think there must be much 
 to say and many things to explain, neither made the 
 least reference to the great subject that occupied their 
 minds. They talked of the scenery and the climate, 
 even of far-off Honolulu. There are thoughts too 
 deep for utterance and both were well content to 
 postpone all explanations to a future day. 
 
 Before reaching Shibu the coolies overtook them 
 and they remounted their animals. The other three 
 travelers did not arrive till nearly an hour later than 
 they. Whether or not Lisette had received a hint not 
 to ride too near her mistress I will leave the reader to 
 guess, for his opinion on that matter is quite as like- 
 ly to be correct as mine.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 277 
 
 The next morning the excursionists took 'ric'-.shas 
 to Toyono, from which they decided to go direct to 
 Tokyo. Amy sent a telegram to her mother asking 
 her to join them at the capital, and knew she would 
 be only too glad to do so. Cars had to be changed at 
 Tagasaki and the delays were so great that Tokyo 
 was not reached until ten in the evening. 
 
 Arriving at the Imperial Hotel it was learned that 
 Mrs. Van had not arrived, but a dispatch was received 
 from her, stating that she would start on the following 
 morning-. The telegram closed with the mysterious 
 words, "If Mr. L. is with you, do not commit your- 
 self. Something important has happened." Amy 
 smiled softly as she read the words. She wondered 
 what her mother would say if she knew what had "hap- 
 pened"' of much more importance than anything she 
 referred to. 
 
 Carl bade her good-night in a steady voice, avoid- 
 ing looking directly at her for fear Lisette might no- 
 tice something unusual in his eyes. Amy thought it 
 hard, but realized that he could not act differently 
 with discretion. When her chamber door closed upon 
 her and the maid, she threw her arms around Lisette 
 and sobbed, "Oh, I'm so miserable and so happy!" 
 
 Just before Mr. Loring retired a note was brought 
 to him and a few minutes later he had walked a short 
 distance from the hotel to meet its author. Out of 
 the shadow Capt. Thorn came to meet him. 
 
 "Have you brought it?" he asked, nervously. 
 
 Mr. Loring drew a paper from his pocket, which 
 Thorn inspected anxiously by the aid of a cigar light-
 
 278 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 er. "Thirty years of age," he read, "five feet eight 
 inches in height, weight 1 1 stone 6, dark hair and eyes, 
 mustache, no beard." 
 
 "Eleven stone six is 160 pounds," he commented, 
 making a mental calculation. "Your description might 
 have been made for me. Are you sure it can get you 
 into no trouble if I use your passport?" 
 
 "You are very welcome to it," replied the English- 
 man. "Don't try to go to the United States at present, 
 however. Take a steamer to Hongkong and proceed 
 from there by easy stages. If you need further as- 
 sistance and will write to me I will gladly render it." 
 
 Thorn grasped the extended hand. 
 
 "I don't know how to thank you enough," he said. 
 "The money you have loaned me shall be a debt of the 
 most sacred honor. As soon as possible I will repay 
 it with interest." 
 
 "Good-night. It may be dangerous for us to be 
 seen talking together." And, with another caution to 
 lose no time in leaving the country, Loring withdrew. 
 
 Among the earliest guests of the Imperial to arise 
 the next morning was Carl Muller. He had been too 
 much perturbed to sleep very soundly. As he passed 
 out of the hotel he encountered a familiar face that 
 caused him to start in surprise. The owner of the 
 face walked straight toward him, seeming delighted 
 at the meeting. 
 
 "Speak of the devil !" exclaimed the new-comer. "I 
 was just wondering where in this queer country you 
 were hiding and if I should be lucky enough to run 
 across you. I'm more than glad to set eyes on you
 
 A SUGArf PRINCESS. 279 
 
 again ! You haven't forgotten Barney Summer Bar- 
 ney of San Francisco?" 
 
 "No, indeed! But what on earth are you doing 
 here?" 
 
 "Something it will interest you to know. You re- 
 member old Pyne, the detective of course you do. 
 Well, I'm here on an errand of his. You see, my best 
 girl went back on me the fortune I was expecting to 
 make didn't come quite as rapidly at it should and 
 when she gave me the mitten I lost my heart and job 
 at the same time. For a few months I wasn't good for 
 anything. Pyne knew the shape I was in and one day 
 he sent for me. 'How would you like to be a detec- 
 tive?' says he. Td as lief be that as anything else,' I 
 answered. 'My life is shattered. It makes no differ- 
 ence how low in the social scale I fall.' He wanted a 
 man to go to Japan and hunt up a missing party. 
 Funniest thing to send me on an errand of that kind, 
 wasn't it? but he was short-handed, and I reaped the 
 benefit. I've only been in the country a few days 
 and the place is so interesting I haven't been able to 
 attend to business at all." 
 
 The listener was obliged to smile in spite of him- 
 self. It did look a rather queer selection. 
 
 "Have you given up becoming a great writer of 
 romance?" he inquired. 
 
 "Not at all ; only postponed it. If you'd helped me 
 out with that plot I started on ! I have a literary friend 
 and we've talked it over often. He's a Pole, one with a 
 capital P, I mean, and he says if I could only bring it 
 to the right finish it would beat all the stories
 
 28O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 written in this century. I have already used up half 
 a ream about Mr. Meyer's disappearance, the erup- 
 tion on Mauna Loa, saving the lady from drown- 
 ing (I idealized that, to make it look original) and 
 finally going off to the Orient in her party, as Mr. 
 Pyne told me you did. I'm sure you're going to dis- 
 tinguish yourself, before you get through, and the 
 manuscript may come handy while the newspapers are 
 full of your exploits." 
 
 "Exploits?" repeated Carl, puzzled. 
 
 "Certainly. I can't have my work ruined merely 
 because you won't attend to your part of the business. 
 It you don't attract public attention in some striking 
 way pretty soon I shall invent something and tack it 
 on to you. I hoped you would come back and take 
 possession of Dhat big estate, cutting a swath that would 
 attract attention. I know what I'd do if I had half of 
 it!" Mr. Barney rolled his eyes and smacked his lips 
 in anticipation. "As you didn't, I pushed the fiction 
 for all it was worth. According to my plot you've got 
 to have a big fortune. If you won't take it from St. 
 Louis you must get it somewhere else. It is also 
 necessary to the romance that you marry the Hawai- 
 ian beauty!" 
 
 A strong hand was on his arm and a warning look 
 was shot into his eyes. The lig^ht way in which he spoke 
 cut his hearer to the quick. 
 
 "Oh, don't get mad with me for trying to earn an 
 honest living!" Barney exclaimed, edging away. "If 
 I want to give you a pot of money on paper I'm 
 going to do it My latest idea is to have you fall heir
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 28 1 
 
 to some relation abroad you've got relations abroad, 
 haven't you?" 
 
 There was no use in getting angry with the fellow, 
 who had once rendered him a service. Carl humored 
 him by saying that he supposed he had kin beyond 
 seas, though he knew nothing definite about them. 
 
 "I was sure of it !" was the joyful answer. "What 
 is more natural than that one of your relations should 
 die and leave his vast estates to you? And in the 
 interests of entertaining fiction, why mightn't he be a 
 nobleman, just as well as not? It can't do any harm 
 if I should even make you a Count; it will be all the 
 more reason in the story why the girl you love (in 
 the story again) should accept your hand. To make it 
 more aristocratic I think I will call you 'von Muller.' 
 I should like to know if there is any solid dbjedtibn 
 to that?" 
 
 They had walked some distance down the street 
 and stood on the banks of a moat which enclosed 
 grounds sacred to rovalty. It was but a short space in 
 width, but the barriers were high and firm. Carl 
 thought with a sigh that just such a moat and wall 
 must separate him forever from the 'desire of his soul 
 Love him as she might, there was nothing more im- 
 possible on earth than that he should become Amy 
 Van Steuben's husband. 
 
 "Our family was originally called 'von Muller,' " he 
 said, thoughtfully. 
 
 "Of course it was ; and they had estates big ones 
 somewhere in it wasn't Breslau, was it?" 
 
 " It was Breslau; who told you?" was the aston- 
 ished query.
 
 282 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 " Why, it might as well be Breslau as anywhere; 
 and your great-uncle might die there worth more than 
 six million florins. And if there are no nearer rela- 
 tions, his lawyers might send to America to hunt you 
 up putting their case in the hands of, let us say, 
 Maple & Pyne. It's easy to suppose things when one 
 gets to writing imaginative fiction. With a fortune 
 of your own almost as big as that of your beloved's 
 papa, you could ask for her hand (in a novel) wifth 
 reasonable certainty of having the proposal fairly con- 
 sidered. Oh," pursued Barney, picking up a stone and 
 jetting it into the water of the moat, "I'll fix you all 
 right (in my romance) if you'll let me." 
 
 There was something mysterious in the way the 
 young fellow said these things and Carl felt a strange 
 sensation going through his brain. After a moment 
 of silence he shivered and caught his breath, as he real- 
 ized the folly of such a tissue of improbabilities. He 
 turned back toward the Imperial and Barney return- 
 ed with him. 
 
 "I suppose the mission on which Mr. Pyne sent 
 you here is a secret," he remarked, presently. 
 
 "Not to you; though I'd rather you wouldn't men- 
 tion it to your friends for the present. Indeed, I 
 hope you will be able to give me a little help in the 
 matter. The fact is, Pyne has never given up the 
 belief that Peter Meyer is living and he thinks he's 
 here in Japan somewhere." 
 
 A look of the most intense pain came into the list- 
 ener's face. 
 
 "Mr. Meyer is dead !" he said, hoarsely. "There is
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 383 
 
 ao doubt about it. If you had seen, as I did, the aw- 
 ful river of burning lava in which he was engulfed, 
 you would not for a second doubt that." 
 
 "Well, Pyne won't believe it," replied Barney, "and 
 he's risked a thousand dollars of his money to back 
 up his opinion. He's got reason to suspect that the 
 old gentleman took passage in a sailing vessel from 
 Lapahoehoe two days after Lindes lost sight of 'him 
 and was a passenger on a Tacomfa steamer for Yoko- 
 hama a few weeks later. If he's wrong it's the first 
 time. Anyway, I've got to satisfy myself about a few 
 points that he wants me to look up and I'll be much 
 obliged if you'll give me a lift." 
 
 There was something awful to Carl in the flippant 
 manner with which Barney discussed the question; it 
 was almost like prying open a tomb. 
 
 "I tell you, solemnly, I know he is dead !" he replied. 
 "I have seen his spirit, plainly and distinctly." 
 
 Barney uttered a long whistle. 
 
 "If you'll take me to the place where you saw that, 
 and give me the date of the apparition, I won't trouble 
 you much further !" he cried, excitedly. "I can do the 
 rest myself."
 
 284 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER xxx. 
 
 A SHOCK FOR MRS. VAN. 
 
 MRS. VAN was not in an entirely happy frame of 
 mind. She had been so thoroughly convinced, upon 
 hearing of his arrest, that "Lord Loring" was a swind- 
 ler, that she had treated him in a most disgraceful man- 
 ner. Later information caused her to think he was 
 merely Dhe victim of a mistake on the part of the de- 
 tectives. She was now divided between those two be- 
 liefs. If he was an innocent man, and actually heir 
 to an earldom, would he ever forgive her for having 
 twice assailed him in language far from polite? If, 
 on the other hand, he was an artful rogue (and she 
 had heard of pretended noblemen imposing on credu- 
 lous people) what could be worse than giving him an- 
 other chance to ply his arts? 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy, to whom she appealed in her distress, 
 counselled great caution. He thought, after what had 
 happened, it would be best to wait for positive poofs 
 before opening further negotiations. Mrs. Young, on 
 the other hand, was convinced that the Englishman 
 was all he represented himself ; but she took the ground 
 that he was hardly up to the high standard the Van 
 Steuben family should set. She had a copy of Whit- 
 taker's Almanack in her trunk, and as she read the
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 285 
 
 names of British peers aloud it seemed to Mrs. Van 
 that there was a large assortment to select from. The 
 one thing on which both members of her "kitchen 
 cabinet" agreed was that nothing ought to be done for 
 the present but maintain the status quo. They did 
 not use this term exactly, for tfhat would have entailed 
 a prolonged explanation, but the idea is contained in 
 that familiar expression of diplomats. 
 
 There was little doubt in the mind of Mrs. Van that 
 Mr. Loring had followed her daughter. The coolie 
 sent with the horse belonging to the landlord of the 
 Kindayo Hotel had been directed to pursue his way 
 to Kusatsu. It was possible that with two or three days 
 of interrupted association he had again offered his 
 hand to Amy and had this time been accepted. Mrs. 
 Van knew her daughter well enough to realize that 
 in that case it might require much effort to break off 
 the match she had been so anxious to bring about. It 
 would certainly be embarrassing to meet Mr. Loring 
 until she understood the situation. She therefore sent 
 another wire to Amy, telling her that she would go, on 
 her arrival at Tokyo, to the Metropole Hotel, where 
 she wished her to visit her, coming with no escort ex- 
 cept her maid or Mr. Muller. 
 
 On receiving this wire Amy naturally tihonght Carl 
 the best one to select. They set off in 'rickshas, as if 
 merely going for sightseeing, and reached the Met- 
 Topole earlier than Mrs. Van. As it is quite apt to be 
 m Japan, the train was late and they went to one of 
 the parlors, to await the expected arrival. 
 
 As there was no one else in the room Amy saw no
 
 286 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 reason why she might not enjoy a very pleasant half 
 hour with the man she loved. She took a chair next 
 to his and said with fervor that she was glad tfhey were 
 at last where no listening ears could interfere with their 
 conversation. 
 
 "How long have you loved me?" she began, bend- 
 ing on him a look of beaming happiness. "Though I 
 knew what was in your heart, I feared till the last mo- 
 ment something would separate us. Wasn't it awful 
 that I had to be the one to speak out? But I'm not 
 sorry I did it, dear, and I'll make you glad to the last 
 day I live." 
 
 His reply was delivered with slow and measured 
 tones. 
 
 "I have loved you from the moment I had you in my 
 arms in the water at San Francisco ; loved you with my 
 whole soul ; loved you as I always shall, though I fear 
 nothing short of a miracle can bring that love to its 
 fulfillment. Amy, let us look this matter squarely in 
 the face. It would not be honorable for me to win 
 you in our widely different circumstances. Your father 
 trusts me and I will not be false to him. It is inex- 
 pressibly sweet to know you are not indifferent to me 
 to feel that, had I possessed a suitable fortune, you 
 would have joined your life to mine. Whatever happens 
 I shall guard that memory as my dearest possession." 
 
 The girl's eyes opened wide and her mouth pouted 
 deliriously. 
 
 "Then you won't be my husband? You will wreck 
 my future as well as your own? And all because my 
 father has more money than you ?"
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 287 
 
 "But think !" he answered, much distressed. "Your 
 father is " 
 
 "I know ; I know ! A Sugar King, a Millionaire, the 
 richest-man-in-Honolulu, all that sort of thing. But 
 I'm nothing but a foolish little girl, very much in love, 
 whom nobody seems to consider. I'm not going to 
 tease you to marry me, sir. You needn't think I shall 
 get down on my knees to crave the boon. If a man 
 really cared for me he would at least ask my father, 
 before he gave up hope. It is evident you don't love 
 me and never did. I have lowered myself in your eyes 
 and must suffer the penalty." 
 
 She bent her head, and Carl, forgetting everything, 
 lifted the piquant face and touched the lips with his 
 own. At first she made a pretense of avoiding the em- 
 brace, and finally not only accepted but returned it. 
 He sank on one knee and she placed an arm around 
 his neck. 
 
 "I can get Popsie to disinherit me," she whispered 
 "just in a friendly way, you know. If you prefer I'll 
 come to you with nothing but the clothes I wear and 
 a little handbag containing combs and brushes. We 
 will have nearly as much then as he had when he mar- 
 ried mamma. But we don't need to do that," she 
 hastened to add, "He's very fond of you already." 
 
 Carl could not muster courage enough to take that 
 arm from his neck or to fly from the siren voice that 
 whispered of an earthly heaven. He knelt there still, 
 like one entranced, listening to words sweeter than 
 ambrosia, and replying in monosyllables from time to 
 time. He felt himself wavering when, to ptraotuaite the
 
 288 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 sentences, Amy laid her soft cheek against his; but he 
 still protested feebly that it would be disgraceful for a 
 penniless man to aspire to the height toward which she 
 beckoned him. 
 
 "If you love me as much as you say," she said at 
 last, "I suppose you could claim your estate in St. 
 Louis. That would make you what mother calls 'in 
 our class.' ' : 
 
 "I have relinquished it in writing," he replied. "Noth- 
 ing would tempt me to touch it." 
 
 "Not even your love for me?" 
 
 "Not even that and there is nothing so strong, 
 Amy, of which I can conceive." Then he murmured 
 
 "I could not love thee, dear, so much 
 Loved I not honor more." 
 
 She had both arms around his neck now and all the 
 affection in her untainted heart shone in her luminous 
 dark eyes. They had quite forgotten that they were in 
 the public parlor of a hotel, into which anyone might 
 enter unannounced. It was one of those blissful mo- 
 ments of which even the transgression in Eden could 
 not rob the human race; a glimpse of Paradise like 
 that which Elizabeth Browning ref ered to when she 
 sang 
 
 " Unless you can gaze in a crowd all day 
 On the absent face that fixed you ; 
 Unless you can love as the angels may, 
 With the breadth of heaven betwixt you j
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 289 
 
 Unless you can feel, when unpraised by his breath, 
 
 That your beauty itself wants proving 
 
 Unless you can swear, ' For life, for death !' 
 Oh, never call it loving I" 
 
 The door opened. Mrs. Van Stetiben entered, fol- 
 lowed by Rev. Mr. Lovejoy and Mrs. Young. There 
 was a scream, and the portly lady had to be helped to 
 a sofa by her attendant. 
 
 "Don't speak to me! Don't come near me!" cried 
 Mrs. Van, as Amy sprang up and hastened to her side. 
 "How can you look me in the face, you shameless 
 girl! (Thank you, Mrs. Young.) So, miss, this is 
 the way you carry on with a common servant in the 
 public parlor of a hotel! What do you think your 
 father would say if he knew !" 
 
 "That will do, mother," Amy replied, in a set tone, 
 though her face colored deeply. " You know very 
 well your daughter could not lower herself and that 
 your charges are nonsense. The man you delight to 
 insult is dearer to me than life. My father knows how 
 much I love him and approves my choice. I admit it 
 was indiscreet to give way to my affection in a public 
 room, but I have kept it pent up so long it had to over- 
 flow somewhere." 
 
 Mrs. Van rocked herself to and fro on the sofa as 
 if in excruciating agony, continually applying to her 
 nostrils the smelling salts which Mrs. Young promptly 
 gave her. 
 
 "You will return to Honolulu with me on the very 
 next steamer," she exclaimed, "I hope," she added
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 in an undertone, "I shall get there alive, but it will 
 be no fault of yours if I do." 
 
 "I am not going to Honolulu on the next steamer," 
 said Amy, quietly. 
 
 "Then I shall go without you. I have tried to bring 
 you up as a girl should be in your sphere of life 
 and I have failed. Do not let William hear of this/' 
 she continued, in a half whisper to Mr. Lovejoy. "He 
 is rash. I fear if he knew what advantage this viper 
 has taken of the trust reposed in him he would do 
 something terrible." 
 
 Excited as she was, Amy could not repress a smile 
 at the idea of her brother in the role of an avenger. 
 As she glanced at Mr. Lovejoy's face he indicated 
 that she had best leave the parlor, and, drawing her 
 arm through Carl'?, she went out into the hallway. 
 
 "You see," said the young man, dejectedly, "how 
 perfectly hopeless our case is !" 
 
 "You haven't the courage of a mouse you great, 
 strong giant!" she exclaimed, squeezing his arm. 
 "Mamma will get over it. I don't believe you really 
 love me." 
 
 There was no one in sight and Amy only said this 
 to induce the form of denial most natural to expect. 
 It came. A blond moustache swept her red lips. 
 
 "Mr. Lovejoy is our chief reliance," she said, when 
 this pleasant diversion was ended and she had a 
 chance to use her voice. "He has written to father 
 that he must come at once, as you are going to resign 
 your position. He will come, seasickness not con- 
 sidered, and within a month or so you can have his
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 blessing if you want it. If it pleases yottr independent 
 spirit any better we can begin housekeeping in one 
 room, as he did. Perhaps you'll be a Sugar King your- 
 self one of these days. Carl!" she pouted, " I've not 
 had a definite answer yet to the proposal I made you 
 at Shibu!" 
 
 They were getting into their 'rickshas when Billy 
 appeared on the scene Billy, who had been so re- 
 cently represented as a possible avenger of blood. He 
 was fashionably dressed, as usual, and carried a light 
 walking stick, with which he struck his trousers as he 
 came along. At sight of the pair he ran toward them 
 joyfully and extended both hands. 
 
 "Oh, I have got the greatest news !" cried his sister, 
 with suppressed eagerness. "You'll stand by me, won't 
 you, as you always have ever since we were tots?" 
 
 "To the last ditch, Amy." 
 
 "Well I'm going to surprise you this time. How 
 would you like Mr. Muller for a " 
 
 "Brother-in-law! Splendidly! You thought I 
 was blind all the time, but I wasn't. I saw the way 
 the wind blew. Is it settled?" 
 
 Amy looked sideways at Carl, who reddened violent- 
 ly. 
 
 "I hardly know," she replied. "Is it?" 
 
 Carl cleared his throat. 
 
 "Mr. Van Steuben," he said in a low tone, "I love 
 your sister dearly and I believe she cares almost as 
 much for me. But in my present condition, with no 
 prospects for the future, how can I ask her to be 
 my wife?"
 
 292 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 "Seems to me I could find some way, if I were in 
 your place," answered Billy, with a laugh. 
 
 "Mamma is awfully angry about it," said Amy. 
 "Can I rely on you, Billy, whatever happens ?" 
 
 "Bet your boots 1" was the unequivocal answer.
 
 'A SUGAR PRINCESS. 293 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THE MARQUIS OF MAEBASHI. 
 
 WHEN Carl and Amy reached the Imperial they 
 learned that Mr. Loring had suddenly departed, hav- 
 ing received a telegram which compelled him to leave 
 at once. He had only had time to leave that message 
 with Lisette, but promised to write from England 
 when he reached home. They talked it over together, 
 agreeing that he was a pleasant fellow and that they 
 were sorry to have him go. Just now, 'however, Carl 
 was in too great a quandary for the matter to interest 
 him much. To remain at the same hotel witfi Amy, 
 in their altered relationship, practically in charge of 
 her, was assuming a deep responsibility. It was hardly 
 more practicable to leave her alone with Lisette. The 
 alternative of advising her to return to Honolulu with 
 her mother was not agreeable, but he adopted it at 
 last. He might have saved himself the trouble, as the 
 proposal was declined forthwith. 
 
 "Papa is on the way here," -she said. "I can't run 
 away from him when he has undertaken a disagreeable 
 journey solely on my account. I don't believe mamma 
 will go. When she gets over her anger she'll make the 
 best of it." 
 
 At last she consented to return to the Metropole
 
 294 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 and ascertain definitely Mrs. Van's intentions. Licrc te 
 and one of the hotel couriers accompanied her? 
 
 Hardly had the young lady gone when Mr. Simmer 
 Barney appeared on the scene. He had been making 
 some investigations, he said, which convinced him 
 more than ever that Peter Meyer was alive and in Jap- 
 an. Though Carl shook his head incredulously he 
 answered all the questions asked him, describing 
 minutely the scene near Ikao, when he saw the shad- 
 owy outlines of the familiar form. Urged to accom- 
 pany Barney to the spot he said he would gladly do 
 so when relieved from a more pressing duty. He was 
 obliged to reveal the fact that Mrs. Van and her 
 daughter might part company. 
 
 "I thought you would take more interest in the 
 thing," said Barney, with a disheartened face. "Your 
 keenness has suffered a great relapse since I first met 
 you." 
 
 "As long as Mr. Meyer was alive," was Carl's im- 
 patient response, "I would have followed him to tlhe 
 end of the earth. I even risked my life in the hope 
 of recovering his charred body. The errand you have 
 engaged in is absolute folly. While I would be glad 
 to help you, if you insist upon wasting your time, I 
 cannot leave real and immediate duties to do so." 
 
 He had not finished before a 'ricksha drew up in 
 front of the hotel and Mr. Love joy stepped out. He 
 looked particularly grave as he approached Carl and, 
 paying no attention to the fact that he had a companion, 
 requested him to come to his room for a private con- 
 versation. Carl excused himself hastily from Barney 
 and accompanied the minister upstairs.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 29$ 
 
 "Mrs. Van Steuben has decided to take a steamer 
 for Honolulu tomorrow," said Mr. Lovejoy, when they 
 were alone, "even if Miss Amy cannot be persuaded 
 to go wibh her. I have promised to officiate in loco 
 parentls until Mr. Van Steuben arrives, should the 
 daughter decline to leave Japan. After wfaat I saw in 
 the Metropole parlor I need hardly ask if you also 
 expect to await Mr. Van Steuben's coming." 
 
 Carl felt the need of saying something in defense 
 of himself and of Amy. 
 
 "I see you are angry with me and perliaps I deserve 
 a little of your indignation. It was certainly thought- 
 less to select a public room for sudh a scene as you 
 interrupted. I have loved Miss Van Steu'ben blindly 
 s*ince the first day I saw her. Now that I know she 
 also cares for me I am like a man in a dream." 
 
 "I have no disposition to judge you. I merely wish 
 to say that, if Miss Van Steuben desired it, I will as- 
 sume charge of her until her father comes. I am 
 somewhat older than you and in the circumstances " 
 
 Carl thanked the speaker warmly, saying he had re- 
 moved a great weight from his mind. He then asked, 
 with some uneasiness, what Mrs. Young would do 
 after Mrs. Van sailed, but the minister said they were 
 going together. Carl then told him of Mr. Loring's 
 departure, to which he listened with interest, and Mr. 
 Barney's strange mission to Japan was also alluded 
 to. 
 
 The conversation closed by requesting that Barney 
 should be sent for and this was done without delay. 
 As the result of a long talk it was decided, in case
 
 2<X> A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Mrs. Van Steuben did not change Tier mind, and If 
 Miss Amy consented, that the entire remaining mem- 
 bers of the party would accompany Mr. Barney to 
 the interior* 
 
 When Amy returned from the Metropole she told 
 Carl that her interview had been very painful and that 
 there was no prospect of healing the rupture. She had 
 been given no choice between the maternal displeasure 
 indefinitely prolonged and of returning at once to 
 Honolulu, with a promise never to see or communicate 
 with Mr. Muller again. 
 
 "In that emergency, how could I hesitate?" she ask- 
 ed, pathetically. "You'll take me in charge till Popsie 
 comes, at least?" 
 
 "Mr. Lovejoy will assume that position please 
 don't frown! He will be an indulgent guardian." 
 Then Carl went on to speak of Mr. Barney and to say 
 he wished to join their excursion into the country. 
 She haid no objections and that matter was settled. 
 
 Billy came over a little later and announced that his 
 mother, himself and the Young contingent would go to 
 Yokohama on the evening train and sail on the follow- 
 ing morning. He had come to say good-by. Amy 
 loved 'her brother devotedly and the parting had many 
 elements of sadness. 
 
 "I wish mother wouldn't carry her unreasonableness 
 so far," she said. "I'm afraid when she gets home 
 she'll spread some awful stories. Papa will be here 
 in three or four weeks and everything would be love- 
 ly if we could persuade her to wait till then/' 
 
 He replied that he had already used bis best efforts.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS 297 
 
 He did not believe, however, that his mother would 
 say anything to make trouble at home. She was too 
 proud of the family position for that. 
 
 "But why need you go with her? Ah, I see! It's 
 that old love affair of yours with Minna King. Billy, 
 for heaven's sake, don't marry that half-white girl. 
 You'll be sorry the rest of your life. She's nice enough, 
 and pretty, I won't deny, but this mixing of races is 
 awful!" 
 
 He inquired blandly what she thought of mixing 
 Dutch and Portuguese, which had produced her own 
 sweet self; and if she thought the addition of a strain 
 of pure German would help things any. She reddened, 
 but replied that all these nationalities were white, 
 which made a difference. 
 
 "If I were to marry Prince Daniel, tfhat would be 
 something similar. You know you wouldn't like that, 
 Billy. Give her up, that's a good boy !" 
 
 He said she knew perhaps, from her own experience, 
 how easy such things were. Arguments were plainly 
 lost on him. That evening, at the hour her mother 
 and brother were to take their train, she threw her- 
 self into Olive Thorn's arms, disconsolate. 
 
 On the next day, when the newspapers showed that 
 the Hongkong Maru had sailed with Mrs. Van and 
 Billy among the passengers, preparations for the re- 
 turn to Ikao were pushed. In spite of his incredulity 
 Carl could not help being affected by Mr. Barney's 
 earnestness. 
 
 Something happened that evening, however, to> 
 change his views. On coming down to dinner he saw
 
 298 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 at one of the tables the three Japanese gentlemen who 
 had been fellow passengers with him on the Coptic. 
 Later, in the smoking room, the one who had been 
 pointed out to him as the eldest son of the Marquis 
 of Maebashi greeted him cordially. Inquiries as to 
 his stay in Japan, his impression's of the country, and 
 so on, were made by the Oriental, wMi that politeness 
 whidh has caused the Japanese to be known as "the 
 Frenchman of the East." After a pleasant half hour 
 had been spent in this way the young marquis branch- 
 ed into another subject. 
 
 "I have just returned from Shoji," lie said, "one of 
 the most delightful of our mountain resorts. There I 
 saw a gentleman who is, I imagine, a fellow country- 
 man of yours, about whom I promised to speak to 
 your minister here. He is very old and seems slightly 
 deranged. When he arrived he had plenty of money, 
 but for some time now has made excuses whenever his 
 bill is presented. He seems to have had a good edu- 
 cation and has apparently seen much of the world. The 
 suspicion is that he has strayed from his friends and 
 cannot find his way back to them. Have you happened 
 to hear of anyone of that description who is missing?" 
 
 It was nearly a minute before Carl could find his 
 tongue. 
 
 "Do you remember the gentleman's name ?" he asked. 
 
 The Japanese did not remember. He was then ask- 
 ed the most expeditious route to Shoji and gave care- 
 ful directions, after whidh Carl left him, with many 
 thanks. 
 
 The possibilities of the new question were monu-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 299 
 
 mental. If Meyer was living and deranged beyond re- 
 pair what then? What if his faculties slhotlld be 
 restored to him ? If if if 
 
 Might he regain his friend, wrecked in body and 
 mind, and still lose the dearest girl on earth?
 
 3OO A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 "ACROSS OCEANS AND CONTINENTS/' 
 
 CARL arose in the morning feeling that he could not 
 start for Shoji too soon. Barney had the new in- 
 formation imparted to him before breakfast and re- 
 ceived it with enthusiasm. 
 
 The suggestion of changing the trip to Shoji met 
 with no objection from anybody, it being newer than 
 Ikao and equally interesting. The first train was con- 
 sequently taken to Gotemba, whidi point was reached 
 before noon. After a lunch and rest at the principal 
 hotel the requisite number of horses and bettos were 
 engaged and tfie cavalcade started into the country. 
 
 Amy's partiality for Carl was no longer a secret and 
 they were permitted by common consent to ride in ad- 
 vance of the others. Olive spoke to Lisette once or 
 twice about the matter and occasionally dropped a 
 hint to Mr. Lovejoy. She found herself wondering if 
 the rich Abel Van Steuben would really give his con- 
 sent, when he had to face the actual proposition. 
 Theories in sudh matters, she knew, were not always 
 carried out in actual experience. Although saddened 
 when she thought of her brother's disappointment, she 
 could not help rejoicing at Amy's happiness. If Capt. 
 Thorn was not to win this girl she had no reason to 
 envy Mr. Muller his remarkable conquest.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 3OI 
 
 It was quite dark before they arrived at Yoshida, a 
 purely Japanese village where foreigners are seldom 
 seen. The entire town was en fete, a great fire festival 
 being in progress, and the geishas for miles around 
 were engaged to entertain the people. In all the 
 streets and squares were numerous tall piles of wood, 
 blazing merrily, illuminating the place till it was al- 
 most as light as day. This festival occurs but once a 
 year and is of very ancient origin. They found the 
 hotel a primitive affair, but were too tired to mind 
 tfhis. Twenty minutes after lying down on the futons, 
 spread on the mat-covered floor, all were fast asleep. 
 
 Anxious to puslh on as fast as possible, it was ar- 
 ranged before retiring that the horses should be ready 
 at seven o'clock. The road was little more than a path 
 through the hills and the ovefhanging trees required 
 constant care to keep them from sweeping the riders 
 off their saddles. When the Lake of Shoji was at last 
 in sight, a beautiful sheet of water nestling among 
 the mountains, and the White walls of the cosy hotel 
 could be discerned in the distance, Carl told his com- 
 panion W'hy he had come to this place. She was flat- 
 tered that he confided his secret to her alone and 
 spoke soothing words of encouragement. 
 
 Now that his goal was so near, Mr. Barney could 
 not bear to remain behind, but with an apology forced 
 his horse past the young couple and entered the 
 grounds of the 'hotel in advance of them. Carl did 
 not feel like hastening. A peculiar sensation oppressed 
 him. He dreaded almost as much as he hoped that he 
 would find Peter Meyer there.
 
 302 A SllGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 At the dobr of the hotel Mr. Hoshino, the propri- 
 etor, an Englislhman wtho had been adopted into a 
 Japanese family and married one of its daughters, 
 welcomed the party. Hoshino said to Carl that the 
 guest he sought had gone for a walk but would pro- 
 bably return directly. As full a description as he 
 could give was added, but he said the gentleman had 
 registered in the name of Oberman. 
 
 Carl's excitement had now grown to fever heat. He 
 asked Barney to let him meet the man first alone ; and, 
 pressing Amy's hand with a convulsive grip, strode 
 down the path in the direction indicated. He had not 
 gone far when he saw the form of Peter Meyer 
 older, grayer, more bent, but unmistakable approach- 
 ing. Carl paused and stood stock still, witlh folded 
 arms. As Peter approached he glanced sideways at 
 him and seemed about to pass without a word. Then 
 he looked again and stopped. 
 
 "You've been gone a long time," he said, complain- 
 ingly. "If you were not coming home you might have 
 sent some word." 
 
 Good Heaven! The period since they had met 
 was a blank to his mind. 
 
 "Go over and tell Lindes I want to see him," con- 
 tinued the old man. "He said you would never come. 
 Now I can prove him a false prophet." 
 
 "Mr. Lindes is in St. Lours. We are in Japan. 
 Don't you remember going to Honolulu, and the vol- 
 cano " 
 
 Meyer's face brightened a little. 
 
 "The volcano, ah, yes ! That was where I got away
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 303 
 
 from him from Marcus .... I had my plan well laid 
 
 I took a vessel and sailed somewhere. Then I 
 
 had a long, long sleep, with strange dreams." (He 
 seemed struggling with his clouded recollection.) 
 "There were many nights at sea and many days on 
 horseback, with deaf and dumb men for grooms ; . . . . 
 and I kept thinking you would come and you did not ; 
 
 and Marcus, because I had run from him, never 
 
 came either. I can't find the book I kept my accounts 
 in," he continued, despondently, "and the landlord 
 says I owe him money. Do you think he will let me 
 starve ?" 
 
 It was inexpressibly sad to find this strong mind 
 overthrown, with only intermittent flashes in the dark- 
 ness. Carl guided the old gentleman to his own room, 
 where he ordered a meal to be served. While the wait- 
 ress was arranging the table he sought Amy and gave 
 her a brief outline of what had occurred, asking her to 
 tell the others and beg them not to disturb him for the 
 present. 
 
 As the meal progressed Mr. Meyer brightened from 
 time to time, but he seemed to think they were in his 
 old home and inquired why Matilda did not appear. 
 He missed various articles of furniture and some pic- 
 tures and had to be reminded over and over that 
 he was in Japan, far from St. Louis. When conver- 
 sation flagged the old gentleman had one never-failing 
 resource. He always adverted triumphantly to the 
 falsity of Marcus Lindes' suspicions. 
 
 "I knew you would find me," he said, brightening 
 up like a candle nearly burned out. "I told him you
 
 304 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 would follow me, across oceans and continents. Won't 
 I prove him a slanderer and falsifier !" 
 
 In what steamer he had reached Japan, how he had 
 managed to get to this remote spot, in what way he 
 had provided himself with funds, none of these tilings 
 was he able to make clear. Probably he had carried 
 originally a large sum in ready cash w*hich had only 
 recently become exhausted. It is not unlikely that 
 he had been imposed upon by people who realized his 
 weak mind. Unhappily human nature is much the 
 same in such things, in all parts of the world. 
 
 When the lunch was finished Carl ushered Mr. 
 Meyer into his sitting-room Where his friends were 
 gathered. He took a seat in a corner and no effort 
 was made to induce him to talk. The only time he 
 showed signs of interest was when he heard the minis- 
 ter address Amy as "Miss Van Steuben." 
 
 "Abel Van Steuben of Honolulu," he said, absently. 
 "Abel said Marcus was wrong he said Carl wasn't 
 tfie rascal >he wanted me to believe. And he was right ; 
 Abel Van Steuben was right!" 
 
 Immediately after this Mr. Meyer closed his eyes 
 and relapsed into slumber. 
 
 A messenger was dispatched to Gotemba for a chair 
 with bearers to carry him as far as the railway. Dur- 
 ing the next two days the visitors whiled away the 
 time by visiting the ice caves and other points of in- 
 terest in the vicinity, everywhere picturesque and at- 
 tractive. On the third day, the "kago" having arrived, 
 all set out on their return to Tokyo, stopping at Yosh- 
 ida over night as before.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 305 
 
 Meyer made no trouble. His appetite was good and 
 he liked going about among the strange streets of the 
 Japanese metropolis, with a special attendant who was 
 provided for him. The others managed to fill up the 
 time agreeably until news came that Mr. Van Steu- 
 ben's steamer had been sighted. Then, when the meet- 
 ing with this all-important person was imminent, Carl 
 grew dispirited again* 
 
 ' ' I know what the world will say that I have entrap- 
 ped an heiress for her money," he told Amy, repeated- 
 ly, "I am as proud, my love, as I am poor. If Mr. 
 Meyer had his proper senses he might undo his work 
 in disinheriting me. I should at least feel then that 
 I had 'expectations.' But, when I am merely a beg- 
 gar!" 
 
 She saw how deep his feelings were and hesitated 
 to say more. She would leave it to her father to dis- 
 pose of these "ridiculous" notions. 
 
 Mr. Van Steuben's welcome was very warm. He 
 was rejoiced to see Peter Meyer, who recognized him 
 at once, but was surprised to hear that his wife had re- 
 turned home. He looked extremely well and was in 
 excellent spirits. The voyage had been so calm that 
 he had not had a bad quarter of an hour during the 
 whole of it. 
 
 A few days later all sailed for Honolulu, having the 
 extraordinary good fortune to catch the Coptic on her 
 return trip. Mr. Richgood, the purser, arranged that 
 the party should occupy his entire table and during the 
 voyage contributed largely to their comfort and pleas- 
 ure. On arriving Mr. Van Steu'ben, Amy and OliV
 
 306 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 went of course to the family residence, while the 
 others registered at various hotels. Mrs. Van received 
 her daughter with great chilliness and gave absolute 
 orders to the servants that if Mr. Muller called he was 
 not to be admitted. Meetings between the couple were 
 therefore held for the present at Mr. Van Steuben's 
 office; and it may be added that they were of daily 
 occurrence and of prolonged duration. 
 
 Within a few weeks Olive received a letter from her 
 brother, asking her to come at once to New York. He 
 said he had settled all his business troubles satisfac- 
 torily and was prepared to offer her a home again with 
 him. Though sorry to leave Amy, she was very happy 
 at the news and took the first steamer for California.
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 AMY WRITES TO OLIVE. 
 
 MY Darling "Sister:" (So wrote Amy to Olive, 
 some weeks after the events narrated in the preceding 
 Chapter.) I have so much to say to you I hardly know 
 haw to begin. But before I record tihe news, some of 
 which I think will surprise you, let me say again how 
 glad I am your brother has been relieved of the 
 troubles whic'h hung over him. Papa tells 
 me it was never anything more than a dis- 
 agreement between partners and that Capt. Thorn did 
 right in trying to protect his interests. I suppose it 
 was owing to his suspicion of the men with whom he 
 had to deal that made him assume the name of Stone 
 to them. Give him my regards and say we shall be 
 glad to welcome him whenever he finds it convenient 
 to visit our island. 
 
 Now for my story. A short time ago Mr. Muliler 
 was informed through the agency of Maple & Pyne 
 'that he had fallen heir to the title and estates of Graf 
 Muller, a German nobleman, who was, I think, his 
 great uncle. There being no reason why he should re- 
 fuse the fortune he wrote promptly to Germany, send- 
 ing the necessary papers, and later went over himself. 
 He is now fully entitled to be called a " Count/' and
 
 308 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 mamma has modified her objections to our marriage, 
 since she will after all have a Countess in the family. 
 To humor her, Carl (I must call him by his first 
 name) will consent to use his new title for a time, 
 though he agrees with papa that "handles" of that sort 
 are not becoming in a full-fledged republican, living 
 under the folds of the Star Spangled Banner. 
 
 Mr. Meyer is so well contented in Honolulu that he 
 has decided to remain here indefinitely. His mind is 
 completely restored and one of the first things he did 
 when he was able to execute papers was to destroy the 
 will by which he disinherited Carl and reaffirm the 
 previous one by which he devised his property to him. 
 In these altered circumstances, Carl has managed to 
 muster courage enough to ask papa for my hand (as if 
 that hadn't been arranged for all practical purposes 
 monitihs before) and as soon as he returns we are to 
 be wedded at my home in the most approved fashion. 
 I know you will congratulate me, dear. I never really 
 gave up expecting it would happen, but I confess 
 Carl's remarkable run of luck did not seem very prob- 
 able when we were in Japan last autumn. 
 
 And now for the strangest part of my history. I 
 don't think it was meant that I should ever know it at 
 all, but it has come out, little by little. Papa was so 
 fearful that mamma would marry me to some foreign- 
 er that he arranged with Maple & Pyne to have a man 
 follow us and keep him informed of our every move- 
 ment. Mr. Maple, the head of the firm, undertook the 
 important commission. You may think you didn't see 
 anything of him, but you did. He merely assumed a
 
 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 309 
 
 new name and traveled with us as w<hat do you 
 think? the "Rev. Eli Lovejoy!!" 
 
 I understand that in his early days Mr. Maple was 
 an actor and that his most successful roles were those 
 of clergymen. He certainly filled the part this time 
 with some success, as I think you will agree. Nor is 
 this all. Feeling that mamma needed someone to in- 
 fluence her at the right moment, he had his wife, who 
 was already at Honolulu, on another case, go along 
 also. That lady, as you may now be able to guess, 
 passed under the name of "Mrs. Young." Her two 
 children, who for their age showed remarkable pro- 
 ficiency in the profession of their parents, came also, 
 as I think you will not forget. 
 
 When not engaged in his professional duties, Mr. 
 Maple is a most reticent man and Mrs. M. is almost 
 as hard to extract information from as he. I tried to 
 get a full explanation of tfhe plan they adopted, but all 
 Mr. Maple would say, when pressed, was that every- 
 thing worked exactly as he intended. If you will cast 
 your mind back over certain incidents I think you will 
 conceive, as I have done, a high regard for his cun- 
 ning. 
 
 Neither of these people were mudh disguised; and 
 yet when they took the steamer for the States I hardly 
 knew them. They had resumed their natural dress 
 and manners. Mr. Maple is under fifty yeans of age 
 and Mrs. M. considerably his junior. The children 
 bore themselves like respectable young things instead 
 of the unbearable imps I am not likely to forget in a 
 hurry. They would have passed for prize scholars in 
 a Sunday School.
 
 3IO A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 This, notwithstanding that less than a WCCK before, 
 they had driven Billy to the verge of distraction and 
 nearly broken the heart of pretty Minna King, the 
 quarter-Hawaiian girl you will remember I once point- 
 ed out to you. 
 
 It appears that mamma, after recovering from her 
 shock at finding out "Mrs. Young's" true profession, 
 seized the opportunity to make use of the children to 
 cause a rupture between Minna and Billy. The couple 
 were enjoying an evening at Waikiki, having 'had a 
 moonlight swim in the breakers, When Angel and 
 Seraph, concealed somewhere about the buildings on 
 the beach, chanted at intervals the most exasperating 
 references to people of color. One of tfhe guests at 
 Wright's Villa told me about it afterwards. It was 
 awfully mean and I gave Mrs. Mapile my opinion of 
 the affair, but the poor woman was only acting under 
 instructions from mamma, wiho I .think would rather 
 see Billy in his grave than have him marry Minna. 
 
 The night was still and the moon at its full Billy 
 was sitting on the beach whispering sweet nothings 
 to his idol when a shrill voice was heard, reciting these 
 lines : 
 
 "Nigger, nigger! Chew chew chew! 
 Black as a bull-dog! Boo-woo-woo!" 
 
 Billy sprang up and looked for the perpetrator of the 
 Outrage, but while he was trying to locate the sound a 
 came from another direction : 
 
 "Nigger, nigger, chew terbacker, 
 'If you die it is no matter!"
 
 X SUGAR PRINCESS. 31 1 
 
 It was awful, as you can conceive. Minna's Head 
 was hanging down, for slue felt that the insults were 
 directed to her. A moment later a voice rang out 
 
 "/ had a little Nigger an' he wouldn't grow no bigger 
 An' I put him in de winder for a show 
 He tumbled out de winder an' broke his little finger 
 An' he couldn't play de old banjo!" 
 
 Billy asked Minna to leave the beadh, but while she 
 was still undecided the tormentors began again : 
 
 "There was an old Nigger, they called hint Uncle Ned. 
 He's dead long ago, long ago. 
 He had no hair on de top of his head, 
 De place where de wool oughter grow." 
 
 Then Minna rose to her feet and her anger burst 
 forth like a flame. 
 
 "This is either your work or that of some nuemfber 
 of your family!" she cried, fiercely. "I want you to 
 understand that I am not a 'nigger.' My mother's 
 grandfather was King in Hawaii, and not a Sugar 
 king either ! My father's people stand as high as any- 
 body in New York State. No immigrant family from 
 nobody knows where shall accuse me of having Afri- 
 can blood. Don't speak to me ! Don't follow me ! I 
 will never recognize you again !" 
 
 She went to the bathhouse, dressed for the street and 
 had the hotel keeper ring for a carriage 5 take her 
 home. 
 
 Although I am sorry such a mean way was 
 taken to break up that match, I must admit I'm glad 
 it's broken. If Billy had married her he would ihave
 
 312 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 suffered terribly some day at the slurs cast on his 
 children. For a month he was very downhearted, but 
 he is recovering 1 , and Minna's engagement is an- 
 nounced to a shopkeeper who has been trying to win 
 her for a long time. Enough of this unhappy affair. 
 I have heard from Mr. Loring, who was, it appears, 
 the only son of a live lord and whose sudden return to 
 England was caused by the fatal illness of his father. 
 He is now Lord Somerset, an earl, and entitled to call 
 his wife a countess (just the same as Carl.) He wrote 
 that he was coming here again, but when I send the 
 announcement of my engagement I think he may alter 
 his plan. Why did you not "bag that bird" yourself? 
 (What awful slang!) You might have had him just 
 as well as not and then we would have had two count- 
 esses in "our family." 
 
 That young fellow Barney who went witih us to 
 Shoji is getting out a book which he says is based on 
 some of Carl's adventures. He has been for years, I 
 learn, an associate of Mr. Pyne's, and is considered a 
 pretty shrewd fellow. 
 
 I know I am writing in a gay and frivolous vein, but 
 what can I do ? Every cloud that hung over my path- 
 way has been blown aside. I am to have the dearest, 
 best and noblest man on earth for my husband ; and as 
 he will go into business with Papa I shall henceforth 
 bask in the sunshine of those I love best, every hour 
 of my life. There is no wish of my heart that will then 
 be unfulfilled that is, if you will come and act as my 
 bridesmaid, which it is the main object of this wander- 
 ing letter to ask.
 
 S SUGAR PRINCESS. 313 
 
 I cannot fix die exact date yet, but will give you am- 
 ple notice. If you don't want to furnish the only "spot 
 on the moon" (the honeymoon) you will respond at 
 once in the affirmative. I hope you will bring tihe 
 Captain with you. 
 
 I can't tell you how happy I am. My "bosom's lord 
 sits lightly on his throne" as Mr. Shakespeare makes 
 some one say. lam a " Sugar Princessi" I shall be a 
 Countess of the German Empire but these are noth- 
 ing compared to being the pet of the most indulgent 
 of papas and the wife of a man who has been through 
 fire and come out, like the Hebrew children, with not 
 even the smell of burning on his garments. 
 
 Your own, AMY. 
 
 P. S. Don't wait for the mail. Telegraph your ac- 
 ceptance to our San Francisco house and they will for- 
 ward. You must come. A. V. S.
 
 314 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 "ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL/' 
 
 THACKERAY called Vanity Fair "a novel without a 
 hero." I have been reading over tihrs manuscript and 
 find that I have written a novel without a villain; un- 
 less, indeed, Mr. Lindes may be elected to that posi- 
 tion. And poor Marcus has been well punished for 
 and deeply repented of the obstinate freak that caused 
 him to furnish the groundwork for this tale. When 
 Mr. Van Steuben started for Japan he returned to St. 
 Louis, and though, in response to several letters of 
 regret at his fault, Peter Meyer wrote that he forgave 
 him, he added that it was best tihey should not meet 
 again. By a strange combination of circumstances all 
 had ended happily, but it was as well, on the whole, 
 that a large slice of the Pacific Ocean should continue 
 to separate them. 
 
 As to Capt. Thorn, I do not pretend that he was, in 
 his business relations, the highest type of man. He 
 belonged to a growing class of professional promoters 
 who exploit their schemes without too much regard 
 for the interest of investors. Such men are found oc- 
 cupying positions in good society, even prominent seats 
 in the churches, and seldom do anything that could be 
 twisted into an actual violation of law. Thorn was no 
 better nor worse than the average man of his ilk. He 
 happened to get involved witfh partners more un-
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 315 
 
 scrupulous than himself, who to facilitate a projected 
 robbery of his property and rights, brought against 
 him a technical charge of fraud. 
 
 Even when he joined forces with these men he sus- 
 pected their good faith and assumed the name of 
 Chatham Stone, as a loophole in case of trouble. While 
 his suit for Amy Van Steuben's hand was not at the 
 start wholly uninfluenced by her father's wealth, he 
 had grown extremely fond of the girl for her own 
 sake long before he made his proposal in set terms. 
 It was, as Olive had remarked, the one matrimonial 
 project of his life. In time, as is the case with most 
 men, except in very romantic fiction, he grew recon- 
 ciled to his loss and recovered his old spirits ; but when 
 Olive went to Honolulu to act as Amy's bridesmaid he 
 accompanied her only as far as San Francisco, not 
 feeling that he would enjoy tihe sight of his rival's 
 crowning victory. 
 
 The date of the wedding was fixed for the first week 
 in March and lest the selection should excite tihe sur- 
 prise of some of my feminine readers in America let 
 me remind them that that month is not, in Hawaii, the 
 kind one expects in the Central or New England 
 States. The weather is always mild, flowers are in full 
 bloom and everything in nature gladdens the heart of a 
 bride wihose happiness is bound up in her prospective 
 husband. In fact, there is no month in that ohairming 
 land unsuitable for wedlock. 
 
 Brother Billy was as glad to see Olive as was Amy, 
 and from the time she arrived constituted himself her 
 general escort and cavalier. She thought he had improv- 
 ed much since she last saw him and he began to wondet
 
 gl6 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 Why he had never noticed what a remarkably lovely 
 girl she was. One day when tihey had ridden out be- 
 yond the Pali 'that precipice over which the great 
 Kamehameha is said (apochrypihally, I think) to have 
 driven his enemies Billy talked to her in plain 
 earnest. 
 
 "Ollie," he said, "will you do something for me?" 
 
 "Anything in my power," she responded, without 
 hesitation. 
 
 "Well, I want you to marry me, thaft's all. I'm more 
 or less of a worry to father, and mother bothers me to 
 death every time I look at a girl. I want to get the 
 thing settled and off their minds. I know you're a 
 few months older than I am, and I know I'm not good 
 for much, anyway, but I like you awfully well; and 
 I'll make just the best husband I can, if you'll have me. 
 Will you?" 
 
 It was eviderit that he was making the proposal in 
 full earnestness. Miss Thorn did not know what to 
 say. He had always seemed to her little more tihan a 
 boy a boy she had always liked, but a boy for all 
 that. It was a serious problem. She was confused at 
 its unexpectedness and for some seconds could not 
 utter a word. 
 
 "Billy," she said, at last, "you are a good fellow and 
 I like you, but I never thought of a tihing like this. 
 You must give me time it is too sudden I want to 
 consider. Are you sure you love me so much? And 
 how would your mother feel I am not a person of 
 rank, you know, like von Mul'ler. And Amy who 
 loves me dearly now would she receive thi's idea 
 Jsindly? I must write to my brother, too. Let me
 
 A. SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 have a month to think of it. I will try to give you a 
 definite answer by that time." 
 
 "All right," he replied, moodily. "While you're 
 about it, you might write to President McKinley too, 
 and Richard . Croker and Paul Kruger and Agui- 
 naldo. If any of them should object I suppose that 
 would settle it. I don't mean to be cross," he proceed- 
 ed, as he saw that she looked troubled, "but I really 
 thought you'd just say, 'Why, certainly!' I was all 
 ready to put my arms around you and seal the bargain 
 with a kiss." 
 
 He was so straightforward that she had to smile, 
 which saved the situation for them both. 
 
 "I'll give you the kiss, at any rate, if you're sure 
 there's nobody looking," she said, bringing her horse 
 closer to his. "I like you well enough for that, and, 
 if nothing more comes of it, I'm sure you'll never tell." 
 
 When his lips had pressed her dainty cheek they rode 
 on at a faster pace, both happier for the experience. 
 He was the brother of her dear friend and she liked 
 him very much. But as a husband it required a little 
 more time to think that over. 
 
 (I need only add that among the ornaments which 
 Olive wore at the Muller-Van Steuben wedding was 
 a large solitaire diamond ring; and I learn that a plain 
 gold one is to supplement it some time during the 
 coming autumn.) 
 
 The gentlemanly editor of the Hawaiian Star has 
 sent me a copy of his newspaper, containing a full ac- 
 count of the wedding ceremony at die Van Steuben 
 residence, when, in the words of the reporter of that
 
 318 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 paper, (Mr. R.) "one of the most noble houses of 
 Germany was united to one of the wealthiest and most 
 famous in the Paradise of the Pacific." I will not re- 
 peat the narrative in full, but merely note that the ex- 
 traordinary features of "youth and beauty" were not 
 lacking, while the "palatial mansion" was decorated 
 "with the most lovely effects which art and money 
 could procure." The Castletons were there, for once 
 if never again, as were also the Millerihams, the 
 Snookses and the Watermans. The pastor of the 
 Central Church tied the knot. (It would hardly have 
 been legal, according to Mrs. Van's belief, if tied by 
 any other clergyman.) The native Mandolin Club, 
 which combines Hawaiian songs with delicious instru- 
 mental music, was stationed in an improvised balcony 
 in the dining-room. All the foreign consuls were 
 there, President Dole, the American minister, the most 
 eminent representatives of the Hawaiian race, in fact, 
 as the reporter remarked, "it was an assemblage which 
 has, perhaps, never been excelled here on a similar 
 occasion." Among the guests none seemed happier 
 than Mr. Peter Meyer. 
 
 The costume which Mrs. Van wore attracted much 
 attention. She had imported a jewelry shop and 
 sported the entire contents on her hands, neck, hair 
 and gown, not to mention her shoes, which were fas- 
 tened with diamond buckles. During the evening she 
 asked everybody repeatedly, "Have you been present- 
 ed to the Countess?" It was a great night for her and 
 it was quite as well that her violent effort to break off 
 the match was still a secret from her guests. 
 . Mr. Van Steuben wore his ordinary evening clothes,
 
 A SUGAR PRINCESS. 319 
 
 of a cut which he ha/d steadily refused to alter for the 
 previous thirty years. He tried to seem happy, but his 
 distraught countenance showed the strain under which 
 he labored. Only one who has occupied the position 
 cf giving an idolized child in marriage even to one 
 of the best of men can appreciate the feelings of a 
 father when he realizes that he has now an actual 
 rival in his daughter's affections. Van Steuben was 
 glad of Amy's happiness; he would not have changed 
 anything if he could; he knew she was following the 
 ordinances of Nature and of God ; but many times his 
 breath came with difficulty and he thought he surely 
 must withdraw from the scene to indulge in wtiiat has 
 been so aptly termed "the luxury of tears." 
 
 The wedded couple were to make a European tour 
 before settling down in Honolulu for the rest of their 
 days. Carl wanted Amy to see the wonderful sights 
 of the Old World and she wanted to be alone with 
 him anywhere. He was to dispose of his domains 
 in Germany and devote himself in a business way to 
 Hawaiian interests. 
 
 The wedding took place in the afternoon of the day 
 on which the favorite steamer Australia left for the 
 American coast. All Honolulu seemed to be at the 
 wharf when the bridal party arrived. The Govern- 
 ment Band was there, of course, and to its usual reper- 
 toire added many lively airs suitable to the occasion. 
 
 Just before the cables were cast off Carl and Amy 
 came out on the upper deck, almost buried in leis of 
 bright flowers and smiled their adieux to the assembled 
 throng. 
 
 "I shan't be long, Popsie," Amy whispered to hee
 
 32O A SUGAR PRINCESS. 
 
 father, who was waiting till the very latest moment. 
 "It'll be only a little while and then you'll never lose 
 me again. Good-by, Billy! good-by, Ollie! good-by, 
 mamma !" 
 
 Out on the placid waters of the harbor sailed the old 
 vessel, with its precious freight. Mr. and Mrs. von 
 Muller stood watching beautiful Oahu with hearts too 
 full for utterance till the evening shadows hid the 
 last hill from sight. As they turned to go below one 
 of the stewards handed Carl two envelopes that he had 
 received at the last moment. Going to the nearest 
 light Carl tore the first one open and read this ak>ud 
 with a smile : 
 
 Book selling like wildfire! Fifty agents taking or- 
 ders. I've made you a genuine hero and your wife 
 a raving beauty, concealing names of course. I will 
 meet you at the dock in San Francisco with a presen- 
 tation copy, an edition de luxe. I shall make my 
 fortune. Bless you and your bride! 
 
 BARNEY. 
 
 The other was a telegram forwarded from St. Louis, 
 containing Marcus Lindes' felicitations. Von Muller's 
 brow clouded and he was about to tear the paper in 
 pieces when Amy stayed his hand. 
 
 "But for that man's folly," she said, softly, "we 
 might never have met. Can we not afford to forgive 
 him?" 
 
 THE ENU
 
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