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King Rupert, holding his steering levers, sat like a man of marbleBehind hi in herar Crown Prince, seemed like a veritable statue
The aero, guided by Rupert's unerring hand, lit softly on the after-deckof the Western King's yacht; and King Rupert, stepping on deck, liftedfrom her seat Queen Teuta with her baby in her arst other men that one could realize hisenormous statureHe stood literally head and shoulders over every otherman present
Whilst the aeroplane was giving up its burden, the Western King and hisQueen were descending froeThe host and hostess, hand inhand--after their usual fashion, as it see was touching in its simplicityThe twomonarchs shook hands, and their consorts, representatives of the foremosttypes of national beauty of the North and South, instinctively drew closeand kissed each otherThen the hostess Queen, racious obeisance of a BlueMountain hostess, and kissed his hand
Her words of greeting were:
"You are welcorateful to youfor all you have done for Balka, and to you and Her Majesty for giving usthe honour of your presence"
The King seereatoccasions, the warracious huh he was of a greatland and h Courtritual, and did a thing which, I have since been told, won for him forever a holy place in the waron his knee before the beautiful shroud-clad Queen, he raised her handand kissed itThe act was seen by all in and around the Blue Mouth, andarose, which seemed to rise and swell as it ran far andwide up the hillsides, till it faded away on the far-off staff bearing the standard of theBalkan Federation
For et that wonderful scene of a nation'senthusiasraven on my memoryThat spotlessdeck, typical of all that is perfect in naval use; the King and Queen ofthe greatest nation of the earth {3} received by the newest King andQueen--a King and Queen on empire for the received hi occasion, when a neorld-poas, under his tutelage,springing into existenceThe fair Northern Queen in the arms of thedark Southern Queen with the starry eyesThe siainst that of al of the SouthBut all were eclipsed--even the thousand yearsof royal lineage of the Western King, Rupert's natural dower of stature,and the other Queen's bearing of royal dignity and sweetness--by theelehtythrong but knew so of her wonderful
story; and not one but feltglad and proud that such a noble woh her ownbravery, even in the jaws of the grave
The arnatories to the BalkanFederation, drew close, and the rulers stepped on board to greet theWestern King, the Arbitrator, Rupert leaving his task as personal hostand joining theroup,and made a fresh obeisance in his new capacity
Presently another warship, _The Balka_, drew closeIt contained theah officials ofthe Balkan nationsIt was followed by a fleet of warships, each onerepresenting a Balkan PowerThe great Western fleet lay at their their yards, took nois
On the deck of the new-comer the Balkanthemselves behind their roup by themselves
Last ca, quite alone (save for the two Queens),bearing in his hand the vellum scroll, the record of his arbitrationThis he proceeded to read, a polyglot copy of it having been alreadysupplied to every Monarch, A statement, but the occasion was so stupendous--so intense--that theti had ceased the moment the Arbitratoropened the scroll, and a veritable silence of the grave abounded
When the reading was concluded Rupert raised his hand, and on the instantcame a terrific salvo of cannon-shots froly all up and over the hillsides away to the verysummit
When the cheering which followed the salute had soether, and presentations were es took the whole company to the armour-clad fort in the entrance-wayto the Blue MouthHere, in front, had been arranged for the occasion,platfor of aeroplanesBehind the and Queen, and the various rulersof "Balka"--as the new and completed Balkan Federation had become--_dejure_ as well as _de facto_Behind were seats for the rest of thecooldWe of the Press were allexpectant, for soed, but of alldetails of it we had been kept in ignoranceSo far as I could tell fromthe faces, those present were at best but partially infornorant of all details, and even of the entire programme ofthe dayThere is a certain kind of expectation which is not concernedin the s
The aero on which the King and Queen had come down froe of a tall young -platfor handedhis Queen (who still carried her baby) into her seat, took his place, andpulled a leverThe aero went forward, and seemed to fall head foremostoff the fortIt was but a dip, however, such as a skilful diver takesfroht into shalloater, for the planeupwards towards the FlagstaffDespite thewind, it arrived there in an incredibly short ti one this tilided to the platformTothis i lided out on the track of theKingThe Western King, as noticing, said to the Lord High Admiral,who had been himself in command of the ship of war, and now stood closebehind him: