A Hohenzollern Abroad!

On a little island in the Zuyder Zee five men arose before the break of day and after due preparations crossed over to the mainland at four o'clock. Here two automobiles were waiting, one was filled with luggage, the other was empty. A tall, well-groomed and self-possessed middle-aged man wearing a long gray tweed overcoat motioned to his servant to enter the luggage car; he entered the empty car and sat behind the steering wheel, and then motioned to the remaining three men to take their seats. One minute later both automobiles were carrying Friedrich Wilhelm, ex-Crown Prince of Germany, his adjutant, Major von Muldner, Burgomaster Kolff of Wieringen, a captain of gendarmes and the ex-crown Prince's servant to the German frontier.

Later in the day when the inhabitants of Wieringen woke up they found a letter from the Crown Prince:

" Dear Wieringen Friends: I am sorry only to be able to write you goodbye. In order not to alarm the people, my return to the Fatherland must take place in great quiet."

He then went on to describe how he came to the island, pursued and roofless, and how the people had so kindly received him, and how he had enjoyed their hospitality and had shared their sorrows and joys. " Thus we learned to know, understand and appreciate each other. Now the mo- ment has come that I must bid farewell to Wieringen and would like to shake you all by the hand, thanking you for all you gave me. Terribly difficult years they were for me, far from my Fatherland and family, but they were made bearable by the friendly human feelings of Wieringers. So I say farewell, wishing my island the best of luck from the bottom of my heart. Thank you and au revoir."

Arriving at the small town of Ewijksluis, the ex-Crown Prince said good-bye to the captain of gendarmes. At the frontier he said good-bye to the Burgomaster, then passed on into the Fatherland. Arriving in Hanover, the ex-Crown Prince visited Germany's famed Generalfeldmarschall, von Hindenburg. His visit lasted only half an hour, after which Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, choosing the sideways and byways in order to escape detection, sped on toward his destination, which was reputed to be his beautiful 20,000-acre estate at Oels near Breslau in Silesia, where he was eagerly awaited by leading citizens dressed in Prince Albert coats and high hat, not to mention a host of foreign press correspondents and motion picture men. Meanwhile the Allied Powers, having spent sleepless nights on account of the rumors of the impending return of the ex-Crown Prince to his Fatherland, were thrown into a state of nervous prostration by the rumor that the ex-Kaiser had received his passports and was on the point of leaving his Doorn home, with the intention of restoring the monarchy on Dec. 4.

Protests to the Dutch Government about the ex-Crown Prince's return to Germany having been rebuffed, the Allies were forced outwardly to accept his return with urbane indifference. Later they found themselves in a quandary with regard to the reported activities of the ex-All-Highest. There was an electric storm in the world as telegraph and telephone lapped and gingled unending reports of what the Allies intended to do. The truth was that they themselves did not know.