Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1863-11-19
" bring tidings Of your long-lost brother
Palrb tho Crr-o1ora~

Eeglnald started to his 1eet-hlS face
gloTed crimson with eagerness; the next
moment he became pale as sheet, but speed
| lily recovered himself, resumed his seat, and
| spoke:
palmer, what canst thou tell me of nv
| dead brother?"
q That your brother is not dead, but is now
alive, and hopes, through your endeaTors, to
be once more in England"
"These are startling and almost over
whelming tidings you bring; but how may I
! be assured Of their truth ?"
! BY these tokens" said the palmer; and
{ he produced from his bosom a chain of gold,
| with a seal on which was engraved the crest
OF the St. Quintys, ring with silver de-
| vice, silver brooch with lock of the hair
| of Reginalds mother All these the Lord of
Horribly Castle recognized as the property Of
his brother.
yes continued. the palmer, after the as
constituent and satisfaction of Reginald had
been expressed, your brother was taken, in
an insensible condition, from the field of
Askalon, by some men Of the Soldan's body
guard, who had returned to seek for one of
their masters household His wound was
carefully attended to- and at the end of three
months he was quite recovered. | must now
inform you that | myself was taken prisoner,
fortune to attract the notice and gain the
favor of the Sedan. CHANGING to see your
brother as l passed through the prison, re-
cogniZed him as a countryman, spoke to him,
and learned who he was. | became interested
in him. interceded with the Sedan on his
behalf, and had the qualification of procuring
his release from confinement. More than
this, | so far succeeded with the Sedan as to
get his promise that on the payment Of a
ransom Ralph de St. Quintys should be re-
stored to England and to liberty. And this,
my Lord of Horribly, is the cause of my mis-
sion to your castle"
Having expressed his heartfelt gratitude to
the venerable palmer, Reginald eagerly asked
what was the amount of the ransom de-
handed.
"One thousand pounds in silver" replied
the venerable pilgrim" That is the very
lowest sum that [ could induce the Sedan to
accept"
The amount was large, being equal to about
10000 of our money; but were it twice as
large, Reginald s.. Quintys would have will
ingly paid it for the redemption Of his dear
brother.
He, therefore, without unnecessary loss of
time, set out to London in order to raise the
money; and, at his urgent request, the palmer,
ed to remain at Horribly Castle until Reginalds
return from London.
In those days the journey from Yorkshire
to the capital occupied from ten days to a
fortnight. And as it was calculated that it
would take about the same time to raise the
money, and another fortnight or so to per-
form the journey back, period of about six
weeks was the least time allowed for the
accomplishment Of the task which he had I'M
dertaken.
Without encountering any adventure worth
recording, Reginald st. Quntys, with three
attendants, arrived in London and paid his
respects to his sovereign.
St Quintys," said the monarch, eve need
such men us you. The times are unsettled
Treason is abroad. False Normans are
lcaguing with di8affected Saxons and our own
graceless brother Robert is at the head of the
foul cOnfederacy against our power. We
therefore trust-we will not, though we might,
say c0mmand-y0u to reside at our Court, to
await our pleasure until such time as this dan
ger has passed away"
Reginald HAD no alternative but to obey;
and thus the date Of his return to Horribly was
rendered quite uncertain He lost no time
i'll sendiug a trusty messenger to Yorkshire,
to inform his beloved lady of the command
cause of delay which he assured her was to
him almost impossible to bear.
We must now return to the day after Regi-
maids departure for London.
The palmer, we have seen, was entreated,
and had consented, to abide at Horribly until
its lords return; and as he had been recon-
mended to the utmost honor and respect on
the part Of the lady, she scrupled not to make
him her companion at her meals, i'll her ram
bles, and during the evening hours, when she
would listen to his strange and wonderful ac
counts Of his own and others adventures in
the Holy Land, and III other faraWay coun-
tries. In her solitude, the lady of Horribly
found the conversation of the palmer eX-
tremcly agreeable. Nor was his person caIcu-
lated to counterfeit the impression which his
talk had made.
Day by day she imagined that she detected
signs of nObleness and of grace i'll his appear
ancc and bearing; and, what was still more
remarkable, she, much to her own astOnish-
ment began to think that he was not so old
as she took him to be when she first saw him.
On the night of his arrival at Horribly Castle,
the pilgrim looked an extremely aged man.
No one would have taken him for less than
seventy or seventy-hve and now, wonderful
to relate, he did not seem to be above forty
hay, he looked younger than many do at
thirty. He also became much more attentive
to his dress; and it was not long before the
lady made the surprising discovery that he was
an accomplished cavalier-for, or the occasion
of beautiful and high-mettled young Norman
horse being brought into the courtyard for
the purpose of being saddled for the first
time, not one of ali the squires or grooms in
the household could keep his seat on the back
of the fiery steed. At length the animal was
pronounced unmanageable, and no one was
bold enough to attempt the task Of breaking
him into the reinS
Then it was that the palmer, who hith-
erto had watched the futile efforts of the be-
wildered squres, approached the steed, sez-
ed the bride, looked into the horses eye,
whispered, or seemed to whisper, something
into his ears, then placed his hands upon its
name, and, without availing himself of the
stirrup, vaulted into the saddle with all the
grace of feathered Mercury, and strange,
to relate, the horse never once attempted to
get rid of him, but, on the contrary was as
tame and manageable as the oldest steed in
the stable.
At length the curiosity of the lady could
not be restrained so one day, while they
were out riding-she mounted on the ident-
zeal steed so wonderfully tanned by the palm
er, who acted as her Squire-she expressed
to him the establishment which the change in
his appearance, and also, well his mys-
terious influence over the horse, had filed
her.
Then the palmer smiled significant smile,
and at the same time revealed a set of teeth
white as ivory, and perfect as that of any
youth of twenty.
Lady" said he, " there is cause for ev-