The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1867-09-13
Row THE LADY JOAN KEPTHER
WOW ,,
From Once q Week.
A LEGEND OF -LYMINGToN.

What can young lasse do VII an auld man
1n spite of this assertion. many young
lassie' has been well content to marry an
'auld man." provided always there has
been plenty of tocher on the right side
So it was that Samuel Baldwin, Knight,
and sojourner in the parish of Lymington,
did, in the year Of grace 1870, find young
and beautiful bride Tradition passes over
the history of their married life in omincus
silence. Suffice it, that when Sir Samuel
died there was found a curious paper, stat
! ing it to be his will and pleasure that his
body should be carried out to Scratcheis
Bay, ard there sunk. ''In order, the
document went on to say, "thatmy wife may
| not dance upon my grave, which, in the bit
terness of her wrath, she has vowed to do
In obedience to this singular command,
the worthy knights body was daily weight
ed and leftto rest under the shadow OF the
Needles; while the young widow took en-
| tire possession of the dead man s property,
duced.
Now the Lady Joan Baldwin looked mar
velously fair in her weeds; and, although
| it is said that it is of no use gliding pure
gold, everyday experience proves there are
| exceptions to the rule; therefore iair as
| the widow was the gliding derived from
the funds made her doubly fair, and
brought to her feet the greedy, the needy,
the rich, the poor. Time went on, and to
| the disappointment of the gosiring world
| Lady Joan seemed in no haste to change
her condition, but rather to aim at uniyer-
sal conquest. The ladies grew not only
scandslous but wroth, for SO equally were
| Lady Joan's favors distributed, that every
man secretly considered himself the most
fortunate and thus, there being no rejec-
ted suItors, there was no deserters, and
the wrathful Indignation of the neglected
sisterhood was the more excusable. Things
vent on after this fashion until hunting
meeting came Of. Lyndhurst was full Of
great noblemen. The Lady Joan was the
toast at manya wild carouse. The hunt
lasted for several days, and when the fes-
tivities were at height an event occurred
that put the place Gu the Qui rire
At the close Of a long and successful day
In the forest, q stranger rode home at the
Widows bridle-ha .....
Some Huntington fellow" said the Lon
doners.
Some Court roue," said the Lyming-
ton folk.
| Yet, though unknown to the lady jeal-
GUS followers, the stranger was evidently
not only on good, but familiar terms with
the widow who, in place of remaining
the night 1T Lynahnrst, rode on to Lynn
ington, escorted b. the new arrival. Next
day there was rage and amazemeut IN
many heart. Iymington church bells
changed joyous Wedding peel. The wid
ow had outwitted them.
| Disappointed su;,ors let loose their
tongues, and out CT very spite hunted up
the fact that the man who had outione
them all and carried off the prize was an
old lover, to whom, before she was 'fny
lady" Joan Armitasc had plighted her
troth, and who, they asserted, had remain
ed in the neigh borhood Disguised as a for
elener, nothing loth to wait for the knight
well toehercd widow. Nor was this all !;
darker stories we're whispered and at last
it was even limited that the knight had met
| his death unfairly, and that the settlement
| and viii by which the widow claimed her
great weslt. vas forged by the mysterious
lever. Joan heard OF these things, and
| Only laughed. Il married for money once,
| can marry for love this time Yet in
spite CT the bo,stea love- and the constant
presence of the naa she had chosen, a
great change became visible the great
color faded ont OF her checks her eyes
grew sunken and dim her laugh hushed
Tic and energy seemed to be fading away.
The bridegroom, too, wasa changed man;
he became silent and morosc scarcely ever
left his wife's side and wa, shed her with
a pertinacity which the lockers on called
jealousy. Soffie said Lady joan was con-
science smitten some said her husband
lh-treated her, Both reports were as far
iroa the trata as such generally are. 1t
VAS only to a chosen friend that-the uHhap-
Ply man unhosome1 himself
Might after night" he said. 81 wake
end bchold her place vacant. Night after
night | have endeayored to remain awake,
that might unravel the mystery, but in
vain l Invariably fall asleep, and when
morning comes Joan is living by my side,
and we're il not that her face is pale, bag
gard, and her feet cut and travel-stained,
l could believe | had been dreaming
'You have questioned the Lady Joan, of
course said bis friend
mot word, Dick"
Then why not watch her p
"Ay, that is it | want you to help me-
Do you consent to lie in wait this very night
ard we will follow her.
So it was arranged Dick Berkeley was
waiting in the street, when shortly after
the church tolled twelve, the house door
opened, and the Lady Joan, clad only in
her white night-dress tripped down the
steps. Dick had always been an adnirer
Of the ladies'; but he stood amazed exceed
lngly as he caught sight of her beautiful
face, lighted up with CLEAN he had never
seen before ; her long hair floating, God
iva-like in the wind, her fair arms stretched
over her head, and her clasped hands
seemingly wrung together in agony There
was something so extraordinary IN the cir
cumstances attached to the lady-some-
ting so wild and passionate in her attitude
and expression--that Dicks heart was
stricken, and although he hesitated for
moment, he did not lose sight Of her
He had pledged his word to follow her,
and so he went, keeping close behind her
as she walked down the High street, and
through the i'll paved by-lanes, leading to
the so,caled quay. As she approached, a
small boat, with one boatman, glhed up
the river, and as it grated against the steps
Lady jean stepped in.
Quick, quickp whispered her hus-
band, who had come up with Dick little
while before. Follow her to the devil p
Dick shuddered, but unfastened boat,