The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-04-27
THE THREE HORSE-SHOES;
Or, Marshal de Sake and the Dutch
Blacksmith.

brave as lion. But the King, like a
certain old woman of whom you may
have heard, had so many children that
he didn't know what to do; and so, as
Maurice had such a lot of elder broth
ers as to have not much chance of in
heriting the crown, or ANYTHING else
that would keep him in bread and but
ter, his father sent him out to seek his
fortune, like many another prince in
those days. So he went over to France,
and entered the army of King Louis
XIV.
Now, at that time there was always
a war going on somewhere or other,
and the French armies were fighting in
every part of Europe; and the King
cared very little who his officers We're,
or where they came from, if they were
only brave men and clever fighters, and
ready to 90 wherever he liked to send
them. Sc, as you may think, it was
not long before our friend Maurice, who
was quite as brave as any of them, and
a good deal cleverer than most, began
to make his way. First, he got to be a
lieutenant then a captain, then ma
jor, then a colonel and at last, while
he was still quite young man, he
came out as Count de SAKE, and Field
Marshal of the Army of Flanders, with
$4,000 men under him That was pref
ty good promotion, wasn't itp
Curiously enough, the one thing that
this great General specially prided HIM
self upon was neither his skill in war
fare nor his favor at court, but simply
his strength. There was nothing he
enjoyed so much as showing off the
power of his muscles, and astonishing
the people about him by bending an
iron bar, or telling a horse with one
blow of his fist; and he was fond of say
ing that he would give his purse and all
the money in it to any man who was
stronger than himself, if he could ever
fall in with him.
Now it happened that, one day,
while the French and German armies
were lying pretty close to each other,
Marshal de Sake sent message to the
enemy's camp, asking some of the Ger
man officers to dine with him; and
after the meal he began to boast of his
strength. as usual, till at last an old
German General, who sat at his left,
said that he W S.:ld like to see a speci-
men of what His Excellency could do.
Sake made no answer, but took up a
large silver dish, which was standing
before him, in his strong white fingers
Qor, big and powerful as his hands
were, they were white and smooth as
any ladys, and he was very proud of
them), and, without more ado, rolled
it up like a sheet of paper!
Can your Honor unroll that dish
again?" asked he, handing it to the
German; and, although the General was
Il strong man, and tried his best, he
found the task too hard for him, and
was forced to own himself beaten.
Your Excellencys strength is very
great said he, but, nevertheless, |
venture to think that there is one man
in Flanders who can match it
"And who may he be?" asked SAKE,
frowning.
"a blacksmith in the village of
Scheveningen, Dirk Hogan by name.
All the country around knows of his
exploits; and when | met with him my
self | saw such things as | should have
thought impossible had my own eyes
not witnessed them
When the Marshal heard this he
looked blacker than ever; and the first
thing he did the next morning was to
send off messengers in every direction
to inquire for village called Scheven-
ingen, and man named Dirk Hogan.
= And, sure enough, some of them came
back with news that there was such a
village, and that Dirk Hogan, the
smith, had been living there till quite
lately; but that now he had sold his
forge and gone away, and nobody knew
what had become of him.
This was decided disappointment
for our friend SAKE, but he had some
thing else to think of just then. The
enemy's army had lately received
strong reinforcements, and seemed in.
clined to attack him; and he was riding
out one morning to reconnoiter theil
position when suddenly his horse
stumbled and cast a shoe.
There's a village just ahead of us
your Excellency," said one of his Off
GERS. =" Shall ride on and see if car
find blacksmith"
"Do so," answered SAKE; and the
officer came back presently to say thai
he had found what he wanted. So the
horse was led up to the door of thu
smithy, and the smith himself came on
to have Il look at it.
The moment he appeared the Marsha
fastened his eyes upon him as if he
would look him right through. Anc
well he might; for this smith was such
a man as one does not see every day
very nearly as tall as SAKE himself, anC
even broader across the shoulders
while upon his bare arms the huge mus
| Giles stood out under the tanned skin
like coils of rope. The Marshal felt a
once that he could never be comforta
BILE till he had had a trial of strength
with this sturdy-looking fellow; so h
babe him bring out one of his bes
horse-shoes.
The smith did so; and SAKE, loolin,
at it, said quietly: This ware of your
| is but poor stuff, my friend; it will no
stand work. Look heren'