New-York tribune., 1878-12-23
The Riders Of the Green Baldric.
. ROMANCE OF FEUDAL TIMES.


Iouis XII was King Of France but king only In name
The great feuda lords of the provinces were sovereign
Drtnees holding government In their own right
The kings of Christendom themselves were little else
than robbers large scale.
IT, was duh. lowery day the seventeenth of August
IN the wear of our Lord Fourteen Hundred Ffty-eght
Al Alsdorf which was theu within the Grand Duchy
DfLuxembourg and the residence Of the Grand
Duke. ..,
On this dismal August day the Grand Duke John
we're thrown wideOpen, looking upon nuh0er oi
stood in the outer court of his CASTLE the gates OF wheh
who were at play upon velvety sward Three oftem
we're children OF his own-twO boys and girl-ahd
three others children OF one OF hP ioreSter 1e
Picard by name. or the dukes children Isabella was
the oldest, having eight years. Leon was he next
aged six years. and the youngest was Aired agcu i0u
The children of the forester were two girls anu IVY
and very nearly OF the respectively, az 'he
titled mates The boys had been foser-Drothers 'ne
wife OF the forester having nursed them ootD
On the present the children were engageu III
snort and the dukes lace frightened their Seesome
,bouts and laughter reached him. BY ana oy inc t"o
,oster-brothers seeing him. ran towards hin'
Ha my little herOes" he ered as the boys came up.
where are your auarter-stavesf Haven't seen you
exercise for long ii me-"
With whoop and a bound the lads dashed away
and very soon returned with the stayes-two SUCKS
NJ tough ash, wrought very nearly into the form OF
broadswords; and signal from the Duke they TOOK
position and at the sword exercise showing very
plainly ere dozen passes had been made that they
had eagerly pursued sport and that they had Deen
blessed with the teaching OF a thorough master.
John of Luxembourg not the only witness OF the
bov,sb massage at arms. in the doorway OF lodge
close az hand stood woman, the mother OF LeOH
Picard, and she called a companion TO witness
"Tel me, Mignon," the mother said, " are they not
brave boysf" ,
"Indeed they are Barbara, and were 1t not 1or tne
clothes, who could tell which was the lords sons
.'who, indeed" exclaimed Barbara Picard III my
own Leon had the nne velvet and the goiu WHEN
the other Leon wears, lie would be every Dill as grand
,Foolish woman" said q voice behind her, "outward
app,rel cannot make a hero Look See your Icons
weapon flying through the air."
She turned and beheld the dukes secretary Zeta
Betnton who besides attending to his masters literary
wants acted as tutor to the children
Az might be gathered from the exclamation OF tue
scribe the playful combat between the two boys had re-
suited in pefchiug victory upon the banner of Lu1en-
bourg The duke regarded his son proudly, and then
NV little hero he said "your effort just put forth
shows TO me that you are worthy TO own sMotI, anu
row and select yourself; and own Leon and
sSS B1eS sres Re 81 yCnd and the
children are running toward her. DO you TWO Jo'h
suddenly the tramp of horses heard, and Behton
rushed forward to close the main barhlcaI. ba
"Did you not see the advancing troop my loroi ne
'SGG saws az al few Scrsemen ride from me wood"
AnS %HESs9 ESiSby Eqn IN SHs Back TsG sa
Oh. John Of luxembourg II you knew tSn al Ratt ,nst
Riders Of GraveOt and he at their head is MaiO'm du
Du Bac ~ cried John with eonvnlsIve start. The
Black RiderSl They have joined the Count de
Aye, and for that reason they here Cam you not
undersandi The count means, If possible, TO possess
himself Of Luxembourg 1 received hint TO that effect
from wayfaring monk noS an noqr Since ntI %S ,hs on
Ing the enemy were so hear
The duke saw danger and FASTENED into the keep
The BLACK Riders of GraveOt long been the
Ga MsSe Sir a angTo
bad grown from score 70 troop OF iu d"0 co.
purpose Of plunder but they had more than
sessuly turned their arms against incorporated cities
Count de Charoas and John Of Luxembourg knew very
5nst sRsx SE1S Sm nSs
BY the time the leader of the Black Riders had had
been secured mustered 10 tire number of
heTs %efe FUN ~ two su1dfed all strong and
armed and when they had drawn up before the outer
%hieS call the Grand Duke answered in person
secretary and the chief Of ms officers sought to dssuade
He mounted one Of the smaller towers IN az advance oi
s posed @ POSITIONS he could have selected aud demanded
10 know upon what errand the troop had come. =,
tween u.s. answered the black knight, whose voice ana
whose whole bearing al and sSTs @ GS Ts
open gates and You shall quickly d know our pleas;
s5 shs be ySa n%S for those g. wSO else may
At this juncture second knight rode up and spoke
his visor closed but Zets BethtOn who had come TO his
masters side recognizSd hi@; au,o,,r tho u,ss arm
THAT t6s 1d % GId bd s Ssss m s
boz pSwb% Pi%nneu ''OOD' "O'A ''@' '1' INV.
fhouldered archer had advanced with Maiotm du 8oc
With = ions steeibarbed finely-ieathercd arrow ad
isted to the string aud drew to the very arrow head
John Of Luxembourg stood with his visor raised ana
his whole face exposed he he heard Bethtonls cry,
too late avoid the fatal shaft AZ echo TO tue waI
ing came the yeneeu wang OF the bowstrng ana the
right crashing through the bone OF tine b and
buryDg itself deep in the BRAIN He fell back dead into
The secretary bore the body to pavement
Black Riders who had gained entrance.
1t was not enough that the Grand Duke should die.
hold should be put TO the sword; and bis devoted
henchman MailOtln du Bac, was the man TO To obey.
The number of the Grand Dukes children was known,
and Du Bac the terrible order executed Where he
found the Prince Leon whom he at once recognized
by his tell tale garb he had found another boy OF nearly
the age and him he about to slay spite OF
the tears and ac * tas SSGF o %Sr %no Suns
"What is all this - De LangwOf demanded, as he
"oh, good sir noble Knightl-he is my yl-my
own LsSnl On spare him @ spare are Im hin p,.o, Chic,
But this little viper Is as spteful as tiger" re-
turned Du Bac. "Zounds! he came near knocking one
OF my with club. Look at him. Look at his
eyes He don't ask for life tell you he die II
he lives, he viii give us trouble -
bourg and all his family dead, and that nils the
measure. Here. my good woman take your boy. and
when he Is grown old enough TO bear arms let him come
to me, and will give him service"
Maiilotn du Bac chafed angriy. and would have cut
the 10y down had not the Black Knight declared it TO
have become a personal matter.
"strike the poor fOresters boy" said he. land you
And the life of the boy was saved and Du Bac
s ySs as as at sasG boy w aMfy i've to give u.
And his words were prophetic
Eoht vears had psssed since the tnassscre of sdor