The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1879-02-04
FOUND HIS MATCH.

Nl the King OF SuNOny, anu me
lad he was-tall and strong and hand
some, and as brave as lion. But the
King, like certain old woman of whom
you may have heard, had 80 many chill
dren that he didn't know what to do;
and so, as Maurice had such u lot Of
elder brothers as not to have much
chance of lnherltlng the crown, or any
thing else that would keep him In bread
and butter, 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
war going on somewhere or other, and
the French armles were fighting In every
part of Europe, and the King cared very
little who his officers were, or where
they came from, If they were only brave
men and clever fighters, and ready to go
wherever he liked to send them. So, ns
you may think, 1t was not long before
our friend Maurice, who was as brave as
any of them, and great deal cleverer
than most, began to make his way.
First he got to be lieutenant, then II
captain, then major, then q colonel,
and at last, while he was still quite a
young man, he came out rs Count de
SAKE, and field marshal of the army of
Flanders, with fifty thousand men un-
der him. This was pretty good promo
ton, wasn't IL Y''
Curlously enough, the one thing that
this great general specially prded 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 horse with one blow
of his fist, and he was found Of saying
that he would give his purse and all
the money in 1t to any man who was
stronger than himself, IL he could fall
In with him.
Now 1t happened that, one day, while
| the French and German armies were
lying pretty close to each other, Marshal
de SAKE sent a message to the enemy's
| camp, asking some of the German OFF,
GERS to dine with him; and after the
| meal he began to boast of his strength,
as usual, till at last an old German gen.
eral who sat at his left, said that he
would like to see specimen of what
his excellency could do. SAKE made no
answer, but took up large silver dish,
which was standing before him, In his
strong white fingers (for, big and pow
erful as his hands were, they were white
and smooth as any lady's, and he was
very proud of them, and, without more
ado, rolled it up like sheet of paper.
"Can your honor unroll that dish
again ?" asked he, handing 1t to the
German; and although the general was
o strong man, and tried his best, he
found the task too hard for him, and
was forced to own himself beaten.
Your excellency's 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, Dick Hogan by name
All the country around knows of his
exploits, and when met with him my
self, saw such things as l 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 Dick 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 a 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 inclined to
attack him, and he was riding out one
morning to reconnoitre their position,
when suddenly his horse stumbled and
cast SHOE
There's village just ahead of us,
your excellency," said one of his Off
GERS. Shall 1 ride on and see if / can
find blacksmith 2"
DO SO" answered Sake; and the of