Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-03-16

gotten, The mysterious bandit at las
reached the town hall, his armor rattlin'
and creaking as he moved. The iudg
in trembling voice asked him his name
The silence was oppressive. All strained
to catch the slightest whisper from thu
prisoner, but the captain stared at hi
judges with an insolent al I'd contemplation
air which exasperated them. Three
times they repeated the question anc
three times he answered moth ing.
Lift his vizer! UncoveA him!
shrieked the pop1llace "Let KS SET
whether he will dare to insult us face tt
FACET
Uncover your face said the Judge.
The captain stood perfectly still.
"We order you by our authority to
uncover"
No movement on the part of the cap
tain. ~.
"We command you to uncover in the
name OF our sovereign counts" shrieked
the Judge.
Still no sign of comprehension, At
last public Indignation reached such a
pitch that one of his guards threw him
self upon the culprit, and by force threw
the vlzor open up to the forehead and
down to the throat. A cry of horror
broke from the assembled crowd. The
helmet was empty, entirely vacant, and
before they had time 80 recover them
selves the armor detached itself, piece
by piece, and with deep and horrible
groan sank to the ground
The spectators fed precipitately. and
the news soon spread through the village
of e IL
Zero, the devil had inherited the fiefs of
| Believer.
When the tumult had subsidized the
Judges decided to hang the armor in
dungeon until they could receive orders
from the archbishop of Toledo. This
required several days. The answer,
when it came, was short and decisive.
Hang the armor in the Plaza Mayor
OF the village; if the devil occupies it,
he must then either abandon it or hang
with it,
This ingenious answer delighted the
! people Of Believer, and they forthwith
| prepared a gallows in the middle of the
square. When it was ready they went
to fetch the armor from the prison. On
the threshold they were met by the al
cade lmploring pardon. His face was
frightened and pale as death itself.
''The armor has gone" he said, in
tremulOus tones.
The crowd stood paralyzed, and the
alcade went on to say:
81 had always believed this story of
the srmor to be fable invented to pro-
tect some noble of high rank, who, for
reasons of state, could not be punished.
Under this impression / made up my
mind to watch the armor and surprise
some one getting into it. Night after
night | crept down noiselessly to the cell
door and listened at the keyhole, but not
sound was to be heard. In vain
looked through a little hole near the
door. The armor remained on the straw
where it had been flung. Last night
not being able to convince myself that I
was wrong In my surmises, lit my Ian
tern, unbolted the doors of the prison,
carefully shutting them behind me, and
crept to the cell, determined to touch
the armor and convince myself that it
was empty. [ was fumbling for the
key, when the cell door was thrown open
and a gauntleted hand dashed me forci-
bly, back against the wall. Heavy foot
steps, accompanied by clank of spurs,
died away in the distance. Then I lost
consciousness.
When the alcade had finished, the
people shrieked with disappointment
and rage, AM could hardly be restrained
from tearing the author of this new mis-
fortune in pieces. But knowing the
prayer by which the captain could be re-
captured, it was not very difficult to get
him once more into their hands. This
time they nailed the pieces of armor sep
arately On the gallows, where they kept
vigilant guard over them. But all In
vain. A black cloud was seen scudding
across the sky. It increased until it was
directly over the gallows, and, descend
ing in the shape of huge arm of light,
lifted the armor down and was gone,
scattering and killing the unfortunate
people who were standing close by.
The unhappy peasants again had re-
course to their friend, the hermit, who
commanded a general fasting for three
days. At the end of that time he told
them to melt down the armor and with
some pieces Of wood from the castle
shape it into cross.
Horrors accumulated. When the az
nor was put into the smelling furnace,
piercing shrieks and cries came from it.
The pieces writhed as though they felt
the flames. Strong men tainted and
young heads turned white. Showers Of
sparks danced before their eyes and
twisted and struggled like legion Of
devils to free their master from his tor
ment.
But the operation Of forming the mol.
ten mass into the cross was the most Ter.
rible of all. Twenty strong men ham
mered at the metal which gave great
groans at every stroke. AS often as they
got the arms of the cross ready and be-
gan forming the shaft, the heated mass
wr1thed again in horrible convulsior
and twisting round the bodies of the I'M
fortunate workmen (who struggled tc
disengage themselves from it's deadly
grasp it curled in rings like snake OF
darted like lightning.
By dint Of relays of men, of constan
prayers and sprinkling Of holy water the
Internal spirit was conquered at last ant