The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-12-17

| anu not u u UTlSbuus Saio tuC youuB
poet BLOOD may dim its blade. but
| never dishonor. Comrades, will you
stand by and see this French gentle
man mishandled?"
A dozen sabers new from their
sheaths; it was evident that my friends
and my foes were about equally bal
anced. But the angry voices and the
gleam OF steel had brought the folks
running from all parts.
"The princess!" they cried. The
princess Is coming!"
And even as they spoke saw her IN
front of u.s. her sweet face framed IN
| the darkness. had cause to hate her'
for she had cheated and befooled me,
and yet 1t thrilled me then and thrills
| me now to think that my arms have en-
braced her and that I have felt the
| scent of her hair In my nostriis.
know not whether she lies under her
| German earth. or whether she still lin
gers. gray-haired woman in her castle
| of Hof; but she lives ever, young and
| lovely, in the heart and the memory Of
Etienne Gerard.
For shamev she cried, sweeping up
| to me and tearing away with her own
hands the moose from my neck. You
are fighting in Gods own quarrel and
yet you would begin with such a devirs
deed as this. This man Is mine, and he
who touches q hair of his head will an
swer for it to me-"
They were glad enough to stink off
into the darkness before those scorn-
full eyes. Then she turned once more
to me.
tsVor, con fnllnxx, ~ MI
she said. Il have word that would
speak to you"
walked behind her into the chamber
into which ] had originally been shown.
She closed the door and then looked at
me with the archest twinkle in her eyes
rs 1t not confiding of me to trust my
self with your" said she. "You will re-
member that 1t is the princess of Sake
Felstein, and not the poor Countess Pa
lotta of Poland
BE the name what 1t might" I an
swered. Il helped a lady whom 1 be-
lieved to be in distress, and L have
been robbed of my papers and almost
OF my honor as reward"
Colonel Gerard" said she. 1--WE
nave been playing game, you and I,
ana the stake was a heavy one You
nave SHOWN by delivering a MESA ge
wnlch was never given to you that YOU
VIII stand at nothing in the cause of
your country. My heart is German and
yours is French, and I also would 90
| all lengths, even to deceit and to tbeft
II at this crisis I can helm NV s,,ffar'
Ing fatherland. You see how franz 7
| ami"
You tell me nothing that I have not
seen" "o'
But now that the game is played and
won, why should we bear malice? !
VIII say this. that II ever l were in such
pneht as that which pretended in
the Inn or Lobenstein. I should never
wish TO meet more gallant protector
or truer-hearted gentleman than Col.
| Etienne Gerard. l had never thought
that could feel for a Frenchman n as |
felt for you when I slipped the papers
| from your breast"
But you took them none the less"
"They were necessary to me and to
Germany. knew the arguments which
| they contained, and the effect which
| they would have on the prince If they
| had reached him all would have been
LOST
why should your highness descend
to such expedients when a score Of these
brigands who wished to hang me at
your castle gate would have done the
work just as well?"
| They are not brigands, but the best
blood of Germany" she cried, hotly
IF you have been roughly used you will
remember the indignities to which
every German has been subjected, from
the queen of Prussia downwards. AS to
why I did not have you waylaid upon
the road. may say that had parties
out on all sides, and that was waiting
at Lobenstein to hear of their success
| When, instead of their news, you ar.
rived yourself, was in despair, for there
was only the one weak woman betwixt
you and my husband. You see the
straits to which l was driven before
used the weapon Of my sex?"
| II confess that you have conquered
me, your highness, and 1t only remains
| for me to leave you in possession OF the
| field"
| But you will take your papers with
you," she held them out to me as she
spoke. 1.-THE prince has crossed the
Rubicon now, and nothing can orine
him back. You can return these to the
emperor and tell him that we refused
to receive them. No one can accuse yot
then of having lost your dispa tches