Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-04-27
coeraeHr asseEyFu
CHAPTER ".
'TANLEY JMEMAN.
AUTHOR Or THE MN IN slAcN,
a GENTLEMAN or FRANCE, ETC En-

Did you roc see one bishop burned' Did
you not know enc of the martyrs: Did
you never come face to face with Queen
Nary" To all which questions / have
one answer, No, and I watch small eyes
grow large with establishment But the
truth Is man can only be at one place at
a time. And though, in this very month
OF February, 1855, Prebendary Rogers-a
good, kindly man, as 1 have heard, who
had wife and nine children-was burned
in Smithfield in London fer religion, and
the bishop of Gloucester suffered in his
own city, and other inoffensiye men were
burned to death, and there was much talk
of these things, and in thousands of
breasts a smoldering fire was kindled
which blaZed high enough by and by
why, i was 1T Cotton ED or on the Lon
don road, at the time, and learned such
things only dimly and by hearsay.
But the rill joins the river at last and
ofttimes suddenly and at n bound, as it
were On this very day, while / cantcrcd
easily southwark with my face set toward
st. Adams, Providence was Mt work shap-
ing niche for me in the lives of certain
people who were at the time as uncon-
scious of my existence as l was of
theirs. In a great house in the Bar
bican in London there was much
stealthy going and coming on this Feb
ruary afternoon and evening. Behind
locked doors, and in fear and trembling,
mails were being packed and bags strap
ped and fingers almost too delicate for tie
task werc busy with nails and hammers,
securing this and closing that. The pack
crs knew nothing Of ME, nor l of them.
Yet but for me all that packing would have
Of Ir,f 70 fhar, fata
might have been very different. Still the
sound CT the hammer did not reach my
ears, or, doing so, was covered ty the
steady tramp of the roadster, and no Vi
sion, so far rs I ever heard, Of a dusty
youth riding London ward came between
the secret workers and their task.
1 had made up my mind to sleep at st.
Adams tina: night, and for this reason,
and for others relating to the sheriff of
Buckinghamshirc, in which county Stony
Stratford lies, l pushed on briskly. l
presently found time, however, to exam
inc tho packet of letters of which I had
made spoil. On the outer wrapper found
there was no address, only an exhOrtatiOn
to be speedy. of this came, therefore,
without ceremony, and was left in the
dirt. Inside found two sealed epistlcs,
each countersignod on the wrapper,
'Stephen Winton."
''Iio! ho.'' said I. Il did we'll TO take
Them
Over the signature On tho first letter-it
seemed to be written on parchment-were
the words, Haste. haste! hastev' This
was the thicker and heavier of the two
and was addressed to Sir Maurice Berke-
Icy, at St. Mary Overy's, Southwark,
London. / turned it over and over in my
hands and peeped into it, hesitating.
Twice 1 muttcred, ''All is fair in love and
war; And at last, with curiosity fully
awake and a glance behind mo to make
sure that the act was unobserved, l broke
the seal. The document proved to be ne
short and pithy rs it was startling. Il
was an order commanding Sir Maurice
Berkeley forthwith in the queens name
and by the authority of the council, and
so on, and so on, to arrest katherine Will
loughby de Eresby, duchess of Suffolk, and
to deliver her into the custody of the lieu
tenant of the Tower, These presents to be
his warranty for the detention of tho said
Duchess of Suffolk until her graco's pleas
urc in the matter be known"
When it was too late, I trembled to
think what 1 had done. To NEEDLE with
matters of state might he more dangerous
n hundred times than stealing horses or
even than ducking the chancellOr's mes
scngcri Seeing at this moment n party OF
travellers approach, CTamIncd the letter
into my pocket and rode by them with a
red facc and tongue that suffered 50
fcebly that / could scarcely return tn 7
greetings. When they had gone by, j
pulled ont the warrant again. having il
in my mind To tear il up without n mo.
ment's delay, to tear IL into the smalles;
morscls and 50 get rid Of n thing most
dangerous But the great nd seal, dan.
CLING at the foot of the parchment. caught
my eye, and paused to think. Ii was sc
rCd. so large, so imposing, 10 seemed n pity
tn destroy it, IL must surely be good fol
something I folded up the warrant again
and put IL away in my safest pocket Yes,
IL might Be good for something
tcok out the other letter. II wa:
bouni with green ribbon and sealed with
extreme care, being directed simply q
Mistrcss ClargnCc-thcrc was no addrcss
Bat OYER Gardeners signature on tn,
wrapper were the words, These, On youl
peril. very privately"
Iturred IL over and over and said tn,
same thing about love and war and ever
repeated to myself my old proverb about ;
sheep and a lamb. But somehow coClt
u
ter; the secret, her secret, and though IN,
fingers itched as they lowered about th'
seals my check tingicd too. So at last
with muttered, "What would Petronill:
say." l put it away unopened In tn
pocket where the warrant lay. The odd
were immense that Mistress Clarenc
would never get il, but ut least her secrc
should remain hers, my honor mine!
1t was dark when I rode, thorough.
jldcd, into It. Adams. ] was splashes
with mud up to the waist and wetted by
shower and looked. have no doubt. from
the effect of my journeying on foot ant
horseback, as disreputablc n fellow a
might be. The consciousness too, that
was without a penny, AMI the fear lest
careful as had been to let no one outstril
ne, tho news Of the riot at Stratfor
might have arrived, did not tend to Civ
me assurance. pokcd my head timidl
into the great room, hoping that I Nigh
have it to myself. To my disgust it wa
full Of people. Half dozen travellers an
rs many townsfolk were sitting round IL
fire. talking hriskly over their draft "
had no choice. was hungry. and til
thing had TO be done. and 1 staggered in
something of the sneak no doubt peepin
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