Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-07-27
CHAPTER XVII.


To the little foDl9 Has she gone crazy.,
I shook M head, too completely at sea
even to hazard a conjecture. Master Ber-
tic shook his head also, keeping his eyes
glued to the door, rs II he could not be-
Hove Ammo had really gone.
II SAID nothing to brighten her," my
Ss!y protested.
Nothing at all" answered. For how
saouid the announcement that my real
nanc vas CluGdc terrify Mistress Anne
Brandon nearly out of her sensess
We'll, no. Master Berthe agreed, his
thoughtful face moro thoughtful than
usual, $50 far as heard, you said moth
ing. Bat think, my dear, that you had
better follow her and learn what it is. She
must be ill.,.
The duchess sat down. II will go by
and by" she said coolIy, at which l was
not much surprised, for l have always re-
marked that women have less sympathy
with other womon's ailments especially
OF the nerves, than have men.
For the moment / want to scold this
brave, silly boy horcn' she continued,
looking so kindly at me that l blushod
again and forgot all about Mistress Anne.
ITO think of him leaving his home to be-
come wandering squire of DANES merely
because his father was a-wcll, not quito
what Inc would have liked him to he!
remember sSmcthina about him." sho
continued, parsing up her lips and nod.
ding her head at us. Il fancicd him dead,
however, years ago. But there! If every
one whose father were not quite to his Xix
Ing left homo and went nstraying, Master
Francis. all sensible folk would turn inn
keepers and make their fortunes"
1t was not only that which drove me
from home" explained. The bishop Of
Winchester gave me clearly to under
stand''-
That Cutin was not the place for
your exclaimed my lady scornfully. "Ho
Is sort of connection o. yours, Is no mott
oh, know. And he thinks he has kind
Of rovcrsionary interest in tho property!
With you and your father out of the way
and only your girl cousin left, his interest
Is much moro likely to come to hand. Do
You scc:'
1 recalled what Martin Luther had said
about tho cuckoo. But l have since
thought that probably they both wrongcd
Stephen Gardiner in this. He was not a
man of petty mind, and his estate was
equal to his high place. think 1t moro
likely that his motive in removing mo
from Cotton was chiefly the desire to uss
my services abroad, in conjunction per
taPs with so;,ic rcmotcr and darker plan
for eventually dcvoting the Cluddc prop
crty to tho church Such an net of pioty
would havo been possible had Sir Anthony
died leaving his daughter unmarried and
would certainly have earned for the chan
ccllor Queen Mary's lasting favor. l
think IL tho more likely to have been I'm
his mind because his inability to persuade
the gentry to such acts of institution
King Harry had much enriched us-waS
always u sore point with the queen and
moro than once exposed him to her resent
mCnt.
1.-The strangest thing of all" the duch-
css continued, with alacrity, "sccms to
mo to DO th.s-that If he had not mctldled
with you he would not have had his plans
In regard to us thwartcd. II he had not
driven you from home, you would never
have helped me 10 escape from London
nor been with us to foil his agents.
"a higher power than the chancellor ar
ranged that!' said Master Berthe emphat-
ically.
We'll, at any rate, am glad that you
arc you!' the duchess answered, rising
gayly. "A Cluddc? Why, one feels n;
home again, and yet, she continued, her
lips trembling suddenly and her eyes fill
ing with tears rs she looked ut me, there
was mover house raiscd yet on noblor deed
than yours"
Go, 30, go!" cried her husband, seeing
my embarrassment. Go and look to that
foolish girl!'
II Will Yet stopl'' cried my lady,
pausing when she was half way across tho
1.oor and returning, Il was forgetting