Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-08-31
moat, d strange scene was passing. a doz-
en- horscmeu were grouped in the middle

All -
"In hcarcaS name, do not carry the thing
fdrthCr'''
of the field about a couple of prisoners,
whilo round the gate By which they had
entered stood as many stolt mon on foot,
headed by Baldwin and armed with pixies
and slaves These seemed to be haunting
the cavaliers and daring them to come on.
On tie wooden bridge by which the
knight stood were half dozen of the
servants. also armed. Sir Anthony recog-
nizci in the leading horseman Sir Philip
C!opton, and in the prisoners Father Carey
and one Of the woodmon, and in n momoEt
ue comprchendcd what had happened.
The sheriff, in the most nncighborly
manner, instead of challenging his front
door. had stoicE up to tho rear &C the
house, and without saying with your Leave
or by your leave had snapped up tho poor
priest, who happened to be wandering in
that direction. Probably he had intended
to force an entrance, but he had Raid aside
the plan when he saw his only retreat
ncnaccd by tho watchrul Baldwin, who
was not to be caught mapping. The knight
took all this iii ut a glance, and his gorge
rose Us much at the Clopton mems trick
as at the danger in which Father Carey
stood. so he lost his head and made mat
tiers worse. who are these villaius," he
cried in Il rage, Lis face ailame, who como
attacking mems houses in time Of peace?
Begoro, or will have at yc!'
sir Anthony" Clop:on cried, inter
rGpting him, lin heavens name. do not
carry rho thing farther! Give me way in
the queens name, and will
What he would do was never known,
:or at TINT last word, away at the house,
behind Sir Anthony, there was puff of
smoke, and down Went tho sheriff head
long, horse and man, whilo the report of
I'll arqucSus rang DULY round the build
ing. The knight gazed, Mortified, but the
damage was done and could not be I'M
donc--nay, more, the Cotton men took the
sound Tor n signal. With n shout, before
Sir Anthony could interfere, they ;nado a
dash for the group Of Eorsenon. The lat
ter. uncertain and Eampercd by the fall of
their leader. who was not hit, but was
stunned beyond giving orders, did the
best they could. They let their prisoners
20 with a curse, and then, raising Sir
Philip and forming u rough line, they
charged toward tho gate by which they
had entered.
The footmen stood the brunt gailantly,
and for n moment tho sharp ringing of
quarter slaves ard the shivcr.ng of steel
told OF as pretty Il combat rs ever took
place on level sward in full view of an
English horne. The spectators could SEQ
Baldwin doing wonders. His men backed
him Up bravc!y, but in the end the i'm
potus OF the horses told, tho footmcn gave
way and fed aside, and the strangers
r,ae erl 4 Il; Ia,
took place at the gateway, Sir Anthony's
men being deaf TO all his attempts to call
them of, ard then the Clopton horse got
clear, and shaking their fists and vowing
vengeance rode off toward the forest.
They left two of their men On the field,
however, one with n broken arm and one
with shattered kreecap, while the house
party Oh their side, besides sundry knocks
and bruises, could show one deep sword
cut, n broken wrist and half dozen nasty
wounds
My peer little girl" Sir Anthony
whispered to himself as he Eazcd with
scared eye, at the PROSTATE men and the
dead horses and comprchcndcd what had
happened. This is n hanging business!
In arms against the queen! What am
To Coz" And as he went back TO the house
My little girl! NY poor little girlv'
fancy that in this terrible crisis he
looked to get support and comfort from
his brother, that old campaigner who had
seen SO many vicissitudcs and knew by
heart SO many shifts But Ferdinand,
though he thought the event unlucky, had
little to say and less to suggest and
seemed indeed to have become on sud-
den tlaccid and lukcwarm. Sir Anthony
felt himself thrown on his own resources
Who fired tho shot!" be asked, looking
about the room in dazed fashion. 1t
was that which did tho mischief" he
continued. forgetting his own hasty chal-
iengo
Il think it must have been Martin
Luther" Ferdinand answered
But Martin Luther, when he was ac-
cused denied this stoutly. He had been
50 far along the Ridgoway, be said, that,
though lie had returned ae oncc on hear
ing the shot fired he had arrived too late
for the fight. The fools stomach for a
fight was So we'll known that this seemed
probable enough, and though some still
suspected him the origin of the unfortu-
nate signal was never clearly determined,
though in after days shrewd Guesses were
made By some.
For Q few hours il seemed as if Sir An
thony had sunk into his former state of
indCcision. But when Petronilla came
again To Kim soon after noon to beg him
to go into hiding she found his mood had
altered. go to the Mere farm:'' he said,
not angrily now, but firmly and quietly.
No, girl, l cannot Ihave been in fault,
and must stay and pay for it. If I left
these poor fellows to bear tho brunt l