The herald., 1896-05-17

er seemed wholly unconscious that she had
done any thing remarkable. The repulse
of an organised band OF convicts might
have formed part of the ordinary curricu-
lum of ladies' schools in Silesia, so calm
and well accustomed so demure and I'M
conscious sat the little Truda in her chair
But she listened eagerly enough to the talk
of her elders.
+ Doubtless they are waiting for the
night to steal upon us with the firebrand
and the drench of petroleum. said Ait
Karl; that is the way we burn the viii
lagos from which the sharpshooters fire
upon our lire of march,
There is part of a cavalry regiment,
Hussars of the Black Eagle. lying in ST.
Polten," said the Count. "If by any
means we could get the news taken down
there we might have succour within an
hour. 1t is but three miles, and if there
were man Of courage in the neighbour
hood, he might run with the news"
Alt Karl shook his head
ut needs more than courage and our
men of sense are mostly lying between here
and Koniggratz.' he said. Besides, the
woodchoppers and peasants will think that
we Of the chateau amuse ourselves with
firing at the mark"
Alt Karl held those low views of the in
telligence of the countryfolk about st.
Polten, which are the birthright of the
true hillman of the Tyrol.
The Count lay back in his chair deep in
meditation. He drew out of his breast
pocket silver cigarette case. He was on
the point of lighting one, when his eyes
fell on Gertrud Richter.
with your permission, Mademoiselle,"
he said, bowling courteously.
The words brought a grim smile to the
face of Alt Karl a smile which ended in
a little twitch of pain as his wounded
shoulder nipped him.
otis just my little Truda home from
school in Breslau. and no Mademoisellc at
ALL" he explained. For often in the Aus
trian Tylpl, with regard to the meaning of
words, things are not what they seem.
The count looked more than q little an
noyed and glanced at Truda, but perfectly
unconscious she had taken to her knitting.
with the muskets ready on the table beside
her all the time.
"Your permission, Fraulein Gertrude"
he said politely.
Gertrud smilingly nodded and said that
indeed, with her fathers habits, she was
well enough accustomed to tobacco
ITO the grand pipe, not to the whiting
OF straws." said Alt Karl contemptuously.
pointing to the array of noble bowls and
six-foot stems on the wall.
So with the Count smoking and Gertrud
making occasional "Reminiscences to the
upper windows, the still, breathless after
noon wore on into the cooler stiffness of
the evening sunshine.
All the while little Gertrud was busily
thinking. 1t was the Count and her faith
er whose death the convicts aimed at. For
herself. not knowing the hearts of the hui
man wild beast, she had no fear. Indeed.
had she known all, the worst would not
have affrighted her SO long as within the
chambers of her fathers revolver there
slumbered an alternative.
From childhood Gertrud had dwelt in this
place. For fifteen years she had tried ey-
cry path, tested every hidng-place and
hollow in all the jagged tangle of honey
combed limestone country about st, Pol
ten. She remembered especially the long
ravine cleft, which began SO mysteriously
just beyond the grassy slope Of the glade.
The little Trudchen thought deeply, and her
thoughts were of what she and she alone
could do.
Would it not be possible for her to run
across the lawn, drop into the ravine and
there lie hid while the convicts were