San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-09-05
TCopyrignt, 1857, by A. ii. Hawklns,I

married man (dnu mere ne DOWeu 10
Margaret of Tuscany, his newly welded
wife,, and seeing that Osra is turned 90
years of age-why, we are all going to
be sober folk at Strelsau from this day
forward, and we are going to play no
more pranks. Here's pledge of it. :"
And, having said this, King Rudolf III
took deep draft of wine.
At this moment the ushers announced
that the Lord Harry Culverhouse had
come to take his leave of their majesties
and of the princess. This gentleman had
accompanied the embassy that came
from England TO congratulate the king
ON his marriage, and he had staid some
months in Strelsau, very eagerly acced
ing to the kings invitation to prolong
his visit, for such were his folly and
headstrong passion that he had fallen
most desperately in love with the fair
face of Princess Osra and could not en-
dure TO live out of her presence. Yet
now he came to bid farewell, and when
he was ushered in Rudolf received him
with much graciousness and made him
a present of his own miniature set in
diamonds, while the queen gave him
her miniature set in the lid of golden
casket. In return Lord Harry prayed
the king to accept a richly mounted
sword and the queen an ivory fan,
painted by the greatest artist of France
and bearing her cipher in jewels. Then
he came to Princess Osra, and she, hav-
ing hidden him farewell, said, II am
poor maid, my lord, and ! can give no
great gift but take this pin from my
hair and keep it for my sake Z" And she
drew out golden pin from her hair,
long and sharp pin, bearing for its head
her cipher in brilliants, and she gave it
to him, smiling.
But he, bowling low and then falling
on his knee, offered her a box of red
morocco leather, and when she opened
it she saw a necklace Of rubies of great
splendor. The princess flushed red see-
ing that the gift was most costly. And
she would fain have refused it and held
it out again to Lord Harry. But he
turned swiftly away, and, bowling once
more, YithdreY, Then the princess
said to her brother, sit is too costly"
The king, seeing how splendid the
gift was, frowned little, but then be
said:
"He must be man Of very great
wealth. They are rich in England. /
am sorry the gift is so great, but we
canac5 refdrs r-wft.hout/ &ounding his
honor"
So the princess SCI the ruby necklace
with her other jewels and thought for
a day or two that Lord Harry was no
wiser than other men and then forgot
him.
Now, Lord Harry Culverhouse, on
leaving the kings presence, had mount
ed his horse, which was fine charger
and splendidly equipped. and ridden
alone out of Strelsau, for he had dis
missed all his servants and dispatched
them with suitable gratuities to their
own country. He rode through the
afternoon, and il the evening he reached
a village Is miles away. Here he
stopped at a cottage, and an old man
came out and escorted him inside A
bundle lay on the table in the little
parlor of the cottage.
Here are the clothes, my lord, said
the old man, laying his hand on the
bundle.
And here are mine, answered Lord
Harry. And the horse stands ready
for you" With this he began TO pail
off the fire clothes in which be had hSd
audience of the king, and he opened
the bundle and put On the old and plain
suit which it contained Then he held
out his hand to the old man, saying,
Give me the crowns, Solomon, and
our bargain is complete.
Then Solomon the Jew gave him
crowns and babe him farewell, and he
placed the crowns III his purse and
walked out of the cottage, possessing
nothing in the world saving his old
clothes, crowns and the golden pin
that had fastened the ruddy hair of
Princess Osra, for every thing else that
he had possessed-his laE6s ard houses
in England, his kcrses and carriages,
his money, his clothes and all that was
!. his-he had battered with Solomon the
Jew in order that he might buy the
ruby necklace which he had given to
Princess Osra. Such was the strange
madness wrought in him by her face.
1t was now late evening, and he
walked to and fro all night. IN the
morning he went to the shop of bar.
Der, and in return for one Of his crowns
the barber croppeI his long cnrls short
and shaved off his mustache aud gave
him dye with which be stained his
complexion to a darker tint, and he
made his face dirty and soiled his hands
and roughened the skin of them by
chatting them on some flints which lay
by the roadside. Then, changing sec.
ond crown, he bought loaf of bread
and set off to trudge to Strelsau, for il
Strelsau was Csra, and he would not b.
anywhere else in the world. And wheI
be had arrived there he went to ser
geant of the kings guard and prevailed
on him by a present of 3 crowns to en-
list him as trooper, and this the ser,
geant, having found that Lord Harry
could ride and knew how TO use hi.