The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-07-04
BY ROBERT BARR


Copyright, 1897. by Robert Barr.)
The proud and warlike Archbishop
Baldwin of Treves was well mounted,
and, although the road by the margin
of the river was in places bad, the au-
gust horseman- nevertheless made good
progress along it, for he had a long dis
lance to travel before the sun went
down. The way had been rudely con-
structed by that great maker of roads,
the army, and the troops who had built
it did not know when they labored at
it that they were preparing path Tor
their own retreat, should disaster over
take them. The grim and silent horse
man had been the brains, where the
troops were the limbs; this thorough
fare had been of his planning, and
over il, back into Treves, had returned
a victorious, not a defeated army. The
iron hand of the archbishop had come
down on every truculent noble in the
land, and every castle gate that had
not opened to him through fear had
been battered in by force. Peace now
spread her white wings over all the
country, and where opposition TO his
Iordship's stubborn will had been the
strongest there was silence as well, with
perhaps a thin wreath of blue smoke
nONell0&
provinces on each bank of the Moselle
from Treves to the Rhine now acknowl-
edged Baldwin their overload, SUI
erainty technically claimed by his
lordship's predecessors, but the iron
archbishop had changed the nominal
into the actual, and it had taken some
hard knocks to do it. His present jour
ney was well earned, for he was betak-
ing himself from his more formal and
tfv,er Of n n
mer palace at Cochem, there to rest
from tn fatigues of campaign in
which he had used not only his brain,
but his good right arm as well.
The palace, which was to be the end
of his journey, was in some respects
well suited to its master, for, standing
on an eminence high above Cochem,
with its score of pinnacles glittering in
the sun. it seemed. to one below, light
and airy structure, but it was in real
ty a fortress, almost impregnable, and
300 wears later it sent into less turbu-
lent sphere the souls of 1000 French
men before it's flag was lowered to the
enemy.
The personal appearance of the arch
bishop and the smallness of his escort
were practical illustrations of the fact
that the land was at peace and that
he was the master of it. His attire was
neither clerical nor warlike, but rather
that of nobleman riding abroad where
no enemy could possibly Turk. He was
TO all appearance unarmed, and had no
protection save a light chain mail
jacket of bright steel, which was worn
over his Vesture and not concealed
as was the custom. This jacket spark
led in the sun as if it were woven of
fine threads strung with small and in
Vulnerable diamonds. 1t might ward
off a. dagger thrust or turn aside q
half spent arrow, but it was too lgiht
to be of much service against the
sword or pike. The archbishop was
well mounted on a powerful black
charger that had carried him through
many hot corner and that now made
little of the difficulties of the ill-con-
structed road. putting the other horses
on their mettle to equal the pace set
to them.
The escort consisted of u men. all
lightly armed, for Gottleib, the monk,
who rode sometimes by the archbish-
ops side but more often behind him,
could hardly be counted as d warrior
should defense become necessary
When the archbishop left Treves his
Oldest general had advised his taking
an escort of a thousand men at least,
putting it on the ground that such
number was necessary to uphold the
dignity of the office. but Baldwin
rode the dignity of the dictatorship
would be safe, even though none rode
beside him or behind him. Few dared
offer advice to the elector, but the bluff
general persisted, and spoke of dan
ger in riding down the Moselle valley
with so small a following
"Who is there left to modest me?"
asked the archbishop. and the general
was forced to admit that there was
none
An army builds a road along the line
of the least resistance, and often when
a promontory thrust its rocky nose into
the river the way led up the hill
through the forest, getting back into
the valley again as best it could. Dur
ing these inland excursions the monk,
evidently unused TO equestrianism, fell
behind. and sometimes the whole troop
was halted by command of its chief
until Gottleib, clinging TO his horses
name, emerged from the thicket, the