The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-07-29

Office and handed them to Father Gott
lieb; saying significantly, 1.-THE loves
among You. that suffer and are tru
shall be exalted" Turning to his ow,
flock, be commanded them to 90 in an,
have some rest after such disquietinl
night; then to Gottlieb, when thu
monks had obsdiently departed, "Brin,
me. and yon Mow where to find such
the apparel Of fighting man and ,
sword"
Thus arrayed, he dismissed the oil
man, and alone in the silence, with tn,
row Of figures, like efigies on a tomb
beside him, paced up and down through
the night as the moon dropped lowe
and lower in the heavens There was .
| period of dark before the dawn, and a
last the upper walls began to whittier
with the coming day, and the blacl
baron moansd uneasily in his drunken
sleep. The abbot paused in his wall
and looked down upon them, and Colt
lieb stole out from the shadow of the
door and asked If be conld be of service.
He had evidently not slept, but had
watched his chief until he paused in
his march.
"Tell our brothers to come out and
see the justice of the Lord"
When the monks trooped out, bag
gard and wan, in the pure light of the
dawn, the abbot asked Gottlieb to get a
fagon and dash water from the spring
in the faces Of the sleepers.
The black baron was the first to como
to his senses and realize dimly. but aft
erward more acutely, the changed con-
dition Of affairs. His eye wandered ap-
prehensively to the empty moose sway
ing slightly in the morning breeze
above him. He then saw that the tall
ascetic man before him had dofted the
abbot's robes and wore a sword by his
side, and from this he augured ILL At
the command of the abbot the monks
raised each prostrate man and placed
him against the north wall.
"Gottlieb. said the abbot slowly,
"the last Office that will be required Of
you. You took from our neoks the
nooses last night. Place them, pray
you, on the necks of the baron and his
followers"
The old man, trembling, adjusted the
ropes.
my lord abbot" began the baron.
Baron Won Grunewald. interrupt
ed the person addressed, "the Abbot
Ambrose is dead. He was foully assas-
sinated last night. In his place stands
Conrad Won Stern, who answers for his
deeds to the emperor and after him to
God."
'Is 1t your purpose to hang me,
baron7"
"Was it your purpose to have hanged
Us, my lord2"
'Iswear to heaven It was not Twas
but an i'll timed pleasantly. Had I
wished to hang you, I would have done
60 last night"
"That seems plausible.
The knights all swore, with many
round oaths, that their overload spoke
the truth and nothing was further from
their intentions than execution. The
abbot glanced down along the line, but
his face was inscrutable. They could
read there neither mercy nor justice.
At last he spoke.
whether you hang or no shall de-
pend upon yourselves.
"By God, then," cried the baron,
"and have aught TO say on the point,
l shall hang some other dayl"
"Will you, then, baron, beg admit
lance to mother church, whose kindly
tenants you have SO outraged"
"We will. We do" cried the baron
fervently. whispering through his
clinched teeth to Siegfrisd, who stood
next to him, "Wait till have the up.
per hand again" Fortunately the alb
bot did mot hear the whisper. The
knights all echoed aloud the baron's
pious first remark. and perhaps in their
hearts said "Amenr' to his second.
The abbot spoke word or two to
the monks, and they advanced to the
pinioned men and there performed. the
rite sacred to their calling and to the
serious situation of the penitents. As
the good brothers stood back, they beg
ged the abbot for mercy to be extended
toward the new converts, but the
sphin1like face Of their leader gave no
indication as to their fate, and the good
men began to fear that it was the alb
bots intention to hang the baron and
his knights.
"Now-brothers," said the abbot,
with long pause before he spoke the
second word, whereupon each of the
prisoners heaved a sigh of relief, ~
said your fate would depend on your.
selves and on your good intentions.
They all vociferously proclaimed that
their intentions were and had been Of
the most honorable kind.
II trust that is true and that you
shall live long to show your faith by
your works. 1t Is written that man
legged a pit for his enemy and fell
himself therein. It is also written that
Is man sows so shall be reap II you
meant Us no harm, then your signal
houted to the battlements will do you
10 HARM"
"For Gods sake, my lord, screamed
he baron, while all his followers
,roaned aloud. The abbot, unheeding,
aised his face toward the northern
vail and shouted at the top Of bis voice:
$50 die such Christiansl' varying
he phrase by one word. A simultane-
US scream rose from the doomed men,
ut short as by knife as the huge log
vas hurled over the outer parapet, and
be n victims were jerked into the air
nd throttled at the coping that ran
round tho inner wall The good monks
roaned and fell upon their knees.
Thus did the Abbot Ambrose save the
ouls of Baron Won Grunewald and his
len at some expense to their necks.
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