Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-09-06

ger pet. " he jibbed, "sven unable to
borrow little apparel"
did not speak. but turned to the
wardrobe and smiled.
30 poor Tom was forced to appear In
his court suit of pale green silk, his old
Flemish lace and his English sword.
BE led of thequeen and the Prin-
cess Barbara In the opening quadrille.
My partner'a hand trembled in mine.
Our eyes met and held. We seemed to
be gliding there alone. And at one time,
In crossing, sighed into her powdered
hair. Now will dream of another
until I get II. .
Then the grand quadrille ended. We
leaned over the ladies' hands, and the
music ceased with clash.
! saw little Of the princess during the
remainder Of the evening, but the other
ladies Of the court were very kind and
pretended not to recognize any Of the
other gentlemen. They were good
( enough to say that not my arm, but
my manner Of dancing. made plain my
identity.
There was little rest for me when I
returned. / watched the bright sun
L come In at the curtains and the shadows
slide along the floor. Thus I lay until
high noon. In the clear light Of day
how my freedom of the night appalled,
mel The fumes Of the wine. the scent
OF her hair. had left my brain now but,
curse 1t. the memory Of all this was
still deep In my hearth Oh. princess.
\ peincessi
Looking over at the corner Of my
chamber. where the tapestry took only
. little OF the light and the shadow Of a
pier glass fell I could see her slight
figure standing-the red brown hair all
powdered On II had been In the dance,
the gray eyes questioning, the pals
hce kind and queenlike.
.'lt is worth kings game, NUT
tsred. land the king may hang me
for II, but love princess do. 90 God
help mei''
Then Cursed myself for a fool.
Knight have lain all day. picturing
the lady 3 face and figure and building
topping air castles. had not Tom burst
into my room. looking for his sword.
After the barber had done with me
ordered Hagart and rode out in the
autumn forests. The little wild fowers
the odorous ferns and the red and yell
low leaves futtering from the trees
all laughed at the song in my heart
And go I staid In the greenwood until
sunset, listening to the scurrying Of
partridges. the whispering Of the brown
oaks and the occasional and farof
bugle calls in the city. AT the end Of
1t ! united Hagart's bride from a
sapling, and. mounting. vowed that I
would forget the princess and leave
Cloburg for Flanders or any place where
one might die fighting, This had
vowed when leaving Marion. The
thought came to me. and / laughed.
.Hagayt. said to my black horse,
Il will stay. for the princess is 10 far
above me, and ! am her very humble
cavalier. Z And should have been
Z woefully cast down at the hopelessness
of 1t. but instead went whistling up
the ays1ue that runs through the park.
Ep~tt q Is there that man feels far
ills reach when his best horse is
nsm and his tried sword swings
" his legl
Mafthat / became so good court
our ambassador in Cloburg
Tine to become his secretary. So
Nd my fingers with ink. drew
Fayay and wrote two letters a day
idly. The receptions at court
adom without me, and, though
4. cess and spoke little our eyes
Wy things.
niRBeverley was high in favor, and
EeDesty decorated him with the
lar Of the Order Of the Royal
One night, when Tom was
Mhver the wine with me, he said;
III you ever notice, LISTENS, how
siathing lies between the deed for
SWT|ne man Is hung and another
had become since entering on
----- -letaryship something Of philos-
opher nodded assent and replied,
Truly, and sometimes they would
hang man and afterward see reason
to crown him."
Which nearly happened in my poor
case, Salu Tom.
He filled the bowl of a long pipe with
tobacco and lighted it at the flame Of
candle. Smoking had become fashion
able In Cloburg almost Ms much SO at
this time as in London itself. With the
fragrant clouds floating about his head
he talked Of his old home In Devon.
There was girl there high in rank and
very young whom he had loved. He
was very careful to avoid all names
save that Of the Englishman whom he
had 80 valiantly killed in the Unicorn's
Head.
For half the night he rambled on In
his narrative Of old things while l sat,
outwardly attentive. grunting ever and
apon. but In reality thinking only Of a
little, amber haired princess.
The big clock In my chamber chimed
.. He ceased talking of England and
looked at me with his old smile.
"What color Is her hairf" he asked.
sRed brown-that ia. whose hair do
you meant"
'.The hair Of the lady you used to
dream about" he said.
"Oh, yellowi" I answered. remem-
bered the time ! had called 1t golden.
Then Tom wandered off to his bed.
taking his pipe and his tobacco With
him and leaving me to dream ther, In
the window seat till sunrise. VIII n I
looked out at early dawn. white itost
lay over the grass and walls and glis-
tened on the roofs. blew out the far
ing candles, threw aside my clothing
and got to bed before 8.
When awoke, to my amazament
beheld old Red Harding grinnirg at
me petween the curtains OF tne oeo
How heartily we embraced and laughed
and glared at one another. as II we had
been parted for years did not appear,
pan In hand. before the embassador
that day. ~ psnt ny time ssadane
The M i 81 bAsnsaa ~
=