El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-17
excepting only those unlawfully with

(Which means thvSe1f, worthy IA
Their. Read on, good clerk, and let Us
hear it to the end. +"
AZ the monk read cut the awful
words of the message, piling curse on
curse with sonorous voice, the baron
saw his trembling servitors turn pale,
and even his IS knights, companions
in robbery and rapine, fall away from
him. Dark, red anger mounted to his
temples. He raised his mailed hand
and smote the reading monk fat across
the mouth. telling the old man prone
| upon the stones of the court.
t'That is my answer to our holy ia
ther the pope, and when thou swearest
to deliver it TO him as 1 have given it to
| thee the gates are open and the way clear
for thy pilgrimage to Rome
But the monk lay where he fell and
made no reply.
| "Take him away commanded the
baron impatiently, whereupon several
of the menials laid hands on the falling
| monk and dragged him into the scullery
he had left.
Turning to his men at arms the baron
roared, "Well, my gentle wolves, have
a few words in Latin on bit of sheep
skin turned you all to sheep2"
81 always said, spoke up the Knight
Siegfried, "that no good came of cap
tured monks or meddling with the
church. Besides, we are noble all, ard
do not hold with the raising of a mailed
hand against an unarmed man..
There was low murmur of approval
among the knights at Siegfried's bold
ness.
"Close the gatesi'' shouted the mad
dened baron. Every one flew at the
word of command, and the great oaksn
hinges, studded with iron, slowly came
together, shutting out the bit of land
scape their opening had disclosed. The
baron flung the reins on his charger
neck and smote the animal on the flank,
causing it to trot at once to its stable.
''There will be no tiding today" he
said, his voice ominously lowering The
stablemen of the castle came forward
and led away the horses The 16 knights
stood in group together, with Siegfried
at their head, waiting with some anxi-
ETY. on their brows for the next move in
the game. The baron, his drawn sword
in his hand, strobe up and down before
them, his brow bent on the ground,
evidently struggling to get the master
hand over his own anger. If it came to
blows, the odds were against him, and
he was too shrewd a man to break him
self on a is to 1 contest.
At length the baron stopped in his
walk and looked at the group. He said
after pause in quiet tone of voice,
''Siegfried, if you doubt my courage be-
cause 1 strike to the ground a rascally
monk step forward, draw thine own
good sword, our comrades will see that
all is fair betwixt us, and in this man
ner you may learn that 1 fear neither
mailed nor unmailed hand. -
But the knight made no motion to
lay his hand upon his sword, nor did he
move from his place.
mo one doubts your courage, my
lord, - he said, ''neither is it any refec-
ton on mine that in answer to your
challenge my sword remain in its scab-
bard. You are our overload, and it is
not meet that our weapons should be
raised against you.
81 am glad that point is firmly fixed |
in your minds. 1 thought a moment |
since that 1 would be compelled TO up
hold the feudal law at the peril of my
own body. But if that comes not in |
question, no more need be said. Touch !
ing the unarmed, Siegfried, if 1 remem-
Der Alright, you showed no such squeam
ishness at our sacking of the Convent !
of st. Agnes"
ga woman is a different matter, my |
lord said Siegfried uneasily
The baron laughed, and so did some |
of the knights, evidently relieved to |
find the tension of the situation relax
ing.
''Comradesi'' cried the baron, his |
face aglow with enthusiasm, all traces
of his former temper vanishing from |
his brow. ''You are excellent in a
melee, but useless at the council board. |
You see no further ahead of you than
your good right arms will strike. Look
round you at these stout walls. No en-
CINE that man has yet devised can bat
ter breach in them. In our vanlts are
ten years supply of stolen grain. Our
cellars are full of rich red wine, not of |
our vintage, but for our drinking. Here
in our court bubbles forever this good
spring, excellent to drink when wine !
gives out, and medicinal in the morn
ing, when too much wine has been tax
en- in" He waved his hand toward the
living, overlooking well, charged with
carbonic acid gas, one of the many
that have since made the region of the
Rhine famous. ''Now 1 ask you, can
this castle of Grunewald ever be taken,
or no excommunica-
tion2''
A simultaneous shout of t'No, new
Or !" arose from the knights.
The baron stood looking grimIy at
them for several moments. Then he said
in quiet voice. eyes the castle OF
Grunewald can be taken. Not from
but from within. If any
crafty enemy can SOW dissension among