The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1900-03-16

"Pardon me, SIRE

pardon me, sire"
'Rise, my friend, RISE" said the fu-
ture liberator Of Sweden. eyes, am
Tasa, the only living descendant of
thy ancient kings. 1 have spoilt the
edge of thy ancient kings. have
spoilt the edge of thy good AK. Tc-
morrow, however, if thou wilt come to
Ealun, | will buy the sword to take
its place. Is it bargain? p
"Nay, l will never leave thee"
said the man with true devotion. "But
yonder is my cot and Dame Astrld
will have the supper ready. Wilt
thou not deign to rest and have a
warm posset with us? Whilst thou
art eating l will find boat with
which to cross the river"
Vasa accepted the proffered hospi-
tality, and the two entered the hut
where warm fire blazed on the hearth,
and where they were welcomed by
Dame Astrid, middle-aged woman
with a kind, intelligent face. Her
husband whispered some words in her
ear, and then hurried without.
Then the woman gave the wanderer
a seat by the fire and placed warm food
before him, of which he partook free
ly. While he was satisfying his hun
ger there was a sudden sound of
trampling hoofs outside the hut, and
presently, with loud clalnor of
voices, the door was thrown violently
open and troop Of Danish soldiers en-
tered.
Gustavus glanced apprehensively at
his hostess and shrunk closer into the
conner, but she whispered, "Do not
fear, l will give my life for yours. Then
she turned to obey the the commands
Of her more recent guests.
Haste thee, witch, and set Oh thy
best, for this wild country thine gives
me an appetite like bears and we
have far to ride tonight" cried the
leader of the party, a burly, red-headed
Dane.
"Thou art welcome to all we have"
said the woman, stirring round brisk
ly. "What" to the lone figure by
the hearth, cart thou still lounging
and eating there? Go to, serf, and
close the barn and bring in the wood"
and with that she bestowed upon the
amazed Vasa buffet upon the ears
that half-staggered him. Dost thou
hear?"
The seeming churl arose and shufiled
slowly out of doors pathetically rub
bling his ear, much to the amusement
of the soldiers, who laughed loudly at
his enforced retreat.
"He is lazy lout," explained the
woman, "and eats more every day than
he is worth. l would not have him
around an hour, but my husband thinks
he is wonderfully clever. Men are
such FOOLS"
"Cease, beldom," said the Danish
leader; "let us have less of thy clack
and more of thy bounty. Hast no
wine in thy sty for the kings troop
ers."
"Here is wine of our own making"
she answered, bringing forth bottle
of ruby-colored grape juice. ut was
pressed from grapes as long ago as
when the good Svante Sture was re-
gent
alt is the best wine we have tasted
among thy inho pitai lie mountains
declared one of the Danes who SEEM
ed to be keen judge. eff thou hast
another bottle, thou hadst better set it
on
Dame Astr.d did as she was COM
manded, and so we'll did she play her
little game, that she kept the Danes at
the table for upwards Of an hour, and
when they at last departed they were
in bad condition approaching inebria-
ton.
Meanwhile the bender had succeed
ed in securing boat, and long before
the pursuing party had left the cot
tage he and Gustavus Vasa were
safely across the river on the way to
Falun, where the Dalecarlian chiefs
had assembled with their followers.
Before weeks time the uprising was
general, and the fugitive was at the
head of an army strong enough to
face the Danish forces The result is
well known.
Gustavus Vasa became king of
Sweden a ID the founder Of a dinasty.
AS soon as the throne was his he en-
nobled Olaf Larson and the woman
who had boxed his cars AMI called
him lout was made Il baroness in her
Own right Even to day, 10y many
tireside in Dalecarlia, the story is told
of the brave peasant woman whose
quick wit and p essence of mind saved
the life Of the great Gustavus Vasa.-
ForwaId
do you know" said the man in the
gray ulster, shat police statistics
chow q total Of nearly twenty thnns-