El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-17

with the coming day, and the hlacl,
baron moaned uneasily in his oil unken
sleep. The abbot paused in his walk
and looked down upon them, and Gott-
lieb stole out from the shadow of the
door and asked if he could 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 hao-
gard and wan, in the pure light of the
dawn, the abbot asked Gottlieb to get
fagon and dash wafer from the spring
in the faces of the sleepers.
The black baron was the first to come
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 dotted the
| abbCt's robes and wore sword by his
| side, and from this he augured ILL At
| the command of the abbot the monks
| raised each PROSTATE 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 necks 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 barren
"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
els it your purpose to hang me-
baron?''
''Was it your purpose to have, hanged
us, my lord p
81 swear to heaven it was not. Twas
but an ill timed pleasantly. Had l
wished to hang you, would have done.
so last night.
1'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, them cried the baron,
land have aught to say on the point,
I shall hang some other dayT'
''Will you, then, baron, beg admit
lance to mother church, whose kindly
tenants you have so outraged?''
eve will. We do cried the baron
fervently, whispering through his
clinched teeth to Siegfried, who stood
next to him, 'Wait till have the up
per hand again. Fortunately the alb
bot did not hear the whisper. The
knights all echoed aloud the baron's
pious first remark, and perhaps in their
hearts said ''Amenl'' 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
sphinxlike 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 a long pause before he spoke the
second word, whereupon each of the
prisoners heaved a sigh of relief, al
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.
81 trust that is true and that you
shall live long TO show your faith by
your works. 1t is written that man
digged a pit for his enemy and fell
himself therein. 1t is also written that
as a man sows so shall he reap. If You
meant us no harm, then your signal
shouted to the battlements will do you
no harm.
s'For Gods sake, my lord screamed
the baron, while all his followers
groaned aloud. The abbot, unheeding,
raised his face toward the northern
wall and shouted at the top of his voice:
$50 die such Christiansp' varying
the phrase by one word. A simultane-
GUS scream rose from the doomed men,
cut short as by knife as the huge log
was hurled over the outer parapet, and
the II victims were jerked into the air
and throttIed at the coping that ran
around the inner wall. The good monks
eroaned and fell upon their knees.
Thus did the Abbot Ambrose save the
souls of Baron Won Grunewald and his
men at some expense to their necks.