The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1903-05-14

| III proof OF this statement now tell
| you that when I returned to London 7
found Brandon still in the terrible dun
geon, and, worse still, he had been
tried for murder and had been con-
demned to be hanged, drawn and quar-
tered on the second Friday following.
Hanged! Drawn! Quartered! It is
time we were doing away with such
barbarity.
! We will now go back a month for
the purpose of looking up the doings of
q friend of ours, his grace the Duke of
Buckingham.
On the morning after the fatal battle
| of Billingsgate the barber who had
| treated Brandon's wounds had been
| called to London to dress a bruised
knee for his grace the duke In the
| course of the operation an immense
deal of information oozed out of the
barber, one item of which was that he
had the night before dressed nine
wounds, great and small, for Master
Brandon, the kings friend. This es-
tablished the identity Of the man who
had rescued the girls, fact of which
Buckingham had had his suspicious all
along. So Brandon's arrest followed.
as have already related to you.
afterward learned from various
sources how this nobleman began to
avenge his mishap with Brandon at
Mary's ball when the latter broke his
sword point. First he went to New
gate and gave orders to the keeper.
who was his tool, to allow no commu-
nication with the prisoner, and it was
by his instructions that Brandon had
been confined in the worst dungeon in
London. Then he went down to Green
Wich to take care Of matters there.
knowing that the king would learn of
Brandon's arrest and probably take
steps for his liberation at once.
The king had just heard of the arrest
when Buckingham arrived, and the
latter found he was right in his sur
mise that his majesty would at once
demand Brandon's release.
When the duke entered the kings
room, Henry called to him: my lord.
you are OPPORTUNITY arrived So good
friend Of the people of London can
help us greatly this morning. Our
friend Brandon has been arrested for
the killing Of two men night before
last in Billingsgate ward. 1 am sure
there is some mistake and that the
good sheriff has the wrong man, but
right or wrong, we want him out and
ask your good Offices"
II shall be most happy to serve your
majesty and will 60 to London at once
to see the lord mayor"
In the afternoon the duke returned
and had private audience with the
king.
Il did as your majesty requested in
regard to Brandon's release" he said,
''but on investigation I thought it best
to consult you again before proceeding
further. I fear there is no doubt that
Brandon is the right man. 1t seems he
was out with a couple of wenches con-
corning whom he got into trouble and
stabbed two men in the back It is a
very aggravated case, and the citizens
are much incensed about it, owing
partly to the fact that such occurrences
have been so frequent of late. I
thought under the circumstances and
in view of the fact that your majesty
will soon call upon the city for q loan
to make up the Lady Mary's dover it
would be wise not to antagonize them
in this matter, but to allow Master
Brandon to remain quietly in confne-
ment until the loan is completed, and
then we can snap our fingers at them"
1--WE will snap our fingers at the
scurvy burghers now and have the
loan, too,'' returned Henry angrily. II
want Brandon liberated at once, and I
shall expect another report from you
Immediately, my lord"
Buckingham felt that his revenge
had slipped through his fingers this
time, but he was patient where evil
was to be accomplished and could wait.
Then it was that the council was called
during the progress of which Mary
and I had tried to obtain an audience
of the king.
Buckingham had gone to pay his re-
spects to the queen and on his way
back had espied Mary waiting for the
king in the anteroom and went to her.
At first she was irritated at the sight
of this man, whom she so despised,
but thought came to her that she
might make use of him. She knew his
power with the citizens and city au-
thorities of London and also knew, or
thought she knew, that a smile from
her could accomplish everything with
him. She had ample evidence of his
infatuation, and she hoped that she
could procure Brandon's liberty through
Buckingham without revealing her
dangerous secret
Much to the dukes surprise, she
smiled upon him and gave a cordial
welcome, saying: my lord, you have
been unkind to US of late and have not
shown us the light of your counte-
nance. I am glad to see you once
more. Tell me the news"
II cannot say there is much of inter-
est. have learned the new dance
from Caskoden, if that is news, and