Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1903-05-08

AS to the battle with Buckingham, it
was short. but decisive, and this was
the way it came about: There had been
passage between the duke and Bran
don. in which the latter had tried to
coax the former into duel, the only
way of course to settle the weighty
matters between them. Buckingham,
however, had had a taste of Brandon's
nimble sword play and, bearing in
mind Judson's fate, did not care for
any more They had met by accident,
and Brandon, full of smiles and as po-
lite as a Frenchman, greeted him.
DOUBTLESS my lord. having crossed
swords twice with me, will do me the
great honor to grant that privilege the
third time and will kindly tell me
where my friend can wait upon a
friend of his grace"
"There is no need for us to meet over
that little affair. You had the best of
it, and if | am satisfied you should be.
l was really in the wrong, but | did
not know the princess had invited you
to her ball"
"Your lordship is pleased to evade,"
returned Brandon. 1T is not the ball
room matter that l have to complain
Of AS you have rightly said if you are
satisfied l certainly should be, but it is
that your lordship, in the name of the
king, instructed the keeper of Newgate
prison to confine me in an underground
cell and prohibited communication with
any of my friends. You so arranged it
that my trial should be secret both as
to the day thereof and the event, in or
der that it should not be known to
those who might be interested in my
release. You promised the Lady Mary
that you would procure my liberty, and
thereby prevented her going to the
king for that purpose, and afterward
told her that it had all been done. as
promised, and that | had escaped to
New Spain. 1t is because of this, my
Lord buckingham, that l now de-
nounce you as liar, coward and a
perjured knight, and demand of you
such satisfaction as one man can give
to another for mortal injury. If you
refuse, | will kill you as / would a cut
throat the next time l meet you"
81 care nothing for your rant, fell
]
feelings which your fancied injuries
have put into your heart, tell you that
l did what | could to liberate you and
received from the keeper a promise
that you should be allowed to escape.
After that certain letter addressed
to you was discovered and fell into the
hands Of the king, a matter in which
had no part. AS to your confinement
and noncommunicaton with your
friends, that was at his majestys COM
mand after he had seen the letter. as
he will most certainly confirm to you.
say this for my own sake, not that |
care what You may say or think"
This offer of confirmation by the king
made it all sound like the truth. so
much will even a little truth leaVen Il
great lie, and part of Brandon's sails
came down against the mast. The
whole statement surprised him, and
most of all the intercepted letter. What
letter could it have been? 1t was puz-
zling, and yet he dared not ask.
AS the duke was about to walk away
Brandon stopped him: zone moment,
your grace; am willing to admit what
you have said, for | am not now pre-
pared to contradict it, but there is yet
another matter we have to settle. You
attacked me on horseback and tried to
murder me in order to abduct two la
dies that night over in Billngsgate
That you cannot deny | watched you
follow the ladies from Bridewell to
Grouches, and saw your face when
your mask fell off during the melee as
plainly as | see it now. If other proof
is wanting, there is that spraned knee
upon which your horse fell, causing
you to limp even yet l am sure now
that my lord will meet me like man,
or would he prefer that | should 90 to
the king and tell him and the world the
whole shameful story? | have con-
cealed it heretofore thinking it my per-
sonal right and privilege to settle with
you"
buckingham turned shade paler as
he replied. Il do not meet such as you
on the field of honor and have no fear
of your Islander injuring me-
He felt secure in the thought that the
girls did not know who had attacked
tHcil, anu coulu not corroDOrate bran
don in his accusations, or Mary, surely,
never would have appealed to him for
help.
was with Brandon-at a little dis
lance, that is-when this occurred, and
after buckingham had left we went to
find the girls in the forest. We knew
they would be looking for u.s. although
they would pretend surprise when they
saw us. We soon met them, and the
very leaves of the trees gave a soft,
contented rustic in response to Mary's
low mellow laugh of joy.
After perhaps half an hour we en-.
countered Buckingham with his law
yer-knight, Johnson. They had evil