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

cdpe rather luan Dy an order Tor his
release. The citizens are greatly
aroused over the alarming frequency
Of such occurrences, and as many of
the Offenders have lately escaped pun
1shment by reason of court interfer-
ence fear this man Brandon will have
to bear the brunt, in the London mind,
Of all these UNPUBLISHED crimes. It
| will be next to impossible to liberate
him except by arranging privately
| with the keeper for his escape. He
| could 60 down into the country and
wait in seclusion until it is all blown
over or until London has a new victim,
and then an order can be made pardon
ing him, and he can return"
"Pardoning him! What are you talk
ing Of, my lord? He has done nothing
to be pardoned for. He should be and
| shall be rewarded" Mary spoke i'm
petuously, but caught herself and tried
to remedy her blunder. "That is, if
have heard the straight of it. have
been told that the killing was done in
the defense of two-women." Think
| of this poor, unconscious girl, so full
| of grief and trouble, talking thus to
| Buckingham, who knew so much more
about the affair than even she who had
taken so active part in it!
"Who told you of it?' asked the
duke
Mary saw she had made a mistake
| and, after hesitating for a moment,
answered: "Sir Edwin Caskoden. He
had it from Master Brandon, I sup
| pose." Rather adroit this was, but
| equidistant from both truth and ef-
| fectiveness
Il will go at once to London and ar
| range for Brandon's escape" said
buckingham, preparing to leave. But
you must not divulge the fact that I
do it. 1t would cost me all the favor I
enjoy with the people of London,
though I would willingly lose that IA
vor thousand times over for smile
from YOU"
She gave the smile, and as he left
followed his retiring figure with her
eyes and thought, after all, he has a
kind heart"
She breathed sigh Of relief, too, for
she felt she had accomplished Bran
dons release and still retained her dan
gerous secret, the divulging of which
she feared would harden Henry's heart
against her Establishments and strand
her upon the throne of France.
But she was not entirely satisfied
with the arrangement. She knew that
her obligation to Brandon was such as
to demand of her that she should not
leave the matter of his release to any
other person, much less to an enemy
such as buckingham. Yet the cost of
his freedom by a direct act of her own
would be SO great that she was tempt
ed to take whatever risk there might
be in the way that had opened itself to
her. Not that she would not have
made the sacrifice willingly or would
not have told Henry all if that were
the only chance to save Brandon's life,
but the other way, the one she had TAX
en- by Buckingham's help, seemed safe,
and, though not entirely satisfying, she
could not see how it could miscarry.
buckingham was notably jealous of
his knightly word, and she had un-
bounded faith in her influence over
him. In short, like many another per-
son, she was as wrong as possible just
at the time when she thought she was
entirely right, and when the cost of a
mistake was at it's maximum
| She recoiled also from the thought
Of Brandon's escape" and it hurt her
that he should be fugitive from the
justice that should reward him, yet
she quoted these disturbing sugges-
tons with the thought that it would
be only for a short time, and Brandon,
she knew, would be only too glad to
make the sacrifice if it purchased for
her freedom from the worse than DAM
nation that lurked in the French mar
rage.
All this ran quickly through Mary's
mind and brought relief, but it did not
cure the uneasy sense, weighing like
lead upon her heart, that she should
take no chance with this mans life and