Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1904-09-16
A TRAGEDY
tOriginai.l

boudoir thinking of the wild enthusi-
asm she had excited in Queen Mary"
the night before. Suddenly looking up,
she saw a well dressed man standing
| in the doorway.
II have not received your card. SIR"
she said in an offended tone. How
did you get up here without being an
nouncedT
II need no Introduction, madam" re-
| piled the man. II come from your
| Cousin Elizabeth 1t is she who gives
me access to you"
There was an unmistakable sign Of
| insanity about the man. glitter in
| the eye. She had once before encoun-
tered such person, who had been
much affected at seeing her perform,
and she suspected this might be a sim
liar case.
| "You were at the theater last night?"
she asked coolly.
II was. l saw on the mimic stage
enact the real"
"In what capacity?"
"The principal part in the last act Of
the tragedy, the headsman."
The woman shuddered. 1t was evil
dent that this dethroned reason had
been turned in the channel of murder
But she controlled herself. Having
from the first realized her danger and
having vague plan of saving herself
by humoring the man till she could
summon help, she had assumed the
tone of queen.
1.-The headsman. And what do you
in the chamber of your victim? Your
place is on the scaffold."
The man looked about him, as If on
another scene. Was he on Tower hill,
the magnates of England seated close
ly about the scaffold, beyond the COM
mons, packed closely, with upturned
faces, or was he within the narrow
limits of q prison chamber? The wo-
man studied his face and knew from
his attitude that he was taking the
pose depicted in pictures Of the heads
man of the sixteenth century.
1--WE stand on the scaffold," he said
looking at the floor. land there" point
ing to a foot rest, "is the block. Stand
up that l may cut off your locks"
ut is customary" the woman STAN
mered, ION such occasions for a war
rant to be issued signed by the royal
hand. Is this a legal execution or a
judicial murder?"
THE warrant, madam, Is in the
hands of the sheriff Come, let US pro-
coed. The people are becoming clam
orous."
The actress was terror stricken. If
she called for help it might precipitate
matters. She could not escape because
there was no other egress than that in
which the man stood. Something must
be done to turn the bent of his mind
Presently. summoning all her resolu-
ton and assuming a bitter tone, she
spoke again:
Can it be that our liege lord, King
Henry, is minded to bring us, his true
and faithful wife, to the block?"
king Henry?'
Eyes, man; King Henry. And 1 his
queen, Katherine" She rose and went
on with tragic fervor:
"a woman q dare say without vainglory)
Never yet branded with suspicion?
Have l with all my full affections
Still met the king? Loved him next heav.
en-? Obeyed him?
Been out of fondness superstitious to him
| Almost forgot my prayers to content him
And am I thus rewarded?"
While she spoke she fixed her eye up
on that of the lunatic and threw al
her soul into her part, her powers in
tensifed by the knowledge that she
was playing not to a crowded house
for fame and money, but to a single
mailman for her life. The man stood
looking at her, shadow of perplexity
gathering on his brow. The actres:
continued:
Pray. do my service to his majesty.
He has my heart yet and shall have my
prayers
While 1 shall have my life"
Madam" gasped the lunatic, fare
you not the queen of ScotsT'
II am queen of England.
"''' dare not make myself so guilty.
To give up willingly that noble title
Your master wed me to. Nothing bu
death
Shall eer divorce my dignities."
The man saw before him woman
who was queen and all queen, bu
not the queen he wanted. In every
word, every gesture, every step, the
action impressed him. What was this
that was befuddling his poor brain
He was there to behead the queen o.
Scots. and he was listening to The
plants Of the queen of England.
'Medam." he faltered, your suffer
fngs have turned your brain. You arr
not Katherine, queen Of England, bu
Mary, queen of Scots"
Seeing her advantage, she pressed It
Standing for a moment, her eyes fixe(
on his in silence, presently she ad
vanced step, then another, pointing
her finger at him as some avenginl
spirit coming to her destruction. TheI
she spoke or rather Kissed: