The Weiser semi-weekly signal. (Weiser, Washington Co., Idaho) 1904-1911, 1904-11-12
70 ner she directed inquiry regarding
the entrance to the banqueting hall.

the entrance to the banqueting hall
Turn to the right and up the STAIR"
Take me there, beg Of you"
II cannot bear message"
'But bear a message to the king.
20 yours must wait"
At this the maid turned and conduct.
ed her to the door OF the hall, saying
to the man at arms:
''This lady has q message for hia
majesty"
The first thing that struck her on en-
tering the great painted chamber wai
that the nobleman on the stone outside
had not spoken the truth when he said
the king heard the demands of his peo-
pie. A growl as Of an angry lion pen
etrated the closed windows, but the
words spoken were not to be distin'
guished.
The king was sitting at massive
table, his head In his hands. Behind
him were grouped number Of bishops
In their robes, and 1t certainly seemed
that his majesty was engaged in de
votional exercises, as had been stated
by the orator. But II this were the
| case they were OF a strangely mixed
| order, for behind the lady who was
talking volubly to the king stood two
| Capuchin monks with folded arms. Ex.
cepting the bishops none Of the Eng
! lish nobility were present but several
| Frenchmen, among whom she recog-
nized De Courcy, held aloof from the
cluster at the tnble, 80 the girl quite
correctly surmised that the lady bear
Ing the whole burden of the conversa
ton was no other than the queen her
self, and that these foreigners were
members Of her train.
Her majesty spoke sometimes In
French sometimes In English, the lat
ter with broken accent, and her eho-
: quence was rather puzEling to follow,
for the fow of her conversation was
Of extreme rapidity. Palpably she sup
posed herself talking in English, but
whenever she came TO Z difficulty In
the choice OF a word she made no at
tempt to surmount 1t by any effort OF
thought, but SWAN swiftly round it on
the easy current of her native tongue.
Translated, her discourse ran thus:
, these good men have made 1t per
fsctiy plain, for, a. they say-and who
shall question the dictum Of the chufch
In such mAttsrs-you have two con-
. sc3snces, tha sonsc4sncs- Of he prince
and the COINCIDENCE Of the man; and
where the cousc1ences come into con-
1ict that Of the prince mustot necessity
. rule, as b the axiom In all civilized
:. courts Is II right that you, king.
should teopagdipe yourself In. a useless
effort to save one condemned by his
peers, because your pr1vnte conscience
as man urges you to keep promise
. which be himself has relieved you
!. from, hoading you guiitiess before God
and the nations, and further advised
by these good men. lords Of their
= church, that such action would moi
- make toward peace of the realm. II
= e not a subject 30 be hesitated upor
- for q moment the good OF the rulei
being paramount nlways"-
70 ~Oh, my lord, the king, listen not tt
- such sophistryr be It from the lips Of
priest or womanl The given word II
-. the man. and he stands or falls by 1t
- II the foresworn peasant be cring
~ ing craven, ten thousand times wors'
- Is the per1ured prince. You pledged
.. your faith to Lord Stanford, and nov
% in his just heaven God demands tn
~ fulfllment Of your word
80 The disheveled girl had flung hersel
i. ut the feet Of the frightened monarch
who started back. gazing wildly abou
him, shaking as one struck with palsy
40 startling and unexpected had bee
the interruption Red anger fiushe
I,e the face Of the no less amazed queer
-, speechiess with indignation at tn
~ words and the tone Of them addresse
- to her exalted husband. The sag
bishops were astounded at the lack
diplomacy on the part Of the petition
~ er who had thus rudeiy thrown herse
e'e counter to the expressed wishes ofstt
'0 highest lady In the land, but France
nst with an instant intuition more subt
In than theirs. saw that the queen WI
the an enemy not 10 be cnJoled by defe
viii ence or fiattery. 80 she determined tn
\ the war between them should be opt
, 10 and nboveboard
the The king had reason for agitatie
greater than the surprise that ht
made brea thing statues Of those abo
him. The accents that disturbed hi
- were the accents Of STAFFORD himse
go softened as they were by the lips tn
- uttered them. The boldness Of the a
80 dress was strafrord's, and until be SO
~, that a woman knel. before him It
20, - most seemed that lie dominant spi
re- Of the prisoner had burst the bonds
800, the Tower and sped hither to reproa
~ him for meditated treacbery.
Frances. gathering breath, took
o.,, vantage OF the silence her sudden
hax vent had caused
49, why rs Lord STAFFORD in dunge
aes, todayf Because. trusting your "o
,act be obeyed your command at hampp
hut Why was be put on trial1 bsea'