The Savannah morning news., 1904-08-21
THE BRETHREN
A Romance of The Crusades
BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.
BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.

nephew" he said, land for that 1
thank the giver of life and faith, since
fore God you are a gallant mana
worthy child of the bloods of the Nor
man Darcy and of Uluin the Saxon.
Yes, one of the best of them"
''SpeaE not so, my uncle" said God
win; ''or at least, here is a worthier"
and he patted the hand of Wulf with
his lean fingers. "Wulf it was who
bore me through. Oh, I remember as
much as that-how he lifted me onto
the black horse and bade me to cling
fast to name and pommel. Aye, and 1
remember the charge, and his cry of
"Contre Darcy, contre Mort!" and
the flashing of swords about us, and
after that-nothing."
Would that 1 had been there to
share that fight" said the Lord Darcy,
tossing his white hair. "Oh, my
children, it is hard to be sick and old
and to feel that never again may the
ancient cry pass my lips, and never
again shall l lift brand in battle. A
log am I-nothing but rotting log.
Still, had I known, had 1 only known
Father, father" said Rosamund,
casting her white arm about his neck.
You should not speak thus. You
have done your share"
Yes, my share; but l should like to
to me to die with my sword aloft and
my grandsire's cry upon my lips. Yes,
yes; thus, not like a worn-out war
horse in his STALL There, pardon me;
but in truth, my children, 1 am jeal-
Gus of you. Why, when 1 found you
lying in each others arms I could have
wept for rage to think that such a
fray had been within league of my
own doors and not in it."
Il know nothing of all that story"
said Goodwin.
mo, in truth, how can you, who
have been senseless this month or
more? But Rosamund knows, and she
shall tell it you. Speak on Rosamund.
Lay you back, Goodwin, and listen"
THE tale is yours, my cousins, and
not NINE" said Rosamund. You babe
me take the water. and into it I
spurred the grey horse, and we sank
deep, so that the waves closed above
my head. Then up we came, 1 float
ing from the saddle. but 1 regained it,
and the horse answered to my voice
| and bride, and swan out for the
further shore. On it swan, somewhat
slantwise with the tide. so near by
turning my head 1 could see all that
passed upon the mole. l saw them
| come at you, and men fall before your
| swords; I saw your charge them, and
run back again, and, lastly, after what
seemed a very long while, and I was
far away, I saw Wulf lift Goodwin
into the saddle-I knew it must be
Goodwin, because he set him on the
black horse-and the pair of you gal
| loped down the quay and vanished. BY
then 1 was not hundred yards from
the home shore, and the grey grew
very weary and sank deep in the water.
But / cheered it on with my voice,
and although twice its head went be-
meath the waves, in the end it found
a footing, though a soft one. After
resting awhile, it plunged forward with
| short rushes through the mud, and so
at length came safe to land, where it
| stood shaking with fear and weari-
ness. So soon as the horse got its
breath again, 1 pressed forward, and
came home here as the dark closed in,
| to meet your uncle watching for me
at the gate-and now, father, do you
take uD the tale
There is little more to tell" said
| Sir Andrew. You will remember,
nephews, that I was against this ride
J of Rosamund's to seek flowers, or
know not what, at st. Peters shrine,
nine miles away, but as the maid had
| set her heart on 1t, and there are but
few pleasures here. why, 1 let her go
with the pair of you for escort. You
will mind also that you were start
| ing without your mail and how fool
| ish you thought me when 1 called
you back and made you grid it on.
Well, my patron saint-or yours-put
| it into my head to do so. for had it
not been for those same shirts of mail,
| you were both of you dead men to-
| day. But that morning 1 had been
| thinking of Sir Hugh LoZelle-if such
a false pirate rogue can be called a
knight, not but that he is stout and
| brave enough-and his threats after
| he recovered from the wound you
gave him, Goodwin; how that he would
come back and take your cousin for
all we could do to stay him. True,
we have heard that he had sailed for
the East to war against Saladn-or
with him, for he was ever a traitor
but even If this were so, men return
from the East. Therefore 1 bade you
arm, having some foresight of what
was to come, for doubtless this on
slaught must have been planned by
him."
az think So" said Wulf "for, as
Rosamund here knows, the tall knave
who interpreted for the foreigner whom
ne called his master gave us the
name of the Knight Lozelle as the
man who sought to carry her off,"
WAS this master a Saracen?" asked
Sir Andrew anxiously.
NAY, uncle, how can I tell. seeing
that his face was masked like the
rest and he spoke through an inter-
prefer? But I pray you go on with
the story, which Goodwin has not
heard"
at is short. When Rosamund told
her tale whereof l could make little
for the girl was crazed with grief and
cold and fear-save that you had been
attacked upon the old quay and she
had escaped by swimming Death
Creek, which seemed a thing incred-
BILE, l got together what men / could.
Then. bidding her stay behind and
nurse herself, which she was 10th to do,
I set out to find you or your bodies.
1t was dark, but we rode hard, hav-
ing lanterns with us, as we went rous-
ing men at every stead, until we came
to where the roads join at Meats.
There we found a black horse-your
horse Godwin--so sorely wounded
that he could travel no further, and
l groaned, thinking that you were
dead. Still we went on, till we heard
another horse whinny and presently
found the roam, also riderless. stand
ing by the path side with his head
down.
"A man on the ground holds him.
cried one, and sprang from the sad
die TO see who II might be, to find
that IL was you. the pair Of you, locked
in each others arms. and senseless, II
not dead, as well you might be from
your wounds. ! babe the country folk
cover you up and carry you home,
and others to run 10 Stangate and
nray fna prior and the monk Stpphpn