The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-03-24
WE WE'RE OVERHAULED BY A
HUNDRED MOUNTED MEN.

Grandma here says you look like a
young man she used to know in Rhode
Island
Yes. you do added the old lady.
/ When you opened the gate I thought
it was George White for sure.
with that we fell into general con
versation and talked for ten minutes,
when the farmers wife, who had been
whispering with the daughter, said:
My daughter wants to know If you
won't tell US your story. She thinks
there must be some romance connected
with IT.
Yes. there is indeed a romance I
replied after heaving a sigh and shak-
ing my head in a sorrowful way: Be
ing left an orphan at the age of eigh-
teen. my guardian planned for me to
! travel for three or four years. MY
father had been "a banker inrNew York
and left me two million dollars. After
travelling for a year found myself in
51adrid.'
q What part of New Jersey is that
/ imp asked grandpa.
Never you mind. Samuel. replied
grandma as she motioned for him to
subside.
While I was seeing the sights Of
/ the city I entered one of the churches
one day, and as a young girl who had
/ been a prayer passed out in company
with an elderly female she managed to
whisper to me:
''Senor. for heavens sake, please
| be here at the same hour tomorrow
!" What did she mean by "Senor? ?" ,
asked the farmer.
g She meant Mister" papa ex-
planned the daughter.
Spoke right to you without being
introduced, did she?' queried grandpa.
q Yes, and I knew by that that she
must be in peril of some sort, re-
piled. I only caught a f1eeting glimpse
| of her face but that glimpse showed
me that she was beautiful. She had
| left the church and taken a seat in a
| carriage by the time I read the note,
but I made a slight bow to her to
show that I understood 7 was there
next day at the same hour, and again
as she passed me she slipped me a
note
Was it perfumed with cinnamon
essence 2 asked grandpa.
+" How silly, Samuel exclaimed
grandma.
plenty Of perfumed notes slipped TO me
| before met you, and I know that Gin
namon perfume means Il have fallen
in love with YOU.
g well, don't let on what mean
man you've been. Go ahead stranger
q This second note told me that She
[ was the daughter of the Duke of Al
varez, and that because her stepmoth-
er was down on her she had been shut
up in a nunnery. She appealed to me
as a damsel in distress. to rescue her.
She said the nunnery was guarded by
frapguns and bulldogs. but she had
read bravery and cIivalry in my face
and believed that I could overcome
/ every difficulty. She had also fallen
IN love with me at first sight
g 'More'n fifty gals fell IN love with
me jest that same way" cackied
grandpa as he rubbed his hands
"If I was an old villain I'd keep
still about I'll" snapped grandma, as
she tossed her head.
e The name of the girl was Monta-
y L -Trs -
! name Of the nunnery- An hour later
/ 7 went out to look a it. 1t was an i'm
rnense stone building with walls seven
feet thick, and how I was to take a girl
out Of such a place was a problem, I
found out from my cab driver that
there were twenty-four fierce bulldogs
and thirty-two trap-guns, and that
each nun was locked up in a stone cell
at night Such a thing as bribing one
Of the servants about the place Was un-
heard of. My task appeared 1mposs4-
bic. and yet the more thought of It
the more determined I was to accom-
plish it.
:" Just like me when I was a young
feller, put in grandpa. When I got
after a gal there was no holdin me
| back I'd have sWum through rivers
Of gore to rescue her.
" Hear the old idiot talk, exclaimed
grandma, as she turned on him and
seemed about to box his ears
Say, now, this thing is getting
mighty interesting, and let's all keep
still chided the son.
FOR three weeks Monta1ala and I
passed notes every day, and finally
warned her that 7 was ready to make
the rescue. I had hired a house next
to the nunnery and engaged men to
drive a tunnel under the walls. It ran
direct to MontaIa7a's cell. and at twelve
o'clock OF g. dark night had her out.
A carriage was at hand, and we drove
into the country at q rapid pace When
We had driven twenty miles We we're