The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-05-18
saladln lifted bis head and looked at

Saladln lifted his head ana looked al
Ballan.
'Tell me-" he said, "what Of the
Princess of Baalbec, whom you know
as the lady Rosamund Darcy / told
you that / would speak no more with
you of the safety of Jerusalem until
she was delivered to me for judgment
Sultan" answered Balian, 1--WE
found this lady IN the convent of the
Holy Cross, wearing the robe Of nov
ice of that order. She had taken the
sanctuary there by the altar which we
deem so sacred and inviolable, and re
fused to come"
Saladin laughed.
Cannot all your men at arms DRAG
one maiden from an altar stone? I'm
less, indeed, the great knight Wuli
stood before ii with sword aloft," he
added.
$50 he Stood" answered Balian, "but
1t was not of him that we thought
though assuredly he would have slain
some of us. To do this thing would
have been an awful crime, which we
were sure must bring down the venge.
ance of our God upon US and upon
the city"
Listen, now" Saladin said al
length. LET the princess, my niece
come to me and ask it of my grace,
and think that will grant you terms
for which, in your plight, you may be
thankful"
''Then we must dare the great sin
and take her" answered Balian sadly
''having first slain the knight Wulf
who will not let her go while he is
alive"
NAY, Sir Balian; for that should
be sorry, nor wik suffer it, for though
Christian he Ii a man after my own
heart. This time I said Let her come
to me- not Let her be brought Aye
come of her own free will to answer
to me for her sin against me, under
standing that l promise her nothing
who In the old days promised her much
and kept my word. Then she was the
Princess of Baalbec, with all the rights
belongingstoSthat great rank, to whom
had sworn that no husband should
be forced upon her nor any change OF
faith. Now l take back these oaths,
and IL she comes she comes as an Ell.
capped cross worshiping slave, to whom
l offer only the choice Of Islam or of a
shameful DEATH"
"What highborn lady would take
such terms?" asked Balian in dismay
Rather. Tthink, would she choose 70
die by her own hand than by that OF
your hangman, since she can never
ALLURE her faith"
"And thereby doom $4,000 of her
fellow Christians, who must ccom
pany her to that DEATH" am tefed Sal.
adm sternly. Know, Sir Balian,
swear 1t before Allah and for the last
nxime, that IL my niece Rosamund does
: not come OF her own free will. enforced
by any, Jerusalem shall be put to
sack"
''Then the fate of the holy city and
all It's Inhabitants hangs upon the no
bleness OF Il single woman?" STAN
mered Balian.
AYE, upon the nobleness Of single
woman. as my vision told me 1t should
be. IL her spirit is high enough Jeru-
salem may yet be saved. If 1t be baser
than l thought, as well may chance,
then assuredly with her 1t is doomed.
] have no more to say, but my ENJOYS
shall ride with you, bearing q letter,
which with their own hands they must
present to my niece. the Princess of
Baalbec. Then she can return with
them to me, or she can bide where she
"a whau 7 shall Ennvy fbot So,y hut
lying vision Of peace and mercy flow
Ing from her hands and will press on
this war to its bloody end"
1t was night. and in their lamp lit
chapel the Virgins of the Holy Cross
upon Bonded knees chanted the slow
and solemn "Miserere." From their
hearts they sang. to whom death and
dishonor We're so near, praying their
Lord and the merclful Mother of God
to have pity and to spare them and
the inhabitants OF the hallowed town
where he had dwelt and suffered, and
to lead them safe through the shadow
of n fate SO awful as his own. They
knew that the end was near; that the
walls We're tottering to their fall.
Then would come the sack and the
slaughter, either by the sword OF the
Saracens, or, perchance, II these found
time and they We're not forgotten, more
mercifully ut the hands OF Christian
men, who thus would save them from
the worst.
Their dirge ended, the abbess rose
and addressed them.
"My daughters in the Lord" she
said, ''the doom is almost at our door,
and we must brace our hearts to meet
1t. II the commanders of the city do
what they have promised they will
lend some here to behead us ut the
last, and GO we shall pass happily to
glory and be ever with the Lord. But
peychancc they will forget us. who are
but few among $4,000 souls, of whom
some 10000 must thus be killed. Or