The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1906-11-06
A Tale Of the ()lden Time

II = lilue OF the romance SOHldlneu
hi history could be recorded the In
yentora Of fictitious happenings would
be put to shame. In tile musty records
contained III the Tower Of London Or
In the plain unyarnishcd history Of
Scotland there IL plentiful supply Of
themes for English song aud story
Here "a one that needs no deliberations.
Iii 4 cell III Il Scottish castle Sir John
Cochrane, knight. condemned by the
king to be beheaded. was taking final
leave Of his daughter.
Farewell, my child, said the father
~ am 10 die ut dawn tomorrow
The girl h)oked at him tiereelyso
tlercely that he almost thought this
horror had deprived her Of reason,
Father, she said hoarsely. you
must not die
The knight folded her In hls arms
and moaned In broken tones The
king wills IT, He has signed my death
warrant, and 1t Is on Its way II Will
be here tonight, The scaffoiG and block
are ready. The haadsman IL waiting.
The sun tomorrow win not rise on
your father. MY child. do not deceive
yourself. There Is no hope"
Withdrawing from bis embrace, the
girl turned and left him. AS she passed
out Of the door she paused and. turn
ing, said with the energy Of despair;
Father, you shall not die
The night was dark. A courier dash
ed and splashed along muddy Scot,
tlsh road Al mail pouch was slung 70
his shoulder Now and again the
bongh OF some oyerhanging tree would
sprinkle his face with rain water, and
hts horse was continually plunging into
Some pool or mudhole in the road. The
moorland stretched ahead OF him, be-
fore him and behind him. Far In the
distance loomed the castle III which Sir
John cochrane was confined, and the
messenger was making straight for It.
In the east was faint forewarning Of
dawn Noticing II, he spurred his horse,
muttering
II shall be late. II would be pity
10 keep man III suspense It's to be
at dawn, and my presence Ii as neees-
sary as that OF the man who Is to part
with his head.
He had scarcely finished bis soIiloquy
when something sprang up and al him
from the road AT first he thought 1t
beast, but in another moment be felt a
pair OF arms struggling % deprive him
Of his mail pouch. The courier was
not weak man, and bis enemy was OF
light and slender build. but II seemed
as II heaven were giving to the latter
superhuman strength. In vain tie
courier tried to throw him of. ,Ho
chung like a panther Then the horse.
unable TO support the two struggling
weights. fell The courier rolled into
a ditch beside the road. and az he
clambered out he caught sight of a
figure clad in the garments or Scot
fish knight standing In silhouette
against the line where earth and sky
met.
At the castle those who were to on
ciate at the execution emerged from
their sleeping rooms to witness tho
passing Of sir John Cochrane. Nothing
was wanting but the official order for
the execution, and that was not forth
coming. Dawn grew into daylight,
and the sun rose. Then came the
courier with his story that he had been
attacked by an unknown knight and
robbed Of bis mail pouch containing the
warrant The headsman rested on his
ak while the others consulted. There
seemed nothing TO do but send to the
capital for another order. and. consld-
ering the distance and the roads Of the
period, the trip would require two
weeks. The messenger was dispatch
ed, the officials dispersed and the
headsman put away his AK.
During the period of waiting the "a
Their confessor was pleading for Sir
Johns life. Gradually hope sprang
Ike a green sprig from the ground.
grew stronger, budded and blooned
into a belief that the condemned man,
would be pardoned But IL SO which
would arrive first. the new death war
rant or the pardonq In those days of
uncertain communication no one could
tell.
One morning sentry on the castle
wall looking over the moorland saw
in the distance horseman coming at
a gallop. The sentry called the atten.
ton of others to the conner. and the
wall was soon covered with Sir John
Cochrane's wellwishers. As the man
came near he waved paper above
his head aud shouted, "A pardonr'
The prison doors were swung open.
and the prisoner stepped forth free
man. Going 70 his home, followed by
q host Of loyal friends. he was over.
whelmed with congratulations. lie
had expected his daughter to be the
first to welcome him. but when he did
not see her he was troubled. Tie ask.
ed for her and was told that she had
not been seen since the evening she
had parted from him In his cell. An
day The rejoIclngs went on, but when
night came the man who had passed
from the shadow OF death to the light
Of life was alone. Then came serv-
ant to announce that young knight
desired to see him Hoping that the
stranger bore news OF his daughter.
Sir John ordered HIS admittance. A
slender young man Of feminine APP
pearance entered and handed him d
parchment
Sir John ran his eyes over the docu.
ment and seeing that Il was his death
warrant, turned pale, Then he threw
a. tnt, tha sra