Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-06-02
Tie Sword q tie Crusader
IOriginal.l


carried the same sword, one of those
immense weapons that have long ago
passed out of date. Every time Geof
frey Burgess killed a Turk he filed a
notch on the blade Of this sword just
beneath the hilt. At the conclusion of
his campaigns there were notches suf-
f1cient to reach on both edges from the
hilt to the point.
Sir Godfrey returned from the sew
enth crusade and was making prepa-
ratiOns f the eighth when he was
taken vii a fever and died. He was
buried with great honors in the town
in which he had lived, and a fine
marble monument was placed by those
who revered him over his grave, sur
mounted by statue of him.
Two hundred years after Sir Geof-
frey's death Mohammed IL, the great
sultan of the OttOmans, invested Con-
stantinOple, and after short siege the
cross which since the time of Constan-
tine had surmOunted the dome Of st.
Sophia was replaced by the crescent.
On the very day of this change a
storm swept over Sir Geofreys grave
and bolt of lightning rent his statue
in three pieces. Singularly enough
they remained on the PEDESTAL 1t was
not doubted that the lightning was an
expression Of the old knights anger at
the fall of the Christian city, and the
fact that his statue remained erect
was taken as evidence of his inflexible
will.
Another century passed. The cru
sades if unsuccessful in freeing the
holy sepulcher brought about a com
mercial intercourse between the west
and the east There were Christian
merchants in Asia and Asiatic mer-
chants in Europe, but never was a
Turk seen in the town where Sir Geof-
frey Burgess was buried. Some said
that the MOSlems knew of his reputa-
ton and dared not profane it; others
that the shade of the holy man guarded
the town and kept them away.
The knights sword was handed down
from father to son and at the close of
the fifteenth century, when Columbus
was trying to find passage around
the globe to India to facilitate the trad
ing in spices, hung in the hall of John
Burgess, a plain citizen, the title hav-
ing been lost sight of. One day John
Burgess was sitting in his house when
the door opened and man came hur-
riedly in from the street. He was a
very soldierly looking man, wearing
an armOr not at all like that in fashion.
The invention of gunpowder was then
beginning to put armor aside, and what
was still used was plate, while the
stranger wore chain armor.
Sir" said the man in a dialect so
different from that used that Burgess
could scarcely understand him, ''have
you weapon handy" Burgess cast a
glance at the sword of the crusader
and asked:
For what purposeY
But the stranger without reply went
to the wall where hung the sword and,
taking it down, drew the blade from
the scabbard, ran his thumb over the
notches, thrust the steel back and with
both blade and scabbard started for
the door, handling the heavy weapon
like a plaything
Now, Burgess had often lifted this
heirloom and had found considerable
difficulty in doing so. When he had
obliged to call in a neighbor to assist
him. When he saw the stranger take it
down with one hand and carry it like
a rapier he was aStoniShed. Indeed he
was so startled by the sudden appear
ance with its strange armor and fea-
lures that for time he sat not know
ing what to do. Presently curiosity
man who had borrowed his weapon.
He was nowhere to be seen. Burgess
ran down the street and. turning a cor
ner, came upon the body of a man of
swarthy countenance lying on his
back, and standing up from the body,
like shaft to mark it, was the sword
of Sir Godfrey Burgess.
A crowd soon gathered, including the
watch. Burgess, who had first come on
the ground, told his story of the stran-
ger taking his sword, but he was not
believed. The watch took him into
custody, and he was thrown into pris-
on to await trial for murder.
The case was so plain against him
that his counsel undertook it half
heartedly, and when a stranger came
into town who said he was an advo-
cate and offered to defend the accused
Burgess gave it into his hands The
advocate called for the body of the
murdered man to be brought into
court, and when this was done, plac-
ing his hand in the hair, which was
black and matted, he drew out paper
that had been concealed there. Open
ing it, he showed Arabic characters.
1.-The man is a disguised Moslem," said
the advocate, land such has never
been seen in your town before An an
gel had taken the sword of the cru
sader and smitten the intruder"
With this he went away and was
never seen in the town again.
Whether if was that those were Sill