Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-09-27

was HUI vi ttlbL we tuOukUI,
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 at
length. LET the princess, my niece,
come to me and ask it Of my grace,
and I think that l 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 60 While he is
alive"
NAY, Sir Balian; for that I should
be sorry, nor will / suffer it, for though
a Christian he is 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
belonging to that great rank, to whom
I had sworn that no husband should
be forced upon her nor any change Of
faith. Now l take back these oaths,
and II she comes she comes as an es-
capped cross wOrshiping slave, to whom
| offer only the choice of Islam or of
shameful death"
What highborn lady would take
such terms?" asked Balian in dismay
Rather, l think, would she choose to
die by her own hand than by that of
your hangman, since she can never
abjure her faith"
"And thereby doom 10000 Of her
fellow Christians, who must accom-
pany her to that DEATH answered Sal
adm sternly. know, Sir Balan, |
swear it before Allah and for the last
time, that If 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 its inhabitants hangs upon the no
mered Balian.
Aye, upon the nobleress of a single
woman. as my vision told me it should
be. If her spirit is high enough Jeru-
salem may yet be saved. If it be baser
than l thought, as well may chance,
then assuredly with her it is doomed.
| have no more to say, but my ENJOYS
shall ride with you bearing a 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
is, when l shall know that l saw but
a 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 80 near, praying their
Lord and the mercifu Mother of Goa
to have pity and to spare them and
the Inhabitants Of the hallowed town
where he had dwelt and suffered, and
of u fate 30 awful as his own. They
knew that the end was near; that the
walls We're lettering to their fall
Then would come the sack and the
slaughter, either by the sword Of the
Saracens, or, perchance, If these found
time and they We're not forgotten. more
mercifully at the hands of Christian
men, who thus would save them from
the worst.
Their drge 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. If the commanders of the city do
what they have promised they will
send some here to behead us at the
last and so we shall pass happily to
glory and be ever with the Lord But
perchance they will forget us, who are
but few among 10000 souls. OF whom
some 10000 must thus be killed. Or
their arms may grow weary or them
selves they may fall before ever they
reach this house, and what, my daugh-
ters, shall we do thenH
MY mother" said Rosamund, II am
a newcomer among you, but I have
seen the slaughter of Hattn, and l
know what befalls Christian women
and children among the unbellevers.
This is my counsel: When we know
that the Saracens are in the city, let
us set fire to this convent and get us
to our knees and so perish"
"Well spoken; it is best" muttered
several. But the abbess answered with
sad smile:
High counsel indeed, such as might
be looked for from high blood. Yet it
may not be taken, since self slaughter
is n deadly sim
II see little difference between it,"
said Rosamund, "and the stretching
out Of our necks to the swords Of
) friends. l tell you that, rather than
fall into the hands Of the Paynims, !
will dare that SIM"
And she laid her hand upon the dag
ger hilt that was hidden in her robe.
: Then again the abbess spoke.
ITO you. daughter, cannot forbid
| tho dool bnt IN thnso who have fIllly