Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-04-20
JOAN %, 1n SWORD HAND
~ S.RcROCtETT.Au .AuaHor AZ MeRxk,csSo
tcopyrIght 1898. 1900 by 8. II. Crockett) v

uowh again toward the shore. taking
his longest strides. and sending the
pebbles spraying out In front and on
all sides OF him. He stopped and
found the body OF a man, tall, we'll
formed and OF manly figure. He was
bareheaded and stripped to his
breeches and underwear
Boris stopped and laid his hand
upon his heart. Yes, so muah was
certain. He was not dead.
Boris took a handful OF small pcb-
bles and threw them up at a lighted
window. The head OF Werner Won
orseln Immediately appeared, his
grizzled hair blown out like n misty
aureolc ahou, his temples.
Come down" shouted Boris. max.
Ing trumpet OF his hand to fight the
wind withni. We have found n drown.
ed man on the beach,"
They carried the body Into tho grcn,
hall. where the duchess and the old
F"rvi'or met them. There they laid
him on table. Joan hcrclf lifted the
lantern and held II TO his face. Al
tn. sight the heart OF the duchess
l"Eped wildly within her.
Conrad" she crIcd-that .ord and
no more. And the lantern fell to
the floor from her ncrvc!csE hand.
II was III. white Knight of the
corr;land lists. tho noble Prince .o,
tho summer parioF. III" rcd.robcd pre-.
late OF her marriage day. Conrad Of
cour'iand. Prince and Cardinal. but
TO her. "hc"-,hc only he"
When Conrad. cartiinai.deslsra,c
Of the Holy Roman church aud Arch.
bishop OF Cour;iani. nrcncd his eyes
II seemed to him thai h" had passed
through warning waters into the
| serenity Of tho life beyond.
\ Srl. sweet and stately. vat by his
bedside. ny the door to which alone
h" could rails. his eyes. stood a'.'nil
gaun' man. clad In gray from head
10 foot. his hands ciaErci In front Of
hin. aud his chin sunk upon his
| breast.
The Prince. bishops eyes rested Ian.
guiiiy on n" siri's face. or which foil
thc iiEst Of shaded silver lamp
There vas book In her lap. written
upop. s.ca;E Of 'tju parchment. bound
in silver "msassd leather. .Tsug sh.
did not read u. frs;cad sh. hrca,hcd
sgfiiy and regularly. She was aHicop.
, -li hcr hand on the cuvcTict of rosy
six. T. II .# ,E5Ess f.T'
Slowly I'll" drifting mIstH stcadIci
themselves athwari his brairf The
actual rcromroacd Itself out nf tho
alyct.i Of .dyssms. conyad found him.
sssf Ida long! low room such ms he had
/ -. a. &.
raii.iodo rit'crs along ,ha Baltic
shores. Tho. lcams Of the roof;rcc
. above were carvcn and ancient. hrraE
wont everywhere about tho walls. Sii.
yer candicsiicisl: with princciy crcsis
craven upon them. stood hy his bed.
head. After each survey his cses set.
;ie,l' on the sleeping girl. She ~as
very young and very beautiful n
was-yct II could not be-thc Duchess
,,1oan. whom he himself had married
to his brother Louis in tho cathedral
church OF his own archiepiscopai city
Conrad Of courtiand had not been
trained a priest. vet. as was common
at that age. birth and circumstance
had made him n prince Of the Roman
church. He had been thrust into the
hieJarchy solely because Of his name
for he had succeeded his uncle Adrian
in his posts and cmolumcuts as
legal heir succeeds TO an undisputed
property. In due time he received his
red hat.
Nevertheless. Conrad Of Courtiant
had all the warm life and impcrious
impulses of young man within his
breast. Yet he was no Borgia or Della
Royere. cloakinE scarlet sins with
scarlet vestments. For with the high
tisnities OF his position and the sol.
emn work which lay TO his hand in
his northern province there had come
the resolve to be not less. but more
faithful than those martyrs and con.
fessors of whom he read daily in his
BreviRry. So this finest and most chiv.
airous OF young northern knights had
laid down the weapons OF his warfare
TO take up the crucifx. and now had
set out joyfully for Rome TO receive
his cardinals hat on his knees as the
last and greatest gift OF the vicar OF
Christ.
But scarcely was he clear OF the
Courtiand shores when there had
come the storm. the shipwreck. the
|. wild struggle among the white and
foamine breakers-and then. won.
tirously emerEcnt. like heaven after
purgatory. the quiet OF this sheltered
room and this sleeping girl. with her
white hand lying lax and delicate on
the rosy silk.
The book slipped suddenly from her
fingers. falling on the polished wood
Of the floor with startling sound.
Then. from the pillow on which his
head lay. Joan of Hohenstein saw the
eyes OF the Prince Conrad gazing at
her. dark and solemn from within the
purplish rings Of recent peril.
You are my brothers wife!" he
said softly but yet In the eame rich