The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1907-02-05
JOAN f Iii SWORD HAND
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B. S'RCROCFETT. I4uahor o/ MeRsuaseE0c
Copyright 1898, 1900, by 5. r. crockett)

srlzzied hair blown out like a misty
aufeole about his temples
Come down" shouted Boris mak.
ing trumpet of his hand to fight the |
"ihd withal. We have found a drown
ed man on the beach,"
lhey carried the body into the great
mali where the duchess and the OLD
serVitor met them There thew laid
MN on a table Joan herelf lifted the
.ahtern and held it to his face. At
the sight the heart Of the duchess
ieaped wildly within her
CONRAD! she cried-that word and
no more And the lantern fell to
inc hoor from her nerveless hand
II was the White Knight of the
CORTLAND lists, the noble Prince of
me summer parlor the red-robed pre-
late OF her marriage day. Conrad Of
CORTLAND. Prince and Cardinal. but
20 her "he'-the only "he."
When Conrad Cardinal.desigpate
OF the Holy Roman church and Arch
bishop Of CORTLAND. opened his eyes.
II seemed to him that he had passed
through warning waters into the
serenity Of the life beyond
A girl sweet and stately. sat bv his
bedside. BY the door to which alone
he could raise his eyes, stood a tall
gaunt man, clad in gray from head
10 foot his hands clasped in front of
him. and his chin sunk upon his
| breast.
The Prince-Bishop's eyes rested Ian
guidly on the girls face, on which fell
! the light Of a shaded silver Iamp
! There was a book in her lap. written
upon sheets of thin parchment. bound
in silver embossed leather. But she
did not read It, Instead she breathed
softly and regularly. She was asleep.
with her hand on the coverlet of rosy
silk
Slowly the drifting mists steadied
i themselves athwart his brain. The
actual recomposed itself out Of the
shreds Of dreams. Conrad found him
self in a long, low room such as he had
seen many times in the houses of
well-to-do ritters along the Baltic
shores. The beams of the roof-tree
above were carven and ancient. Arras
went everywhere about the walls. Sill.
yer candlesticks, with princely crests
craven upon them, stood by his bed.
head. After each survey his eyes set,
tied on the sleeping girl She was
very young and very beautiful. II
was-yet it could not be-the Duchess
Joan. whom he himself had married
to his brother Louis in the cathedral
church of his own archiepiscopal city
Conrad of CORTLAND had not beer
trained a priest. yet, as was common
at that age, birth and circumstance
had made him prince Of the Roman
church. He had been thrust into the
hierarchy solely because of his name
for he had succeeded his uncle Adrian
in his posts and emoluments as /;
legal heir succeeds to an undisputet
property. In due time he received hi!
red hat.
Nevertheless, Conrad of Court1ant
had all the warm life and imperioui
impulses of a young man within hi
breast. Yet he was no Borgia or Dell;
Revere, cloaking scarlet sins will
scarlet vestments. For with the higl
dignities of his position and the sol
emn work which lay to his hand II
his northern province there had com,
the resolve to be not less. but NOR,
faithful than those martyrs and con
fessors of whom he read daily in hi
Breyiary. So this finest and most chiv
alrous of young northern knights hat
laid down the weapons of his warfar,
to take up the cruciix, and now ha,
set out joyfully for Rome to receiv,
his cardinals hat on his knees as tn
last and greatest gift of the vicar o
Christ.
But scarcely was he clear of tn
CORTLAND shores when there ha,
come the storm, the shipwreck. tn
wild struggle among the white an,
foaming breakers-and then, wor
drously emergent. like heaven afte
purgatory, the quiet of this sheltere
room and this sleeping girl. with he
white hand lying lax and delicate o.
the rosy silk.
The book slipped suddenly from he
fingers. falling on the polished WOO
of the floor with startling SOUND
Then. from the pillow on which hi
head lay. Joan of Hohenstein saw tn
ewes of the Prince Conrad gazing a
her dark and solemn from within tn
purplish rings of recent peril.
you are my brothers wifei" h
said softly, but yet in the same rio
= and thrilling voice she had listened
with so many heart-stirrings in tn
summer palace, and had last hear
through the cathedral church of Cour
land on that day when her life ha
ended
A chill came over the girls face a
his words.
am indeed the Duchess Joan {
Hohenstein," she answered. IN
father wnlled that should wed Prime
Louis OF CORTLAND. Well. l marie
him and rode away In so much l al
YOUR brothers wife"
He smiled wanly. The light of tn
, lamp seemed to waver again befor
his eyes. The world grew full {