The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-03-20
-THE-
Story Of Francis ludde
Romance of Queen Mary's Reign.
BY STANLEY J. wEYMAN.
~.
BY STANLEY J. wEYMAN.

Soohsel generation mas Orten
Iosed me finely by asking. What. Sir
Francis! Did you not see one 8
burned? Did C not know one Of the
martyrs? Did you never come face to
face with Queen Mary?" To all which
questions l have Ii answer, no. and
ma,ch small eyes grow large with
aslonishment. l;ut the truth Is q mar
can only be at n place at q time. And
though, In this very month OF Feb
ruary, 1855, Prcbendary Rogers
good, kindly man. as 1 have heard, who
had a wife and nine children-was
ligion. and the bishop OF Gloucester
suffered In his wv city, and other in
OFFENSIVE men were burned to death,
ana there was much ALI OF these
Things, and IN thousands Of breasts a
sInoidering fire was kindled which
/ was at Cotton End or on the Lon
don road, at the time, and learned
such things only dirnly by hear
say.
But the rtl ,oins the river at last
and ofttilnes suddenly and at a bound.
as 1T were. On this very day while I
eantered easily southwark with my
face set toward st. Adams. Provi-
dence was at work. shaping q niche
Tor me in the lives OF certain people
MAo were at the time unconscious Of
my existence as I was OF theirs. In
a great house in h Barbican in Lon
don there was much stealthy going
coming on this February after
noon and evening. Behind locked doors,
ana IN tear and trembling. mails were
fingers almos too delicate for the task
were busy with nails and hammers.
securing this AND closing that. The
packers knew nothing OF me. nor I of
them. Yet but for me all that packing
would have been OF no avtl, and but
Tor them my fpth vN,icvkt la.A 49,
very different. Still the sound Of the
hainmer did not reach my ears, or,
dolnE so, was covered by the steady
tramp OF the roadster, and no vision,
SO far as l ever heard. OF a dusty youth
riding Londonward came between the
secret workers and their task
I had made up my mind to sleep at
st. Adams that night, and for this
reason, and for others. relating to the
snerlft OF BuckinGha1ushtre, in which
county Stony Stratford lies, I pushed
on briskly. l presently found time,
ters which [ had made spoil. On the
outer wrapper l found there was no
ADDRESS, only an exhortation to be
speedy. Off this came. therefore, With
u ceremony, Inc was left liz the dirt.
inside 1 found two sealed epistles,
Stephen Winton."
"do! hot" said I. II did we'll to take
them" 9
Over the signature on the first let
ter-it seemed to be written on parch-
ment-were the words. "haste! haste,
haste!" This was the thicker and
heavier OF the two and was addressed
to Sir Maurice Berkeley. at st. Mary
Overy's. Southwark, london. / turned
II over and over In my hands and
peeped into 1t, hesttating. Twice I
muttered. "all is fair In love and war"
And at last. with curiosity fully awake
and a glance behind me to make sure
that the act was unobserved, l broke
the seal. The document proved to be
as short and pithy as 1t was startling.
Maurice Berkeley forthwith in the
queens name and by the authority OF
the council, and so on, and so on. TO
to arrest Katherine Willoughby de
Eresby, duchess of Suffolk, and to de-
liver her into the custody OF the lieu
70 be his warranty for the detention
OF the said duchess OF Suffolk until
her grace's pleasure in the matter il
known"
When 1t was too late. L trembled to
think Whit 1 had done. To NEEDLE
with matters of state might be more
dangero a hundred times than steal
Ing horses or even than ducking the
chancellors messenger. Seeing at this
moment, a party of travellers approach.
! crammed the letter into my pocket
and rode by them with a red face and
q tongue that suffered SO feebly that
I could scarcely return their greetings.
When they had gone by. I pulled out
the warrant again, having 1t in my
mind to tear 1t up without a moments
oeiay. to tear IT into the smallest NOR
sells and so get rid Of a thing most
dangerous. But h great red seal.
dangling at the fot of the parchment.
caught my eye. and l paused to think.
It vas SO red. SO large. 80 imposing,
1t seemed a pity to destroy it. Il
folded up the warrant again and put
1t away in my safest pocket. Yes. Il
might be good for something.
1 took out the other letter. II was
bound with green ribbon n sealed
with extreme care, being directed
simply to Mistress Clarence-there was
no address But over Gardeners sig
nature on the wrapper were tho word.
These on your peril, very privately"
turned it over and over and said
he same thing about love and war
and eyen repeated to myself my old
But somehow I could not do 1t. The
letter was a woman's letter; the Sc
cret, her secret. and though my fingers
itched as they lowered about the seals.
my cheek tingled too. So at last, with
q muttered. what would Petronfl1a
say?" l put it away per in the
pocket where the warrant lay, The
odds were immense that Mistress Clar-
ence would never get 1t, bat at least
her secret should remain hers. NV
honor NINE. 80
It was dark when I rode, thorouxhly
faded, into st. Adams. 1 was splashed
with mud up to the waist and wetted
by a shower and looked, I have no
doubt. from the effect OF my Journey
Ing on foot and horseback, us dfsrepu-
table a fellow as might be. The con-
seriousness. too, that l was without a
penny. and the fear lest careful
as 1 had been to let no one outstrip
me, the news of the riot at .stratford
might have arrived. but did not tend to
give me assurance. I poked my head
timidly into the great room, hoping
that might have it to myself. TIC my
disgust it was full of people. Half a
dozen travellers and as many townsfolk
We're sitting round the fire, talking
briskly over their draft. Yet I had no
choice was hungry. and the thing
had to be done. and I staggered in.
something OF the sneak no doubt peep
ing through my bravado. remarked.
as ! took my seat by the fire and set to
drying myself. that I was greeted by
q n~1omentary silence. and then two or
three of the company began to eve me
suspiciously.
There was one man. who sat on the
settle In the VarmaSt corpar - 49,