The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1908-03-19
CHAPTER ".

posed me finely by asking, What. )
Francis! Did you not See one bishol
burned? Did you not know n of tn
martyrs? Did YOU never come face 7!
face with Queen Mary To all Whicf
questions / have one answer, no, ant
| watch small eyes grow large witt
establishment. Blu the truth is Il man
can only be at one place at a time. Ant
though, in this very month of Feb
ruary, 1855, Prebendary Rogers
good, kindly man, as l have heard, who
had a wife and min children-wa
burned in Smithfield in London for re
ligion, and the bishop of Gloucestei
suffered in his oWn city, and other In
offensive men We're burned to death
and there was much talk OF these
things, and in thousands of breasts 8
smoldering fire was kindled which
blazed high enough by and by-why
l was at Cotton End or on the Lon
don road, at the time, and learned
such things only dimly and by hear
say.
But the rill joins the river at last
and ofttimes suddenly and at a bound,
as it We're. On this very day while !
cantered easily southwark with my
face set toward st. Adams, Proyi-
derce was at work shaping a niche
for me in the lives of certain people
who We're at the time unconscious of
my existence as | was of theirs. In
a great house in the Barbican in Lon
don there was much stealthy going
and coming on this February after
noon and evening. Behind lock- ed doors,
and in fear and trembling, mails We're
being packed and bags strapped and
fingers almost too delicate for the ask
We're 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
NOI1l6 hnva hnpn- nT mo nvil and hlJf
for them my fate might have been
very different. Still the sound of the
hammer did not reach my ears. or,
doing so. was covered by the steady
tramp of the roadster, and nc vision,
so far as | eve heard. of a dusty youth
riding Londonward came between the
secret workers and their task
1 had made up my mlnd to sleep at
st. Adams hat night, and for this
reason, n for others, relating to the
sheriff of BuckinghaEshire. in which
county Stony Stratford lies. l pushed
on briskly. l presently found time,
however, to examine the packet of let
ters which | had made spoil. On the
outer wrapper I found there was no
address,, only an exhortation to be
speedy. Off this came. therefore, with
out ceremony, and was left in the dirt.
inside l found two. sealed epistles,
each countersisned on the
stephen Winton."
"Ho! ho!" said 1. Il did well to take
them"
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 Berk eley. at ST. Mary
OVerys. Southwark, London. I turned
II over and over in my hands and
peeped into it, hesitating. Twice l
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, broke
the seal. The document proved TO be
as short and pithy as it was startling.
1t was an order commanding Sir
Maurice Berkeley forthwith in the
queens name and by the authority of
tne 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
of the Tower. these presents
10 pe his warranty for the detention
or the said duchess of Suffolk until
her grace's pleasure in the matter is
known"
When tt was too late I trembled to
think what I had done. To NEEDLE
with matters of state might be more
dangerous a hundred times thar steal
ing horses or even than ducking the
ehancellor's messenger. Seeing at this
moment, a party OF travellers approach.
the letter into my pocket
and ode by them with a red face and
a onsue that suffered SO feebly that
l could scarcely return their greetings.
When they had gone by. / pulled out
the warrant again, having it in my
NINA TO tear it up without a moments
delay, to tear it into the smallest NOR
sells and SO get rid of a thing most
dangerous. But the great red seal.
dangling at the fot of the parchment
caught my eye, and I paused to think.
IT was SO red, SO large, so imposing.
1t seemed a pity to destroy it. II
must surely be good for something.
/ iofded up the warrant again and put
away I'm my safest pocket. Yes, it
might be good for something.
l TOOK u the other letter. 1t was
bound with green ribbon and sealed
with extreme care. being directed
Simply to Mistress Clarence-there was
address But over Gardeners sig
nature on h Wrapper were the word.
These on Your peril, very privately"
4 turned it over and over and said
the same thing about love and war
ana even repeated to myself my old
proVerb about a sheep and a lamb.
But somehow l could not do tt. The
letter was a woman's letter; the Sc
cret. her secret, and though my fingers
n as they lowered about the seals.
my cheek tinsied too. So at last, with
a muttered. what would Petronilla
l put it away unopened in the
pocket where the warrant lay. The
odds We're immense that Mistress Clar-
would never get it, but at least
her secret should remain hers, my
honor mine.
1t was dark when I rode, thoroughly
faded. into St. Adams. / was spiashed
with mud UP to the waist and wetted
by a shower and looked, / have no
doubt, from the effect OF my journey
ing on foot and horseback. as d~isrepu-
table a fellow as might be. The con-
seriousness. too. that / was without a
penny, and the fear lest careful
as I had been to let no one outstrip
me, the news of the riot at Stratford
might ave arrived, but did not tend to
give me assurance. l poked my head
timidly into the great room, hoping
that might have it to myself. TO my
disgust 1t was full of people. IaIf a
dozen travellers and as many townsfolk
We're sitting round the fire, talking
briskly over their draft. Yet 1 had no
choice, l was hungry, and the thing
mad 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 i'iomentary silence, and then two or