The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-04-24
cHAPTER v1I-conttnued.

~ So 1SNb HuSDhnO. NnaylGg
Brandon. luke OF Suffolk. had beer no,
0nly h one trusted and constan,
Friend OF King Henry VIII, but the
Sdng's sbrothertnlaw. his first wife
paving been Mary, princess of England
Ind queen dowager of France Late In
nnls splendid and prosperous career the
duke had married Katherine. the heir
ess Of Lord Willoughby de Eresby, and
She 1t was who stood before me, still
Young and handsome. After her nus
bands death h had made England
Ping with her name. first by a love
match with a Lincolnshire squire, and
secondly. by her fearless and o%utspoken
Ge1ense OF the reformers. | did wonder
1ndced how h had come to be wan
dering In he streets Mt daybreak. an
OBJECT OF u chance passer's chivalry
and pity.
ut ts simple enough" h said dryly.
II am rich, I am a Protestant. and I
nave an enemy. When I do not like Il
person. 1 speak out. DO I not, Rich
ard Z"
You do. indeed. my dear" he an
And once l spoke out to Bishop
Gardiner. What! Do you know about
Stephen Gardiner"
For had started at the name. after
which could scarcely nave concealed
my knowledge IL would. So I an
Nwered simply. Yes; I have seen
him" I was thinking how wonderful
this was. These people had been ut
ter strangers to me until a day or two
before. yet now we were ali looking out
together from the deck OF a Dutch boat
on the low Dutch landscape. united
by one tie. the enmity OF the same
man.
II Is a man to be dreaded the
duchess continued. her eyes resting on
her baby. which lay asleep on my bun
Ole OF rugs. and 1 guessed what fear
NJ ~ had p,,n Ll,n- -,.IJ - pt-l.
'His power in England is absolute. We
learned that 1t was his purpose to ar
rest me and determined to leave Eng
SAND But our very household was full
OF spies. md though we chose IA time
when Clarence, our steward, whom we
had long suspected Of being Gardeners
chief tool. was away. Philip, his deputy,
gained q cieH to our design and
watched us. We gave him the slip
with difficulty. leaving our luggage. but
ne logged and overlook us. and the
rest you know"
! bowed. Az j gazed at her my ad-
miration. l knew. snone In my eyes.
She looked, as she stood on the deck,
an exile and fugitive. so gay. 80 bright,
20 lsdomitable. that In herself she was
al once a warranty and an omen of
better lines. The breeze had height
ened her color and loosened here and
there q tress of her auburn hair. No
wonder Master BERTHE Oke proudly
on his duchess.
Suddenly a thing I had~clean forgot
ten flashed into my mind. and thrust
tiny hand into my pocket. h action
va No abrupt that 1t attracted their
attention. and l pulled out q
packet-two packets-there were three
pairs of eyes upon me. The seal dangled
from one missive. What have you got
there?' the duchess asked briskly, for
ehe was a woman and curious. do
you carry the deeds Of your property
shout with your"
No. 1 said. not unwilling to make
2 small sensation. This touches your
"Hush!" she cried. raising one i'm
perious finger. .'Transgressing alreadyo
From this time forth / am Mistress
Bertram, remember. But come.' she
went on. cycling the packet with the
seal inquisitiyely. how does it touch
me2'
put IT silently into her hands. and
she opened 1T and read q few lines, her
husband peeping over her shoulder. AS
me read her brow darkened. her eyes
grew hard. Master Bertie's face changed
with hers. and they both peeped sud
denly at me over the edge of the parch-
ment. suspicion and hostility in their
chances. How came you by this, young
eir?" he said slowly, after a long pause.
"Hav we escaped Peter to fall into
the hands OF Paul."
No. no." I cried hurriedly. saw
that had made q greater sensation
eha'i ! had bargained for. l FASTENED
20 tell them how I had met with Car
diners servant at Stony Stratford, and
now I had become possessed of his Gre
dentlals. They laughed. of course. In
deed they laughed SO loudly that the
placid Dutchmen. standing aft with
tnelr hands IN their breeches pockets.
stared open-mouthed at US. and the
kindred cattle on the bank looked mild
~ up from the knee deep grass.
And What was the other packet?"
me duchess asked presently. rs that
1t In your hand?"
some reluctance. ut seems to be a
letter addressed to Mistress Clarence"
Clarence" h cried. "Clarence!'.
resting the and she was extending.
What! Here is our friend again. then.
What Is in IL? You have opened it?"
You have no.1 Then quick. open
US. l win bet a penny. Let us see at
once what it contains. Clarence in
deed! Perhaps we may have him on
the hip yet, the arch traitor!"
But I held the po%cketbook back.
though my cheeks %reddened, and /
knew I must seem foolish. They made
certain that this letter was q communi-
cation to some spy. probably to Clar-
ence himself under cover OF u feminine
address. Perhaps 1t was. but it bore a
womHn's name. Ind 1t was sealed. and.
foolish though I might be. I would not
betray the woman's secret.
mo. madam" 1 said. confused. awk-
ward. ~stammering. yet Withholding II
with . secret obstlnacy. Pardon me
II I do not obey you-if I do not let this
be opened It may be what you say"
I added. with an effort. but II may
also contain ar honest secret, and that
O woman's."
What do you ssy?'. cried the Ouch
ess. Here are scruples!" At that her
husband smiled. and l looked in despair
from him to Mistress Anne. Would she
sympathize with my feelings? I found
that h a turned her back on us
and was gazing over the side. do
you really mean" continued the Ouch
1se. tapping her foot sharply on deck.
that o are not going to open that,
you foolish boy2"
II do. with you grace's leave I an
40Wered.
..Oe without my grace's leave! That
- what you mean.'' she retorted pet
tlaaly. q red spot on each cheek. When
people will not do what I ask. 1t is al
wAys grace! grace! gracel But l know