The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-10-08
-THE-
Storyof Francis Cludde
"a Romance Of Queen Mary's Reign.
BY STANLEY j. wEYMAN.
BY STANLEY ]. wEYMAN.

Y ClS.F s|..#... ..l ...g. g.N .#. ~. .H.aNE a"aE..-A
who calls mcr' I muttered hoarsely,
knowing ma yet disbeiieeing. hoping
and yet with a terrible fear at heart.
TT is I-Petroniila!' said the same
voice gently. and the form rose and
glided toward me drought the moon
light. 1T Is sI-Petronilla, Do you not
know me?' said my love again and
fell upon my breast.
She had been firmly resolved all the
time n to Quit her father. and on the
first opportunity had given the slip to
her company, while the horses were be-
Ing saddled at Watney's farm. Stealing
back through the darkness, she had
found the house full of uproar and
apparently occupied by strange troop
ers. Aghast and not knowing what to
do, she had bethought herself OF the
church n there taken refuge. On
my first entrance she was horribly
alarmed. But as / walked UP the aisle
she recognized--so she has since told
me a thousand times with pride-my
footstep. though 1t had long been q
stranger to her ear, n she had no
thought at the moment OF seeing me
or hearing the joyful news l brought.
And so my story is told. For what
passed then between Petronilla and me
lies between my wife and myself. And
1t is an old, old story. and one which
49, " AlD AhNSh W lCdIIlR "
they have told It, many OF them for
themselves, and their children are
growing up to tell Ii. I think in some
odd corner OF the house there may still
be found a Very ancient swallows nest,
which young girls bring out and look
at tcrderly, but 70" my sword knot I
FEAR 1t mas been worn out these 90 years.
What matter, even though 1t was velvet
OF Genoa He that has the substance
lacks not the shadow.
l never saw my father again, nor
learned accurately what passed ut Wat
neys farm after Petroniila was missed
by her two companions. but one man,
whom / could i'll spare, was also miss
ing on that night, whose fate is still
something OF a mystery. That was
Martin Luther. I have always be-
lfeved that he fell In a desperate en-
counter with my father. but no traces
OF the struggle or his body were ever
found. The track between Watney's
farm and Stratford. however, runs for
q certain distance by the river, and at
some point on this road I think Martin
must have come up with the refugees,
mi failing either to find Petronilla
with them or TO get any satisfactory
account OF her must nave flung him
self OH my father and been foiled and
killed. The exact truth, / have said,
was known, though Baldwin and
l talked over 1t again and again, and
tnere We're even some who said that a
servant much resembling Martin Luth-
err was seen with my father In the low
countries not a month before his death.
put no credence In this, however,
having good eason to think that the
poor fool-who was wiser in sane mo-
ments than most men-would never
have left my service while the breath
remained In his body
81 have heard il said that hlood
/ wa ghaG nIf #GIn mo . NJ, RkL~- -
killed In a skirnlsh in the Netherlands
shortly before the peace of Chateau
Cambresis n about three months az
ter the events here related. I have no
doubt that he died as a brave man
should, FOR he had that virtue. He
held no communication with me or
with any at Cotton End later than that.
which / have here described but would
appear to have entered the service OF
Cardinal Granville, the governor OF
the Netherlands, for after his death
word came to the duchess of Suffolk
that Mistress Anne Cludde had en-
tered a. nunnery at Bruges under the
cardinals auspices. Doubtless she IA
long since dead.
And so are many others OF whom I
have spoken--Sir Anthony, the duch-
ess, Master BERTHE and Master Lind
strom. For 40 years nave passed since
these things happened-years of peace
full, happy life, which have gone by
more swiftly, as 1t seems to me i'm the
retrospect, than the four years of my
wanderings. The Lindstroms sought
refuge In England in the second year
OF the queen n settled I'm Lowestoft.
under the duchess of Suffolk's protec-
ton and did well and fiourished as be-
came them. nor indeed did thew find. 7
trust, others ungrateful, though I ex-
~perienced some difficulty I'm Inducing
Sir Anthony to treat the Dutch burgh-
er as on an equality With himself. Lord
Willoughby de Eresby, ths Peregrine
to whom l stood godfather in st. Wilt
brods church at Wesel, is now a mid
Ole aged man and my very good friend.
the affection which his mother felt for
me having descended to him In full
measure. Sh was indeed such a wom-
an as her majesty-large hearted and
free tongued. OF masculine courage and
q wonderful tenderness. And Of her
husband wha can / say, save that he
was a brave Christian and-in peace
full times-a studious gentleman.
But 1t is not only In vacant seats
and gray hairs that I trace the prog
ress of 40 years. They have done for
England almost all that men hoped
they might do I'm the first dawn OF the
reign. We have seen great foes de-
feated and strong friends gained. we
have seen the coinage amended. trade
doubled, the exchequer filed. the roads
made good, the poor provided for in a
Christian manner, the church grown
J strong-all this In these years. we
have seen Holland rise and Spain de-
cline. and well may say In the words
} OF the old text which my grandfather
) set up over the hall door at Cotton,
"Frustra, nisi Dominus." "
The End. .-. .
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