The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-03-19
Nv.

NNNSa - eSSAA AASAy
questions 1 have answer, no. and
/ watch small eyes grow large with
establishment. But the truth Is a mai
can only be at n plac' at a time. And
though, In this very month OF Feb
ruary, 1856, Prebendary Rogers
good, kindly man, as / nave heard, who
had a wife and nine c~hildren-was
burned in Smith1eld in London for re-
ligion, and the bishop OF Gloucester
suffered in his own city, and other In
offensive men were burned to death,
n there was much talk or these
things, and in thousands Of breasts o
snnoldering fire was kindled which
blazed high enough by and by-Why,
i was at Cotton En- or On the Lon
don road. at the time, and learned
such things only dimly and by hear
say. u.a" &c.,.
But tho rIIl Joins the river at last
and ofttimes suddenly and at a bound.
as IL were. On his very day while /
cantered easily southwark with my
face set toward st. Adams, Provi-
dence was at work shaping q niche
for me In the lives Of certain people
who were at the time unconscious OF
my existence as I 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 locked doors,
and In e and trembling. mails were
being packed and bags strapped and
fingers almost 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 M avtl, and but
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 no vision,
so far as l ever heard, of O dusty youth
riding Londonward came between the
secret workers and their task
1 had made up my mind to sleep at
st. Adams that night. and for this
reason, and for others, relating to the
sheriff Of Buchnghamshire, in which
county Stony Stratford lies. I pushed
on briskly. / presently found time,
however, to examine the packet of let
tiers which I had made spoil. On the
outer wrapper I found there was no
address, only an exhortation to be
speedy. or this came, therefore, with
out ceremony, and was left In the dirt.
Inside I found two sealed epistles,
each countersigned on the wrapper,
Stephen Winton."
"Hol ho!" said L IT 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 Berkeley, at st. Mary
Overy's, Southwark, London. I turned
1t over and over in my hands and
peeped into 1t, h%esitating. 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, ! broke
the sea-. The document proved to be
as short n pithy as 1t vas startling.
II was an order commanding Sir
Maurice Berkeley forthwith in the
queens name and by the authority of
the council, and so on. and SO on, to
to arrest Katherine WiIIoughby de
Eresby, duchess OF Suffolk, and TO de-
liver her into the custody of the lieu
tenant OF the Tower. these presents
to be his warranty for the detention
OF the said duchess Of Suffolk until
her grace's pleasure In the matter is
known"
When 1t was too late, I trembled to
think what / had done. To NEEDLE
with matters of state might be more
dangero 4 hundred times than steal
ing horses or eve than duckinE the
chancellor's messenger. Seeing at this
moment, a party of travellers approach,
i crammed the letter into my pocket
and rode by them with O red face and
q tongue that suffered so feebly that
I could scarcely return their greetings.
When they q gone by, l pulled out
the warrant again, having 1t In my
mind to tear 1t UP without q moments
delay, to tear Il into the smallest NOR
sells M 80 get rid OF a thing most
dangerous. But the great. red seal,
dangling at the fot Of the parchment,
caught my eye. and l paused to think.
II was so red, so large, so imposing,
IT seemed a pity to destroy II. II
must surely be good for something.
/ folded up the warrant again and put
II away In my safest pocket. Yes, IL
might be good for something.
I took out the other letter. It was
bound with green ribbon and sealed
with extreme care, being directed
simply TO Mistress Clarence-there was
no address But over Gardeners sig
nature on the wrapper were the word,
"These on your peril, very privately
I turned 1t over and over and said
the same thing about love and war
and even repeated to myself my old
proverb about a sheep and a lamb.
But somehow I could not do II. The
letter was q woman'S letter; the Sc
cret, her secret, and though my fingers
itched as they lowered about the seals,
my check ttnRled too. So at last, with
q muttered. what would Petronilla
say?" I put It away unopened In the
pocket WneT1a the warrant lay. The
odds were immense that Mistress Clar-
ence would never get II, but at least
her secret should remain hers, my
honor mine.
II was dark when,I rode. thoroughly
faded, into st. Adams. I 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. as disrepu-
table a fellow as might be. The con-
seriousness, too, that I was without q
penny, and the fear lest careful
as I had been to let no outstrip
me, the news OF the riot at Stratford
might nave arrived, but did not tend to
give me assurance, I poked my head
timidly into the great room, hoping
that / might have 1t to myself. To my
disgust 1t was full of people. Half a
dozen travellers and as many townsfolk
were sitting round the fire, talking
briskIy 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 I took my seat by the fire and set to
drying myself, that I was greeted by
O momentary silence, and then two or
three OF the company began to eye me
suspiciously.