Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1908-05-02

|, | EnRllsnnan.
TO whom" added the duchess,
smiling gravely, Il am greatly In
debted."
/ hurriedly explained the mistake
and brought at once smile OF relief
to the mynheer's race. "Ah, pardon
me, 1 beseech YOU" he said. My
daughter was in error" And he add
ed something in Dutch which caused
Mistress Dymphna to blush. You
know" he continued, Il may speak
freely to you, since our enemies are
I'm the main the same-you know that
our Spanish rulers are not very popu-
lar every day. especially with those
who are of the reformed faith. We
have learned, some Of us, to speak
their language, but we love them none
the better for that"
Il can sympathize with you, In
deed" cried the duchess impulsivelY.
God grant that our country may never
be I'm the same plight thought 1t looks
as IL this Spanish marriage were like
to put us in IL. 1t is Spain! Spain!
Spain! and nothing else nowadays"
| Nevertheless the emperor Is
| great and puissant monarch" rejoined
the Arnheimer thoughtfully, and could
| he he rule US himself. we might do
WELL But his dominions are so large
| he knows little of us. And, worse, he
! is dying, or as good as dying. He
! can scarcely sit his horse and rumor
| says that before the year is out he
will resign the throne. Then we hear
| little good of his successor, your
| queens husband, and look to her less
| | fear that there is a dark time be-
| fore us, and God only knows the is
sue" >
and alone will rule IT," Master
| Bertie rejOined piOusly.
| This saying was in a way the key
note to the life we found our host liv-
| ing on his island estate. Peace, but
| peace with constant fear of an as
| sailant and religion for a supporter.
| Several times a week Master Lind
| strom would go to Arnheim to super
| intend his business, and always after
his return he would shake his head
and speak gravely, and Dymphna
| Mould lose her color for an hour or
two. Things were going badly. The
| refOrmers were being more and more
| hardly dealt with. The Spaniards were
| growing more deSpOtiC. That was his
| constant report and then | would see
| him, as he walked with us in orchard
! or garden or sat beside the stove, cast
Wistful glances at the comfort and
| plenty round him. I knew that he was
skiing himself how long they would
last. If they escaped the clutches of
a tyranniCal government would they
be safe in the times that We're COM
ing from the violence Of an i'll paid
SOlulefNI Inc answer was doubtful, or
rather 1t was too certain.
| sometimes wondered how he could
patiently fOresee such possibilities and
take no steps, whatever the risk. to
prevent them. At first I thought his
patience sprang from the Dutch
character. Later | traced it's deeper
roots to a simplicity of faith and
deep religious feeling. which
either did not at that time exist in Eng
land or existed only among people with
whom | had never come I'm contact.
Here they seemed common enough and
real enough. These folks faith sus-
tanned them. II was part Of their lives
"A bulwark against the lear that 9TH
erwise would have overwhelmed them.
And to an extent too. which then sur
prised me, | found, as time went on,
that the duchess and Master BERTHE
shared this enthusiasm. although with
them 1t took less obtrusive form
/ was led at the time to think a good
deal about this. and just word |
may say of myself and of those DAYS
spent on the Rhine island-that where
as before l had taken but a lukewarm
interest In religious questions. and while
Clinging instinctiVely to the teaching OF
my childhood had COnformed with a
light heart rather than annoy my
uncle. | came to think somewhat diff
ferently now. differently and more Sc
riously. And so l have continued to
think since, though | have never be-
come a bigot, a fact | owe perhaps to
Mistress Dymphna. In whose tender
heart there was room for charity as
well as faith, for she was my teacher
or necessity. since no other of our
party could communicate with her. |
became more or less the Dutch girls
companion. ! would often of an even
ing toin her on wooden bench which
stood under an elm on a little spit of
grass looking toward the city and at
some distance from the house Here
when the weather was warm. she would
watch for her fathers return, and here,
one day while talking with her. | had
the opportunity of witnessing a sight
unknown in England. but which year
by year was to become more common
in the Netherlands, more heavily
fraught with menace in Netherland
eyes.
We happened to be so deeply engaged
in watching the upper end of the beach
at the time in question, where we eX
pected each moment to see Master
Lindstrom'S boat round the point, that
we saw nothing of a boat coming the
other way until the tapping of its sails
as 1t tackled drew our eyes toward it.
Even then in the boat itself saw moth
ing strange, but in its passengers l
did. They were swarthy, mustachioed
men. who in the hundred poses they
assumed, as they lounged on deck or
leaned over the side, never lost a pc
culiar air of bravado. AS they drew
nearer to us the sound of their loud
voices, their Oaths and laughter reached
us plainly and seemed to jar on the
evenings stiffness. Their bold, fierce
eyes, raking the banks increasingly,
reached us at last. The girl by my
side uttered cry of alarm and rose
as II to retreat. But she sat down
tn fn,. lah
stretch of turf and to escape unseen
was impossible. Already a score of
eyes had marked her beauty, and as
the boat drew abreast OF us | had to
listen to the ribald jests and laughter
of those on board. My ears tingled and
my cheeks burned. But l could do moth
ing. ! could only glare at them and
grind my teeth.
Who are they" | muttered. The
Cowardly knaVeS!"
"Oh. hush! hush" the girl pleaded.
she had retreated behind me- And in
deed | need not have put my question.
for though | had never seen the Span
ish soldiery l had heard enough about
them TO recognize them now. In the
year 1855 their reputation was at it's
height Their fathers had overcome the
MoOrS after contest of centuries, and
they themselves had oVerrun Italy and
lowered the pride of France AS re-
suit, they had many military virtues
and all the military vices. Proud.
bloodthirsty and licentious everywhere,
1t may be imagined that i'm the sub
ject Netherlands with their pay always
in arrear, they were indeed people to
be feared. 1t was seldom that even
their commanders dared to check their
eXcesseS.
Yet when the first flush of my anger
had subsided / looked after them, odd
as it may seem, with mingled feelings.
With all their faults they were few
against many, a conquering race in a
forcisp land. They could boast of
blood and descent. They were proud
to call themselves the soldiers and gem