Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1908-10-09
Storyof Francis Cludde
A Romance Of Q ueen Mary's Reign.
BY STANLEY J. WEYMAN.
BY STANLEY J. WEYMAN.

among a thousand said softly, Fran
cis." W
WHO calls me?" / muttered hoarsely
knowing and yet disbelieving, hoping
and yet with "a terrible fear at heart
1T is I-~Petronilla!' said the same
voice gently, and the form rose and
glided toward me drought the moon.
light. 1T is I-Petronilla! Do you not
know me?" said my love again and
fell upon my breast.
She had been firmly resolved all the
tins not to quit her father, ana 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 and there taken refuge. On
my first entrance she was horribly
alarmed. But as / walked UP the aisle
she recognlzed-So she has since told
me a thousand times with pride-my
footstep, though ii had long been a
stranger to her ear, and she had no
thought at the m OF seeing me
or hearing the joyful news | brought.
Ii 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
our children have no need to learn, for
they ave told it, many OF them for
themselves. and their children are
growing up to tell It.. | 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 tenderly, but for my sword Knot
fear 1t mas been worn out these 80 years
| What matter pN'pn fhnl1nh II W. 6 ,yalN,at
OF Genoa? He that has the substance
lacks not the shadow.
l never saw my father again, nor /
learned accurately what passed at Wat-i
neys farm after P~etronilla was missed4I
by her two companions, but one MANY
whom | could i'll spare, was also miss
ing on that night, whose fate is still
something of a mystery. That was
Martin Luther. / have always be-
lleVed 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 | think Martin
must have come up with the refugees,
and failing either to find Petronilla
with them or to get any satisfactory
account of her must have flung him
self on my father and been foiled and
HiiiSu' tAdCl lIulI, Il nave SAID,
was never known, though Baldwin and
/ talked over ii again and again, and
there were even some who said tina a
servant much resembling Martin Luth-
er was seen with my father in the low
countries not a month before his death.
| put no credence in this, however.
having good reasons 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.
L have heard ii said that blood
washes out shame. My father was
killed in a skirmish in the Netherlands
shortly before the peace OF Chateau
Cambresis and about three months at-
ter the events here related. / have no
doubt that he died as a brave man
should, for he had that virtue. He
held no Communication with me or
with n at Cotton End later than that
which l 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 is
long since dead.
And so are many others OF whom I
have spoken-Sir Anthony. the Ouch
ess, Master BERTHE and Master Lind
strom. For 40 years have passed since
these things happened-years Of peace
full, happy life, which have gone by
more swiftly, as 1T seems to me in the
retrospect. than the four years of my
wanderings. The Lindstroms souehx
refuge In England II the second yea1
of the queen and settled in Lowestofts
under the duchess OF Suffolk's prOtec-
ton and did well and fourished as be-
came them, nor indeed did they find. L
trust, others u~ngrateful, though / ex-
perienced some difficulty i'm inducing
Sir Anthony TO treat the Dutch burgh-
er as on an equality with himself. Lord
Wiloughby de Eresby, TIL; Peregrina,
to whom / stood godfather in ST. WIN
brod's church at Vessel, is now a m
die aged man and my very good frieny1
the affection which his mother felt forN
me having descended to him in full
measure. She was indeed such a wom-
an as her matesty-large hearted and
free tongued, of masculine courage and
a wonderful tenderness. And of her
husband what can / say, save that he
vas a brave Christian and-in peace
ful times-a studious gentleman.
But 1t Is not only in vacant seats
and gray hairs that / trace the prog
ress OF 40 years. They have lone for
England almost all that men hoped
they might do in the first dawn of the
reign. We have seen great foes de-
feated and strong friends gained. wet
have seen the coinage amended, trade
doubled, the exchequer filled, the roads,
made good, the poor provided for In a
Christian manner, the church grown
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.
One Summers Night.