The Washington herald., 1909-04-30

rapidly. !
Not necessarily. Time VIII tell But
LET Us hope that the cure viii not come
until after We are safely away again.
Let her be the Lady Louise That Is
best
Ny God! The punishment Is more
than I can bear.' moaned the king
No responded the jester, calmly.
eyeine him. God sends no punishment
too great for man to bear"
why did YOU let her come? You are
TO blame for this accused the king,
Wildly BY ST Jude
Listen bede the fool. steTnly. Then
appeal. not 10 ST. Jude but to your own
conscience Yes, I let her come; I. the
court fool. permitted a queen and wife
to essay the saving OF q king and q
husband. And believe I lived within
ny rights. Why did I let her Gomez
Why did you make her come? You now
know what a clumsy conspirator you
were. and that what you whispered 70
the rose you whispered also 20 the coro-
net. The queen was assured OF what she
had feared. and she feared the more. It
was 70 save you. II possible, from your
entered the coach; this was her privilege
=
your deserts-and this was her privilege
by law. So we deceived you, she and I;
she. so long deceived, took her turn al
decelving. Bite your lips. II you Ike;
1 care not a SOU I DO not know what
occurred between you IN the coach;
prayed-the fool prayed-but 7 received
no signal 10 turn back. The worst that
We had feared came 10 pass. The sCoun-
drels Of Prince George. your brother.
seized the coach. but they never looked
within 20 see whom they had, Why?
Because they knew. How? Because the
Duke OF Mario vas their leader. Can
you imagine how he kneW7 Pishi ask
the court, If ever you see the court again.
Worst followed upon worst. and here We
sre-and which or US, yes. which OF Us
is TO blame? And why this lamenting,
anyway" he added. scornfully- You
DO not want your wife. For all purposes
she may stiu be at the palace. You have
the Lady Louise-far more beautiful. Of
course; although. 7 admit. not the type
Of the Duchess Of Mario.
''Enough-Sir Hugo. Lord OF Banly and
OF Witte." said the king, quickly, with
rueful smile
He was silent for minute, as II pom
dering.
And now. let me see" he resumed.
quietly. I want 10 play the part OF q
true man and help Us exUricate ourselves.
This name OF yOurs-is IL not hazardous.
thus 10 raise the dead? The last lord OF
the house which you have attached died
when VAS 2 boy"
When leavened by truth. fslsehOOd is
dOubly hard 20 detect Quoth the fool.
And the truth OF IL IS, I an Hugo. Lord
Of Banly and Of Witte."
What" exclaimed the king. and he
viewed the speaker with genuine concern.
The jester smiled whimsically.
no. not crazy" he said. beyond my
court license know my history better
than you. The line Of Banly ends with
ne; am the comma (and something Of
the old court manner. mocking. biting.
showed itself in him, as by the metaphor
he indicated his oddly top-heavy statUrel.
and. unless Inward voices prove false, I
shall soon be the full stop"
You are the Lord OF Banly7" Queried
the king stiIl increduloUs. yet impressed
by the others bearing.
: Z an not trUmpeting t." answered the
fool-but despite his calm disclaimer. in
his mien, clothing so UnpretentioUs a fig
Ure. was z dignity that was pathetic 'It
matters not. save as Il came 20 hand for
the purpose I never had thought 70 use
It. Nevertheless. Lord Of B2nlv I am
Nov. has that added an inch . my stat
1-e, or smOOthed q Wrinkle from my face
Changed the shape Of my nOse2"
And you the court Jester, We did not
know. We cid not know" murmUred the
king. aghast-
Yes" said Sir Hugo; you did not
know And the why and How can
be explained 70 satlsfaction-mo- easily
than the wherefore Of many another mat
ter 20 which one IS blind. and about
which one cries-tOo late-'Oh. I did not
know I did not know Howeve~.
was content TO play the fool Nature
I had fashioned me for Z, and ether raen,
/ proportional for loftier things have
( played It and paid highly for the privi-
| Iege. Eh?"
I BY St. Jude. you shall never be jester
[ again. vowed the king. impetu0usly.
( No responded Sir Hugo. gazing
/ soberly past the king with strange
/ introspective widening Of the pupils. be
| speaking some Inward vision. verify,
shall ever be Jester agan
You shall have all that your rank en-
titles you 70. promise IT. persisted
the king
! Which viii be a monument" answered
/ Sir Hugo. compOsedly.
/ His vision was still holding him fast.
/ BY an effort he broke the spell ensnaring
and hypnotizing his brain. far from
normal
] But no matter" he spoke recovering.
'' Twas my thought that Del ORC might
let me dispatch you 20 the city. That
| done. you could find means Of dispatch
ing him.
AS 7 would, BY Cod" muttered the
/ king. But al least. the ransom would
have been forthcoming. And now?-'
We must work crafty. and see. He
has refused. but perhaps he may be per-
suaded."
Have you anybody in mind 20 whom
you could send 2 message which would
result in ransom?
who al court would pay attention 70
an appeal from Lord Banly?" smiled Sir
Hugo. Lord Banly Is dead-as you said.
Thus far, I am caught IN my own snare.
/ But meat Il for the best"
Then be Sir MOmus again"
with Del Orc reading the message.
/ IL written; OF having Il rehearsed. II told.
Humph-then the fat would be In the ere.
/ He would ask: 'Who?' and again: 'Who?'
/ and like as not give Us more questions
than we could match with answers"
And Sir Hugo made q grimace-
But is there no one who knows YOU
/ as Sir Hugo?'
'One Only-snd she IS a woOdch0pper's :
wife But / can try her. II she can be
found-tho the sound T5o000 francs will
addle her poor wits an afraid.
still
"Send word TO the Duchess Of Mario. -
suggested the king. flushing duly. She
/ viii understand. II the message IS rightly
wo-ded. That is n, a. you charge
{ The king stammered. IF she was aware
/ Of the beginning. she must now be aware
/ Of the ending"
''The Duchess OF Mario has worked her
woe: we viii not give her other oppor-
tunity." responded Sir Hugo. gravely.