Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1910-01-28
A ROYAL Golfer.
BY CLIFFORD C. SPENCER.

Blue Boar tavern. in Leicester, Eng
land, was sitting OF the porch knitting
when an old gentleman rode up. dis
The landlady looked him over and, be-
lieving him to be of the gentry, took
him up to the best room in the house.
The bedstead was a ponderous four
poster with hangings of a date a CEN
fury later than the bedstead itself, the
other furniture corresponding with the
latter. On the walls hung two badly
painted portraits, the one of the then
reigning monarch, Elizabeth, the other
of King Richard III.
At supper the guest was waited on
by Dorothy. the %landlady's daughter, a
comedy lass Of eighteen.
Can you tell me. child" be said,
whence came the bedstead Id the
room / occupy"
Indeed, sir, I can. But first tell me
why you ask"
TT originally belonged to some great
parsonage. That l know from the
carving and the remains of gliding"
"It did, sir. 1t was near the end of
the last century when one day the
servants of King Richard III. came
to this house preceding the king with
his running wardrobe and set up that
bedstead In the room they chose for
his majesty's bedchamber. The king
himself arrived later. slept in the bed
and the next day was killed on Bos-
worth field. No one ever came to claim
the furniture. My ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
who then kept this inn, took down the
rich hangings. They are now stored
in a chest In the attic, and the bed
stead has remained In its place ever
since"
The stranger remained at the Blue
Boar for some time. He wrote much
In his chamber and made excursions
into the neighborhood, especially to
Bosworth field. He and Dorothy be-
came great friends. and he told her
that he was writing a history. She
confided to him that she a a lover,
the son Of a farmer whose family
would not permit him to marry her
because she had no dowry. The guest
sympathized with her, but could do
nothing to comfort her.
The young lover did not come to the
inn, nor did the lovers meet clandes-
timely. But one evening while the
old man was sitting behind a clump of
trees, studying some scraps of paper,
he heard voices on the road near by.
A mans voice was saying:
IT have Mt last quarreled with my
father. Dorothy, about this matter.
There is no hope for us. In a few
days l shall sail for the new land of
Virginia. If | return from there
Don't talk thus, Joel. Virginia is
far way and q wilderness. The for
tunes said to be there are dreams"
'9Then. Dorothy, goodby. and goodby1
forever. l shall always
The voices were lost In the distance.
The next morning while at breakfast
the stranger said to the landlord:
.Mr. Dorchester, there is in this
house a property sufficient for a dowry
for your daughter. 1t has been my
good fortune to discover it, and, though
it is not mine, l will not declare 1t till
1 have your promise that 1t shall be
used as ! direct"
Now, the landlord was a misery
man, who thought more of his own
gains than his daughters happiness.
.What's in my house is mine," he
said.
"When you have discovered it."
ssThen / will discover 1t at once"
That day he ransacked every room
In the house and dug about every tree
in his yard. but no property did he
find except what he had always known
to be his own. In the evening he
sulked and the next day continued
his search. At the noon meal he Of
fered the stranger a third of the treas
ure If he would declare ii. But the
stranger said that nom of 1t was his,
and he would have none of 1t. Be
ing the discoverer, he simply claimed
1t for one member of the family in
whose possession it happened to be.
At last the father yielded and with his
wife signed a paper making over all
the unknown property to his daughter
Dorothy.
"Now come to my ROOM" said the
stranger when the matter had been
settled. Whereupon the father. mother
and daughter accompanied the guest
upstairs and into his
sTake off the bedding" he said.
pointing to the old four poster.
They did as he directed. He then
lifted a portion Of the bottom, which
was double. and revealed a heap of
shining gold pieces.
His three companions stood looking
at the treasure in establishment. At
last Mistress Dorchester asked how
he had come to discover it.
"a few nights ago" he said. mot
being able to sleep. l tossed about the
bed. After one Of my furnishings I
heard something drop on the floor. roll
for a short distance and stop with a
sound for all the world like q coin