Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-07
SUNDAY MAGAZINE FOR MAY Z. 1911


crumbling masonry upheld by no less dilapi
dated towers. AS they rounded the base of
its supporting cliff, however they realized
their error. Other crenelated walls loomed
solidly from out the night, and then mass
i've gateway, guarded by thanking towers,
which looked Still capable of resistance. A
rank growth of cactus overran the moat;
but the drawbridge, to Virginias delight,
was still practicable for such as came afoot
and, abandoning the motor, they trooped
laughingly across it, torches set in iron
holders on each side of the battered portal
lighting the way.
Their explanations pleased Rodoslav. at
has been many years since torches famed
here" he said. "A lantern serves us ordina-
rily."
@You ordered them specially for u.s." cried
Virginia.
Eyes wanted it to seem real castle to
you. But remember" he warned, "real
castles are seldom comfortable"
at isn't comfort we want she protested.
dts romance, and you have given us that
beyond question. How splendidly your ser
wants carry out the picture!'
"They are my steward and his sons. They
are shepherds by trade"
The two younger men in red fezzes, short
embroidered jackets, and loose trousers,
fastened out to help the Swiss with the lug
gage. The steward himself lit a smaller
torch and piloted them across the tagged
courtyard and through second archway
into second court, more than half ruinous,
with its far end open toward the narrow
plateau that the castle and its outworks had
obviously once filled. Rodoslav waved his
hand toward the gaping breaches which ivy
and pink masses of tamarisk strove vainly
to stop.
"The Turks did that" he explained.
"They meant to blow it all to pieces; but
luckily they found other things to occupy
| them. My people had lost their possessions;
but they kept their courage. From the
Bocche di Cattaro to the Danube they
fought"
3Was it long before they got the castle
back?" asked Mrs. Blair.
-Four centuries"
The stockbroker whistled. "Time enough
for property to depreciate,' he observed
dryly. at must have changed proprietors
| frequently"
"Yes," Rodoslav assented "The Turks,
| the Venetians, the Austrians, the French,
and again the Austrians, have all held it. 1t
was my grandfather who finally bought it
| back. 1t was far past its usefulness as a
stronghold, of course. The batteries you
| saw on the hills superseded it long ago. The
purchase was thought a rather Byronic
piece of business on my grandfathers part,
Byron was the fad then,-but nobody OPP
posed his throwing money away on senti
ment. Nowadays people would call it
| folly"
Ann alone among his auditors OWNED that
something deeper than sentiment had car
ried weight with the Byronic grandfather.
| He too had dreamed!
Stirred by the old memories, Rodoslav
took the torch himself and guided them from
point to point along the devastated walls,
explaining their ancient uses. The rising
moon shed pale light on the gray stones,
sleeping them in wan and melancholy haze
which touched Ann like certain haunting
music. Straying from the group, she brooded
upon the stormy past of the ancient fabric
and asked herself if it was again to become
the theater of historic deeds. Could Rodo-
slav bridge the centuries?
CHE faced the relic of medieval bastion
as she pondered and, her eyes adapting
themselves unconsciously to the gloom be
meath its still solid vault she suddenly spied
an object that, in all their varied history,
these walls could never have housed before.
Strewn about with the packing cases in
which it had made it's journey from Pau,
stood Rodoslav's aeroplane.
& -. l-..A L.