The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1911-03-31
THE BAR
SINISTER
BY FRED L. YOUNG
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation 1911.
BY FRED L. YOUNG

stitution. What gives them their CLAM
our is that they are not American.
When on visit to England / visited
the Earl of Bannerton. We were sit
ting one evening together drinking port
wine and smoking. The walls were
covered with portraits of his ancestors
I'VE Americans" | said, ENVY you
your family histories, your blood, your
ancestral homes. What a fine thing
it is to feel that you have pure blue
blood in your veins, especially when
there is no faint in it"
The earl smiled. What would you
say" he replied, IF told you that my
grandfather was highwaymanT"
81 should say you were amusing
yourself"
He was"
"A highwayman?"
Yes. Come, | will show you his
portraits and that of his wife, my
grandmother"
He led me into room used exclu-
sively for family likenesses and stop
ped before two portraits, young
man and young woman. The man
must have been extremely handsome.
We sat down, and he told me their
story while | was looking at them as
they were when the events narrated
occurred.
THE young bloods of England in
Olden times were not as vicious in
some respects as they are today. They
drank pretty hard, but they were not
effeminate. When they were not
fighting foreign enemies or engaged in
cruel warfare an outlet was required
for their surplus vitality. One day Sir
Roger Smartleigh was driving on a
road with his daughter Clarissa-the
when his coach was stopped. A horse
man appeared at the window and de-
manded what he called aims He
was masked, of course. but he had the
manner of a courtier. Captiyated by
Clarissa's beauty, he swung his hat
in Difference to her like the hero Of a
SiXpenny novel of the present day.
Sir Roger emptied his pockets, holding
out the contents. with his watch, to
the highwayman.
"'Never mind those said the rob-
Der. If the young lady will give me
that bit of lace she wears about her
throat will ask no more
GLAD to escape with so little dam
age, Sir Roger babe his daughter give
up her lace. She obeyed like duti-
full child, handing it to the highway
man.
al only ask it as loan,' he said,
and will bring it to you in person.
"If you do said Sir Roger, you
will be taken and hanged to the high
est gibbet in England
THAT prospect will only enhance
the zest Of the visit replied the man.
Besides, to see this beautiful girl
once more | would be willing to dan
gle from ropes end
THE coach was driven on and the
highwayman left behind.
Several months after that Sir Roger
and Lady Smartleigh gave a masked
ball The dancing was at its height
when Clarissa observed figure dress
ed as a Spanish tOreadOr which SEEM
ed to her the acme Of manly form
Determined to discover if possible who
he was, as soon as the dance was fin
ished she resolved to join him. When
he parted from his partner he made
her bow, sweeping the floor with his
hat, and she knew there was but one
man in England who could make 80
grand salute.
"She stood undecided, her heart beat
ing like a kettledrum, for she knew
the highwayman had come on his
promised visit, and she remembered
her fathers threat. At the moment
the highwayman turned and, seeing
her, came toward her, thrusting into
her hand bit Of lace. His own hand
touched hers. and he felt hers trem-
BILE.
That touch, that culver, precipitat-
ed love affair. The man knew she
was trembling for him, and she was
infatuated by the frlghtful risk he ran
to visit her He drew her hand through
his arm and led her out on to the dim
ly lighted terrace.
There was the usual melting of the
woman under the warm sun of love.
At first she dema in an assumed
tone of severity what right he had
there, and when the rascal told her
that he had come to see her and die
she threw her arms about him and
begged him to flee for his life. How
he could flee when she wouldn't lei
him go | don't know. Sir Roger hac
got a glimpse of the fellow when ht
was making. his courtly bow and, hav-
ing seen it before, knew his guest. He
made his way through a crowd OF
dancers as fast as he could, but before
he reached his man the latter had dis
appeared, for Clarissa, hearing her ia
Their roaring and swearing and crying
Where is the villainY opened her
arms. and the rObber was in the gar
den and over the fence like the boy Of
twenty-five he was.
"Clandestine meetings between the
lovers followed the ball, and a secret
followed the meetings. The
highwayman-the handsome chap was
the second son Of my great-grandfa-
ther-did not live with his wife for
two years after their marriage, for if
he had showed himself he would have
got the rope. But after his elder broth
er died childless and he inherited the
title be got a pardon and acknowledged
his wife, and l am one of their de-
scendants."