The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1911-03-29
CHAPTER III.

ts&sNlNt panions. rushed upon us. The
struggle was short and sharp. was
unable to make any kind of resistance
and was dragged from my horse and
nv hands tied securely behind me-
| O'R"an and his men fought desperate
| ly. and for few minutes the clash
Of steel woke the echoes of the wood
Put numbers tod. O'Ryan was knock
p1 out of his s"ddle and was bound as
| 7 was. and three of his men were
also taken prisoners Six men lay
lead. two Of ours and four of the enc
my. bearing terrible witness to the
fact that the fight had been no childs
play. Ii was my first experience of
medieval warfare. but 1t was not des.
tined to be my last.
with luck we may get TO heaven. s.
| O'Ryan whispered to me. but don't
| Prisoners of war get badly handled.
We'd be better off lying with those
poor devils yonder."
Surrounded on every side by noun
tains. twilight is of short duration in
Drussenland. 1t was dark long before
we came to our journeys end. and in
spite of Organs gloomy forebodings
| was not sorry to reach the rebel
headquarters.
The rebel camp, which was set
around good sized town, called
Meera. learned later. lay between
two spurs of the hills, and we came
upon it suddenly. Organ and | were
taken into barrack yard full of arm
ed men and after our hands had been
| united were locked in dungeon. We
were in absolute darkness and for
| some moments stood quite still and
| We're silent. Then Organ growled
| out a long string of oaths, which must
have given him considerable trouble
to collect, and ended by consigning
himself to perdition for leaving his
| flask in his saddlebag.
A food of daylight pouring into the
darkness through the open doorway
awOlle me and almost blinded me too.
| rose to my feet. but the two soldiers
who entered had not come for me.
sleepy grunts. stood up. very wide
/ awake indeed.
"Wanted so soon?" he said
One of the soldiers answered in the
Affirmative.
Good Far better than long wait
ing" he said. and he shook hands with
me.
The next moment he was gone. The
door closed and was locked again, and
| was alone Perhaps an hour elapsed
before the door opened again. SOL
der entered and placed on the floor
some food and fagon of wine. |
thanked him. and he saluted me. He
waited until had eaten some of the
| food and drunk the wine, with what
relish | leave TO the imagination, and
| then requested me to follow him. Out
side Il small guard received me. and
| was taken across the barrack yard.
which was full of life and business.
to building on the opposite side.
II must have been about noon when
any | had yet seen marched into the
yard The officer came to me.
THE princess holds council. and am
commanded TO bring you before her"
he said.
| inclined my head.
My journey to the council hall was
| through the streets. and many people.
chiefly women and old men. had gath
cred to see me pass We turned into a
courtyard surrounded on three sides by
massive stone buildings and. marching
straight across. halted for moment
before gates which opened into a great
hall. At each end of the building was
huge round window. but the lighting
was insufficient. and the place was
gloomy. The floor was Of stone flags.
worn good deal. and indeed the
whole edifice looked old. | know little
was common in Drussenland l have
seen nothing like II elsewhere. Seated
in the center of the hall on q platform
was woman surrounded by knights
who were clad in steel-a goodly sight
TO look upon. If strange TO such eyes
either side stood n dozen men In loose
garments reaching from shoulder to
heel. tied Mt the waist with a white
sash. the ends of which fell to the
ground. Each wore white skullcap.
They were all elderly men. and their
hair and boards had been allowed TO
grow at will.
To say that the princess was the
most beautiful woman my eyes had
ever rested upon Is hardly to describe
her The whole of Princess Daria's
world allowed that she was the most
beautiful of women. and the women
Of Drussenland are beautiful. Her
warriors. from the highest knight to
the humblest soldier worshiped her
and had sworn obedience TO him who
should win her for himself. My first
impression was that she was ut TO rule
those who bowed before her. She
looked queenly and their mistress.
Seated I'm her chair of state. as | first