The Washington times., 1913-05-31

I folly Of attack upon Kings staver-
sham." said Cromwell. every inch the
why should you dream % alter my
For once Won Kerstenbroock made
an Ineffective gesture.
] 1T is-because of the woman that /
In that hour General Cromwell. like
many another master of men, could
rate 1t a prime excellence Of Heaven
that there they neither garry nor are
given In marriage.
had found this little Castingbroke-
a sober man. who ret refrained from
! splitting doctrinal hairs with his broth
er officers; a tried soldier. who yet
never meddled with the troubled politics
Of the day; doer of prompt deeds: no
babbler Of vain words; q fighting blade
that never yet had failed the hand that
| drew it-and here was this paragon of
| an officer shot through with q wench's
| eye. riding his horse to death, setting
rank mutiny; capable. II would seem.
| OF any desperate folly. to pull annihila-
! ton on himself and ruin serviceable
1 instrument to the Lords land General
| But General Cromwell knew more Of
| Colonel Castingbroke than the date
and number Of the men that he had
slain.
/ In moment, pdCenCe peLSohueo III
rugged granite. he had sat down At the
wv Wei. sir? And this woman for
whose sake We are to imperii q regi-
ment or so?'
brock, through help Of whom
("JJnder God!" threw In the Generally
"I am come alive from Kings Stav-
ersham and this at deadly peril to her
self. It is the woman who should pe
1 her to marriage with that old broken
| stringer Staversham himself
And what's her name calledT
.'Thomsine Musgrove. SIR
IT'S a great fortune. And how"
he added shrewdly. do you know thai
to this marriage with the rank 81 >: staV-
. Won Kerstenbroock paid Thomstne
then the perfect tribute.
l "Because I know her. sir, ana she is
promised mine. Have ! your leave 10
"Haye you counted the cost in lives
Of goodly men?" asked Cromweii,
somber.
/ Kerstenbroock famed visibly.
.Smail loss. sir. set beside the gain
to our cause in biotting out that plague
spot Of the countryside!
Let me have but Ackworth's troop.
| and AfmweIl Packers troop. tnat was
alopss1ae sr %ns oma snd theS al T to
! a man to come In with me! have an
/ officer within Kings Staversham VIII
/ be Of our party. Let us but fall on;
~ a night when ne sni hath aa,,sn ,ns "a''n'
/ With a sure hand Won Kerstenbroock
caught up a pen. and on blank sheet.
| one OF many papers that cumbered the
table. sketched a swift plan OF kings
Here is the moat and the outer
works. Here shall we fling bridge
across the moat and scale the wall;
Freeman will give his account oi
| Erisey's men, asleep in their barracks:
at this side the bailey. and Packer and
| I will here secure the great house, the
| while Gift Ackworth Is pulling CoioneI
Aubrey's troopers out by the ears mere
| in Staversham village.
In the heat of work Won Kersten-
brock had pushed back his Guns
Mercifuily veiled in the candle-iight. a
bouged scar showed upon his wrist
a scar that he should carry to his
| grave
mark spoke as eloquently to the Cen
| eral as the well-ordered plan arayed
before him. He laid a sudden hand on
| Won Kerstenbroock's arm and turned
his wrist a little toward the light
This you brought from Kings Sta
versham?"
Aye, SIR" the answer came tndiffer-
ent. And for. the men within the
| walls, though they muster three regi,
ments in name. they are but poor ana
meager, scarce large er than one OF our
| good, able troops, and
You did not write me all that befell
ut Kings Staversham- Some matters
| there were that had of Colonel Pierre
point Peace. Castingbroke! You have
said enough"
For a moment then they faced each
other in the candlelight-Von Kersten-
brock with eyes that besought, Crom-
well with eyes that were inscruta6le
Two men stood ready to sell him
| Kings Staversham-the facts arranged
! themselves swiftly and orderly in the
| generals swift and ordered mind-and
they were haggiing traitors. now hot.
now cold. who were to him vexation and
| contempt.
One man stood ready to win him
Kings Staversham-at small cost, he
was persuaded,-and he. an honest man
and a brave gentleman, who would do
the work or perish in the doing.
To hold to Won Kerstenbroock were
doubtless to lose men a few. To hold
to Erisey or Staversham were haply to
! lose all.
There was the woman, too. Theoreti-
caIly she should nave counted for moth
| ing in the generals plans.
! But as a practical man he caught
| himself reasoning that 1t were mani
| fall unchaIlenged into the hands Of
malignants. and. also perhaps as
+: practical man, he fell to thinking that
| II were no disservice to the State that
such as Castipgbroke should leave
/ lawful sons to follow in his footsteps
I With eyes a blank for inscrutability,
Cromwell released his hold on Won
Kerstenbroock's arm, and drew to him
pen and paper.
''Will three troops be sufficient for
the work. he asked casually.
Won Kerstenbroock blinked never SO
! slightly, much as he had done in the
moment when he had heard Staver-
sham pass sentence Of death upon him,
though now he stood as high (near at
the height Of Heavenly as he had then
stood low. But he was a man after the
generals heart