The Elk Mountain pilot., 1916-10-26

he could say no more. Helpless,
speechless, trembling in every limb,
he could only look imploringly at the
merciless woman. The three men
closed around him and drew their
swords.
"You are traitor" said the queen.
and turned her back on him. Tho
three armed men drew closer. The
marquis saw that his hour was come.
He had been known as a man of cour.
age, but in this extremity he was a
picture of abject terror. He seized the
queens gown and entreated mercy. He
walled and wept and howled. And she
looked down at him with unforgiving
eyes and lashed him off with her rid
ing whip.
"Father lie BEL" she said, 'you are
witness that l treat this dog fairly.
I give him all the time he needs to
justify himself, If he can"
Hearing these words, the marquis
began long plea, trying to explain,
trying to apologize, trying to convince
the queen that his repentance was sim
cere. She stood like statue and
listened to it all. When he had said
all he could think of, the queen turned
again to the priest, as calm and in
exorable as ever.
Father" she cried, "do what you
can for the good of his soul. He has
failed to justify himself. and he must
die"
The good priest dropped on his
knees before her and prayed that she
would have mercy.
81 have said the words" answered
the queen, land no power under heaven
can make me unsay them"
Then she left the room, and Monal-
deschi was left with the priest and the
three executioners. He groveled on
his knees in sickening way, like Mon
mouth at the feet of King James, and
implored the priest to make one more
effort. So the priest went to Christina
and begged for the wretched mans
life, but she was adamant.
LIE Bel returned to the gallery and
announced that his errand had been
useless.
prepare yourself to die" cried the
chief of the executioners, and the mar
Quis and the priest prayed together.
Then the butchery began. The marquis
wore a suit of mail under his clothes,
and this turned the swords of the exc
cutioners; so they hacked him over the
head and neck, and he dragged himself
over the floor like wounded snake.
and called on God for mercy. But there
was no mercy for him in heaven or on
earth. One of the butchers finally
stabbed him in the throat and ended
his misery. ~
At that period murders were not re-
garded seriously, but even calloused
France was indignant over this bar
barous crime. Cardinal Mazarin,
whose conscience wasn't ut all sensi-
tive, wrote officially to Christina say
ing, "a crime so atrocious must be
considered sufficient excuse for banish-
ing your majesty from the court and
dominions of the king, who, with every
honest man, felt Mortified ut the law
less outrage just committed on the soil
of France"
The reply of Queen Christina is one
of the finest examples of pure insol-
ence in all the archives of history. 1t
is too long to be reproduced here. but
the following paragraph indicates its
sentiments:
Understand, all of you, servants and
masters, little people and great. that
1t was my sovereign pleasure to act as
1 did. neither owe nor render an ac-
count of my actions to any one-least
of all to bully like you"
But she left France in a hurry just
the same. Three years later the
cousin in whose favor she had abdi-
Gated died, and she returned to Sweden
with the intention of wearing the
crown again. But the brave and hon
est people of Sweden refused to be
governed by murderess, and she was
told that she would be deprived of
her revenues If she remained in Swe-
den. So she became wnnderer on
the face of the earth, and died at
Rome, n bitter and lonely old woman.
She wrote her own epitaph, which Is
unsurpassed for stern brevity:
"CHRISTINA LIVED SEV ENTY-
TWO YEARS"
1T