Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-02-02

| ---.- 60 H---~ = II .a- RI = 49, ~ b. So y
was astonished not to see him at ALL
Moreover, there was a strange stiffness
In the room, the silence of absence or
n living thing. The man, thinking
that, after all, his prisoner might have
carried out his threat, went to the
chimney, fearing that he might see his
body dangling there. There was moth
ing In the lower part, and, looking up,
he saw only a small patch of blue sky.
With fear and trembling the jailer
sent word to the count that his prison.
er had vanished. In order to shield
himself, he declared that he had heard
strange sounds overhead during the
night. He believed that his prisoner
had carried out his threat to hang him.
self and. that witches had carried Off
the body.
That was an age when people, instead
of looking for natural causes, inferred
everything to supernatural interior
ence. The count so far leaned to the
jailer's opinion that he sid not look far
for a means of theprisoner's escape. He
examined the only outlet, the chimney.
and satisfied himself that Conrad could
not have climbed the 1ue. In those
days chimneys were very large, and
for one to work himself up a f1ue by
his knees on one side and his back ON
the other was impossible. Conrad must
have hung himself, and there was no
accounting for the disappearance Of
the body except that the witches had
carried 1t off.
Tho ioi1or'S cfy0Oncfion coUnd him
from punishment, and the count was
obliged to forego the ransom. He was
becoming reconciled to his d~isappoint-
ment when one day a neighbor of Con-
RAIDS came across the border and re-
ported the suicide living at home in
comfort with his wife and children.
The count was astonished. Indeed,
he would not believe the report until
he had sent a spy into the enemy's
country to learn the truth. When the
spy returned and said that he had seen
Conrad sitting before his door, the
count was convinced that he was there.
But the spy believing that witches had
assisted Conrad to get away, supposed
himself to be under the influence of his
Imagination. Conrad was sitting mo-
tionless at the time, and the spy got the
idea into his head that he was a corpse.
He reported that he had watched the
figure ten long minutes, In all of which
time it made no motion.
The count, d~isgruntled at having lost
his ransom and not satisfied with his
spy's report, sent another, who saw
Conrad chopping wood. This disposed
of the theory that witches had carried
back the corpse Of a suicide, and the
count determined to make a raid into
the domains of Count Elginbrod with
a view to again carrying off the wealthy
Conrad.
Now, Conrad's home was neal the
border. and all the count had to do
was to send a force across, kidnap Con-
rad and carry him away before any Of
the baron's forces could be brought to-
protect him. But it happened that
Joan had been looking out of the win
dow when the second spy saw her hus-
band chopping wood and watched the
man slipping away, as he supposed,
unnoticed. Joan suspected what this
meant and straightway took precau-
lions. She sent one Oldershow, a
neighbor, to Count Hastings domain
to win the confidence of the count and
agree for a consideration to entice Con-
rad away from his home so that he
could be readily captured. This man
succeeded in his object. At the same
time he was instructed by Joan to re-
port that Joan vas a witch.
This confirmed Count Hastings be-
lief in the ~jailer's suggestion that
witches had been instrumental in Con-
RAIDS disappearance, but he attributed
the removal to one witch, Conrad's
wife. Nevertheless, he was so averse
to being beaten even by a witch that
he accepted Oldershow's offer and,
having paid him a round sum, sent a
dozen men with him to kidnap Conrad.
The expedition approached Conrad's
house in the evening cleaning, and
what was their horror to see the man
they were after hanging by the neck
to a tree heal his house. They at once
took to flight and never stopped run
ming till they had reached their start
ing point, having left Oldershow be-
hind them. They reported what they
had seen to the count, ana Oldershow,
returning, entered Conrad's house and
poured a heap Of gold he had received
for his work in Joan's lap.
This ended Count Hastings efforts
to regain possession of Conrad, for he
was convinced of his being managed
by a witch, hat witch being Joan.
But he sent a messenger to Baron Ell
ginbrod to say that the baron had a
witch in his dominions, and If he did
not get rid of her she would infect the
whole country.
Upon this the baron sent for Joan
and asked her what truth there was
In the counts charge.