Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-02-02
An Ingenious
Woman
A Story of the Days of
Witchcraft.
By F. A. mitchell

Conrad who married a girl named
Joan. They were vassals on the estate
Of a baron who owned and ruled over
a great territory. The man and the
woman were both poor, and their
neighbors wondered how they would
get on. Nevertheless they p%rospered,
and their prosperity was all on account
of Joan. who was very shrewd. One
thing puzzled those who knew her. She
did everything in a way so queer that
some Of them thought her demented.
And yet her acts resulted to her bene-
fit.
One person., and n person alone,
came to understand her-her husband.
Conrad was a stupid man, and 1t is
likely this was the reason why he came
to be an excellent auxiliary to his wife.
Having no ideas of his own, he was
readily recipient of hers. For ten
years she kept instilling her way of
doing things into him, so that at last
not only could she trust him to follow
her lead, but at times to take the ini-
tiative on her methods.
There was much warfare in a small
way in those days, attacks being made
by one suzerain upon another. In one
of these incursions upon the domain of
Baron Elginbrod, where Conrad and
his wife lived, Count Hastings, the in
c%ursionist, took Conrad away with him,
having learned that he and his wife
had accumulated money, and held his
prisoner for ransom.
Conrad was thrown into prison and
told that he should stay there till he
paid the ransom. He remained a cap
tive some time, then sent word to his
captor to say that If he would give him
a messenger he would send him to his
wife with an order to pay the ransom.
The count at once furnished the mes
senger, and Conrad wrote the following
message to Joan:
My Dear Wife, wish you to pay the
ransom demanded by Count Hastings for
my release. l will wait for you to do so
for one week. One week from tonight If
1 am not liberated I will hang myself in
the chimney of the room where l am con-
fined. Your loving husband. CONRAD.
This letter was submitted to the count,
who read it with satisfaction, "for," said
he, '1f the woman is inclined to dicker
threat of her husband to hang himself
will influence her to pay any sum l
ask" And he doubled the amount de-
manded for the ransom.
When the messenger delivered the
note to Joan and she read her hus-
bands threat to hang himself she fell
over In a faint. The messenger did
what he could to revive her and en-
deavored to reassure her by pointing
out the impossibility of the prisoner
hanging himself in the chimney, since,
in the first place, he had no rope, and,
in the second place, even if he had
there was nothing In the chimney to
which he could attach a rope.
This seemed to comfort Joan, and,
gathering her strength, she wrote her
husband a note stating that she would
be unable to raise the money required
for the ransom in so short a time, but
she would do so as soon as possible.
She added a note begging him not to
hang himself, thus d%epriving her and
the children Of his care and the pleas
ure of having him with them.
The messenger went back to the
count with Joan's letter. and 1t was
read with satisfaction, for it was evil
dent that she was SO terrified at her
husbands threat, Notwithstanding the
fact that 1t would be impossible to
carry it out. that she would do all in
her power to raise the money for the
ransom. SO the message was deliver
ed to Conrad, who read it, evidently
pleased at the prospect of getting his
liberty.
A week passed, and the night came
on which Conrad had threatened to
commit suicide unless his wife had by
that time pail the ransom and set
him free. His jailer. when he brought
in the prisoners supper and set 1t
down on the table. said jokingly:
"Well, Conrad. are you going to hang
yourself ton.ghf!"
"Why should l? Ny wife has said
that she might not be able to raise the
money for my ransom so soon. but l
am sure she will do so in time. | am
aware that she must sell everything
we have, including our home. to raise
so large an amount, and | don't ex-
pect hat she will be able to turn it all
into ready money in less than another
week, at least"
"Why, then, did you name a period
insufficient for her to raise the ram
som?"
Because l did not wish her to lose
any time"
"Well, I'm glad you have no reason
to hang yourself. For If you did l
should have to sit up and watch you
tonight, and 1 prefer to be asleep in
my bed"
So the jailer left his prisoner to eat
his supper, and when he returned Con-
rad was snoring loudly on his cot. The
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