The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-10-02
CHAPTER l
Moon-Madness

V1OOfI-IvRduHSSS
sat, one night, upon an iron bench
and studied the Cabildo-to me the
most imposing building in that his
toric city which lies, crescent-like,
within the curving sweep of the Missis-
sippi. Musing, watched the scroll of
history unroll before me. | saw De
Bienville and those hardy followers of
his who had erected the first house Of
the Crescent city; saw the Spaniards
pass-moving to the west and south
the Frenchmen come and go, and the
Spaniard come again; and | heard
the thunderous shouts from a thou
sand threats as Claiborne unfurled
from the iron balcony of the old
Cabildo the Stars and Stripes. en-
blem of the new republic.
"Ah, WE'LL" l said, half to myself.
half to the vanishing shades of his
tory, ''the varying fortunes Of Louisi-
ana belong to the past: she is safe
now within the fold. No more will she
be ruled by kings and queens, cour-
tiers and courtesans"
WhereupOn a sound broke into my
reverie-the lit of a womans laugh,
as clear as the note of hooking bird.
But, your majesty" said the voice
in Spanish. "if we walk two more
squares along this way we shall have
passed the levee and cast ourselves
into the river"
Name of Cdr" l gasped, leaping
to my feet. There was something in
that musical voice that touched
vibrant cord in my soul, and the young
blood famed through my veins. AS
stood, trembling in this new emotion,
three figures left the shadows of the
CabildU and. moving southwark.
crossed Chartres street, turned to the
left and approached the point where
/ stood three figures who might have
stepped from Titan canvas. One
was a slim graceful courtier with a
scabbard that flashed in the moonlight
with every movement of his left knee;
the other two were a king and a queen
of old Spain, bearing, each of them,
all the trappings of royalty.
Speeches., stared, wondering
vaguely if, by some grotesque twist OF
fate. this consciousness of mine could
have been thrown back three cen
turtles; yet, yonder stood the Cabildo,
this was New Orleans, and the time
/ felt certain-was the year of our
Lord eighteen hundred twenty-one
But had she not said, your majesty"
and did they not look like sovereigns
of ancient Spain? Unheeding, ! drank
deep of the beauty of this modern
Isabella.
She had all the regal dignity and
poise of SPANS great queen; Titan
himself might have arranged the
wavy blue-black hair. Her eyes in the
moonlight seemed to hold purple shad-
ows, her face was pale, her lips half
parted; fragile hand, inquiring and
partly closed, pressed against the
curve of cheek and chin.
His majesty, a sturdy man with
heavy shoulders, square full beard and
broad forehead, spoke deep in his
massive chest; but, deaf and dumb
and blind to all the world save the
woman who stood before me, l paid
no heed,
Except for the lovely, gracious lady
who is my mother, woman had hardly
touched my life; yet here was l, lost
in the depths of lady's eyes, lady
/ had never seen until this night.
Madness? Aye, a sudden and over.
whelming madness. and no more to be
explained than the alchemy of love
itself.
AS 1 stood, dazed, faltering, his
majesty's voice, which held rasping,
hostile note, beat into my conscious
ness: "Have the amber wines of old
Didier touched thy brain. dolt, or is
stupidity the natural heritage of Yam
kees?'
at may be thai he cannot hear"
the lady said kindly, cannot under
stand" Then in swift French to me:
rs it that you do not know the Span
ish, Monsieur, cannot hear the voice?"
tried to smile-a sorry effort, for
the past, as well as the spell Of her
beauty, still bore upon ME. ave of
I've" OIISoluS LuuSl hllOW luTee ldll-
guages, your majesty" | faltered;
land a voice that is like music"
"Carraca!" The magic of the night
and the misty vaporings of my wine
unused mind gave way to grim reali-
ties of the moment, for the broad
shouldered man who chose to ape a
king advanced upon me threateningly.
He tried to brush me aside with the
sweep of muscular arm, but swung
a hard and, think, efficient fist; for a
year of campaigning in that tatterde-
malion army under General Jackson
had given me many things. not the
least of which was the healthy Amer
lean knack of rough-and-tumble fight
ing. Under a blow that found his
whiskered jaw his majesty went TO his
hands and knees. then he came swift
~ to his feet. right hand seeking his
hip, and the slim blade of small
sword cleaned in the moonlight.
Not so hasty. Ado!fO." said the
graceful courtier. whose face | no
ticed possessed so much of the high
beauty of the face of the lady that