The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1938-12-01

face and hands were withered, but
otherwise well preserved and dead.
The eyes, which were wide, had a
curious, sightless look and might
have belonged to a man who was
living, but blind; and the whole was
in no way offensive, because, I sup
pose, there was no sign of corrup-
ton, but only of age. Indeed, had
the hair been white, the figure would
have been full of dignity: but the
color of the hair was fatal, suggest
ing an old mans efforts to seem to
be young-one of Times shabbier
jests, for the man had not seen old
age.
On the Golfer were lying three
things. One was a skin of parch-
mentor part of skin. Upon this
had been written Latin, still to
be read. BY its side lay the trans
lation, clearly inscribed upon vel,
lum and made at some later date.
And between the two lay a massive
signet-ring.
AS might have been expected, the
documents told us the truth.
Here sits Ebert, Duke of Austria
and Carinthia, King of Hungary,
slain by his host and liegeman, Ru-
dolf of Brief, because he came upon
him defiling his wife.
with the fear of death upon her,
Helen of Brief declared the follow.
ing facts:
THAT the King and she were Sc
cretly married, before he welded
the Queen and before she deceit
fully welded Rudolf of Brief. In
proof whereof she offered her mar
riage lines signed by the Cardinal
Gaddi, lately dead of the plague,
whom God reward,
"That the first and third of her
| children, whom Rudolf believed to
be his, were both the sons Of the
King.
Rudolf made haste to apprise the
Queen of the truth.
"For the sake of that injured Ia
dy, he undertook, on conditions, to
hold his peace. Between them il
was agreed:
"That he should hold to his witness
the corpse of the King, himself pro-
viding another to take its place and
be inferred and entombed as though
it were that of the King.
"That since Otto, whom he
thought his first-born, was now IN
TRUTH Duke of Austria and Carin-
thia, King of Hungary, he and his
heirs should FOR EVER hold the
right to call upon the heirs of her
body in any stress, whose help they
shall have WITHOUT FAIL by
showing the Kings great ring,
'That her heirs shall be so in.
structed in perpetuity.
''By Rudolf's order, Gollanx, a
chemist of Innsbruck, preserved the
corpse of the King. This he did &C
cording to a certain prescription
which he had of learned Venetian
whose son he had saved. His raj
ment also he dipped against the cor
ruption of Time.
dated the ninth day of March
in the year of Our Lord one thou
sand four hundred and thirty-nine
(the King being dead on the sew.
enth, having lain in state till now
and to be replaced this night
and written down word for word
as my lord Rudolf hath command.
ed by his unworthy servant and
clerk
GABRIEL of LITTAI."
"Whom I slue whites his ink
was welt for he hath long
tongue and I have need of q
boldly as he hath sayed.
RUDOLF OF BRIEF"
The original postscript was labo-
riously written in German and poor.
ly spelt. The translation was done
in German from first to last, and to
this had been added two lists-one
of the Lords of Brief and one OF
the several Heads of the other
House.
! Elizabeth was trembling.
"Oh, Richard, d'you know what
this means?"
eft means you're a queen" said
I. ''But then knew that before"
''No, no." She dabbed at the
parchment. "That last name there.
Not my grandfather's-the other.
Harriet Vincentia Saying, Duchess
of Whelp. She's still alive-and she's
bigger than any queen. She's al
ways known as old Harry Her
mother was English-as mine was,
and if she'll take up my cause 5. -
'She must" said I. "It's a case
OF deep calling to deep"
''She's a law to herself" said
Elizabeth, thoughtfully. "But if she
does-well, next time you come to
Brief you won't have to force any
bars"
"That's right" said I, feebly
enough. With a sudden movement,
I set torch in her hand. "And
now I'll 60 for a pen. You must
write your name here at once. Shall
Herrick come DOWN."
eff you please"
I left her there and mounted the
unworn stair.
The thing was absurd and child
ish, but now that I saw what was
coming, my heart sank down. The
rough stuff" was over, and So
my service was done. From now
on, steps would be taken by lady
of high degree. Pressure would be
put on the impostor: ways and
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