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Show i ' I THE LION'S WHELP A Story of Cromwell's Tims BY AMELIA E. DARR. Author of Th Uow of Of ansa ttlbbon. l. Thou and tho Olhar On.." "Th. Maid of Maldan Lano." Etc. (Ccrnilht, l'lOl hr tlodd, M..J i Comeanr All ilthlt m.il ) CHAPTER XIII. (Continued.) Then he turned tc. Matilda ond led her to n Mifa nnd romlorted her. and 'he men-crants ame and look away the dead liodj nnd laid It. as Anthony ttlshed on his idil master's bod. And In the great salon, now cleared cf Its orfeiidliiK Millars. Cjinlln sat toinfyrtlnK Matilda and llnally nues-Hri.ed nues-Hri.ed her In n way that rompelled ' it to rely, In some measure, upon him. Stephen was hero jeslerdny?" ho nsKed Part of the day. Ho left hero at lour In t'ie afternoon." "Vet the mall rider, under oath, swore this morning thnt It was Stephen Ste-phen whi robbed the mall." She la iRlied queerl) lint II It wns not Stephen, who was It? hf Hoisted, and ho looked with stirli a steady confident cnio Into Matilda's Ma-tilda's face Hint she crimsoned to hef linger tips She could not meet bis cjes, and she could not speak "I wonder who plaed at belnc Stephen Ste-phen de Wick he said gently. And the silence between them was so sensitive sen-sitive that neither necusatlon nor confession con-fession was necessary. "I wish tlint you had trusted mo. You mlKbt have done so and you know It ' After Anthony was hurled, his will wns rend. He loft corythlnR he possessed pos-sessed to the Lady Matilda de Wick, nnd no one offered a word of dissent. Sir Thomas seemed unusually do-pressed do-pressed and bis Indy asked him "If ho wns In nny way dissatisfied?" "No," he nnsworod "It Is tho death of the joiiiiK Lord NoWlle that filves I me constnnt regret." "Is be dead? Alas! Alas! S.irli n linppy. handsome Joutli. It Is Incred-! Incred-! Iblc." said Lady Jcery. "I thouxht he bad run away to tho I Americas with jour gold nnd my aunt's Jewels," said Mntllda. "I wionged him, 1 wronged him I grievously," answered Sir Thomas. them to sit where Cromwoll sal," ho answered 'Ah' this great Cromwell'" snld l.ndy Jecery; "but If he has the wily Mainrln at his disposal. wh rati ho not find out something atmitt that poor Lord NetllleT Has Col. Anton to-turned, to-turned, or Is he also missing "Ho returned some lime ago. Ho discovered nothing of importance" "Then I suppose we shall see no more of Lord Neville. I am verj sor-r. sor-r. He was a good outh, and he loved Jane Safriinm ery honestly." A week nfter this evening the Jcv erjs were In their own house, nnd Matilda Ma-tilda hnd sent word to Jnne Swaffliam that she wanted to seo her Sho opened her heart on various subjects to Jnne. more especially .m Anthony Lynn's diamatlc life nnd Mrath, and the money and land be bad left her. "Of course," she snld, "It Is only temporary tem-porary When tho King conies home, Stephen will he I!nrl do Wick, nnd 1 shall willingly resign all to him. In the meantime I Intend to carry out Anthony "a plana for the Improvement of the estate." When this subjert hnr; been tained well oxer, Jane nnmcil cautiously tho loer In I'rnnce. Much to her surprise, sur-prise, Matilda seemed pleased to enlarge en-large on the topic. Sho spoke hO'-self of 1'rlnce Itupert, and of the poverty nnd suffering Charles' Court were enduring, en-during, and bIic regretted with many strong expressions Itupert'a presenco there. "All he mnkes U swallowed up In the iKittomless Stunrt pit," sho snld; "even my youth and licnut havo gone tho snmo hopeless road." "There was a ipicer story about Stephen robbing the mall and tearing up tho three warrants for tho arrest of III) tho and Mason and himself," snld Jane "Did you believe that. Jane?" "Tho mall was robbed. The wnr-rnnls wnr-rnnls were never found. Stephen lias n daredevil temper nt times. When did you hear from him?" Ml kissed the rosy little brat." "That wretch of a womnn nt Tho I Hague never paid him a farthing, I never even saw him. She Intended to rob mo and slay him for a thousand pounds, but under iiuestlon of tho law sho confessed her crime." "What do you think has happened to him?" "I think robbery nnd murder. Someone Some-one has known, or suspected. Itiat bu hnd treasure with him. Ho has been followed nnd assassinated, or bo baa fought and been killed, and llttlu Jano Swulfham Is slowly dying of grief nnd cruel suspense. She loves him. and they were betrothed." There wns a short silence., and then Mntllda said' "Many brave lining lords have gone out from homo nnd friends these past )ear. and never come back Is Neville's life worth more than ruy liraher's life, than thousand of other lives? I truw not!" Hut In the privacy of her room she could not prewine this temper. "I wonder If Itupert slew him," sho muttered. mut-tered. And nnon "Ho would think It no wrong only a piece of good luck. "He might also be Jealous of Cluny.' 1 spoke often of the youth's beauty I did that out ot simple mischief but Itupert U touchy, sometimes cruel always eager or gold, l'eor Jano!" CHAPTER XIV. A Little Further On. The settlement of the affairs of Anthony An-thony Lynn occupied Sir Thomas much longer than he expected, and tho autumn fonnd the family still at do Wick. Stephen had escapod, as bnd also his companion conspirators, Mason Ma-son nnd Illythe; and Matilda could not but compliment herself a little on her ahare In securing their safety. Towards tho middle of September Sir Thomas roused himself from his llfo among (lowers and shrubs, and said he must go back to Ixindnn. He bad a sudden doslro for his wharf nnd his office, and the bearded, outlandish men that be would meet there And as the lndleti alto wished to return to London, the beautiful home quickly put on an air of desertion, lloxaa littered lit-tered the hall; they war only waiting until the September raln-atorm should pass away, and the roads becomo fit for travel. At tbls unsettled tlui., and In a driving shower. Cymlln and Doctor Verity were seen galloping up tba avenue one evening Kvery one wns glad at the proapect of news and company. com-pany. Sir Thomas so much so, that he went to the door to meet tho Doctor. "Nobody could be more welcome," he (aid. "and pray, what Rood fortune brings you here' i come to pir my two nephews In HuntlDE'loi. flrammar school i want "I hear from, "him very often now, Jane, for It Is tho old, old story-money, story-money, money, money. Hut I am not going to strip do Wick a second tlmo for them," then drawing Jano close to her, and inking her hand she said with an Impuhilvo tenderness: "Jane, dear Jano, I do not wish to opon a wound afresh, but I am sorry for yon, I am Indeed! How can you bear it?" "I bavo cast over It the balm of prayvr, I havo shut It up In my heart, nnd given my heart to Ond. I hnu nld to Clod, 'Do as thon wilt with me.' I am content, and I lmve found light In sorrow, brighter than all the (taring lights of Joy " "Then yem bullet e nlm to bo dead?" "Ytw. There Is nn help against such a conclusion, and yet. Matilda, there cornea to mo sometlmesv tuch an Instantaneous, In-stantaneous, penetrating sense of bis presence, that I must believe he Is not fnr awny," and her confident heart's stilt fervor, her tremulous smile, bur eyes like clear water full of the sky, affected Matilda with the same apprehending- And there was tuch a haunting haunt-ing sweetness about tho chastened girl that Mntllda loo'ced mnnd wan-derlngly. wan-derlngly. It was n It Jbero worn freshly gathered vlolett In the mini. Sbo remained silent, and June, after a few minutes' pause said, "I must go homo, now, nnd rest a little. Tomorrow To-morrow I am bid (o Hampton Court" "And you will come and tell mo all aliout your visit. The world turned upsldo down is nn entertaining spectacle spec-tacle Ann Clargos the market womnn wom-nn In one place, and Klltabeth Cromwell Crom-well In another " "The Crumwells are my friends, Matilda. Ma-tilda. And I will assure you that Hampton Court never saw a raoro worthy iiicen than Klltnbeth Cromwell." Crom-well." "I have a saucy tongue, Jane do not mind when It backbites; there Is no one like you. I lovo you well!" Thcso words with clasped hands nnd kisses between the two girls. Then Matilda's face beeamt troubled and she sat down alone, with bar brows drawn together and her hands tightly clasped. "Did Itupert kill Nevlllar aba ask-od ask-od herself "Oh. me, I do faar It. He lied to me then, of oouri he Ue4; but that was no new Italgg for him to do. What snail I dor' 8ii want over and over (bit train ttf tlHtught, and ended always with the same Irraao-lute, Irraao-lute, anxious question, "What shall I do?" ' 7 The next day Jane went (o Hampton Court She was ronduiled to an apartment In one of the suites formerly for-merly occupied by Queen Henrietta Mrtrla. As she dressed herself she thought of the gient me and woniun who bad llvtd and lov -. and Joyed a and sorrowed under tho ancient roof of Wolsey's splendid palace. In a brilliantly llahted mom Mr. nnd Mrs Clajpole and Mr and Mrs. Richard Rich-ard Cromwell and Doctor John Owen, and Mr Milton, and Dr Verity were grouped mound her highness tho Pro-ti-ctor's hiindmmo wlte She sat at the I'rotec tor's right hand, and Jane Swnniuim sat at his left. He was In no uiiiisiiallv happy mood mid Doctor On en. remarking It, Ad-uilrsl Ad-uilrsl lllake snld "They hnd been mobbed mobbed bv women and the 1'rotector hud the best of It nnd that was a thing to pleasure any man" Then Mrs Cromwell laughed and said: "our highness must tell us all now, or shall be cr discontented. I Whrro were you. to meet n mob of I women?" I "We were In lmdon streets, some- I whore near the waterside lllake was with me and lllake Is going to lVirts mouth to take command of an expedition." expe-dition." "Where to" asked Mrs. Clavpole "Well, KlIrilTth, Hull Is precisely the question this mnb of women want ed me to answer You are n bad as they were Hut they bad some excuse." ex-cuse." "I'ray what excuse, sir, that I have not?" "They were the whes of the sailor ' men going with our ndmlrnl on his expedition And they got all nrounil ! me, thry did Indeed, and one hnndsome womnn wllh a little lad In htr anna 1 sho told m to look well nt him be- I cause ha was called Ollwr after me i took hold of in) bridle ami snld. You won't trample me clown, (lenernl. for ' the lad's sake, and 'tis hut natural ' for us to want to know where you are sending our husbands. Come (lincrul, tell us wives nnd mothers where the Bhlps nre going to?' And , there wns Robert lllake inughlng and , thinking It tine sport, but 1 stood up I In my stirrups and called out ns loud as I could, 'Women, can jou be unlit for one minute'' They said, 'Aye to ' bo sure we ran, It you'll sptuk out, (icneral,' Then I said to them, 'You want to know where tho ships and your men nre going Listen to met Tho Ambnssndors of franco and Spain ' would, each of them, give a million pounds to know that. Do you understand, under-stand, women'' And for n moment there was a dead silence, then a shout of comprehension and laughter, and the woman nt my brldlo lifted the boy , Oliver to me and I took Mm In my i arms and Mused the rosy little, brnt, and then nnother shout nnd tho mother said, (lenernl, you be right wol- ' come to my shnro of the secret," 'and , mine!' 'and mine!' 'and mine!' (hoy I all shouted, nnd the voices of (hose women went to my heart and brain like wine, they did thnt. They inado mo glad; I believe I shouted with them," (To be continued.) ' |