Show n JOAN W mmD lJt SR CROCKErTAulhor Tt R rdc cb CCoiijilslit U9S 1JUtf by S 1t Crocl ctt CHAPTER XVII Wife and Priest 1 have n rlnht to call myself tho widow of the Duke Henry of Kerns berg and HoheiiHtoln sold Theresa von Ljnar In reply to Conrads question ques-tion ns to whom ho might thank for rescue and shelter And therefore the mother of tho Duchess Joan he continued Thoiosa shook her head No sho said sadly I nm not her mother hut nnd oven that only In a senseher stepmother A t rat tniso to n deed mini has Gal ra-t t mo from claiming I any privileges I save that of living unknown on this dcsolnto islo of sand and mist My son Is nn officer of-ficer In tho service of the Duchess loan Tho faco of tho PrinceBishop lighted light-ed up Instantaneous Most surely then I know him Did he not como to Courtlniul with my lord Dcssnuor the Ambassador of Plasenhurg The lady of Isle Uugen nodded Indifferently In-differently Yes she said I bollovo ho wont to Courtland with the embassy from Massenhurg Indeed I was much drawn to him said the Prince eagerly I remember him most vividly I Ho was of nn olive complexion his features without color but graven even as the Greeks cut those of n young god nn a gem Yes said Theresa von Lynnr serenely se-renely ho has Ills fathers face and carriage which are those also of the Duchess Joan In the morning Joan came to bid ho patient good morrow while Werner Wer-ner von Orseln stood lu the doorway with his steel cap doffed In his hand i and Boris and Jarlan bent tho knee for a priestly blessing But Theresa did not again appear till night and darkness had wrapped the earth and being all alone ho listened to tho heavy plunge of the breakers on the bench among which his life had been so nearly sped The sound grow slower slow-er and slower after tho storm until at last the wavelets of that sheltered sea lapsed on the shlnglo In a sort of breathing whisper And so day passed and came again Long nights too at first with hourly endancc and then presently without But Joan sat no more with the young man after that first watch though his soul longed for her that ho might again tell her that she was his brothers broth-ers wife nnd urge her to do her duty by him who was her wedded husband So Conrad contented himself anti salved his conscience by thinking austere thoughts of his mission and high place In the hierarchy of the only Catholic and Apostolic Church So that presently he would rise up and seek Werner von Orseln In order to persuade him to let him go that hen might proceed to It he-n ma at the command com-mand of the Holy father whoso servant ser-vant he was But Werner only laughed and put him off When wo harp suro word of what your brother does nt Kernsberg then wo will talk of this matter Till then It cannot be hid from you that no hostage half so valuable can wo heo pIn p-In hold So after many days It was permitted to the Prince to walk abroad within the narrow bounds of the Islo Hugen the Wordless Man guarding him at fifty paces distance Impassive and inevitable as an ambulant rock of the seaboard As ho went Prince Conrads eyes glanced this way and that looking for a means of escape Yet they saw none for Werner von Orseln with his I ten men of Kcrnsherg and the two captains of Plnssenburg wero not soldiers sol-diers to make mistakes It chanced however that upon a warm and gracious gra-cious afternoon when tho breezes a y ice 1 I l i l I i 1 t i S r t I h r I 1 Rah Glanced this way and that looking for means of escape played wanderlngly among the garden trees before losing themselves in tho solemn aisles of the pines as In a pillared pil-lared temple that Conrad stepping painfully westwards along tho beach arrived at the place of his rescue and descending the steep bank of shlnglu to look for any traces of the disaster came suddenly upon the Duchess Joan gazing thoughtfully out to sea Sho turned quickly hearing tho sound of footsteps and at sight of tho PrinceBishop glanced east and west along the shore as If meditating retreat re-treat But tho proximity of Max Ulrich and the encompnntlng banks of waterworn W pebbles convinced her of tho awkwardness awk-wardness If not Impossibility of escape es-cape Conrad the prisoner greeted Joan with the sweet gravity which had been characteristic of him an Conrad tho prince and his eyes shone upon her with the samo affectionate kindliness that had dwelt In them as ho looked upon his sister In tho pavilion of tho rosegarden But after ono glance Joan looked steadily away across tho steel gray sea Her feet turned instinctively in-stinctively to walk back towards the house and the Prince turned with her If wo aro two fellowprisoners said Conrad wo ought to sap moro of each other Is It not so That ve may concert plans of escape es-cape sold Joan You desire to continue con-tinue your pilgrimage I to return to my people who alas think themselves them-selves better ofT without mot They paced along together with their ayes on the ground tho Wordless Man keeping a uniform distance behind them Then tho Prince laughed n strange grating laugh llko ono who mocks nt himself Tho world is ill nrrnnged ho said slowly my brother Louis would have mado n far better Churchman than I And strange tt Is to think that but a year ago the knights and chief coun cillors of Courtlnnd came to mo to propose that because of his bodily weakness my brother should bo deposed de-posed and that I should tako over tho government and direction of affairs Ho went on without noticing tho color rising In Joans cheek smiling n little to himself and talking with moro animation Then hnd I assented my brother might have been walking hero with tonsured head by your side while I would doubtles have been knocking nt the gates of Kernsberg seeking at tho spears point for a runaway bride Nay cried Joan with sudden vehemence that would you not And as suddenly sho stopped stricken strick-en dumb by the sound of her own words The Prince turned his head full upon her Ho sow a face all suffused with hot blushes haughtiest pride struggling with angry tears In eyes that fairly blazed upon him and n slender figure drawn Up into nn attitude atti-tude of defiance at sight of which something took him instantly by tho throat I You mean you mean = ho stammered stam-mered and for n moment was silent For Gods sake tell mo what you mean I mean nothing at all said Joan stamping her foot In anger And turning upon her heel sho left him standing fixed in wonder and doubt upon the margin of the sea Then the wife of Louis Prince of Courtland walked eastward to tho house upon the Isle Hagen with her face set as sternly as for battle but her nether lip quivering while Conrail Con-rail Cardinal and Prince of Holy Church paced slowly to the west with a bitter and downcast look upon his ordinarily so corny countenance For Fate had been exceeding cruel to these two And meanwhile right bnughtllv flew the red lion upon the citadel of Kerns berg Never had the Lady Duchess Joan of the Sword Hand npproven herself so brave and determined In her foresters dress of green velvet with tho links of chain bodyarmor glinting beneath Its frogs and Inches she went everywhere on foot At all times of the day she was to ho seen at the hnlfmoons wherein tho cannon wero fixed or on horseback scouring the defenced posts along the city wall She seemed to know neither fear nor fatigue and Iho nolso of cheering followed fol-lowed her about the llttlo hill city llko her shadow Three there were who know the truth Peter Balsa Alt Plkker and George the Hussite And when tho guards were set the lamps lit and the bars drawn a stupid Hohenstelner set on watch at the turnpike foot with command to let none pass upon his life then at lost the lithe young Spar hawk would undo his belt with hugo refreshful gusting of air Into his lungs amid the scarcely subdued laughter of the captains of the host Nevertheless In the face of brave words and braver deeds provisions waxed scarce and dear In Castle Kcrnsborg and in the town below women grew gaunt and hollow cheeked Then the children acquired eyes that seemed to stand out of hollow hol-low purple sockets Last of all tho stout burghers grew thin And all threo began to dream of the days when the good fannfolk of the blackened black-ened country down below them where now stood the leafy lodges of tho Muscovite Mus-covite and the white tents of the Courtlanders used to come Into Kernsberg to market tho great sol I omu eyed oxen drawing carts full of country sausages and brown meal fresh from the mill to bako the wholesome whole-some bread or when the stout mar hot wamen brought In tho lappered mill and tho butter and curds So the starving folk dreamed and dreamed and wol < e and cried out curses on them that had waked them About this time tho Sparhawk began be-gan to take counsel with himself and the Issue of his meditations the historian his-torian must now relate It was in the outer chamber of the Duchess Joan which looks to the I north that the threo captains usually sat binly Peter Balta stiffhaired dryfared keeneyed Alt Plkker lean and lontliery 1 Ite Ifl humor within = 4 him all gone to fighting Jules hA limbs more bono and muscle a cab tale acrid and caustlo wit keeping the corner of his lips on the wicker and a little back from these two Georgn the Husslto a smaller man very solemn sol-emn oven when ho was making othori laugh but nevertheless with a proud high look a stIT upper lip and n urns ncho so hugo that ho could tie the ends behind his head on a windy day To them entered tho Spnrhnwk a settled frown of gloom upon his brow and tho hunger which ho shared equally I equal-ly with the others already sharpening tho falcon hook on his nose and whitening I whit-ening his thin nostrils At sight of him the three heads drew apart and Alt Plkker began to speak of tho stars that were rising in the eastern dusk Tho dog atnr is whlto ho said dl daelically In my schooldays T used C D 4 Ala r rrl I J I I I I r I f Joan looked steadily away across the steelgrey seato sea-to read in the Latin tongue that it was red What Is this cried the Sparhawk Do not deceive mo You were none of you talking of stars when I came up tho stairs For I heard Peter Bal tns voice say By God it must como to It and soon And you Husslto George answered him Six days will settle It What do you keep from mo7 Out with III Speak up llko threo little men I 4 It was Alt Plkker who flrst found words to answer Wo spoke Indeed of the stars and said it was six days till the moon should bo gone and that tho lImo would then bo ripe for n sally by tho by tho Plassonburg gatel Pshaw cried ho Sparhawk LIe to your father confessor not to me I am not a purblind fool I havo ears long enough it is true but at least they answer to hoar withal You spoke of the wells I tell you I saw your heads move apart as I entered and then forsooth that dotard Alt Plkker who ran away In his youth from n monks cloister school with the nun that taught thorn stocking r mending must needs furbish up some scraps of Latin and begin to profs about dogstars reel and dogstnra white Faugh Open your mouths llko men set truthful hearts behind them and lot mo hear the worst Tho three captains of Kernsberp wero silent a while for heaviness was upon their souls Then Peter Baits blurted out God help usl There is hut ten days more provender in the city the river Is turned and tho wells aro almost dried up After this the Sparhawk sat awhile on the low window seat watching tho twinkling fires of the Muscovites and listening to the hum of tho town beneath be-neath the Castle To bo continued |