Show i h JOAN 111 U I RcRocKErTAuiron O7llRclld ts b T CHAPTER VIII b Prince Wasp 9 So ho said as he faced the secretary now somewhat compositely styled Johann Count von Leon soS so-S young sprlngald you think to court a d foolish princess You play upon hers her-s with your pretty words and graceful s compliments That is nn agreeable relaxation Only you have In addition addi-tion to reckon with me Ivan heredl try Prince of Muscovy And with a sweep of his hand 11 across his body ho drew his sword f from Its sheath L I The sword of tho young secretary came Into hand with equal swiftness l Follow me Count von Loon said the prince I And with his lithe and springy walk t the Prince of Muscovy passed ngiln 1 into the alleys of the rose garden till he reached tho first open space where I he turned upon the secretary We are arrived he said our business In busi-ness Is so pressing and will bo so n quIcklY finished that there Is no need o for the formality of seconds Though I I honor you by crossing my sword with yours It Is a mere formality I have such skill of tho weapon as 1 10 dare say report has told you that you f may consider yourself dead already o Guard 1 But Johann Pyrmont had been I trained In a school which permitted no such windy preludes and with the It fencers smile on his face he kept his silence His sword would an 0 aver all such boastings and that in pod timeS time-S And so it fell out From the very first crossing of tho swords Prince Wasp found himself t opposed by a quicker nye a firmer wrist a method and sconce Infinitely a inferior to his own His most dashIng dash-Ing attack was repelled with apparent I ease yet with a subtlety which intern Inter-n o Dosed nothing but the most delicate of f guards and parries between Prince 1 Iran and victory This gradually Infuriated cO In-furiated the prince till suddenly losing JI los-ing his temper he stamped his foot In anger and rushed upon his foe with I the true Muscovite fire But lo tho blade was turned aside JI I the long delaycd answering thrust glittered out and the secretarys I sword stood a couple of handbreadths > In the boasters shoulder I Tho prince staggered cried out i1 some unintelligible words In the Muscovite f Mus-covite language and pitched forward Id slowly on his face among tho trampled tram-pled leaves and blown rosepetals of the palace garden 1 The secretary grew paler than his 11 wont and ran to lift his fallen enemy do But all unseen other eyes had watched 11 watch-ed the combat and from the door by o which thoy had entered and from behind the trees of tho surrounding J glade thero came the nolso of poundIng pound-Ing footsteps and fierce cries of I Seize him Kill him Tear him to r pieces He has slain tho good prince I the friend of tho people The Prince e Ivan is dead J Tho secretary eyed this unkempt a horde with haughty scorn and his fearless attitude as he striped his stained sword through his handker I chief and throw the linen away had I something to do with tho fact that tho 4 rabble halted at the distance of halt 11 a dozen yards and for many minutes 1 contented themselves with hurling a oaths and imprecations at him At last thoy did come on not all of together but In Irregular undlsclp ll I Ined rushes Johanns sword streaked t out this way and that Thero was an answering cry of pain a turmoil > among the assailants as a wounded n man whirled his way backward out of p the press But this could not last or long The odds were too great p I Then suddenly came a voice Back II on your lives dogs and traitors Ger Itd Itd d 4t v t a 11 Tit s a r ill + 4 l t a I r h 411u l 1u 1 a rdl ti M t I a f li S I elI a el-I f K a 4 The prince staggered e mans to tho rescue Danes Touts VKthmen to tho rescue to t Following tho direction of tho bond Johann saw a young man drive 0 through tho press his sword bare In tf 1 his hand hIs eyes glittering with ex Jf wment I It was tho Danish prisoner 01 the guardhall at Kernsberg that e same Sparhawk who had fought with h I Werner von Orseln J1 to t The secretary placed himself back back wIth his ally < and their two 11 brl h bright blades waved every way 11 A second time tho courage of the tJ clawd worked Itself up and thoy Carne on tIlen r Those before would havo gladly behind but could not for the far ward thrust of their friends Still the ring narrowed and the pair of gallant fighters would doubtlessly havo been swept away had not a diversion come to alter the face of things Out of the gate which led to the wing of the palace occupied by the Princess Margaret burst a little company com-pany of halberdiers at sight of whom tho crowd gave suddenly back The Princess herself was with them Take all prisoners and bring them within she cried My brother Is from home or you dare not thus brawl In tho very precincts of the palace And at her words the soldiers advanced ad-vanced rapidly A further diversion was caused by the Sparhawk suddenly sudden-ly cleaving way through the crowd and setting off at full speed In the direction of the river The Princess and her guard were left with only the secretary and the unconscious body of the Prince of Muscovy Sirrah she cried severely to the former Is this the first use you make of our hospitality thus to brawl In the street underneath my very windows with our noble guest the Prince Ivan I Take him to my brothers room and keep him safely thero to await our lords return Wo shall see what the Prince will say to this And as for this wounded man take him to his own apartments and let a surgeon be sent to him So merely detailing half a dozen to carry the Prince to his chambers the captain of the guard conducted the secretary to tho very room In which an hour before he had met the brother of the Princess Hero ho was confined con-fined with a couple of guards at the door Nor had he been long shut up before he heard tho quick step of the Princess coming along the passageway passage-way So she said as soon as tho door was shut you have killed Prince Was WasI I trust not said the secretary gravely I meant only to wound him But as he attacked me I could not do otherwise than defend myself Tut cried the Princess I hope you have killed him It will bo good riddance and most like the Muscovites will send an army which with your Plassenburg to help us will make n pretty fight It serves him right at all events for Prince Wasp must always al-ways be thrusting his sting Into honest hon-est folk The laws are strict against dueling duel-Ing she continued Tho Prince Ivan Is In high favor with my elder brother and It will be well that you aro seen no more In Courtland for the present pres-ent that Is But In a little the Prince Wasp will die or he will recover In either case the affair will blow over Then you will come back to teach me more foreign customs She smiled and held out her hand Johann kissed It perhaps without the fervor which might havo been expected expect-ed from a brisk young man thus highly high-ly I favored by the fairest and sprlght lest of princesses Tonight she went on there will be a boat beneath that window It will be manned by those whom I can trust A ladder of rope will be thrown to your casement By it you will descend de-scend and with a good horse and a sufficient escort you can ride either to Plassenburg to Kernsberg which Is nearer and tell Joan of the Sword Hand that her sister the Princess Prin-cess Margaret send you to her She went to the door and with her fingers on the handle she turned her head about with a pretty vixenish expression I am so glad you stung the Wasp I love you for IU she saidAt At seven It grew dark and at ten all was quiet In the city The river rushed swiftly beneath and the noise of It as the water lapped against the stone foundations of the summer palace pal-ace helped to disguise the noise of oars as the boat a dark shadow upon greyish water detached Itself from the opposite shore and approached the window from whose open casement Johann Pyrmont looked out A low whistle came from underneath under-neath and presently followed the soft reeving whisk of a call of rope as It passed through tho window and fell at his feet The secretary looked about for something to fasten It to and finally final-ly decided upon tho Iron uprights of the great desk at which the Prince bad stood earlier In the day No sooner was this done than Joann Jo-ann set his foot on the top round ant began to descend The boat seemed very far away a mere spot of blackness black-ness upon the river face But presently and while making up his mind to practice the gymnastic of rope ladders quietly at home he made out a man holding the ladder while two others with grappled boat hooks kept tho boat steady fore and aft A shrouded figure sat In tho stern Tho secretary was handed from ono to tho other of the rowers till ho reached tho shrouded figure In the sternDraw Draw this about you Count a low voice whispered and In another moment mo-ment Johann found himself under tin shelter of one cloak with that daring Blip of nobility tho Princess Margaret of Courtland They touched the shore almost at I the place where the Sparhawk hall I landed In the morning when ho escaped es-caped from tho city rabble nnd a stones throw further up tho bank they found tho horses waiting ready ca parlsoned for tho Journey So soon as he had distinguished Ute slim figuro of the secretary landing from the boat tho Sparhawk appeared on the crest of the hill Goodbye For tho present goodbye good-bye dear Princess said Johann with heart In his voice God knows I can never thank or repay you My heart Is heavy for that I am unworthy tt all your goodness Let there be no talk ul parting except ex-cept for the moment she wild Go you are my knight Perhaps ono day If you do not forget mo I may be yet far kinder to you I And with a kiss and a little sob the PrIncess sent her lover more and noro downcast and discouraged by reason of her kindness upon his way So much did his obvious depression nt feet Margaret of Courtland that after ho secretary had reached tho top of the river bank she suddenly bado tho rowers wait a moment before casting loose from tho land Your sword Your sword she called aloud risking any listener In her eagerness you have forgotten your sword Now It chanced that tho Sparhawk md como up with tho little party of travelers Do not trouble I will bring the sword ho Bald to Johann with his usual Impetuosity and without a mo wfsr r r o a t r l I Found himself swaying over the dark water ments hesitation he flung himself down the bank The Princess had leaped nimbly ashore and was standIng stand-Ing with tho sheathed sword In her handWhen When sho saw the figure come bounding towards her down the pebbly bank she gave a little cry and dr > ping the scabbard she threw heraiST Impulsively about the Sparhawks neckI I could not let you go like that without ever telling you that I loved you really I mean she whispered while the youth stood petrified with astonishment without sound or motion mo-tion I will marry none but you neither Prince Ivan nor another A woman should not tell a man that lest ho despise her but a princess may because the man daro not tell her And what said you asked the secretary of his companion as they rode together through the night out on their road to Kernsberg Why I said nothIngspeech was not needed quoth the Dane coolly Sho kissed you The Dane shrugged his shoulders In tho dark Well I take what the gods send ho replied She was a pretty girl and her Princessship made no difference differ-ence In her kissing so far as I could see I servo you to the death my Lady Duchess but If a Prlnceps loves me by the way why I am ready to indulge In-dulge her to the limit of her desires You are an accommodating youth sighed tho secretary and forthwith returned to his own melancholy thoughts To be continued |