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Show (CoiorlsM. INS lM. by 8 tl Crockett ) CHAPTER I. The Hall of the Guard. 1Mid rang the laughter In the hall of the men-at-arms at Castle Kerns-berg. Kerns-berg. There had come an embassy from the heredltar) 1'rlncess of Plass-enburg, Plass-enburg, recently established upon 'he throne of her ancestors to the Diicli ess Joan of llohenstetn ruler of that cluster of hill statelets which Is called collcctltely Mastttenland, nnd which Includes, besides llohenstetn the orlglral IJagle's Hjrle. Kcrnswald also and Marlenfeld Abotc. In the hall of audience, the ambassador, one l.eoold ton Des saner, a great lord and most learned roinclllor of stale, sat alone with the )oung duchess The were eating of the baked meals and drinking the good Hhenlih up thire Hut. after all. It was much merrier down holow with Werner von Orseln. Alt Plkker. l'eter Delta, nnd John of Thoru. though what the) ate was mostly but plain ox flesh, and their drink tho strong ale natlie to the hill lands, which Is called Wendlali mead. '(let )ou down, Captains Jorlan nnd Ikirls," tho )oung duchess hod commanded, com-manded, looking very bandsomo nnd haughty In the prldo of her twenty-one twenty-one enrs, her eight strong castles, and her two thousand men ready to rise nt her word: "down to tho hall, where in) officers send round tho wassail was-sail If they do not treat you well, o'en come up nnd tell It to me." "flood I" had responded tho two soldiers sol-diers of tho Princess of Pinssenburc turning them about as If they had been hinged on the same stick, nnd starling forward with precisely tho shame stiff hitch from tho halt, they made for tho door "Hut stay." Joan ot llohensteln had said, ere they reached II. "hero are n couplo of rings M) father left me oco or two such Kit them upon our fingers and when you return glo them to the maidens of your choice" And with tholr rings upon their lit-Ho lit-Ho fingers the two burly captains went down (ho narrow stair of Castlo Kernsberg Helng nrrlted at tho hall beneath they loon found thcmseltcs tho center of a .hospitable circle Oruff. bearded Wcndlsh men wcro these officers of-ficers of tho joung duchess, not a butterfly youngling nor a courtly carpel car-pel knight among them, but men tanned tan-ned llko shlpmcn of tho llaltlc, sol- "-s mostly who had served under her father Henry, foraging upon occa-slon occa-slon as far as tho Mark In ono direction direc-tion and Into Dor Ilussla In tho other, men grounded and compacted after tho hearts of Jorlan nnd Doris. It was smalt wonder that among such congenial society tho ex-men-at-arms found themseltcs presently very much at homo Scarcely wcro they scaled when Jorlan began to brag of tho gift tho duchoss bad given him for the maiden of his troth "And Horls here, that hulking co-bold, co-bold, that Hans Kiappcr upon tho housetops, had well nigh spoiled the Jest, for when her lad) ship asked him a second tlmo In her sweet volco for tho nnmo of his 'betrothed,' ho must needs lay his tonguo to 'firotchen,' Instead of 'Katrln,' as ho had done at tho first!" Werner von Orseln. tho eldest and gratcst of all, glanced round tho full clrclo of his mess. Then ho looked back at tbo two captains of the em-bassy em-bassy guard of Plasscnburg with a pitying glanco. "And you lied about your sweethearts sweet-hearts to tho Duchess Joan" ho said. "Ha, hal Yosl I trow )es," quoth Jorlan Jovially. "Wlno may bo dear, Mi I "Out stay," Joan of Hohensteln had said, but this ring will pay the sweets of many a night!" i "Ha, hal It will, will It" said Werner, Wer-ner, the chief captain, grimly "A)e, truly," echoed Horls, tho mead beginning to work nuttlly under his steol cap, "when o melt this ba, hal Katrln's jewel, well quaff man) a beaktr The Ithenlsh shall flow. And Peg and Moll and Ullsnbet shall be there yes, and many a good fellow" "Shut tho door!" quoth Werner, tho chief captain at this point "Sit down, gentlemen! Captains Jorlan and Horls, you do not seem to know that you aro no longer In Plassenburg Here are no tablos ot Karl tha Miller's Mil-ler's Son to hamper our llogo mistress. mis-tress. Do )ou know that you have lied to her and made a Jest of It?" He spoke very sln!j, leaning to- ,, ' , , ' It i ward them and punctuating his mean lug upon the palm ot his led hand j with the flngrs of his right It I Werner of Orseln were now lo walk upstairs, and In so many words tell III) lady, 'the sweet, easy princess as )oti name her, Joan of the Sword as we are proud " "Joan of the Sword' Hoch' The men ami ins at the lower table the bearded cnptRlns at the high Ixiard. the ten wge boys lounging In the niche, rose to their feet nt the tor) name pronounced In a tolco of thunder pride by Chief Captain Wer ner "I thank you gentlemen, on behalf of my lady In whose nnmo I com mand here' said Werner how lug cere-monfimsly cere-monfimsly tu alt around, while the others settled themselves to listen "Now. worthy soldiers of Plassen burg" he wml on "be It Known lo )nu that If (to suppose n case which will not happen) I were to tell our l.ady Joan what )ou have confessed lo us hero nnd boasted of that )ou lied nnd double lied to her I lay my life and tho lltes ot these good fel lows that tho pair of )ou would ho nswlng from the corner gallery of tho l.lon's Tower In something under five minutes." Jorlan rose to bis feet. "Up, Horlsl" hu cried, "no-Hor-llusslan, no kern of Hohensteln that eter lltcd, shall otcr-crow otcr-crow n captain of tho armies of Plassenburg Plas-senburg nnd a soldier ot tho Princess llelece Hcaten bless her Tako our ring In )our hand, Horls, for wo will go up straightway, )ou nnd 1 And wo wilt tell the Jjidy Duchoss Joan that, hating no sweetheart of legul standing, nud no deslro for any, wo choused her Into tho belief that wo would bestow her rings upon our betrothed be-trothed In the roso gardens of Piaster Pias-ter burg Then wo will see If Indeed wu shall ba nswlng In flvo minutes. Head), Horls?" "A)e, thrice read), Jorlanl" "About then! Quick mnrchl" A great nolso of clapping roso all round tho hall ns tho two stout soldiers sol-diers set themseltos to march up tbo staircase b) which they had Just descended des-cended Stand to tho doors I" cried Werner, tho ihlcf captain, "do not let them pass Stand up and drink a deep cup to tbem, rather! To Captains Jorlan and Horls ot Plasscnburg, bravo fellows fel-lows both!" Tbo toast was drunk amid multitudinous multi-tudinous shoutings and handshakings. TIJi two men had stopped perforce, fol the doors wcrd In tho hands nt JhTTOldlors of tho guard, and tho pike poNts clustered thick In their patbs" Thliy turned now In tho direction ot the high tablo from which they had risen. "Sit down, gentlemen, and I slto will lit. Now hearken well," ssld Werner; "theso good fellows of mine will bear mo out that I lie not. You havo dono bratcly and spoken up llko good men taken In a fault. Uut wo will not permit )ou to go to your deaths For our l-ndy Joan Cod bless her would not tako a falso word from any no, not It It were on Twelfth- Night or after a Christmas merry-making, She would not forgive It from )aur old Inngbenrd upstairs, whoso business It Is that Is, It she found It out. 'To tho gallows!' sho would say, and wo why, wo should sorrow- for hating to hasten the stretchings of two good men. Keep )our rings, lads, and keep also your wits nbout you when tho duchess questions you ngaln Nay, when you return to Plasscnburg, bo wlso, seek out a Orctchcn and a Katrln and bestow be-stow tho rings upon them that Is, If over you mean again to stand within the danger ot Joan of tho flword In this her castlo of Kcrnsbergl" "Clrotchcns aro nono so scarce In Plasscnburg," muttered Jorlan. "I think wo can satisfy her but at n cheaper prlco than a ring ot rubles sot In gold!" CHAPTER II. The Halting of tho 8parhawk. "llrlnc In tbo Danish Sparhank and wo will halt him!" said Werner "Wo hnvo shown our guests a poor entertainment, en-tertainment, llrlng In tho Sparhawk I say!" Through tho black oblong of the dungeon doorway there camo a lad of seventeen or eighteen, tall, slim, dark browed, Umber Ho walked between be-tween two men-at-arms, who held bis rlsts firmly on cither sldo His hands were chained together, nnd from between be-tween them dangled a spiked ball that clanked heatlly on tho floor as hi stumbled forward rather than wnlkej Into tha room He had black halrl that wnted from his forehead In jtf backward sweep, a nose of slIghtM rtoman shape which, together wlUn his bald eagle's e)es, had obtained him the nnmo ot the Spar or SparrorP, hawk 1 Werner von Orseln turnod to hw guests nnd said, "Tills Sparhawk IsJjM little Dane wo took on our Inst tarmj to tho north It Is only In that dlrcjl tlon we can lead the foray, since ygJ hate grown so law abiding and stroBM In Plasscnburg and tho Mark Iflti uncles were all kllleit In the defewy of Castle I jnar, an tho Northern IllTj Wn know not which of theso had alfifj tha claim of fatherhood upon hflj At all etcnts, his grandad had a mftf or there and camo from the JutlHIl sand dunes to build a castlo "ponjgjj llaltlc shores Hut he had better -HI stayed at home for be would not'MJt3 tho Poare field to our Henry S Sl i iBMI i lioK'" " went to Castle1 1 Ij-iWc'" a!" 'ti ,ii -Mve of this 'D'aW J-8s i rti our Missti? kv BJ1 ' " " ml whom now . wejBjJ11 '" i wings for our ; i)l"J IWn reeled hi ad an ijPf'b- iw to ihe tale, but nnl ifJ "W a w .-1 l "Mj Wnt w 1 1 1 1 r with his cut In' 81,,,n ' 'i"s bent up.. "'" CKi "dln' ' ' ' "" aa jmi used til y,,1", win i the maids came luf trjib ron , , ,i,rln n(l tre m Mijhhles i i in., I lisnre 1 Ml fWHI... in.ll life!" t ItM'nJ Usiiiti u.n l.yuar stood w dS "Km- im his torment oi iB1''"' of Hi iiula " he satrt at laj jfj", ! 'liit trembled with Bl ifSk '" " " ,x lne ""' "' I) a milt ii sn with your Bn I nil X Bst hi his hod) lint i jffilll rcr 1 1 utile lo eland up I" h 9" uili m will rever hi wl m "it ii Irlnk with him to 111 ljjlJSltil In coinrailrshlp or In rtjT ' till' I Im Pigs of the sty y.ja sre sun h nun of you--Wends glAoers, and m kings grntleim-n' ffltnni Trenrk lift this sprlngald a luttt) wrlii Imiii, , - ald Werner , ,M thesorri the man laid down his partisan lid nf,,l tie hall high between be-tween Ml two Ii in Now ossrri MiniinniHl.il Wermr xJ I "Plgi ef the sty you are man by man of you!" ton Oneln, "danco tho Danish milk-mald'i milk-mald'i coranto, or I will bid Ihem drop It on your toes Dost want them Jellied, man?" "Drop, nnd bo cursed In your low. born loulsl" cried the Isd fiercely "Unuiis my hands and let ma looso with I sword nnd ten yards itear on tho toor and, by Saint Magnus ot tho Isles. I will disembowel any thrco of yotil" jfc-roit will not danco?" said Wernor, nixing at him. Iwlll seo you fry In hell flro first!" "Dawn with tha ball, Hans Trenckl" cried Werner. "Ho that will not dance at Castlo Kemsdorf must learn at least to Jump." '"Waro toes, Bparhawkt" cried the soldiers In chorus, hut at that moment, mo-ment, suddenly kicking out as far aa his chains allowed, tho boy took the looping lout on tho face, and In continently widened the superficial area of his mouth Ho went over on his back nmtd tho uproarious laughter ot his fellows The fellow rose spluttering angrily. an-grily. "Hold his legs, some one," ho said, 'I'll mark his pretty feet for him He shall not kick so free another time," A couplo of his companions took bold ot tho boy on either sldo, so thtt ha could not movo his limbs, and Hans again lifted high tho hall "Now, then, for marrow and mnihcd trottorsl" ho cried, spilling tho blood from tho split corners of his mouth. "Haiti" (To bo continued ) |