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Show li' "sR: CXlQCXT,sltxr of Tte&rtfae& iipviiahl 1VI K by H It Crockett I CHAPTER Vllt.-Contlnued. At the lit e chalet among the hills where the Duchess Juan had no sud deoly disappeared they found two of her tlre-tnnldens and her aged nurse Impatiently awaiting thilr mtstreM To them entered that coirpoalte and puiillng outh the rx architect ntid secretary of tho embass) of Plasscn-burg, Plasscn-burg, Johann, Count vir.i Ijwn And wonder of wonders In an hour Joau of the Hword Hand was riding eagerly towards her capital clt) with her due retinue, as If she had been onl taking a little summer breathing epneo at n country seat. It was six months afterward that tho Sparhawk, who had been given the command of a troop of good llnhen stein lancers, asked nennlaalon to go on a Journey "Whither would ou goT" nskeil Ms mistress "To Courtland," he confessed, somewhat some-what reluctantly, looking down at the peaked toe of Ills tanned leather riding rid-ing boot. "And what takes )ott to Courtland?" said Joan; "ott are In danger there Ileslde. would )ou leave my service ami engago with some other!" "Na. in lady." he burst out; "that will not I. so long ns life lama! Hut hut the truth la" he hesitated a lie spoke "1 cannot get out of m) mind the Princess who kissed mo In the dark Tho llko never happened before to any man I cannot forget her, do what I will No, nor rest till I havo looked upon her face" "Walt." said Joan "Only wait till tho spring and It Is my Imp to rldo to Courtland for my ninrrlnge da) Then I promise )ou )ou shall see somewhat of her I ho Lord send It lie not moro than enough!" Bo through many bitter da) a the Bpvrhawk abode nt tho casliu of Kcrnsbcrg, III content CHAPTER IX. The Sparhawk In tho Tolla. It was the end of Ma), and tho full bursting glory of a northern spring, when at last the bridal cavalcade wound down from tho lower of tho Castlo of Kcrnsbcrg As they rodo toward the gato of Courtland they were aware of n splendid splen-did cavnlcado which camo out to ro eclvo them In tho namo of tho prince, and to conduct them with honor to tho palace prepared for them. In the center of n brilliant company i rodo thu Princess Margaret At sight ' of tho duchess1 party tho prlncor alighted from her steed with tho help of a rnvallcr. At tho samo moment Joan of tho Bword Hand leaped down of her own accord and camo forward to meet her now sister. Tho faco of tho princess showed a traco of emotion. Bho appeared to bo struggling with somo recollection sho was unnblo to locato with precision "I hope )ou will bo very happy with my brother." alio faltered; then after a moment sho added. "Havo )ou not perchanco a brother of )our own?" Dut beforo Joan could reply, a representative repre-sentative of tho prince had come forward for-ward to conduct tho bride elect to her rooms, and tho princess gavu ptaco to him Dut all the samo sho kept her eyes keenly about her, nnd presently they rested with a sudden brightness upon tho )oung Patio, Maurice von I,) nar, at the head of Ills troop of horses "Ho Is different ho Is changed," sho said to herself; "but how wait till wo get to tho palace, nnd I shall soon find out." And Immediately sho caused It to bo Intimated that all tho captains of troops and tho superior officers of tho escort of tho Duchess Joan wcro to bo entertained at tho pataco of tho Princess Prin-cess Margaret. So at that moment when Joau was "Have you not, perchance, a brother of your own?" taking her first survey of her chambers cham-bers which ocoupled one entire wing of ii groat palace of tho Princess of Courtland, Margaret tho Impetuous hail already commanded tho presence of tho Count von I.oen, one of the commander of the bridal escort The Prlncit Margaret was standing stand-ing by tho window as tho young man entered Her golden curls flashed In the late sunshine, which made n hind of hnzo of light about her head as she turned the resent fill brilliance of her eyes upon Maurice von I.) liar. "Is It a safe thing, think jou, Blr Knight, la Jest with a princess In her own land nnd then come back to flout her for It ' Maurice understood her to refer to the kiss given and returned In tbo darkness of the night. Ho know not of how man) other Indiscretions ho was now to henr the brunt, or ho had turned on the spot and fled once nioro acroe the river "Prince," ho raid, standing humbly hum-bly before her, "I did wrong Dut consider con-sider tho temptation, the darkne of the night " "The darkness of the night," sho said, stamping her foot, nnd In an Instinctively In-stinctively mocking tone, ")ol aro Indeed In-deed well Inspired You remind mo of what I ventured that )ou should bo free The darkne of the night, Indeed' In-deed' I suppose that Is all that sticks In )our memory, Ik cause )ou gained something tangible by It. You havo forgotten the walk through the corridor corri-dor of the ixilnce, all )ou taught me In the rose garden, nnd nnd how apt n pupil )ou said I wns Prn), good .Master Pargptfulness. who hath forgotten for-gotten all that, tell mo what )ou did In Courtland eight months ago?" "I camo I came," faltered tho Bpar-hawk.fearful Bpar-hawk.fearful of )et further committing himself. "I camo to find nnd savo ray dear mistress." ' Your dear mistress?" Tho prln-cess prln-cess sKiki slowly, and tho blue eyes hardened till they overtopped and beat down thu bold, black onea of Maurlco von I.) nar, "and ou daro to tell mo this tnu. to whom )ou sworo that you had never loved woman In tho world before, never spoken to them word of wooing or compliment! Out of my sight, fellow I Tho prince, my brother, will deal with you." Then nil suddenly her prldo gavo way. Tho disappointment was too keen Khe sank down on n silk covered cov-ered ottoman by the window aide, sobbing. sob-bing. .N'ow Mnurlce von l.)nnr wa not quick In discernment where woman was concerned, but on this occasion ho recognised that ho was blindly playing play-ing the hand of another a haud, moreover, more-over, of which ho oould not hopo to lee tho curds Ho did the only thing which could hnve saved him with tho princes Ho came near nnd sank on one knee beforo her "Madam," ho said humbly and In a moved t!ce, "I beseech you not to bo angry tiot to condemn mo unheard. In tho senso of being In love. I novcr lav (4 any but yourself. I would rather iUc than put tho least slight upon one so surpassingly fair, whoso memory lias nevor departed from me, sleeping or waking, whoso Image, dimly seen has never for a moment been erased from my heart'r tablets " "Dut you aald Just now that )ou camo to Courtland to sou 'your deer mlttres'?" The )oung mun put his hand to bit head "You must bear with ine," he said, "If perchanco for n little my words are wild I had. Indeed, no right to speak of )ou as my doar mistress," 'Oh, It wa of me that )ou spoke," said the princess, beginning to smile n little; "I begin to understand." "Of what other rould I speak?" said tho ahnmcless Yon l,)uar, who now began la feel his vvny a little clearer "I have Indeed bwn very III, snd when 1 nm In straits in) head Is still unsettled, It springs from a secret wound that nt tho time I knew nolh lng of" As ho kneeled thus tho princess bent over him with n qulatlcal oipres slon on her faco: "You aro suro that )ou speak the truth now? Your wound la not causing )ou to doto?" "Nn)," said the Bparhawk; "Indeed, 'tis almost healed." "Where was tho wound?" queried Ihn prince, nnxlously. "There wero two," answered Von I.) nar, diplomatically; "ono In my shoulder nt tho huso of my neck, and the other, moro dangerous, because Internal, In-ternal, on thu head, Itself" "I-et mo seo " Sho camo and stood nbavo him si ho put his hand to thu collar of his doublit, and, unfastening a tie, he slipped It down a little and shnaed her at tho spring of his neck Werner von Orseln'a thrust "And thu other," sho aald, coverlet It up with a little shudder, "that on tho head, whero I It?" Tho youth blushed, but angered valiantly enough "It never was an open wound and mi la a llttlo dlfllciilt to find Here, whero my hand Is, above my brow " "Hold up )our head," said the prln cesa "On what sldo was It? On I be right? Btrange, I cannot find It You aro too far beneath me. The Ilbl fall not nrlght. Ah that Is belter'" Von I.ynar looked at tho princes Their position was one ns charming ns It was dangerous. They were kneeling opposite to ono another, their face, drawn together by the Intereat of the surgical examination, had approached ap-proached very close The dark eyes squarely looked Into the blue With Muff Inflammable, fire and tow In wicli conjunction, who knowb wast conflagration might have ensued baa Von I.ynnr'a oje continued thus to dwell on those of the princes7 Hut the oung man's gasc passed over her shoulder Dehlnd Margaret of Courtland ho saw a man slaadlng at the door with hi hand tlll on the latch. A dark frown overipread M' faco. The prince. Instantly ooa sclou that the Intereat had gone ot of the situation, followed the direction of Von I snar'a eve She rose to her feel as tn young Dane also had dono momem ifor Maun, recognised the man who stool u tr, door Ra the ame whom he I I hi n nV the ground In the yew trw nlt when he and Joan of the Hr llsi, , had faced the howling mob r the city por t,o second time l'rlici Wa p had Interfered with the amusemi in. of the Prlncesa Margaret " lail) looked haughtily at the In tru lr 'To what she said, "am I a tor-tunate tor-tunate as to owe the unexpected honor of this vifIi I came to pay mj respect to )our highness said Prince Wasp, bowing low I did not know the prince ws aniimlng herself It I in) III fotia not my fault, thnt 1 Interrupt pom a .vim o rull of Intereat " 'You rp at llbert) to leave me noT," ntd th,, prince, falling back on a rrrtaln haughty dlgnlt) which she If 1 1 hihln.l her headlong Impul slveapsn 'I oliiy madam ' he replied; "but first I ln,e n message from )our brother He asks )ou to bo good "Only In the heartl" she added, eiiffldth to accompany hi bride to thu mistier to-morrow, lie hos been III all day with his old trouble, and can not welt In person upon his betrothed. He must nhldo In solitude for this day at teait Your highness I apparently more fortunate' ' The purpose of the Insult was plain, hut the Prlncesa Margaret restrained henelf, not. however, hating tho In suiter less 1 pray you, Prlnco Ivan," sho said, "rr(orn to my brother nnd tell him thu his commands aro ovir an honor, anl shall bo obeyed to tho letter." tho bowed In dignified dismissal. Prhco Wasp swipt hi plumed hat at'ng tho floor with tho depth of Ids lyrlng aalutallon, and In tho satno moment ho flashed out hi sting 'M leave )our highness with less ro- gret ns 1 perceive that solitude has Its coBipensntlons'" he aald The pair was left alone, but all tlitigs seemed altered now Margaret otlCourtland wa silent and distrait. Von I.ynar had a frown upon his brow, and his e)oa wero very dark and angry. Noxt tlmo I must kill tho fellow!" hemuttored Ho took tho hand of tho prlaow and respectfully kissed it. "I am )our servant," ho aald, "I will do your bidding In all things. In llfo or In death. If I have forgotten anything, In aught been remiss, believe mo that It wns fate and not I I will never presume, pre-sume, never count on your friendship psst )our desire, never recall your ancient goodness I urn but a poor eol dler, but at least I can faithfully keep my word." The princess withdrew her hand ns If sho had been somewhat fatigued "Do not till afraid," sho said a llttlo bitterly, "I shall not forget I have not been wounded In tho head) Only In tho heart!" sho added, as sho turned nwny. (To be continued.) |