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Show "I - 0 S -R;CR.OCIE,TT.xfcr c TfcXWtKKcb ci limit i muu i ( n it i , , k,.,, , .CHAPTER XXIX. Continued "Madam.' said Uirner. with dignity, "go to Kerns.- you must The en emy U near to the clt, and )our High-not' High-not' night fall Into ttilr hands " "You hate heard what I hate sold'" JiMn taiH'd iho oaken floor with her foot. "nut, madam, let me beseech ,eu " Joan turned (rotn her chief eaptaln Impatlcntl) and walked toward the door of her irlatc apattmenta Werner Wer-ner followed hli mistress, with hla hnnda a little outatretched and a look of eager entreat) on hla face "My lad)," he aald, "thirty )ear I tlii fu ful ierant of )our father t"n 1 hate served you lly tho menor) of those years. If I bate served you falthfull) " "My father taught )oti little, If , nftcr thlrt) )ear )ou hate not learn cd to obo) (In lo jour post!" Werner ton Orseln drew himself up and sainted Then he wheeled about nnd clanked out without adding a word more. For a moment after the dour closed upon the men, Joan nnd Margaret mood In alienee regarding earh other Sudilenl) Ma mo ret ran Impulsltely to Joan, clasping her about the neck. "I know'" aha nld. looking up Into Iter fare. With a great leap tho blood flew to Joan' neck and hrow, then as slowly faded aw a), lent Ing her paler than before. be-fore. "What do )ou know?' alio faltered, ' and she feared, yet desired lo hear. I "That )ou loto Conrad!" aald Mar- caret, lory low. "Joan, I am so glad ' no glad!" ' "Margaret, I am shamed for over- It la sin!" whispered Joan, with her arms about her friend, i "Joan, )ou will yet bo happy" Tho Duchess shook her head. "It wero best for tin both that t should die that Is what t prny for" "May heat in avert this thing ou I know not what )ou any." And the two women went Into the ntllrlDg room with arms still locked , nbout each other' wulsls And as often os their e)e encountered they ? lingered n little, as It tasting tho new knowledgo which they had In common. Then those of Joan of the Sword Hand i wero averted, and she blushed. f It was night In the city of Courtland, nnd a tlmo of great fear, liter and fit nnon from tho oast, whero wero tho I J camps of tho opposed forces, thero 1 camo a sound, licaty and sonoroua, M V' -'-' like- distant thunder. Whereat the I frighted wires of tho burghers of i ? Courtland said, "I wonder what moth- Scr's son lies n-dylng now. Hearken to tho talking of Great Peg, tbo Mar-graf's Mar-graf's cannon!" At tho western or Ilrandenburg gato , there was yet greater fear. For tho 4 news had spread nthwart tho city that I n great body of horsemen had pauaod ,! In front of It, and wero being held In i parley b) tho guard on dut), till the I iJidy Joan, (loternor of the city, ahould i bo mado awaro. 1 Tho flovernor of tho city, roused from a rara slumber, leaped on her liorso and went clattering with an escort through tho unsleeping streets. I-ooklng nut, Joan could sco a dark i mass of horsemen, whlto aboro them glinted In tho palo starlight a forest of I apeurheads. "Whence como )ou, strangers?" i1 rrled Joan 1 "From 1'lassenburg wo nro!" came back the unswer. ' "Who leads )ou!" "Captnlns llorls and Jorlun, olllccrs of tho Prince's bodyguard " "Lot Captains Doris and Jorlan approach ap-proach and deliver their message." L "With whom aro wo In speech?" "And what of Prince Conrad?" j cried the unml taknblc volco of long I Ilorla 'Willi the l'rlnci as Join of Hohen ateln Governor of tho city of Court- j land.' until Joan (Irmly I "Come tin, llorls, those Courtland I knates w.lll not shoot us now That ' Is tho tolce of JtMin of the Sword jj Hand. There can be no treachery J where she Is " J "Ho, below thero'" crlel Joan. "Shine a light on them from the upper ' sail) port " The lantern flashed out, nnd there, Immediately blow .her, Joan beheld llorls and Jorlan saluting as of old, with the simultaneous gesture which had grown so familiar to her during tbo dats of ! linen 81"" was moved i,! anille In apbe of Iho sober neas of the circumstances 'What news bring )ou good en-toys en-toys ' "We hate broils hi the most part of the alacp (iuarri with us lite hundred hun-dred good lances and all htniRr) bel tied for tlctuats and all monalrousl) thirsty In their throala llealdea which, Prince Hugo ralaea PlAssenburg and the Mark, and In ten days he will be on tho march for Courtland" 'dod send him speed I fear me In ten da) s It will be oter Indeed." said Joan. "What, does the Musrotlle press )ou so hard?" "He has thousands to our hundreds so that he can hem us In on oter) side" "Never fear' cried llorls confident-I); confident-I); "we will hold him In check for yon till our good Hugo comes to tnko him on tho flank " Then Joan hade the gates be opened and the horsemen of 1'lassenburg. strong men on great horses, trampled In. Then, without resting, she went to the wool market, which had been turned Into n soldiers' hospital. Here ahe found Theresa ton I.ynar, going from bed to bed smoothing pillows, anointing wounded limbs, and assist Ing the surgeons In the caro of those who had been brought back from the fatal battlefields rf tho Alia Thcrean ton I,)nar rose to meet Joan as alio entered Silently tho )oung girl beckoned her In follow, and the) went out between long lines of pallets "Ilemember, when all Is over t shall keep in) tow'" Joan began, ns the) paused "And I also will keep mine'" responded re-sponded Theresa briefly. "I am Duchess and city (loternor only till the Invader Is ilrlten out." Join continued "Then Isle Ilugin Is to be mine, and )our son shall sit In thn seat of llenr) the l.lon'" "And whnl of 1'rlnce Conrad?" naked Theresa quletl) Joan was silent for n space, then ahe answered with her e)en on the ground "I'rlnce Conrad shall rule Ibis laud aa Is his dnt Cnrilln.it. Arrliblshop. I'rlnce; thero shall be none lo tlen) him so soon ns the power or the Mils cot lie Is broken He will be In full alliance with Hohenatelu He will form n blood bond with I'lussenburg And when he dies, all ilmt Is his shall belonc to thn rhllifri n of link Mnurlco and his wife Margaret! I shall noter marry'" "Cod forbid," said Theresa, looking at her, 'that such a woman aa you should dlo without living!" CHAPTER XXX. The Wooing of Doris and Jorisn, "Jorlan," said llorls. ndjustlng hla soft under-Jerkin before putting on his body armor. "Ihnii art tho greatest fool In tho world!" "Hold hard. llorls." answered Jorlan "Honor to whom honor thou art greater by n foot than I"" "Well." aald the long man, "let us not quarrel about the breadth of a finger nail At nny rate, wo are the greatest fools In the world " "There are others." said Jorlan. Jerking Jerk-ing hla thumb otfr his shoulder In the direction of tho women's apartments apart-ments "A plague on all women'" growled iho little fat man, his rubicund and shining face lined with unaccustomed discontent. "A plague on all women. I ss)' What can this Theresa ton I.ynar want In the Musrotlto camp, that wo must promise to convey her safe through the fortifications, and then put her Into l'rlnco Wasp's hands?" "Think you that for somo hatred of our Joan )ou remember that night at Islo Itugen or somo purpose, of her own (she lotos not tho Princess Margaret Mar-garet either), this Theresa would betray be-tray tho ell) to tho enemy?" "Tush"' Jorlan had Inst his temper and answered crossly "In that case, would sho have called us In? It were easy enough to And somo traitor among theso Courtlanders, who, to obtain tho favor of l'rlnco I-oula, would help lo bring tho Muscovite in " "Well," sighed his companion " 'lis well enough aald, my excellent Jorlan, but all this doos not ndvanco us an Inch Wo hnvo promised, and at oletcu o' tho clock wo must go. What bin ders though, that tvo hato a bottle of Uhcnlsh now?" Thus In the hall of the men at arms In tho Castle of Courtland spoko the t'to captains of Plassenhurg All tho tlmo Hiey were busy with their attlr Ing llorls In especial making great play with n tortolseshell comb among his tangled locks Somewhat more spruce was tho arraying of our twin comrades In arma than wo hato seen It Perhaps It whs the thuuiiht of the dangerous escort (lilt) upon which they had promised to mature forth that night, perhaps "May wo come In?" cried an arch voice from the doorwn) "All, we have caught )oii There we knew It! So said I (o my sister not an hour ngono Women ma) he vain ns peacocks, but for prinking, dainllf)lng vanity, commend com-mend mo to a pair of foreign war captains cap-tains My lords, have )ou blacked )our e)etashes )t touched )our c)t brows. scented and waxed those beau tlful mustaches? Sister, can you look and lite?" And lo the two soldiers, standing stiff. at at attention with their combs In their hands enter 'be sister Anna and Martha I'ni'i i nlieloi mora full of 'l mischief th i ever and entirely JJJ?t'j dued b i he presence of the Invaja thtlr aa'.s H "Itnss or Turk Courtlander orjfl?(n eoulan Jew proselyte or dwelfgL,n Mesopotamia all Is one lo us Sr they are men we will tie them stjut our Hull nugers' lsj h cried Martha, wlisncsffij grand toilet We knew not thJJpu had friends In tie city And jetOW tell me )ou have been In Courts'"1 before Sir llorls?" 5 "Marthe ' cried Anna FappenySf-with FappenySf-with vnst pi H Hue of IndlgiittKn "what has gotten Into )nu, gtrl?E,n you hate forgotten that martlaJLPr' rlage. lhoe limbs IncomparsblyCj"' that readiness of retort nnd delicto sparkle of Wendlsb wit which sg the table In a roar, and yet tp" bring the Mush to maiden's cbe"1' For shame, Marine1' y, "Ha' ha'" laughed Jorlan suddiilr. short and sharp, aa If a strlngtt11 been pulled somewhere. f "Ho! bo!" thus more sonorWll' llorls ft Anna Pappenhelm caught her sins In her hand, and spun round oriu(T In el on prt tenso of looking beSud lur ?, "Sister, what was thst?" sho cried i looking beneath tho settles and up lie I I I IJvpi t "My lords, have you blacked your tie- lashes yst?" wide throat of the chimney. "Xe thought a dog barked " "Or a grn) goose cackled!" "Or a donkey sang'" j "Ladles." aald Jorlan. who, bring taatl) discomposed, must perforce try lo speak with nil affectation of lo- Ing at his nsc, "you are pleased to'to Witt) " l "lleaten mend our wit on your Julc ment'" j "And we nro right glad to bo year bulla. Ycl hato wo been accounted fallow a of some humor In our of a country and among men ' "Why. then, did you not stay thort" Inquired Martha pointedly Ay ' "It wast not llorls and'f whd"eoti not atay without," rclorted Jerlinl somewhat nettled, nodding toward tho door of tho guard room. "Woll anldl" cried frank Anns "Ho had )ou there, Marthe. Pricked In the white' Faith. Sir Jorisn pinked us both, for Indent It was we who Intruded In-truded Into the gentlemcn'a dressing room. Our excuao la that wo are tirewomen, tire-women, nnd would fain practise our otllro when nnd where wu can. Our Princess bath btcii wedded, and needs us but once n week Noble Wcndlsh gentlemen, will not )ou engage us" (To bo continued ) |