HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1931-07-23, Page 6PAGE ,SIX
THE SEAFORTH NEWS.
THURSDAY, JULY ,,23, 1931.
JOA
of the
,SwSwordHand
By S. R. erockett
(Continued (root last week.)
CHAPTER XVII
Woman's Wilfulness
Joan rode on, silent, a furlong be-
fore her men.
!Behind her sulked :Maurice von
Lynar. Had any been there to note,
their faces were now strangely alike
in feature. and yet more curiously un-
like in expression. Joan gazed for-
ward into the distance like a' soul
dead and about to be reborn, plan-
ning a new Life. :Maurice von Lynar
looked mere like a naughty schoolboy
whom some tyrant fate, rodwiefding,
has compelled to obey against his
will.
• Yet. in spite of expression, it'was
Maurice von Lynar who was planning
the. future. Joan's heart was yet too
sore. Her tree of life had, as it were,
been cut off close to the ground, She
could not go back to the aid so soon
after her blissful year of dreams.
There was to be no new life for her.
1S:he could not take up the old. But
!Maurice -'his thoughts were all for
The Princess Margaret, of the ripple
of her ;golden hair, of her pretty wilful
words and ways, of that dimple on
her chin, and above all, of her threat
to seek him out if=but it was not pos-
sible that she could mean that. And
yet she looked as if she might make
good her words. Was it possible? He
posed himself with this question, and
for half an hour rode on oblivious of
all else.
"Eh?" he said at last, half conscious
that some one had been speaking to
him from an infinite distance. "Eh?
did you speak, Captain von Orseln?"
Von Orseln grunted oat a little
laugh, almost silently, indeed, and ex-
pressed more .by a heave of his shoul-
ders than by any alteration of his
'fea'tures.
"Speak, indeed? As if I had not
been speaking these five minutes.
!Well nigh had Istruck my poignard
in your ribs to teach you to mind
your superior officer. What think
you of this business?"
"'Think?" the Sparhawk's disap-
pointment burst out. "Think?" Why
'tis past all thinking. Courtland is
shut to us for twenty years."
"Well," laughed Von Orseln, "who
cares for that? Castle Kernsberg is
good enough for rte, so we can hold
it"
"Hold it?" cried Maurice, with a
kind of joy in his face; "do you think
they will come after us?"
Van Orcein nodded approval of his"
spirit.
"Yes, little Haan, yes," he said; "if.
you have been fretting to come to
blows with the Courtlanders you are
in good case to be satisfied, r would
we had only these lumpish Baltic
jacks to fear."
Even as they talked Castle Kerns -
berg floated up like a cloud before
them above the blue and misty plain,
long before they could distinguish
the walls and hundred gables of the
town beneath.
'But no word spoke Joan till that
pur'ple shadow had taken shape as
stately stone and lime and ccould
discern her own red lion flying ab-
reast of the banner of Louis of Court.
land upon the topmost pinnacle of the
round tower.
Then on 0 little mound without the
sawn she halted and faced about, Von
Orseln halted the troops with a back-
ward wave of the hand.
"Men of Hohenstein," said the
Duchess, in a clear, far-reaching alto,
"you have followed mc, asking no
word of why or wherefore. 1 have
told you nothing, yet an explanation
is due to you."
There came the sound .as of a
hoarse muttering among the soldiers.
joan looked at Von Orseln as a sign
for him to interpret it,
"'They say that they are Joan of
the Sword Han'd's men, and that they
will diserrnbow1 any man. who wants
to knicew what it may please you to
keep secret,"
"Aye, or ,question by so much as one
lifted eyebrow aught that it may
p'leiase your 'H'ig'hness to do," added
Captain Peter Bette, .from the right
of the first troop.
"I said that our Duchess could ne-
ver live in such a dog's hole as their
Courtland," quath George the Hus-
site, "In Bohemia, now, where the
pines grow—"
"Hold your prate, all of you,"
growled Von Orseln, "or you will
tied where hemp grows, and why!
My lady," he added, altering his
voice as he turned to her, "be assured
no dog in Kernsberg will bark an in-
terrogative at you. Shall our young
Duchess Joan be wived like some
little burgheress that sells laces and
tape all day long on the Axe•'-utrasse?
Shall the daughter of Henry the Lion
be at the commandment of any B'or-
Russian boor, an it like her not? Shall
she get a burr in her throat with
breathing the raw fogs of the Baltic?
Not a word, most gracious lady? Ex-
plain nothing. Extenuate nothing. It
is the will of Joan of the Sword Hand
-that is enough; and, by the word of
Werner von Orseln, it shall be
enough."
"It is the will of Joan of the Sword
Handl It is enough!" repeated the
four hundred lances, like a class that
learns a lesson by rate.
A lump rose in Joan's throat as she
tried to shape into word's the thoughts
that surged within. She felt strange-
ly weak: Her pride was not the same
as of old, for the heart of a woman
had grown up within her -a heart of
flesh. Surely that could not be a tear
in her eye? No; the wind blew
shrewdly out of the west, to which
they were riding, Von Orseln n'oted
the struggle and took up his parable
once more.
"The pact is carried out. The lands
united -the will of Henry the Lion
done! What more? Shall the free
Princess be the huswife of a yellow
Baltic dwarf? When we go into the
town and they ask us, we will say but
this, "Our Lady misl•iked the fashion
of his beard! That will be reason
good and broad and deep, sufficient
alike for grey-haired cart and prattl-
ing bairn1"
'I thank you, noble gentlemen,"
said Joan. "Now, as you say, let us
ride into Kernsberg."
"And pull down that flag!" cried
Maurice, pointing to the black Court-
land eagle which flew so steadily be-
side the coronated lion of Kernsberg
and Hohenstein,
"And pray, sir, why? quo'th Joan of
the Sword Hand. "Am I not also
'Princess of Courtland?"
yi * *
(Front woman's wilfulness all things
somehow have their beginning. Yet of
herself she is content with few things
(so that she have what she wants),
somewhat Spartan in fare if alone,
and no dinner -eating animal. Wine,
tobacco, caviare, Strasburg- goose
!icer-Epicurus's choicest gifts to Wren
of this world are contemned by wo-
mankind. Left to their awn devices
they prefer a drench of sweet mead
or hydromel laced with water. Never-
theless, to woman's wantings may be
ti+aced all restraints and judgments,
front the sword flaming every way
about Eden -gate to the last 'merchant
t
declared bankrupt and "dyvour" upon
the exchange flags of Hamburg town.
Eve did not .001 the apple when she
got it. She hasted to give it away. She
only wanted it because it had been
forbidden,
'So also Joan of IHohenistein desired
to go down with tDessauer that sh.e
night look upon the man betno't ed
to her from birth, She went. She
looked, and, as the tale tells, within
her ,there grew a heart of flesh. 'Them,
when the stroke fell, that heart uprose
in quick, intemperate revolt, And
what might have issued in the dull
compliance of a princess whose life
was settled for her, 'became the im-
perious revelt of a woman: against an
intolerable and loathsome irnpossibil-
ity..
So in her 'castle Of Kernsberg Joan
waited. ;Eat not idly. ,All day long
and every flay Maurice von Lynar
rode on her service. The' Ihif urn n
gatflieeed so'hils+wsordy and in sthe'courlt.
yai',d-the stormy voices of 'George tate
i-Iussite and Peter IBalta' were never
hushed. The shepherds from the ;liills
.went to aid 'fru. marching and
countermai'chin •whe •h :m-
e u and char.,
g,
m porting musket and i I
g g, 1 t tc the nst ng
pike, till all Kcrnslberg 'was little
better than a barracks, and the maid-
ens sat welt -eyed at their knitting by
the fire and thought, "Well for Her
to please herself vhpni she shall
marry -but,. bolts, about us. with never
a lad in the town to whistle us out in
the •gioaaning, or to thumb a pebble
against irst the'window-lattice f o
m the
deep edges of the ripening corn?"
But there were two, at least, within
the realm ,of the 'Duchess Joan who
knew no drawbacks to their joy, who
ritlbbed palm on palm and nudged
ealch other for pure gladness: These'
'(it is sad to say)'were the military'
attaches of the neighbouring peaceful
State of 'Plassensburg. Yet they had
been specially cautioned by • their
Prince tIIugo, in the, presence of his
wife 'Helene, the 'hereditary 'Princess,
that they were most carefully to avoid
all international complications. They
were . on n'0 account to take sides in.
any quarrel. Above all they must 'do
nothing ;prejudicial to the ;peace, neu-
trality, and universal amity of the
State and 'Princedom of Plassenburg.
Such were these instructions.
They promised faithfully.
l3ut, their names being Captain
Boris and Dorian; they now rubbed
their hands and nudged each other.
They ought to have been in their
chamber in the. Castle of Kernsberg,
busily concocting despatches to their
„master and mistress, giving an ac-
count of these momentous events.
'Instead, how is it that we find theni
lying on that spur of the Jagernber
ger+gen which overlooks the passes of.
Alla, :watching the gathering of the
great storm which in the course of
days trust break over ti,e domain's
of the Duchess J'o'an -who had re-
fused and slighted her wedded hus-
band, Louis, Prince of Courtland?
'Being both powerfully resourceful
men, long least :Boris and rotund
Dorian had found a way out of the
apparent difficulty. There had conte
with then! from 'Pl'assenhurg a com-
mission written upon an entire square,
of sheepskin by a secretary and sealed
with the seal ole Leopold von •Des-
sauer,'High Councillor Of the United
Princedom and Duchy, bearing that
"In the name of Hugo and 'Helene
our well -beloved lieges'Caphains 13orie
and lJorian are empowered to act and
treat," and so forth. This moment-
ous; deed was tied :about the middle
with a red string, and presented
withal so courtly and respectable an
appearance to the uncritical eyes of
the ex -men-at-arms themselves, that
they felt anything excusable which
they might do in its na'm.e.
Before leaving Kernsberg, therefore
Boris placed this great red -waisted.
parchment roll in his bed, leaning it
angle -wise against his pillow. '!Ionian,
tossed a spare dagger with the arms
of Plassen'burg beside it.
"There -let the civil power and the
military for once lie down together!"
he said. `"We delegate our authority
to these two during our absence!"
To the silent Plassenhudgers who
had accompanied them, and who nom
kept their door with unswerving
attention, P,oris - explained himself
briefly.
"'Retnentbef," he said, "when you
are asked, that the envoys of 'Plas-
sen'burg are ill -.ill of a dangerous
and most contagious disease. Also,
they are asleep. They must on no
account he waked. The windows
must be kept darkened. It is a great
pity. You are desolated. You un-
derstand. The first time iT have more
money than I can spend you shall
have ten marks!"
The men-at-arms understood,
which was no wonder, for Boris
generai'ly contrived to make himself
very clear. But they thought within
them that their chances of financial
benefit from their captain's condition-
al generosity were worth about one
sole stiver.
So these two, being now free fight-
ing men, as it were, soldiers of for-
tune, lay waiting on the slopes of the
IJatgern'hergen, talking over the situa-
tion.
"A man surely has a right to his
own wifel" said Dorian, taking for the
sake of argument the cotrventiottai
side.
• "Jorianl cried Bores, raising his
voice to the indignation. point.
"Clotted nonsense! Who is going to
keep a man's wife for him if he can-
not do it himself? And he a prince,
and within his own city and fortress,
too. She boxed his ears, they say,
and rode away, telling hint that if he
wanted her he might :come and take
her/ A pretty spirit, i' faith!' Too
good for such a dried stockfish of the
(Baltic, with not so much soul as a
s'pe,ckled flounder on his own •nia-
flatsl IFaithd if T were a marrying
man, :T wotild rani off with the lass
myself, She ought et least to be a
s'o'id.ier's wife."
"The trouble is that so afar She feels
no necessity to be any one's wife,"
said 'Boris, who sprite his defence Of
IX,dan, 'held the 'usu'a'l mas'cuiine views.
"Every woman ,wishes, to marry, if
she can only have :Mist. choice."
• "There they eome!" whispered jor-
iau, whose eyes had never wandered
from am the long lines of willow- and
alder which marked the courses of
the sluggish streams flowing east to
-
;ward the�Alla,
Boris• rose to his feet and looked
long 'beneath his hand. Very far
away there was a sort of white tre'ntu-
lettsness in the atmosphere which
after a while 'began: to give aff little
Mutinous glints' and sparkles, as the.
sea does when a shaft of moonlight
touches it through a dark canopy of
cloud,
Then there arose from the level
:green plain first one tall 'column of
dense black smoke and then another,
till es far as they could see to the left
the plain 'was full of then.
"God's truth!" cried Dorian, "they
are burning the farms and herds'
houses. II thought they had been
'Christians in Courtland. 'But these
are more like Duke Casimir's devil's
tricks." •
'Boris did not :immediately answer..
His eyes were busy seeing, his brain
setting in order.
"I tell you what," he sad aft last, in
a tone of intense interest, "these' are
no fires lighted by Courtlanders. 'The
heavy Baltic knights could never ride
so fast nor spread so wide. The 'Mus-
covite is outl 'These are Cossack fires,
Bravo,'Ijorianl we shall yet have our
Hugo here with his axes .He will
never stiffer the Bear so near his
borders." .
"Let us go down," said Dorian; "or
we shall miss some of the fun. In
two good hours they will be at the
fords of the Allal"
So they looked to their amts and
went down,
"What do you here? Go • back?"
shouted Werner von Orseln, who
with his leen lay waiting behind the
Tlood'banks of the Alla. "This is not
your quarrel's 'Go back, Plassen'bur-
gersl"
"We have for the time being de-
mitted our office, Boris exclaimed.
"The envoys of Plassenlberg are at
home in bed, sick of a most sanguin-
ary fever. 'We offer you our swords
as free fighting -men and good Tents.
The Muscovites are over yonder.
Lord, to think that I have dived to
forty-eight and never yet killed even
one bearded Russ!"
"You may mend that record shortly
to all appearances, if you have luck!"
said von Orseln grimly. "And this
gentleman' here," he added,' looking at
Dorian, '"is he also in bed, sick?"
"My sword is at your service," said
the round one, " though I should' pre-
fer a nutsketoon, it it is all the sante
to you, 'It will be something to do
till these firebrands: come within
arm's length of us."
"I have here two which are very
much at your service, if you know
how to use their!" said Werner.
'The men-at-arms laughed.
'`"We know their tricks better than
those of our sweethearts!" they said,
"'and those we know well!"
"Here they be, then," said von Or-
seln. "'I sent a couple of men spur-
ring to warn my Lady Joan, and I
bade then leave their muskets and
bandoliers till they came back, that.
they might ride the lighter to and
from Kernsberg."
IB'oris and Jorfan took the spare
pieces with a glow of gratitude, which
was however. very considerably modi-
fied 'when they discovered thestate
in whiich. their former owlters had.
kept theist.
"Darty Wendish pigs," they said
(Which was their favourite male-
diction, though they themselves were',
Wend o,f the Wends). "Were they
but an hour in our camp they shotuld.
ride the wooden horse with these very
muskets tied to their soles to keep.
than flimsily down. Faugh1"
And Dorian: withdrew his finger
front the muzzle, black as soot with
the grease of uncleansed powder.
01-IAPTIEIR VIIIfJ.
Captains Boris and Dorian ,Promote
'Peace.
Now this is the report which Cap-
tains Boris and Dorian, envoys '(very)
extraordinary from the Prince and
Princess of Pfassenburg to the reign-
ing Duchess of 'IIohenstefn, made to
their home government upon their
return from the fords of the Alla,
'They wrote it very slowly; in
collaboration, on the usual plan of one
working and the other assisting him
with advice. ' •
;Dorian, being of the rotund and
complaisant faction, acquiesced in the
proposal that he should do the writ-
in.g" rBut as he never got beyond "To
our honoured Lord and Lady, Hugo.
and Helene, these-" there needs not
to be any .particularity as to his man-
Wer of acting the scribe. He mended
at a pen till it looked like a brush
worn to the straggling point. He
squared his elbows suddenly and
overset the inkhorn. 'He daubed an
entire folio of paper with a co'.mplete
nes* which left nothing to the im-
agination.
tn-
agination.
When he remembered that he knew
where a secretary was in waiting. He
wlotiid go and 'borro'wi Ishii. 'Dorian'
re-entered their bedroom ` with a
bea'nting smile, an'd the secretary held
by the sleeve to prevent his escape,
tB'oth felt that already the report: was
as goad as written. 'It began thirst-
"With great ass1 it
y (1 word sug-
gested hy the secretary) your envoys
remembered your highnesses' prince-
ly advice and contnntncl that we
should involve ourselves in no war-
fare or other` local disagreement, So
when we heard that Hohenstein was
to be invaded by the troops of the.
Prince ' of Courtland we were deeply
grieved,
"Nevertheless, judging it tobe' for
the good of our country that we
eitotrld have a near view of the :fight-
ing,:we left worthy andassured sub-
stitutes in our place and room-"
"The parch'men't commission with
a string round his belly1 explained
ljori'an, in answer to the young secre-
tary's 'lifted eyebrow; ''there he is,
hiding behind the faggot -chest,"
"Get on, Boris," quoth Dorian, from
the settee on which he had tbtt-owai
himself; "it is your turn to lie."
"Goods" says' Boris. And did it as
fol llowells :- .
"We left our arms behind us-"
"Such as w'e could not carry," add-
ed Dorian under his breath. The sec-
retary, a wise youth -full of the new
learning and of talk concerning cer-
tain books printed, on paperand
bound all with one druck of a great
machine like a cheese -press -held his
pen suspended over the paper in
doubt what to write.
(To 'Be Continued.)
CRUELLY TORTURED
The story of the torture of two
yottitg mea , near the smart summer
colony at Southampton, N. Y., reads
like a chapter of ancient cruelty, it
was said by the authorities as they
sought a gang of rum -runners, led by.
a giant Oriental. \Vhen Kenneth Far-
rell and Jacob Antilety, 19, drove up
to a speak-easy, they found the place.
closed. - As they started back for
their automobile, the burly Oriental
and four other men drove up in a
Sedan and covered the youths with
revolvers. Farrell refused to obey the
order to get in and he Was bit over
the head with a pistol. He and his
companion were pushed into the sedan
and as the gangsters started to drive
away, another automobile bearing
Herbert Miter and Francis Macgee
drove up, The Oriental ordered the
newcomers to get into the sedan, but
a moment later all of the youths bolt-
ed for freedom. Farrell and Antilety,
however, faired to escape. The two
prisoners were taken to ahouse at
the outskirts of the village where
they were questioned.'Finally, :becont-
ing intpati'ent the 'Oriental -hurled a
piano 'stool at Antilety, catching him
in the mouth and i:nodkitrg : out sev-
eral• teeth, the youths said. 'Then the
Oriental forced the youths.to:take off
their shoes and raked the'heated:po-
tato masher across their :feet and
across Farrell's face. The Oriental;
enraged, tried to gouge mit Anfilety'$
eyes with his thutn•b, they told, police,
Finally the Oriental drove. the youths
to where their car was parked arhl re-
leased• them. The two, in serious
condition, later identified three of
their attackers who were; arrested and
released on bail of $5,000 each.
Douglas' Egyptian Liniment should
be in every household. IStops'bleeding
at once, cauterizes wounds and pre-
vents 'blood 'poisoning. Keeps away
inflammation and proud flesh.
Watt and For Sale Ails, 1 time 25c.
f
MINIZIONIONMAisIVILM
D. H. McInnes
Chiropractor
Of Wingham, will he at the
Commercial Hotel, Seaford,
Monday, Wednesday and
Friday Afternoons
Diseases of all kinds success-
tuily treated
Electricity used,
PROFESSIONAL CARDG
Medical
UiGIH RO
DR. H. H
i ,.
SIS
Physician
and Surgeon. Late of London
Hos-
pital,; London, England. Special
attention to diseases of the eye, ear,
nose and throat. Office and resi-
dence behind Dominion' Bank, Office
Phone No. 5; Residence Phone 104:.
DR. F. J. 13U12PbOiW'S, Seafortft.
.Office and residence, Godericta street,
east of the United Church. Coroner"
for ,the County of Huron, Telephone
No. 46.
DR _ C. iv1L siOKIAY.-C. Mackay,
honor graduate of Trinity University:
and gold medallist' of Trinity Medical.
College; member of the „College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
"DR. F. J. 12. fOIRISTEIR--Eye, Ear,
Nose and Throat, Graduate in Medi --
cine, University of Toronto 1597.
Late Assistant New York Ophthal-
mic and Aural Institute, Moorefield's
Eye, and Golden Square throat hospi-
tals, London, England. At '.Comm
ercial Hotel, Seaforth, 3rd Monday'ia
each month, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
DR. W. C. S'PI1bOiAT..Graduate GT
Faculty of Medicine, University of
Western Qntario, London. Member,
of: College of Physicians' and Sur-•
geous of Ontario. Office in rear of:
Aberhart's drug store, Seaforth.
Phone 90. Hours 1.30-4 p.m., 7.39
-9 p.m. Other hours by appointment
Dental
D'R. 3. A. MUN'N, Successor tc
Dr. R. R. Ross, g. adnate of North-
western University, Chicago, Ill. Li-
centiate Royal College of Dental Sur-
geons, Toronto. Office over Sills"
hardware, :Main St., Seaforth. Phone
151.
DR. F. J. BIECH'ELY, graduate
Royal College of Dental Surgeons,
Toronto. Office over W. R. Smit'h's
grocery, 'lain St., Seaforth, Phones,
office 135W, residence 1553.
Auctioneer.
'GEOIRIGE EILLIIiOTT, Licensed
Auctioneer for the County of Huron.
Arrangements can be made for Sale
Date at The Seaforth News. Charges
moderate and satisfaction guranteed.
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