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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Times, 1907-11-21, Page 7f. B TSE WIN TRAM TIMES, NOVEMI3ER 12, 1907' '>i'+!'a' .1-1 0401-t*****t»t•441.114.41.14.0111"1"1"11.1"14.114.1+1.1.1,44,114.1.1.F 44444 By... ANTHONY HOPE risoner of Benda Copyrighted, 1894, 1898. by Henry Holt t,. Company *+444"1"14,444.4.++++.14446444.4.+4.11.1444+++++++++++.14441+14 " "This Is like what" you used to be, but not like the king—the king I—I 'have come to love!" With a sudden great groan I caught her to my heart. "My darling," I cried, forgetting ev- erything but her, "did you dream that I left you to go hunting?" "What then, Rudolf? Ali, you're not going"— "Well, it is hunting. I go to seek Michael in his lair." She had turned very pale. "S0, you see, sweet, I was not so poor a lover as you thought me. I shall not be gone long." "You will write to me, Rudolf?" I was weak, but I could not say a word to stir suspicion in her. "I'll send you all my heart every, .day," said I. "Anel you'll rim no danger?" "None that I need not." "And when will you be back? Ah, :how long it will be!" "When shall I be back?" I repeated. "Yes, yes! Don't be long, dear; don't .be long. I shan't sleep while you're. .away." "I don't know when I shall be back,"! .said I. "Soon, Rudolf, soon?" "God knows, my darling. But if ,never"— "Hush, hush!" and she pressed her lips to mine. "If never," I whispered, "you must take my place. You'll be the only one -of the house then. You must reign .and not weep for me." For a moment she drew herself up like a very queen. "Yes, I will!" she said. "I will reign. I will do my part. .Though all my life swill be empty and my heart dead, yet ,I'll do it." She paused and, sinking against me :again, wailed softly: "Come soon! Come soon!" Carried away, I cried loudly: "As God lives, I—yes, I myself—will ?see you once more before I die!" "What do you mean?" she exclaim- ed with wondering eyes, but I had no :answer for her, and she gazed at me ,with her wondering eyes. I dared not ask her to forget. She would have found it an i>jsult. •I could not tell her then who and what I was. .She was Weeping, and I had but to :airy her tears. "Shall a man not come back to the ,loveliest lady in all the wide world?" said I. "4. thousand Mieh;els should ,not keep me from you!" • She clung to me a little comforted. "You won't let Michael hurt you?" "No; sweetheart." •"Or 'keep you from me?" s"No, sweetheart." • "Nor anyone else?" And again I answered: "No, sweetheart." Yet there was one—not Michael— who if he lived must keep me from Ther and for whose life I was going , forth to stake my own. And his f"g- nre—the lithe, buoyant figure I had met in the woods of Zenda; the dull, inert masa I had left in the cellar of the shooting lodge—seemed to rise, ,double shaped,. before me and to come ,between us, thrusting itself in even where she lay, pale, exhausted, faint-, ing, in my arms and yet looking up at me with those eyes that bore such love as I have never seen, and haunt me now and will till the ground closes over me—and (who knows?) perhaps beyond. • CHAPTER XII. BOUT five miles from Zenda, on the opposite side from that on which the castle' was situ- ated, there lies a large tract of wood. It is rising ground, and in A rommameamemma •'1 o aNEY5 PtAtEC'i ON; i'n�'neo,"bIu Ir4taxaV 0 EE 5 or 500 or 5,000,000 .--they are all alike. Each biscuit as light as if made by fairy hands. Baked to a 'golden russet- brown. ussetbrown. do fresh, and crisp, and tempting, that just opening the box is teasing the appetite. And. you find a new delight in every • one you cat. Yon get perfection when you get Mooney's Perfection Cream Sodas 46 the center of the demesne, on the top of the hill, stands a fine modern cha- teau, the property of 'a distant kinsman of Fritz's, the Count Stanislas von Tar- lenheim. Count Stanislas himself was a student and a recluse. Ile seldom Visited the house and had on Fritz's request very readily and courteously offered me its hospitality for myself and my party. Tints, then, was our destination, chosen Ostensibly for the sake of the boar huntiug (for the wood 'was carefully preserved, and boars, once common all over Ruritanla, were still to be found there in considerable numbers), really because it brought us within shriking distance of the Duke of Strelsau's more magutficent dwell- ing on the other side of the town. A large party of servants, with horses and luggage, started early in the morn- ing. We followed at midday, traveling by train for thirty miles and then mounting our horses to ride the re- maining distance to, the chateau. We were a gallant party. Besides Sapt and Fritz, I was accompanied by ten gentlemen. Every one of them had been carefully chosen and no less care- fully, sounded by my two friends, and all were devotedly attached to the per- son of the king. They were told a part of the truth. The attempt on my life in the suinmer house was revealed to them as, a spur to their loyalty and an indictment against Michael. They were also inforined that a friend of the king's was suspected to be forcibly confined within the castle of Zenda. IIis rescue was one of the objects of the expedition; but, it was added, the king's main desire was to carry into effect certain steps against his treach- erous brother, as• to the precise nature of which they could not at present be further enlightened. Enough that the king commanded their services and would rely on their devotion when oc- casion arose to call for it. Young, well bred, brave and loyal, they asked no more. They Were refidy to prove their dutiful obedience and prayed for a fight as the best and most exhilarating mode of showing it. Thus the scene was shifted from Strelsau to the chateau of Tarlenheim and castle of Zenda which frowned at us across the valley. I tried. to shift my thoughts also, to forget my love, and to bend all my energies to the task before me. It was to get, the king out of the castle alive. Force was useless. In some trick lay the chance, and I had already an inkling of what we must clo. But I was terribly ham- pered by the publicity which attended my movements. Michael must know by now of my expedition, and I knew Michael too, well to suppose that his Cayes would be blinded by the feint of tate boar hunt. lie would understand very well what the real quarry was. That, however, must be risked—that and all it might mean, for Sept, no less than myself, recognized that the pres- ent state of things had become unen- durable. And there was one thing that I dared to calculate on—not, as I now know, without warrant. It was this -- that Black Michael would not believe that I meant well by the king. He could not appreciate—I will not say an bonest man, for the thoughts of my own heart have been revealed—but at man acting honestly. He saw my op- portunity as I had seen it, as Sept had seen it; he knew the princess—nay. (and. I declare that a sneaking sort of, ' pity for him invaded me), in his way. he loved her. He would thins. that Sept and• Fritz could be.bribed, so the bribe were large enough. Thinking, thus, would be kill the king, my rival and my danger? Aye, verily, that he would, with as little compunction as he would kill a rat. But he would kill Rudolf Rassendyll first, If he could, and nothing but the certainty of being . utterly damned by the release of the king alive and his restoration to the throne would drive him to throw away the trump card which he held in re- serve to• balk the supposed game of the impudent impostor Rassendyll. Mus- ing on- all this as I rode along, I took courage. Michael knew of my coming sure enough. I had not been in the house an hoar when an. imposing embassy arrived from hurl', Ile did not quite, reach the lmpudence of sending my would be assassins, but lie se=at the other three of his famous Six—the three Ituritanian gentlemen, Lauen- gram, Itrafstein and Rupert Ilentzau. A fine, strapping trio they were, splen- didly; horsed and admirably egnlpped. . Young Rtgpert, Who looked a dare devil and 'could not have been. more than twenty -fano or twenty-three, took the lead and made tis the neatest speech, wherein my devoted subject and !eying brother, Michael of Strel- Iiraycfti me to pardon him for not ' paying his addresses in persott and, further, for not petting his Castle at . my disYiosal, the reason for both of these apparent derelictions being that he and several of his servants lay sick of scarlet fever and Were in a very sad and alga in a very infeetidus state. So declared' young Rupert- with an in- solent smile on Iris curling upper Hp and i4 toss df' his thick hair --he was ti handsome villain, and the gossip ran that many a lady had troubled her heart tor, him already., "If my brother. has scarlet fever," said I, "ho is nearer my complexion than he is wont to be, my lord. X trust he does not suffer." "He is able to attend to his affairs, sire:" "I hope all beneath your roof are not sick. What of my good friends De Gautet, Bersonin and Detcbard? I heard the last had suffered a hurt." I.aueugratu and Krafstein looked glum and uneasy, but young Rupert's smile grew broader, "He hopes soon to find a medicine for it, sire," he answered, And I burst out laughing, for I knew what medicine Detchard longed for. It is called revenge. "You will dine with us, gentlemen?" I asked. Young Rupert was profuse in apolo- gies. They had urgent duties at the castle. • "Then," said I, with a wave of my Land, "to our next meeting, gentlemen. May it make us better acquainted" "We will pray ,slur majesty for an early opportunity," quoth Rupert air- ily. And he strode past Sept with such jeering scorn on his face that I saw the old fellow clinch his fist and scowl black as night. For my part, if a man must needs . be a knave I would have him a debo- nair knave, and I liked Rupert Hent- zau better than his long faced, close eyed companions. It makes your sin no worse, as I conceive, to do it a la mode and stylishly. Now, It was a curious thing that on this first night, instead of eating the excellent dinner my cooks had pre- pared for rhe, I must needs leave my gentlemen to eat it alone, under Sapt's presiding care, and ride myself with Fritz to the tows} of Zenda and a certain little inn that I knew of. There was little danger in the excursion. The evenings were long and light, and the road this side of 'Gentle well frequent- ed. So off we rode, with a groom be- hind us. I muffled myself up in a big cloak. "Fritz," said I as we entered the town, "there's an uncommonly pretty girl at this inn." "How do you know?" he asked. "Because I've been there," said I. "Since"— he began. "No. Before," said I. "But they'll recognize your' ' "WeII, of course they will. Now dof 't argue, my good fellow, but listen to me. We're two gentlemen of the king's household, and one of us has a tooth- ache. The other will order a private room and dinner and,,,further, a bottle of the best wine for th'e sufferer. And if he be as clever a fellow as I take him for, the pretty girl and no other will wait on us." "What if she won't?" objected Fritz. "My dear Fritz," said I, "If she won't for you, she will for tae." We were at the inn. Nothing of me but my eyes was 'visible as I dtvalked in. The landlady received us. Two minutes later my little friend (ever, I fear, on the lookout for such guests as might prove amusing) made her ap- pearace. Dinner and the wine were ordered. I sat down in the private room.' A minute later Fritz cavae in. "She's coming," he said. if she were not, I should have to doubt the Countess Helga's taste." She carne iu. I gave her time to set the wine down. I didn't want it droo- ped. Fritz poured out a glass and gave it to me. "Is the -gentleman in great pain?" the girl asked sympathetically. "The gentleman is no worse than when he saw you last," said I, throw- ing away my cloak. She started with a little shriek. Thep she cried: "It was the king, then! I told mother so the minute I saw his picture. Ob, sir, forgive me!" "Faith, you gave me• nothing that hurt much," said L "But the things we said!" "I forgive them for the thing you dict." More Terrible Than War! More terrible than war, famine or ped• tileneo is that awful destroyer, that hydra- headed monster, Consumption, that annually sweeps away more of earth's in- habitants than any other single disease known to the human race. "It is only a cold, a trifling cough;" say the careless, at the irritation upon tho delicate mucous membrane causes then to hack away with an irritable tickling of the throat. When the irritation settles on the . raucous eurfage of tho:throat, a cough is tho result. To prevent Bronchitis or Con, sutnption of the Lungs, do not neglect a cough however slight as the irritation sprc.tdiug throughout the delieate lining of the sensitive air passages soon leads to fatal results. If ou the first appearance of a cough. or cold you would take a few doses of • Drs Wood's Norway Pine Syrup yon would save yonrsclf 1d.s great deal of unnecessary suffering. Dr. -Wood's Nor- way Pine Syrup contains all the life•giving properties of the pine trees of Norway, mut or Asthma, Croup, WhoopingCough and all Throat and Lung afl'eetions it is a spec!. fie. Be sure when you ask for Dr. Wood's Norway Pine Syrup to get it. Don't ho humbugged into taking something else. Pelee its ets. l,Iiss Lena J'o!inaten, Toledo, Ont., ,w`i`ns : " I have used Dr. 'VN nod 'a Nor- way Pins Syrup for throat troubles after, t.tking n'anterous other remedies, and 1i must say that nothing can take the place sof it.. I would not bo without a bottle of it in the house''„ MILBUR.N'S Aro a combination of the aetive principles of the mese vohiahlu vc e''tabie iemc'hcs for /lIs. rases nnddisorders of the Liver, Stomach and Bowels, Moir aioadeehe sundleo, Hear*- burn,Cat arr2iorT,a.the Stornach,Dizzie • neon, j3ioCohoS gridPimples. . ,l yspePsla, Cour !stomach, 'QVatot• !mush, Livor Complaint, Sallow or Muddy Complexion. Sweeten the breath and ele:'r n Wray all waste and uuisonous Itis `tri from. the sir*q. 1'''Iro 25c. a hottta 01' t.u' Si un, All Osiers 01 Tun T. Mr. UO ; i i o., Lituitcd, Toronto, Cut. "I must go and tell mother." "Stop," said I, assuming a graver air. ""We are not here for sport tonight., Go and bring dinner, and not a word of the king being here," She came back in a few minutes, looking grave, yet very curious. "Well, how is Johann?" I asked, be- ginning my dinner. "Oh, that fellow, sir—my lord king, I mean!" " `Sir' will do, please. How is he?" "We hardly see him now, sir?". "And why not?" "I told him he carte too often, sir," said she, tossing her head. "So he sulks and stays away:."' "Yes, sir." "But you could bring him back?" I suggested, with a smile. "Perhaps I could," said she. "I know your powers, you see," said I, and she blushed with pleasure; "It's not only that, sir, that keeps him away. He's very busy at the ca - tie now." "But there's no shooting on now." "No, .sir; but he's in charge of the house." "Johann turned housemaid?" The little girl was brimming over with gossip. "Well, there are no others," said she. "There's not a woman there—not as a servant, I mean. They do say,—but perhaps it's false, sir" "Let's have it for what it's worth," said I. "Indeed, I'm ashamed to tell you, sir." "Oh, see, I'm looking at the ceiling." "They do say there is a lady there, sir, but exceptfor her there's not a woman in the place. Aud Johann has to wait on the gentlemen." "Poor Johann! He must be over- worked. Yet I'm sure he could find half an hour to come and see you." • "It would depend on the time, sir, perhaps." "Do you love him?' I asked. ' "Not I, sir." ' "And you wish to serve the king?" "Yes, sir." "Then tell him to meet you at the second milestone out of Zenda tomor- row, evening at 10 o'clock. Say you'll be there and will walk home with him." • "Do you mean him harm, sir?" "Not if he will do as I bid him. But. I think I've told you enough, my pretty maid. See that you do as I bid you. And, mind, no one is to know that the king has been here," I spoke a little -sternly, for there is seldom harm to infusing a little fear into a woman's liking for you, and I softened the effect by giving her a handsome present. Then we dined, and, wrapping my cloak about my face, with Fritz leading the way, we went downstairs to our horses again. It was but half past S and hardly yet dark. The streets were full for such a quiet little place, and I could see that ,gossip was all agog. With the king on one side and the duke on the other, Zenda felt itself the center of all Huri- •tania. We jogged gently through the town, but set our horses to a sharper pace when we reached the open coun- try. "You want to catch this fellow Jo- hann?" asked Fritz. "Aye, and I fancy I've baited the hook right. Our little Delilah will / tl • el1lvt Sh.c started arida a little slrrlcl:. � brtug our Samson. It i., not enough. Fritz, to have no women in a house, though brother Michael shows some wisdom there. if you want safety. I you meat have none within fifty tulles." "None nearer than Strelsau, for in- stance," said poor Frits, With a love- lorn sigh. 1 We reached the avenue of the cha- teau and were soon at the house. As the hoofs of our horses sounded on the gravel Sept rushed out to meet us. "Thank God, you're safe!" he cried.. "Have you seen anything of them?" "Of whom?" I asked, dismounting. IIe drew us aside that the grooms might not hear. "Lad," ho said to inc. "you must not ride about here unless with Half a dozen of us. You know among our men a tall young fellow, Bernenstein by name?" I knew him. IIe was a fine, strap- ping young man, almost of my height, and of light complexion. "Ile Iles in his room upstairs with a bullet through his arm." "The deuce he does!" "After diener be strolled out alone and went a mils or so into the wood, and as he walked he thought he saw three men among the trees, and one leveled a gun at !Finn. IIe bad no weap- on, and lie started at a run back to- ward the house, but one of them fired, and be was hlt and had much ado to reach here before he fainted. By good luck they feared to pursue him nearer the house." Ile j)aused and added: "Lad, the bullet was meant for you," "It is very likely," said I, "and it's first blood to brother Michael." "I wonder which three it was," said Fritz. "Well, Sept," I said, "I went out to- night for no idle purpose, as you shall hear. But there's one thing in my mind." "What's that?" he asked. "Why, this," I answered—"that I shall ill requite the very great honors Ituritania has done the if I depart from it leaving one of those Six alive." And Sapt shook my hand on that. CIiAPTER XIII. N the morning of the day after that ou which I swore my oath against the Six I gave certain orders and then rested in greater contentment than I bad known for some time. I was at work, and work, though it cannot cure love, Cure yourself at home for 3 cents a day. If you have Kidney or Bladder Trouble, the greatest physician in the world can do no more than cure you. And you might have to pay kiln $400 or .$50o for a single examination. Bu -Ju will cure you of every trace of Bladder Irritation and Kidney Disease for 3c. a day. No physician will promise to core you, and they all send in their billsovlhether they curt or not. TORONTO, Ox.r., June 4, 1904. Having caught a severe chill in my back, and my Kidneys appearing to be affected thereby, I was induced, throngih seeing your advertiscmients in one of the daily papers, to try a box of your Bit -Ju Pills, and ani pleased to tell youthat after taking only two boxes of them the trouble entirely disappeared, and I have not been troubled since. ALFRED CARTER. B u - J u is guaranteed to Make the Kidneys well and strong. If you honestly think, after a fur trial, that Bu -Ju has not helped you, return the box and we will refund your !Honey. 5oc. a large box. At druggists, or sent on receipt of price. THE CLAFLIN CHEMICAL CO., LIMITED ' WINDSOR. ONT. 76 is yet a narcotic to it. So that Sept,. who grew feverish, marveled to see me sprawling in an armchair in the sun- shine, listening to one of my friends who sang me amorous songs in a mel- low voice and induced in me a pleas- ing tuelhint hoiy. 'thus was I engaged when young Rupert Ilenteau, who fear- ed neither man nor devil, and rode through the demesne, where every tree might hide a marksman for all he knew, as though it had been the park at Strelsau, cantered up to where 1 lay, bowing with burlesque deference and craving private speech with me in or- der to deliver a message from the Duke of Strelsau. I made all with- draw, and then he said, seating himself by me: "The king is in love, it seems." "Not with life, my lord," said I, smiling. "It is well," he rejoined. "Come, we are alone. Itassendyll"— I rose to a sitting posture. "What's the matter?" he asked. "I was about to call one of my gen- tlemen to bring your horse, my lord. If you do not know how to address the Icing, my brother must find another messenger." "Why keep up the farce??" he asked, negligently dusting his boot with his glove, "Because it Is not finished yet, and meanwhile I'll choose my own name." "•Oh, so be its Yet I spoke in love for you, for indeed you are a man aft- er my own heart." "Saving my poor honesty," said I, "maybe I am. But that I keep faith 'with men and honor.with women, may- be I am, my lord." He darted a glance at me, is glance 02 anger. IIIx111IV11:111",nIIllxillln1f111VNN1'4•IIIC1111111111 x111llpx'Inx,.,. R A\eta efable PreparationforAs- imitating ttlaFood attdReg ula- ting the Stomachs andLoweis of Promotes Digestion.Cheerful- ness and Ilest.Coatains neither Opnam,Morphine nor Mineral, NOT ITASIC©„IC. acFe of ate .12r-CIMIZZ 11=7 Jirrnpkin Seed - A:Senna r .(' d.c(to Salts - "tnirE Strd %l pec uint t tirr3cr'tklact 'r Ili-sp ;Pied - Csaitra Sugar . Was/roma Nunn Aperient Ifcmedy for Constipa- tion, Sour Stontach,Diarf;lloca, Wernts ,Convulsions ,Fevcrish- ness and Loss oz' SLEEP. FacSimile Signature of Oka `7i Tt«e%dY. fiTEW YORK. STORO-- Po' Infants and Children. The Kind You Have Always Bought Bear tho Signature of 011 Use for Over Thirty Years EXACT COPY OF WRAPPER. A`r THE CENTAUR COMPANY. 0A NEW YORK CITY. "Is your mother dead?" said L "Aye, she's dead." "She may thank God," said I, and I heard him curse me softly. "Well, what's the message?" I continued. I had touched him in the raw, for all the world knew ]1e had broken his mother's heart, and his airy manner was gone for the moment. "The duke offers you more than I would," he growled. "A halter for you, sire, was my suggestion. But he offers you safe conduct across the fron- tier and a million crowns." "I prefer your offer, my lord, if I am bound to one." "You refuse?" "Of course." "I told Michael ;sou would:" 'And the villain. his temper restored, gave me the sunniest of smiles. "The fact is, between ourselves," he continued, "Michael doesn't understand a gentle- man." I began to laugh. "And you?" I asked. "I do," he said. ",Well, well, the halter be it." "I'm sorry you won't live to see it," I observed. • "Has Itis majesty done me the honor to fasten a particular quarrel on me?" "I would you were a few years older, though." "Oh, God gibes years, but the devil gives increase," laughed he. "I can hold my own." "How is your prisoner?" I asked. "The k"— "Your prisoner." "I forgot your wishes, sire. Well, he is alive." He rose to his feet. I imitated him. Then came the most audacious thing I have known in my life. My friends were some thirty yards away. Rupert called to a groom to bring him his (To be continued.) Housed rier Ire. Stubb--I am glad to say that the foolish old custom of fighting at the . drop of a hat has completely died out. Penn—Don't you believe it. I drop -.t peel my wife's white summer hat while' 1 was looking for my collar yesterday and she has been fighting ever since, —Detroit Tribune. ost Crazy With Headache Mrs. R. W. Edwards, 32 McMurray street, Brantford, Ont., writes:—"For five years I suffered more than words can tell from nervous headaches, ner- vous dyspepsia and exhaustion. The pains in my head would at times almost drive me crazy. I could not sleep nights, but would walk the floor in agony until 1 fell exhausted and unconscious. I was pale, nervous, irritable, easily ex- hausted, was reduced to a mere skeleton . of skin and bone, and my heart would palpitate„ All of this was in spite of the best efforts of three leading doctors. "For the past nine months I have used Dr. Chase's Nerve Food, and for a: considerable time I have not experienced a headache, or any of the symptoms men- tioned above. From a mere skeleton this medicine has built me up in flesh and weight, until now I am strong and • well and am thoroughly restored to health." Dr. Chase's Nerve Food, 50 cents is box, 6 boxes for 82.50, at all dealers, O',`. Edmanson, Bates & Co., Toronto. Oni CULL ;PERFECT BLEW . 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