The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 15, 1905, Page 2

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. This is the third installment - of “The Brethren,” a romance of the Orusades, H. Rider Haggard’s latest novel, which began in the Sunday Oall Mag- ®zine on January 1. This novel will be published com- plete in five installments, thus giving to readers of the Sun- day Call one of the very best selling of the fall books for 25 cents. Following “The Brethren” will gppear another book which is leaping into favor as one of the late novels, “The Castaway,” by Hallic Kriminie % Rives. ' Later will appear Booth Tarkington’s *“Mopsienr Beaucaire,” and Gertrude Ath- erton’s “A Whirl Asunde 8 ORGSR GRS RRS) Copyright, 1901, by McClure, Phillips & Co., CHAPTER X. On Board the Galley. Rosamund was led from the Hall of Steeple across the meadow down to the: quay at Steeple Creek, where a great boat waited—that of which the bretaren ad found the impress in the mud. n this the band embarked, placing thelr dead and wounded, with one or two to tend them, in the fishing skiff that 21‘.4 belonged to her father. This skiff having n made fast to the stern of the boat, they pushed off, and in utter silence rowed down the creek 1l the reached the tidal stream of the blackwatcr, where they turned their bow seaward Through the thick night and the falling snow slowly they felt their way along, sometimes rows= ing, sometimes drifting, while the falsé them. The palmer Nicholas steered journey proved dangerous, for they could scarcely see the shore, althougi they kent as close to it as they dared: The end of it was that they grounded on a mud bank, and, do what they would, could not thrust themselves, free. Now hope rose in the heart of Rosamund, who sat still as a statue in the middle of the boat, the Prince Hassan at her side and the armed men —twenty or thirty of them—all about her. Perhaps, she thought, they would remain fast there till daybreak, and be seen and rescued when the brethren woke from their’' drugged sleep. But Hassan read her mind, and said to her gently enough: “Be not decelved, lady, for I must tell you that if the worst comes to the worst, we shall place you in the little skiff and go on, leaving the rest to take their chance.” > As it happened, at the full tide they floated off the bank and drifted with the ebb down toward the sea. At the first break of dawn she looked up, and there, looming large in the mist, lay a galley, anchored in the mouth of the river Giving thanks to Allah for thelr fc arrival, the band brought her 4 and led her toward the cabin. : poop stood a tall man, who was minanding the sallors that they { get up the anchor. As she came savanced to her, bowing and say- dy Rosamund, thus you find me when doubtless you never “ht to see more.”’ looked at him in the faint light for blood went cold. It was the hc Lozelle, ou here, Sir Hugh,” she gasped. “Where you are, there 1 am,” he answered, with a sneer upon his coarse, handsome face. “Did I not swear that it should be so, beauteous Rosamund, after your saintly cousin worsted me in the fra _ “You here,” she repeated, “you. a Christian knight, and in the pay of Sa- ladin!” “In the pay of any one who leads me to you, Rosamund.” Then, seeing the emir Hassan approach, he turned to give some’ orders to the sailors, and she passed on to the cabin and in her agony fell upon her knees. When Rosamund rose from them she felt that the ship was moving, and, de- #iring to look her last on Essex land, went out again upon the poop, where Hassan and Sir Hugh placed them- selves, one upon either side of her. Then it was that she saw the tower of St. Peter-on-the-wall and her cous- ins seated on horseback in front of it, the light of the sun shining upon their mail. Also she saw Wulf spur his horse into the sea, and faintly heard his great cry of “Fear not! We fol- low, we follow!” A thought came to her, and she sprang toward the bulwark; but they were watching and held her, so that all that she could do was to throw up her arms in token. Now the wind caught the sail and the ship went forward swiftly, so that soon shé lost sight of them. Then in' her grief and rage Rosamund turned upon Bir Hugh Lozelle and beat him with bitter words till he shrank before her. “Coward and traitor!” she said. “So it ‘was you who planned this, knowing every secret of our home, where often you were a guest! You who for Pay- nim gold have murdered my father, not daring to show your face before his sword, but hanging like a thief upon the coast, ready to receive what braver men had stolen. Oh! may God avenge his blood and me on you, false knight —false to him and me and faith and honor—as avenge he will! Heard you not what my kinsman called to me? ‘We follow, we follow!" Yes, they fol- Jow and their swords—those swords you feared to look on—shall yet pierce your heart and give up your soul to your master, satin,” and she paused, trembling with her righteous wrath, while Hassan stared at her and mut- o y_Allah,, a princess indeed! So have I seen Salah-ed-din look in his rage. Yes, and she has his very eyes.” I -But Sir Hugh answered in a thick voice. i “Let them follow-—one or both. I fear them not and out there my foot will not slip in the snow.” = “Then I say that it shall slip in the sand or on a rock,” she anwswered, and turning, fled to the cabin and cast herself down and wept till she thought that her heart would break. -, Well might Rosamund weep whose beloved sire was slain, who was torn from her home to find herself in the power of a man she hated. Yet there was hope for her. Hassan, Eastern ickster. as he might be, was her riend; and her uncle, Saladin, a8 Jeast, would never wish that she jhould be ashamed. Most like he new nothing of this man Lozelle, ex- t;:m ag one of those Christian ‘traitors ho were ever ready to betray the cross for gold. But Saladin was far away and her home lay behind her, &nd her cousins and lovers were eat- ing out their hearts upon that fading Bhore. And she—one woman alone— was on this ship with the evil man Logélle, who thus had kept his prom- ise, and there were none save Easterns to protect her, none save them—and God, who had permitted that such things should he, ‘The ship swayed, she grew sick and faint. Hassan brought her food with his own hands, but she loathed it who only desired to die. The day turned to night, the night turned to day' again, and always Hassan brought her food and strove to comfort her, till at length she remembered no more. Then came a long, long sleep, and in the sleep dreams of her father stand- ing with his face to the foe and sweeping them down with his long sword as a sickle sweeps ¢corn—of her father felled by the pilgrim = kaave, dying upon the floor of his own housé and saying: ‘‘God will guard you. His will be done.” Dreams of Godwin and ‘Wulf also fighting to save her, plight- ing their troths and swearing their oaths, and between the dreams’ black- ness. Rosamund awoke to feel the sun streaming warmly through the shutter of her cabin, and to see a woman who held a cup in her hand watching her— a stout woman of middle age with a not unkindly face. She looked about her and remembered all. sSo she was still in the ship. “Whence tome you?” she asked the ‘woman. “From France, lady. This ship put in at Marseilles, and there I was hired to nurse one who lay sick, which suited me very well, as I wished to go to Jeru- salem to seek my husband, and good money was offered me. Still, had I known that they were all Saracens on this ship I am not sure that I should have come—that is, except the captain, Sir Hugh, and the palmer Nicholas; though what they, or you either, are doing in such company I cannot guess.” “What is your name?” asked Rosa- mund idiy. » “Marie—Marie Bouchet. -My husband is a fish-monger, or was, until one of those crusading priests got hold of him and took him oft to kill Paynims and save his soul, much against my will. ‘Well, I promised him that if he did not return in five years I would gome to look for him. So here am 1, but where he may be is another matter.” “It is brave of you to go,” sald Rosa~ mund, thepi added by an afterthought, “how long is it since we left Mar: seflles?” ’ arie counted on her fat fingers and answered: “Five—nearly six weeks. You have been wandering in your mind all that time, talking of many strange things, and we have called at three ports. I forget their names, but the last one was an island with a beautiful harbor. Now, in about twenty days, if all goes well, we should reach another island called Cyprus. But you must not talk s0 much, you must sleep. The Saracen called Hassan, who is a clever doctor, told “me so.” ’ So Rosamund. slept, and from that time forward, floating on the calm Mediterranean Sea, her strength began to come back again rapidly, who was young and strong in body and constitu- tion. Three days later she was helped to the deck, where the first man she saw was Hassan, who e forward to greet her with many Eastern saluta- tions and joy written on his dark, wrin- kled face, “I give thanks to Allah ror your sake end my own,” he sald. “For yours that you still live whom I thought would die, and for m¥self that had you died your life would have been required ?t my hands by Salah-ed-din, my mas- er.” ¥ “If 80, he should have blamed Azrael, not you,” answered Rosamund, smil- ing; then suddenly turned cold, for before her was Sir Hugh Lozelle, who also thanked heaven that she had.re- ethren. & ) Y @ ( 9, 10N THE - BEGTY. covered. She listened to him coldly, and presently he went away, but soon was at her side again. Indeed, she could never be free of him, for when- ever she appeared on deck He was there, nor could he be repelled, since neither silence nor -rebuff would stir him. Always he sat near, talking in his false, hateful voice, and devouring her with the greedy eyes which she could feel fixed upon her face. With him often was his jackal, the false Nicholas, who crawled about her like a snake and strove' to. flatter her, but to this man she would never speak a word. < At last she could bear it no longer. and, when her health had returned to her, -summoned Hassan to her cabin. ‘‘Tell me, Prince,” she said, “who rules upon this vessel?” “‘Three people,” he answered, bowing. “The knight, Sir Hugh -Lozelle, who, as a skilled navigator, is the captain and rules the sailors; I, who rule the fighting men; and you, Princess, who rule us all.” » . _“Then I command ' that the rogue named Nicholas” shall not be allowed tojapproach me. Is it to be borne that I must associate with my fa'ther’s mur- derer?” “I fear that in that business we all had a hand, nevertheless ' your order shall be obeyed. To tell you the truth, lady, I hate the fellow, who is but a common spy.” “I desire, also,” went.on Rosamund, “to speak no more with Sir Hugh Lo- zelle,” “That is more difficuit,” said Hassan, “since he is the captain whom my master ordered ,me. to obey in all things that have to do with the ship.” *I have nothing to do with the ship,” answered und, “‘and surely the Princess of bec, if so I am, may choose her own companions. I wish to see more of you and less of Sir Hugh Lozelle”" 5 I am honored,” replied Hassan, “and’ will do my, best. For some days after this, although he was always watching her, Lozelle approached Rosamund but seldom, and wlienever he did so he found Hassan at her side, or rather standing behind her like a guard. At length, as it chanced, the Prince was taken with a sickness from drink- ing bad water which held him to his bed for some and then Lozelle found. his jportunity.. Rosamund strove to keep in -her cabin to avoid him, but the heat of the summer sun in the Mediterranean drove her out of it to a place beneath an awning.on the poop, where she sat with the wom- ==. an Marie. Here Lozelle approached her, pretending to bring her food or to inquire after her comfort, but she ‘would answer him nothing. At length, since Marie could understand what he said’ in French, he addressed her in Arabic, which he spoke well, but she feigned not to understand him. Then hé used the English tongue as it was talked among the common people in Essex and said: “Lady, how sorely you misjudge me. What is,my crime against you? I am an Essex man of good lineage, who met yow' in Essex and learnt to love you there. Is that a crime, in one who is- mot poar, who, moreover, was knighted for his deeds by no mean hand? Your father sald me nay, and you said me nay, and, stung by my disappointment and his words—for he called me sea-thief and raked up old tales that are not true against me—I talked as’ I Should not have done, swearing that 1 would wed vou yet in spite of all. For this I was called to account with justice, and your cousin, the young ‘kmight Godwin, who was thén a squire; struck me in the face. Well, he worsted and wounded me, for- tune favoring him, and I departed with my vessel to the East, for that {s'my business, to trade between Syria an England. “Now, -as it. chanced, there being peace at the time between the Sultan and the Christians, I visited Damascus to buy merchandise. While I was there Saladin sent for me and asked me if it fvere true that I belonged to a part of England called Essex. When I an- swered yes, he asked if T knew Sir An- drew @’'Arcy and his daughter. I said ves, whereon he told me that strange tale of your kinship to him of Wwhich I had heard already: also a still stranger tale of some dream that he had dreamed concerning you, which made’ it necessary that you should be brought to his court,, where he was minded to raise you to great honor. In the end he offered to hire my finest ship for a large sum, it I would sail it to England to fetch you; but he didnot tell me that anv force was to be and I, on my part, said that I would lift no hand against you or yeur father, nor indeed have I done so.” ““Whe remembéréd the swords of Godwin and Wulf,” broke in Rosa- mund scornfully, “and preferred that braver men should face them.” - Lady,” answered Lozelle, coloring, “hithertg none of accused me of a lack of couraRe. Of your courtesy, listen, I pray you. I did wrong to enter on this business; but lady, it was love foryou that drove me to it, for the thought of this long voyage in'your company was Again - WRomante of he Trusades. By & bait I could not withstand.” ‘“Paynim gold was- the bait you copld not withstand—that is what you mean. Be brief, I pray you. I weary of this talk.” “Lady, vou are harsh and misjudge me, as I will show,” and he -looked about him cautiously. *“Within a week from now, If all goes well, we cast an- chor in Limazol, in Cyprus, before we run to a secret port near Antioch, Whence you are to be taken overland to Damascus, avoiding _all - cities ‘of the Franks. Now, the Emperor Isaac of Cyprus is my friend, and over him Sal- adin has no power, Once in his court you would be safe until such time as you found opportunity to: return to England. This, then, is my plan—that Yyou should escape from the 'ship at night,’as I can arrange.” “And what is your payment,” she asked, “who are a merchant knight?” “My payment, lady, is—yourself. In +Cyprus we will be wed—oh! think be- fore you answer. At Damascus many dangers await you: with me vou will . find safetv and a_ Christian husband who loves you well—so well that for your sake he is willing to lose his ship and, what is more, to break faith with Saladin, whose arm is long.” “Have done,” she said coldly. “Soon- er will I trust myself to an honest Sar- acen than to you, Sir Hugh, whose spurs, if you me{ your desert, should be hacked from you by scullions. Yes, sooner would I take death for my lord than you, who for your own base ends deyvised the vplot that brought my father to his myrder and me to slavery. Have done, I say, and . never dare again to speak of love to me, who hate you,” and, rising, she walked past him to her cabin. P But Lozelle, looking after her, mut- teréd to himself, “Nay, fair lady, I have but begun; nor will I forget your bit- ter words, for which you shall pay the merchant knight in kisse: From her cabin Rosamund sent a message to Hassan, saying that she would speak with him. He came, still pale with illness, and asked her will, whereon she told him what had passed between Lozelle and herself, demanding his . protection against this man. Hassan's eyes flashed. “Yonder he stands,” he said, “alone. xul, vou come with me and speak to m She bowed her head, and giving her his hand, he led her to the poop. “Sir captain,” he began, addressing Lozelle, “the Princess here tells me a strange story—that you have dared’to offer vour love to her, by Allah! to her, a niece of Salah-ed-din.” . “What of it, Sir Saracen?” answered Lozelle, insolently. *Is not a Christian knight fit mate for the blood ,of an Eastern chief? Had I offered her less than marriage, you might have spo- Kén.” “You!” answered Hassan, with rage in his low voice, ‘“you, huckstering thief and renegade, who swear by Ma- homet in Damascus and by your pro- phet Jesus in England—aye, deny .it not, I have heard vou, as I have heard that rogue Nicholas, your servant. You, her fit mate? Why, were it not that you must guide this ship, and that my master bade me not guarrel with you till your task was done, I would behead you now and cut from your throat the tongue that dared to speak’ such words,” and as he spoke he gripped the handle of his scimitar. Lozelle quailed before his flerce eyes, for well he knew Hassan, and knew al that if it came to fighting his sail- were no match for the emirmnd his picked Saracens. “When our duty is done you shall answer for those words,” he said, try- ing to look brave. “By Allah! I hold you to the prom- ise,” replied Hassan. ‘‘Before Salah- ed-din I will answer for them when and where you will, as ycu shall answer to him for your treachery." “Of what, then, am I accused?” asked Lozelle. *“Of loving the lady Rosa- mund, as do all men—perhaps your- self, old and withered. as you are, among them?” “Aye, and for that crime I will repay you, old and withered as I am, Sir Renegade. But with Salah-ed-din you have another score to settle—that by promising her escape you tried to se- duce her from this ship, where you were sworn to guard her, saying that you would find her refuge among the Gregks of Cyprus.” 2 “Were this true,” replied Lozelle, “the Sultan might have cause of com- plaint against me. But it is not true. Harken, since speak I must. The lady Rosamund, prayed me to do this deed, and I told her that for my honor's sake it is not possible, although it was true that I loved her now as always, and would dare much for her. Then she said that if I did but save her from you Saracens, I should not go witheut my reward, since she would wed me. Again, although it cost me sore, I answered that it might not be, but when once I had brought my ship to land, I was her true knight, and being freed of my oath, would do my best to save her.” “Princess, you hear,” turning to Rosamund. you?" “I say,” she answered coldly, “that this man lles to save himself. ‘I say, moreever, that I said to him, that sooner would I die than he should lay a finger on me.” “I hold also that he lies,” sald Has- sald Hassan, “What say san. “Nay; unclasp not that dag- ger if you would Ilive to see another sun. Here, I will not fight with you, but Salah-ed-din shall learn all this case when we reach his court, and judge between the word of the Princess of Baalbec and of his hired servant, the false Frank and pirate, Sir Hugh Logelle.” “Let him learn it—when we reach his court,” answered Lozelle, - with meaning; then added, “Have you aught else to say to me, Prince Hassan? Be- cause, if not, I must be attending to the business of my ship, which you suppose that I was about to abandon to. win a lady’s, love.” “‘Onlv this, that the ship is the Sul- tan’s and not yours, for he bought it from you, and that henceforth this lady will be guarded day and. night, and doubly guardéd when we come to the shores of Cyprum, where it seem that you have friends.' Understand and re- member.” bos ; unbfleerstand.ua;d ferta&nly L win remember,” rgplie ozelle, they parted. ‘p i h“(; thlnk."(:a&d Rosamund, when he ad gone, “that we shall be fo if we land safe in Syria.” st “That was in my.mind, also, lady. 1 think, too, that I have forgot my wis- dom, but my heart rose against this man, and being still weak from sick- ness, I lost my judgment and spoke what was In my heart, who would have done better to wait. Now, perhaps, it will be best to kill him, if it were not that he alone has the skill t§ navigate the ghip, which is a trade that he has followed from his youth. Nay, let it go as Allah wills. He is just, and will bring the matter to judgment in due .(lm’;." o ‘““Yes, but to what judgment?” i Ay judgment?” asked “I hope to that of the sword,” an- ;wered Hassan, as he bowed and left er. % From that time forward a; watched all the night mr‘n}:ege}r;: Rosamund’s cabin, and when she walked the deck armed men walked after her. Nor was she.troubled by M'em'aw!::o ntought to speak with her no more, or to n either, wlt? the man Nicholas he sp}:fl:e m?zgg At length upon one golden evening— for Lozelle was a skillful pilot, one of the best, Indeed, who sailed those seas, they came to the shores of Cyprus, and W Tiver Tabyard cast anchor. Before them, stretcheq along.the beach, lay the white town of T4mazol, with palm trees standing amidst its gardens, while beyond the fertile plain rose ‘the mighty mountal range of Trooldos. Sick and weary the endless ocean, Rosamund’gazed with rapture at this green and beau- teous shore, the home of so much mj tery, and sighed to think that on it she might not set her foot. Lozelle saw her look and heard her sigh, and as h. climbed into the boat out to row him into the her, saying: “Will you not change your mind, lady, and come with me to visit my vhich had come harbor, mocked friend, the Emperor Isaac? I swear that nis court is gay, not packed fuil of sour Saracens or pilgrims thinking of their <ouls. In Cyprus they only make pilgrimages to Paphos yonder, where Venus was born from out the ned since the Se- foam\ and. has r ginning of the world—aye, and will reign- until its end.” Rosamund made no answer. and Lo- zelle, descending into the boat, was rowed shoreward through the break- ers by the dark-skinned; Cypridan oars- men, who wore flowers in their hair, and sang as they labored at the oars. For- ten whole da they rolled off Limazol, although the ther was fair and the -wind blew straight for Syria. When Rosamund agked why they bided there so long, Hassan stamped his foot and said it was be- cause the Eniperor refused to supply them with more food or water than was sufficient for their daily need, un- less he, Hassan, would land and travel to an inland town called Nicosia, where his court lay, and there do homage ‘to him. This, scenting a trap, he feared to do, nor could they put out to sea without provisions. “Oannot Sir Hugh Lozelle see to t?* asked Rosamund. “Doubtless, if he . will,” Hassan, grinding his teet swears that he i8 powerless.” So there they bode day after day, baked: by the sweltering summer sun apd rocked to and fro on the long ocean rollers till their’hearts grew sick within them, and their bodies also, for some of them were seized with a fever common to the shores of Cyprus, of which two died. Now and again some officer would come off from the shore with Lozelle"and a little food and wa- ter and bargain with them, sayjng that before their wants were supbplied the Prince Hassan must visit the Emperor and bring with him the fair lady who was his passenger, whom he desired to see. Hassan would answer no, and doubls the guard about Rosamund, for at nights boats appeared . that cruised round them. In the daytime also bands of mefl, fantastically dressed in silks, and with them women, could be seen riding to and fro upon the shore and staring at them, as though they were striving to make up their minds to at- tack the ship. Then Hassan armed his grim Sara- cens and bade them stand in line upon the bulwarks, drawn scimitar in hand, a sight that seemed to frighten the Cypriotes—at least they always rode away toward the great square of Co- lossi. . At length Hassan would bear it no more. One morning Lozeile came off from Limazol, where he siept at night, bringing with him three Cyprian lords, who_visited the ship—not-to bargain as they pretended, but to obtain ‘sight of the beauteous Princess - Rosamund. Thereon the common ‘talk. began .or homage that must be paid before foed was granted, failing which the Em- peror woulld bid his seamen capture the ship. Hassan Mstened a while, then suddenly issued an order that the lords should be seized. “Now,” he said to Lozelle, “bid your sallors haul up the anchor and let us begone for Syria.” “But,” answered the ‘knight, “we have neither food nor water for more than one day.” answered ; “but he answered Hassan, ‘as well die of thirst and starvation on the sea as rot here with fever. What we can bear these Cyprian gallants can bear also. Bid the sailors lift the an- chor and hoist the sail, or I loose my scimitars among them.” Now Lozelle stamped and foamed, but without avail, so he turned to the three lords, who were pale with fear, and said: “Which will you do: find food and water for this ship, or put to sea with- out them, which is but to die?"'s They answered that they would go ashore and supply all that was need- ful. “Nay,” sald Hassan, “you bide hers until it comes.” In the end, then, this happened, for one of the lords chanced to bp a nephew of the Emperor, who, when he learned that he was a captive, ment supplies in plenty. Thus it came about that the Cyprian lords having been sent back with the last empty boat, within two days they were at sea again. Now Rosamund missed the hated face of the spy, Nicholas, and told Has- san, who made inquiry to find=-or .so said Lozelle—that he went ashore and vanished there on the first day of their landing in Cyprus, though whether he had been killed in some brawl, or fallen sick, or hidden himself away, he did not know. Hassan shrugged-his shoul- ders, and Rosamund was glad enough to be rid of Lim, but in her heart she ‘wondered for what evil purpose Nicho- las had left'the ship. hen the galley was one day out fri Cyprus steering for the coast of Syria, they fell into a calm such as is common in those seas in summer. This calm lasted eight whole days, during which' they -made but little progress. At length, when all were weary of staring at the oll-like sea, a wind sprang up that grew gradually to a gale blowing toward Syria, and before it they fled along swiftly. Worse and stronger grew that gale, till on the evening of the second day, when they seemed in no little danger of being pooped, they saw a great mountain far away, at the sight of which Lozelle thanked God aloud. “Are those the mountains near Anti- och?” asked Hassan. “Nay,” he answered, “they are more than fifty miles south of them, betwéen Ladikiya and Jebela. There, by the mercy of heaven, is a good haven, for I have visited it, where we can lie till this storm is past.” “But we are steering for Darbesdk, not for a haven near Jebela, which is a Frankish port,” answered Hassan, angri ly. “Then put the ship about and steer there yourself, aid Lozelle, “and I promise you this, that within two hours every one of you will be dead at the bottom of the sea.” Hassan considered. It was true, for then the waves would strike them broadside on, and they must fill and sink. “On your head be it,” he answered shortly. The dark fell, and by the light of the great lantern at their prow they saw the white seas hiss past as they drove shoreward beneath bare masts, For they dared hoist no sail. All that night they pitched and rolled, till the stoutest of them fell sick, pray- ing God and Allah that they might have light by which to enter ‘the hare