A STRANGE STORY.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12878, 23 August 1910, Page 1

A STRANGE STORY.

A certain lady, the "widow of a wealthy matu ■of title, inhabited a lonely castle not iar from the route between Buda and Vienna; One morning she received a polite note requesting her to provide, that. night at ten o'clock a supper for twelve gentler men. '.'*•''.. She knew the character of her selfinvited guests, and devised a 1 novel I mode of detfciice. She dared dot .send for aid, for she knew every road between the castle and any town would be watched to prevent communication, so she made her own, plans. At ten that evening up rode an armed band of twelve. ; The gr*at ' gate of the outer court was thrown open as if for an honoured guest. The lady • herself , richly dressed, stood at . the entrance to - receive. She at once selected the chief, bade him; welcome,' and gave orders that the horses should be well cared for/ Then, taking the arm of the -chief, she led the way to tke~. dining-room. ' A ffoodly feast was spread on the tabled and the sideboards were covered with a magnificent display of gold and silver j)late. . The leader of the robber hand started back in surprise, but. recovering his presence of mind, he calmly seated liimself by his hostess. _ When the meal was nearly finished, the chief took out his watch. "Madam," he said, "the happiest moments of my life have always been the shortest. I ■ have another engagement to-night which I must keep, but before I go allow me to tell you that in appealing to my honour as you have to-night you have saved me from the commission of a crime. Bad as! am, no one ever appealed to my honour in vain. -As for my men, I charge, them to take nothing from. this.:. house. He who disobeys dies that instant. The brigand then asked for paper and pen, and wrote a few sentences in strange characters. . i ' 'Ifyou or your retainers ever lose anything," 'he' added to his hostess, "post- this: publicly ,in the nearest town, and I pledge my word tho rniSßinc article shall he returned/— indrew^. Cross, in "About the Car-, . natl-.ians." - • V