Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-04-23
THITRsnAv

USTIN, MOWER COU:
aud Lady Maud, forgetting that man
must WOO, and women must wait. had
given her heart to him without the ask
ing; while the gentle Lily Do We're,
:lstant klnswoman, and poor comp"n:
ion to her, had, without seeking, found
the treasures Of his true love, and held
them last. Then he had joined the
army, and made one of tho pious SOL
diers whose evil passions were never
stirred but by sign or symbol of Pop
cry. But a scOrned wOman's hatred
had reached him even there. Enemies
and deep plots had compassed him
about and conquered him. Tonight
he was to die!
The beautiful world lay rs a vivid
picture before him. The dark green
wood above the rocky hill where Robin
Hood and his merry men had dwelt !;
the frowning castle with his drawbridge
and square towers the long stretch of
moor with the purple shadows upon it ;
the green, straight walks of the village ;
the birds over head, even the daises at
his feet he saw. But, ah more vividly
than all he saw the great red sun with
its hazy veil lingering above the trees.
ss though it pitied him with more than
He VS. 81 = God fe.;a.inaet,, q, and God ssrv.
ing man. He had long made his peace
with Heaven. Nothing stood between
MN and death-nothing rose pleading
between him and those who were to de-
stroy him, but the sweet face of Lily
De We're. whom he loved. She had
kne!t at Cromwell's feet and pleaded
for his life. She had wearied Heaven
with her prayers, but all without avail.
Slowly now the great sun went down.
Slowly the last red rim was hid behind
the green wood. Thirty seconds more
and his soul would be with his God.
The color did not forsake his cheeks.
The dark rings of hair lay upon warm
brow. It was his purpose to die as
martyFs and brave men die. What was
life tha: he should cling to it =? He al
most felt the air pulsate with the first
heavy roll Of the death knell. But no
sound came. Still facing the soldiers
with MS clear gray eyes upon them, he
waited. The crimson banners in the
west were paling to pink. The kline
had caased their lowing, and had been
gathered into the rick yards.
All nature had sounded her curfev :
but old Jasper was silent
The bell-ringer with his gray head
yet barred had traversed half the dis
tance that lay between his cottage and
the ivy covered tower, when = form
went fitting past him, with pale, shad-
owy robes floating around It, and hair
that the low western lights touched and
tinted as With halo.
All, Huldah, Huldah r. the old man
come soon. dear. Ny work is almost
done: Huldah was the good wife,
who had gone from him in her early
womanhood, and for whom he had
mourned all his long life. But the fleet
ing form was not Huldah's, it was Lily
De We're, hurried by sudden and des-
Perate purpose toward the old Cathe-
dral.
$50 help me God, curfew shall not
ring tonight! Cromwell and his drag
oons come this way. Once more I viii
kneel at his feet and plead.
She entered the ruined arch. She
wrenched from it's fastenings the carved
and w0rm-eaten door that barred the
way to the tower. She asoended with
flying and frenzied feet the steps he.
heart lifted up to God for Richards de.
liveranoe from peril. The bats flew out
and shook the dust of centuries from
the black carvings. As she went up
she caught glimpses of the interior oi
the great building, with it's eroined
roof, its chevrous and clustered col.
umns !; its pictured saint and carved
image Of the Virgin, which the pillagera
OF ages had spared to be dealt with by
Time, the most relentless Vandal of all,
| Up-still up-beyond the rainbow
tints thrown by the stained glass across
her death-white brow; Hp-still up
past open arcade and arch, with griffin
and gargoyls staring at her from under
bracket and cornice, with all the hid
eousness of mediaeval carving: Che
stairs, flight by fight, growing Trailer
beneath her young feet now but a
slender fretwork between her and the
outer world but still up.
her breath was coming short and
grasping. She saw, through an open
space, old Jasper cross the road at the
foot of fhe tower. Oh, how far! The
seconds were treasures which Crom-
well, with all his blood-boupht Com
monwealth, could not purchase from
her: Up-ah-there, just above her,
with It's great brazen mouth and wicked
tongue, the bell hung!
A worm-eaten block for q step. and
one small white hand had clasped itself
above the clapper-the other prepared.
ct the tremble, to rise and clasp its
mate, and the feet to swing off and
thus she waited. Jasper was old and
slow-but he was sure, and it came ai
last. A faint quiver, and the vounp
feet swung from their rest, and the ten:
der hands clasped for more than thei,
precious life, the wreathing thing,
There was groaning and creaking of the
rude puleys above, and then the strokes
came heavy and strong. Jasper's HAND
had not forgot it's cunning, nor his arm
its strength. The tender. soft form
was swung and dashed to and fro. But
| she chung to and caressed the cold. crue
thing. Let one stroke come and s
thousand might follow-for it's fata
work would be done. She wreatheG
her white arms about it, 90 that at ever,
pull OF the great ropes it crushed int
the flesh. It tore her, and wounded
and bruised-but there in the solemn
twilight the brave woman swung. and
fought with the cruel curfew and God
gave her victory!
The old bell-ringer said to himself
AYE, Huldah, my work is done. The
Pn!leys are getting too heavy for my
old arms. My ears, too, have faile1
me at last. dinna hear one stroke o1
the curfew. Dear old bell, it is nv
ears that have gone false, and not thou,
Farewell, old friend"
And just beyond the worn pavement
shadowy form again went fitting pas,
him. There were drops of blood upor
tho white garments; and the face VA,
like the face of one who walked in he,
sleep, and the hands hung wounded and
powerless at her side.
Cromwell paused With his horseme1
under the dismantled maypole before
the village green. He saw the man
who was to die at sunset standing up i1
the dusky air, tall as a king and bea,,
tiful as Absalom. He gazed with knit
ted brow and angry eye but his lin,
did not give utterance to the ouicl
command that trembled on them, for ,
young girl came flying toward him
fikeman and archer stepped aside K
Jet her pass. She threw herself upo,
the turf at his horses feet; she iftef
her bleeding aud tortured hands to hi
gaze, and once more poured ont he
prayer for the life OF her lover: Will