Saint Mary's beacon., 1874-01-29
DUDLEY'S ESCAPE.

"Well. Master Dudley. and what news
have now? How fares the cause Of bis
Majesty the KingT''
squire. The person whom he had ad
dressed was man of fine presence and
military bearing Of good descent. yet with
a decided business turn. His father
had been a nobleman aud at the same
time ane iron manufacturer. This son
had left Oxford at twenty TO assume d.
rec;ion Of his fathers forge and furnaces.
In such work he was deeply interested
and actively engaged when the great civil
war broke out-the war between Charles
] and the people Of kingland. Dud Dud-
lev had. by reason of birth and cd ucation
espoused the cause Of the King. and had
risen to the rank Of general Of artillery.
After many successes by the Parliamen-
tary army lull had fallen which was
broken in 1864 BY tumults and uprising
in Wales. The influence Of this commo-
ton had extended through all England.
but the vigourous measures Of Fairfax.
the Parliamentary commander. had compel
led the concentration Of the insurgents at
Colchester in Essex. Against them a
strenuous siege was being carried on BY
airiax at the time our story opens.
I'll enough, master Hodg dgson" was
Dudley's answer "Our friends are hard
bes,ead in Colchester. and the Bound
head Cromwell 10 sitting down before
Pembroke. Yet both places make gal.
Ian. resistance, and the right cause may
ye. triumph.
"Twcre a good deed srow to raise
troops here in the west and strike blow
for King Charles while the crop-ears are
busy otherwherc."
"Yea, neighbor; you have reason on
ycur side, and my blood tinglcs to recov-
er for his Majesty something Of what be
has lost in these evil times. Beshrew me
bu. it shall be done"
So Dudley rode forth among his neigh.
bors. "Harcourt." he said to one who
had been major in the royal forces during
the struggle that ended in 1916; "Har.
court. shall We not make head once more
for our good lord aud king? He hath
| right to our swords and lives and it is to
! our shame that we be still when our friends
elsewhere arc in peril for the cause"
with all nv heart. Dudley," va.
tAe answer. YES, I will ride with yeu
to rouse the country side. aud take The
field against the frantic rebelsrwhose sue.
cesscs hare made them more insolent THAI
can bear.
They rode together. therefore, and
gathered about them many more gentle.
men and their asherepts, until they could
number two hundred men.
In the neighborhood of the village o,
Madelcy. in Statfordshire. the place where
John Fletcher lived and wrote more than
a century later. was wood called Bcscc
Bello. The rendezvous Of Dudley and
| his friends was appointed there for safety
and secrecy until such time as. being
drilled aud organized. their forces might
be G, for some feasible enterprise.
But, in the meantime, the adhcrents o.
| the Parliamen, had not been lille either
Oas bright morning = company OF pu
ritans marched into the wood with Il,
6rm purpose Of destroying the "malis
nan,s." as they terned them. In vait
Dudley and his fellow-oihcers urged thei
followers to the conflict. The desperas,
intensity Of the Parliament men was no
to be wishssood, aud in comparatively /:
few minutes they were wholly triumphau,
Many Of the poor fellows who had mean
to figh, fot the dixine righ. cf kings Ia,
dead under the trees of Boscs Bello. an.
Of those vho remained alive nearly al
we're taken prisoners. Among these wer
the officers and men Of mark. with Dadley
as their head.
|, 80 master Dudley" said the leader o
the successful party. .'herc is bu, an il
end OF your misplaced loyalty. A ma,
Ike you bad bsecr have feared God, an.