Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1881-11-22

were at the castle gate to carry MIN on,
he had just time to call his girl to him,
and say: Il may be going to my death,
but l wont betray my master. There is
no time to burn the papers, and cannot
take them with me; they are hidden in
the old leathern chair where sit. No
one knows this but you, and you must
guard them till / come OF send you a
safe messenger to take them away. Prom
ise me to be brave and silent, and | can
20 without fear. You see, he wasn't
afraid to die, but he was to seem trail
tor. Lady Matildy promised solemnly,
and the words were hardly out Of her
mouth when the men came in, and her
father was carried away prisoner and
sent off to the Tower"
But she didn't cry; she just called
her brother, and sat down in that chair,
with her head leaning back on those pa
pers, like queen, and waited while the
soldiers hunted the house over for EN-;
wasn't that smart girl:' cried lilly,
beaming with pride, for she was named
for this ancestress, and knew the story by
heart.
II reckon she was scared, though, when
the men came swearin' in and asked her
if she knew anything about it. The boy
did his part then, for he didn't know, and
fred up and stood before his sister! and
he says. says he, as bold as a lion II
my lord had told US where the papers be,
we would die before we would betray
him. Blu. we are children and know
nothing, and i, is cowardly of you to
Try to fright US with oa,hs and drawn
swords y"
As Eph quoted from the book, Seth
planted himself before lilly, with the
long poker in his hand, saying, as he
fiourished i; valiantly:
"Why didn't the boy take his fathers
sword and lay about him : would, If
any one was ha sh to lilly"
"You bantam he was only a Bit of a
boy, and couldn't do anything Sit down
and hear the res, of it, commanded Til.
ly, with pat on the yellow head, and
private resolve that Seth should have the
larges, piece Of pie a, dinner next day, as
reward for his chivalry.
"Well, the men went of after turning
the castle out OF window, but they said
they should come again SO faithful Ma
Tidy was full Of trouble, and hardly dared
to leave the room where the chair stood
All day she stood there, and at night
her sleep was so full Of fear about it, that
she often got up and went to see that all
was safe. The servants thought the fright
had hurt her wits. and let her be, but
Rupert, the boy, stood by her and ne yer
was afraid Of her queer ways. She was
"A pious maid, the book says, and often
spent the long evenings reading the BIZ
bic, with her brother by her, all alone in
he great room, with no one 10 help her
bear her secret, and no good news of her
father. At last, word came that the
king was dead and his friends banished
out of England. Then the poor children
were in a sad plight, for they had no
mother, and the servants all ran away,
leaving only one faithful old man to help
them"
But the father did come :" cried Roxy,
eagerly.
You'll see" continued Eph, half tell
ing. half reading.
Matilda was sure he would, so she
sat on in the big chair, guarding the pa.
pers, and no one could get her away, till
one day a man came with her fathers
ring, and told her to give up the secret.
She knew the ring, bur would not tell till
she had asked many questions, so as to
be very sure, and while the man ans
wered all about her father and the king,
she looked at him sharply. Then she
stood up and said, in tremble, for there
was something very strange about the
man: Sir, | doubt you in spite Of the
ring, and l will not answer till you pull
off tie false beard you wear, that may
see your face and know if you are my
fathers friend or foe Off came the dis
guise, and Matilda found it was my lord
himself, come to take them with him out
of England. He was very proud of that
faithful girl, guess, for the old chair
still stands in the castle, and the name
keeps in the family, Pa says, even over
here, where some of the Bassetts came
along with the Pilgrims"
"Our lilly would have been as brave,
l know, and she looks like the old picter
down to Gran'ma's, don't she, Eph; :"
cried Prue, who admired her bold, bright