Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1883-01-11
THE CURFEW HEROINE.

II .tSEel quite hJll an hour ol tuF-
few toll. The old bell-ringer came
from under the wattled roof of his cot
tage ,toop aud stood with uncovered
head in the clear, sweet-scented air.
He had grown blind and deaf in the
service, but his arm was rs muscular
as ever, and he who listened this day
marked no faltering in the heavy me-
talic throbs Of the cathedral bell. old
Jasper had lived through many changes.
lie had tolled out his notes of mourn
ing for good Queen BeSs, and with
tears scarcely dry he had rung the glad
tidings of the coronation Of James.
Charles !. had been crowned, reigned,
and eXpated his weakness before all
England in Jasper's time aad now he,
who under his army held all the com
monwcalth in the hollow of his hand,
ruled rs more than monarch, and still
the old man, with the habit of long
life upon him, rang his matin in sor-
row.
Jasper stood alone now, lifting his
dimmed eyes up to the softly dapplei
sky.
The walls Of his memory seemed so
written over-so crossed and rccrosscd
by the annals Of the years that had
gone before-that there seemed little
room for anything in the present
Little rocked he that Cromwell's spears
men were campcd on the moor beyond
the village that Cromwell himself
rode with his guardsmen n league
away he only knew that the bell that
hal been rnng in the tower when VII
liam the Conqueror made curfew law
had been spared 10y Puritan and Round
heal, and that his arm for sixty years
had never failed him at cvcntide.
He was moving with slow step
towards the gate. when woman came
hurriedly in from the street and stood
beside him; lovely woman, but with
face SO blanched that it seemed carved
In the whitest of marble with all its
roundness and dimples Her great
solemn eyes were raised to the aged
face in pitiful appeal, and the lips were
forming words that he could not under
stand.
speak up, lass; am deaf and can
not hear your clatter."
The voice raised, and the hands
clasped and unclasped, and rung them
selves together palm and palm.
For Heavens sake, Jasper, do not
ring the curfew tonight"
"What. not ring curfew! Ye must
be daft, lassie."
Jasper, for sweet Heavens sake.
for my sake. for one night in all your
long life. forget to ring the bell. Fail
this once, and my lover shall live,
whom Cromwell says shall die at cur
few toll. Do you hear? my lover.
Richard Temple. See, Jasper. here is
money to make your old age happy.
sold my jewels that the Lady Maud
gave me. and the gold shall all be yours
for one curfew."
Would ye bribe me, Lily dc We're?
Ye're a changeling. Ye've ma the
blood of the Plantagcnets in ye're veins
as ye're mother had. What, corrupt
the bell-ringer under her Majesty, good
Queen Bess Not for all the gold that
Lady Maud could bring mel What is
your lover to me? Babes have been
born and strong men have died before
now at the ringing Of my bell Awa'r'
And out on the village green. with
the solemn shadows of the heavens
lengthening over it, a strong man
awaited the curfew to toll for his
death lie stood, handsome and brave
and tall--taller by an inch than the
tallest pikeman who guarded him.
What had he done that he should
die? Little 1t mattered in those days,
when the sword that the great Crom-
well yielded was so prone to fall, what
he or others had done lie had been
scribe to the late Lord up at the castle,
and Lady Maud, forgetting that man
must WOO and woman must wait. had
given her heart to him without asking.
while the gentle Lily DE We're, distant
hnswoman and poor companion to her,
had, without seeking. found the treas
ures of his true love, and held them
fast. Then he had joined the army.
But q 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.