The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-02-17
TiiE CURIrEw HEROINE.

lhE
It lacked quite half an hour Of curfew
toll. The old bell ringer came from
under the wattled roof of his cottage
etoop, and stood with uncovered bead in
the clear, sweet-scented air. he had
grown blind and deaf in the service, but
his arm was as muscular as ever, and he
who listened this day marked no falter-
ing in the heavy metallic throbs of the
cathedral bell. Old Jasper had lived
through many changes. He had tolled
out his notes Of mourniU 6 for good Queen
Bess, and with tears scarcely dry he had
rng the glad tidings of the coronation
OF James. Charles |. had been crowned,
relgned and expiated his weakness be-
fore all England in Jasper's time; and
now he, who under urlHy held all the
commonwealth in the hollow of his
land, ruled AS more than monarch, and
still the old man, with the habit OF q
long life upon him, rang his matin and
sorrow.
Jasper stood alone now, lifting his
dimmed eyes up to the softly dappled
sky.
Thef walls of his memory seemed so
written over-so crossed and recrossed
by the annals of the years that had gono
before, that there seemed little room for
anything in the present. Little rocked
he that Cromwell's spearsmen were
camped on the moor beyond the village
- that tIrnmwall himself rode with hin
guardsmen II league away; he only knew
that the bell had been rung ia the tower
when William the Conqucror made cur
low a law, had been spared by Puritan
and Roundhead and that his arm for
sixty years had neverfailcd him at even
tide.
He was moving with slow step toward
the gate, when II woman came hurriedly
in from the street and stood beside him
lovely woman, but with face so
blanchcd that it seemed carved in the
whltest Of marble. with all of its round
ness and dimples. Her great solemn
eyes wero raised to the aged fnce in pitt
ful appeal, and the lips were forming
words that he could not understood.
Speak up, lass; am deaf and cannot
hear your clatter,"
The voice raised. and the hands clasped
and unclasped, and rung themselves to-
gothioI, palm and p,im.
"For heaven y sake, Jasper do not ring
the curfew tonight"
"What, M ring curfew! Ye must be
daft, lassie,"
Jasper, for sweet heavens sake, for
my sake, for one night i'll all your life
long, forget to ring the bell Fail this
once, and my lover shall live, whom
Cromwell says shall die at c,lrtew toll
DO you hear2 my lover, Richard Temple.
See, Jasper, here is money to mako your
old age happy. L sold my jewels that
tho Lady Maud gave me, and the gold
shall all he yours for one curfcw."
''Would ye bribe me, Lilly Do Vcre2
Ye'ro changcling. Ye've M the blood
OF tho PlantaRanets in yere veins rs ye're
mother had. What, corrupt the boil
ringer under her majesty, good Queen
Bessl Not for all the gold that Lady
Maud could bring mel Babes have been
born and strong mon have died before
now at tho ringing of my bell. Avail
awa'i'
And out on the village green, with the
solemn shadows OF the elichens lenethen.
ing over, it., a strong man awaited the
cnrfew to toll tor his death. lie stood,
handsome and brave and tall--talIer by
an inch than the tallest plkeman who
guarded him.
What had he done that he should diep
Little it mattered in those days, when
the sword that the great Cromwell WELD.
cd was 80 prone to fall. what he or others
had done. flo had been scribe to the
late lord up Mt tho castle, ind Lady
Maud, forgetting that man must WOO
nnd woman must wait, had glvon her
heart to him without asking, while tho
gentle Lily De V"re, distant kinswoman
k<>
out seeking, found the treasures OF lfis
true love and held them fast. Then he
had joined the army, and made ono OF
the pious soldiers whose evil passions
were never stirred but by sign or symbol
OF popery. But n scorned woman hat
red had reached him even there. Enc
mics and deep plots had compnssed him
about and conquered him. Tonight he
was to die.
The beautiful world lay rs vivid pic
ture before him. Tho dark green wood
above the rocky hill whero Robin Hood
and his merry men had d'dwclt; the frown-
ing castle withits drawbridge and square
towers; the long stretch of moor with
the purple shadows upon it; the green,
straight walks OF the village; the birds
overhead, even the daisies ut his feet he
saw. But, ahl more vivldly than all, he
saw the great red sun with its hazy veil
lingering above the trees, us though it
pitled hlm with more than human pity.
Ho was God.fearing ana Goa-serv-
ing man. He had long made his peace
with heaven. Nothing stood between
him and death nothing rose pleading
between him and those who were to de-