Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1884-10-09
THE CURFEW HEROINE.

No1 uihR lo"niBut, toiu III prose- IL
as follows. i - ii /
1t lacked quite half an Rour Of
Curfew toll. The old bell-ringer
came forth from under the wattled
roof of his cottage stoop, and stood
with uncovered head 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 fall
: tering in the heavy metallic throbs
Of the cathedral bell. Old Jasper
had lived through many changes.
He had tolled out tile notes Of mourn
ing for Queen Elizabeth, and with
tears scarcely dry he had rung the
glad tidings of the coronation of
James, Charles |. had been crowned
and resigned and expiated his weak
ness before all England in Jasper 8
time, and now he who under army
held all the Commonwealth in the
hollow of his hand, ruled as more
than monarch, and still the old
man with the habit Of long life upon
him rang his curfew.
Jasper stood alone now, lifting his
dimmed eyes up to the softly dappled
sky.
The walls of his memory seemed
so written over--so crossed and re-
crossed by the annals Of the years
that had gone before that there SEEM
ed little room for anything in the
present Little reckoned he that
Cromwell's spearsmen were encamped
on the moor beyond the village--that
Cromwell himself rode with his
guardsmen a league away he only
knew that the bell had been rung in
the tower when William, the Con-
queror, made curfew law, had been
spared by Puritan and Roundhead,
and that his arm for sixty years had
never failed him at even tide.
He was moving with slow step to-
ward the gate, when woman came
hurrying in from the street and stood
beside him; q lovely woman, but with a
face so blanched that it seemed carved
in marble. Her great, solemn eyes
were raised to the aged face in pitt
full appeal, and the lips were forming
words that he could not understand.
Speak up, lass; am deaf and
uxruot near your cIatfer.
For Heavens sake, JASPER, do not
ring the curfew-bell tonight"
What ma ring curfswH Yemust
be daft, lassie"
Jasper, for sweet Heaven 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
curfew toll. Do you hear? My Low.
er, Richard Temple. See Jasper, here
is money to make your old age happy.
sold my jewelry that lady Maud
gave me, and the gold shall be yours
for one curfew."
Would you bride me, Lily de
We're? Yere changeling. Ye're
ma the blood Of the Plantagenets in
yere veins as yere mother had. What
corrupt the bell-ringer under her
Majesty, good Queen Bess ? Not for
all the gold that lady Maud could
bring me. Babies have been Dor
and strong men have died before now
at the ring Of my bell. Avail
Avail.
And out on the village green with
solemn shadows Of the lichens length
ening over 1t, strong man awaited
the eurfew TO toll for his death. He
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 it mattered in those days,
when the sword that the great Crom-
well welded was 80 prone to fall,
what he or others had done. He had
been scribe to the late Lord up at
the castle, and the Lady Maud, for
getting that man must WOO and wo-
men must wait, had given her heart
to him without the asking, while the
gentle Lily De We're, distant kinswo-
man and poor companion of her. had,
without seeking, found the treasures
of his true love and held them fast.
Then he had joined the army and
made one Of the pious soldiers whose
evil passions were never stirred but
by sign or symbols of poetry. But
scorned woman's hatred had reached
him even there. Enemies and deep
plots had conquered him. Tonight
he was to die.
The beautiful world lay as a Wis.,
picture before him. The dark green
wood above the rocky hill where Ro-
bin Hood and his merry men had
dwelt the frowning castle with its
draw bridge 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 daisies at his feet he
saw. But alb more wildly than all,
he saw the great red sun with its
hazy veil lingering above the trees as
though it pitied him with more than
human pity.
He was q God fearing and a God
serving 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 destroy him but the sweet |
face Of Lily De We're, whom he loved.
She had knelt at Cromwell's feet and |
pleaded for him. She wearied Heaven /