Arizona republican., 1893-01-17
THE CURFEW.

,on The old bell ringer came from under | ,hs wattled roof of his cottage stoop and ,.0oa with uncovered head in the clear .wsst scented air. He had grown blind and deaf in the service, but his arm was !. muscular as ever, and he who listened 1 ,his day marked no faltering in the heavy mstallic throbs of the cathedral bell Old las had lived through many changes. He I'd tolled out its notes of mourning for good Queen Bess, and, with tears .carcely dry, he had rung the glad tidIngs If the coronation of James. Charles had be,n crowned, reigned. and expiated his l weakness before all England in Jasper's f lime. and now he who under his army 1 h,ld all the commonwealth in the hollow of his hand ruled as more than monarch, l and still the old man, with the habit of a long life upon him, rang his matin and sorrow.
 Jasper stood alone now, lifting his dim. med eyes up to the softly dappled sky. The walls of his memory seemed so writ ten oyer-so crossed and recrossed by the annals of the life that had gone before that there seemed little room for anything in the present. Little rocked he that Crom- wells spearsmen were camped on the moor beyond the village-that Cromwell himself rode with bis guardsmen league away; he only knew that the bell that had been rung in the tower when William the Conqueror had made curfew law had been spared by Puritan ard Roundhead, and that his arm for sixty years had never failed him at eventide.
 He was moving with slow step toward the gate, when woman came hurriedly in from the street and stood beside him lovely woman, but with face SO blanched that 1t 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 l understand.
 Speak up. lass am deaf and cannot hear your clatter."
 The voice raised, and the hands clasped ! and unclasped, and rang themselves to- I geiher, palm and palm.
 "For heavens sake. Jasper, do not ring the eurfew tonightr'
 What, na ring curfewi You must be daft, lassier
 Jasper, for sweet heavens sake--for my ake-for one night in all your long life for i get to ring the belli Fail this once, and my lover shall live, whom Cromwell says shall
 die at curfew toll. Do you hears My lover Richard Temple. See, Jasper, here ismoney to make your old age happy. sold my jewels that the Lady Maud gave me and the gold shall be yours for one curfew."
 Would you bribe me, Lily de Veres Yere ehangellng. Ye've na the blood of tbe Plantagenets in ye're veins as ye're mother had. Whatl corrupt the bell ringer under her majesty, good Queen Bessi Not
 for all the gold that Lady Maud could bring mel What is your lover to mel Babes have been born and strong men have died before now at the ringing of my bell. Awa'i awa'r'
 And out on the village green, with the shadows of the lindens lengthening over it, strong man awaited the curfew 70 toll for bis death. He stood, handsome, brave aud tall-taller by an inch than the tallest pike man who guarded him.
 What had he done that he should dief Little 1t mattered in those days. when the sword that the great Cromwell wielded was so prone 10 fall, what he or others had
 done. He had been scribe to the late lord up at the castle, and Lady Maud, forget ung that man must woo and woman must wat, bad given her heart to him without the asking, while the gentle Lily de We're, dis ,Aht klnswoman and poor companion to her, nad without seeking found the treasures of ms true love and held them fast. Then he had joined the army and made one of the
 POus soldiers whose evil passions had never been stirred but by sign or symbol vd Popery. But scorned woman's hatred sau reached him even there Enemies and ueep plots had compassed him about and eOnquered him. Tonight he was to die. me beautiful world lay as a vivid pic 'ure before him. The dark greenwood aOoVe the rocky hill where Robin Hood
 ana ms merry men had dwelt; the frown- .ng castle, with it's drawbridge and square "wers; the long stretch of moor with the puiple shadows upon it; the green, straight "aks of the village; the birds overhead; .,en the daisies at his feet he saw. But, au, more yividly than all, he saw the great ,su sun with it's hazy veil lingering above sue trees, as though it pitied him with more than hu;nan pity.
 ne was God fearing and God serving
 an Ian' He had long made his peace with |SS.aveh' Nothing stood between him and
 ssSS'nl1notaing ssS rose pleading between him |u |,lN those who were to destroy him but I~e sweet face of Lily De We're, whom he |eu; She had knelt at Cromwell's feet |suu pleaded for his life. She had wearied |ayail. ~ p'a'ers' ou' aii "i'nou' ,o.owiy now the great sun went down.
 S"iy 'ne last red rim was hid behind the fesSuwood foOS Thirty seconds more and his [,SI would be with his God. The color no. forsake his cheeks. The dark
 r, s' or hair lay upon warm brow. It Sss "is purpose to die as martyrs and kbonIs men die. What was life that he hn,sa. hIS'a clng to iti He already felt the air 6,S'e 6ss,S with the first heavy roll of the
 Fscia 'n kneii. But no sound came. Still &Dnou &as ,ne soldiers with his clear gray eyes ksrs k1 mem be waited. The crimson ban &ips n has sns west were paling to pink, The katba,aaSs aS ceased their lowing and had been {AsTefed Am Into the barnyards.
 $Ald lI nature had sounded her curfew. but
 's r, Jasper was silent ' T The hall