The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-30
CHAPTER XII.
MIsTREss MAUD LINDSAY.

The sports of the first days OF the
J great wappenshaw were over. Inc LoIu
James Douglas, second son OF the gross
one. had won the tourneylng py un-
| horsing all his opponents without even
breaking a lance. Sholto Machlm MoIe
on his cap the golden buckle OF aron-
erv. and took his way happily nome
ward. much uplifted that the somewhat
fraudulent eyes of Mistress Maud LIN
desav had smiled upon him while the
French lady was Dreening IL there-
The knightly part of the great muster
had gone back to their tents ana louS-
ings. The commonalty were mostly
s+rinqine ayyay through the wales and
| hill passes to their homes, no longer III
ordered companies, but in bands or Two
| ar three. Disputes and misunderstand-
! ing arose here ard there between lnen
| of different provinces. The galloway
men called 'Annandale thieves at those
border men who came at the sulsiii otIe
of the hereditary warder OF the
Marches. The borderers replied By io9d
bleatings, which signined tnat they ne1u
| the GalWegians of 10 better under
which rode home to Thriere TO receive
standing than their native sheep
1t was a strange and varied company
the hospitality of the young earl ~, oI
Douglas and Duke Of Touraine- Inc
castle itself being no more than a hii-
itarv fortress, containing. in addition
10 the soldiers quarters, only the
APARTMENTS designed for the family
1and scant enough of those) could not,
of course, accommodate so great
company. -.
Rut. as was the custom at all great
houses. though more in England and
France than in poverty stricken Scot
land. the Earl of Douglas had IN store
an abundant supply of tents, some OF
them woven of arras and ornamented
with cloth of gold; others OF number
but equally serviceable material.
His mother, the Countess OF douglas;
who knew nothing of the occurrences OF
the night of the great storm, or guessed
at the suspicious of witchcratt ana
diablerie. which made he'll OF the
breast of Malise, the master armorer.
received her sons guests with ulStlh-
guished courtesy. Malise nlmSe1 hdd
gone so soon as he set eyes on the
Companion OF the Marshal de Retz to
find the abbot that they might consult
together, only, however, to discover
that the gentle churchman had quilted
the field as soon as he had OBTAINED
the consent of his nephew to the DOS
session of the new chorister, TO Wnom
he had taken so sudden and violent
fancy.
soon sounding hollow and dull
upon the wooden bridge which the
earIs father had erected from the leIt
bank TO the southernmoSt corner OF the
Isle of Thrieve, a bridge which single
charge of powder, or even a few strokes
of . woodman's ak would have peen
sufficient to remove and disable. but
which. nevertheless, enabled the CASTLE
dwelIers to avoid the extreme lnconVen-
fence of passing the ford at all states
of the river.
shoIto MacKi1n, with all the con-
seriousness of a shining success IN the
stiffness Of the neck which u9heid the
slight additional weight OF the earls
gold buckle in his cap, found himself,
not wholly by accident, in the imme-
date neighborhood where his hearts
beloved. Maud Lindsay, like a valiant
seneschal, had kept her place all day
close beside the maid of Galloway, as
Margaret of Douglas was ALREADY
called
And now the little girl was more than
ever eager to keep near to her tair
.'gouvernante," for the ambassador or
the king of France had bent one look
upon her so strange and searching,
that Margaret, though not naturally
tinid, had cried aloud involuntar1ly and
clasped her friends hand with grasp
which she refused to loosen till Sholto
had promised to walk by the side of her
pony and allow her TO net her trembling
fingers in the thick of his clustering
curls.
For the armorer's son was in those
simple days an ancient ally of the little
noble damsel, and he dreamed, and not
without some excuse, that in an age
when every mans strong arm and
brave heart constituted his fortune, the
time might come when he might even
himself aspire to Maud Lindsay, bar
on's daughter though she was. For
both his father and himself were al
ready high IN favor with their master,
the earl. who could create knights and
dispose lordships as easily and more eI-
fectually than the king himself.
The emissaries of the chancellor and
Sir Alexander Livingston did not ac-
company the others back to the castle
after the short and naughty answer
which they had received, but with their
followers returned the way they had
come to their several headquarters, CIV
ing, as was natural between foes so
bitter, a wide berth to each other on
their northward journeys to Edinburgh
and Stirling.
What think you of this days doings.
Mistress Lindsay" asked Sholto, as
he swung alongside the train with
little Margaret of Douglas hand stiil
clutching the thick curls at the back or
his neck.
The maid of honor tossed her shapely
head, and with a little pretty Upward
curl Of the lin, exclaimed Twas