Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

and if she set her heart on thee, Alleyne,
and thou on her, I do not think that this
Spanish king, with his three-score thousand
men. could hold you apart. Yet this VIII
say that ! would see you full knight ere
you go to my daughter with words of love.
I have ever said that brave lance should
wed her, and, by my soul! Edricson, II
God spare you, think that you Will acqult
yourself well. But enough of such trifes,
for we have our work before US, and it will
be time to speak of this matter when we
see the white cliffs of England once more
Go to Sir William FELTON,, / pray you, and
ask him to come hither, for it is time that
we were marching. There is no pass at
the further end of the valley. and it Is
perilous place should an enemy come upon
u.s."
Alleyne delivered his message, and then
wandered forth from the camp, for his
mind was all in a whirl with this uneX-
pected news, and with his talk with Sir
Nigel. Sitting upon 4 rock, with his burn
ing brow resting upon his hands. he
thought of his brother, of their quarrel, OF
the Lady Maude in her bedraggled riding
dress, of the gray old castle, of the proud,
pale face in the armory and of the last
fiery words with which she had sped him
on his way. Then he was but a penniless,
monk-bred lad, unknown and unfriended.
Now he was himself Socman of Minstead,
the head of an old stock and the lord of
an estate which, if reduced from its former
size, was still ample to preserve the dig
nifty of his family. Further, he had be-
come a of experience was counted
brave among brave men, had won the es-
TEEN and confidence of her father, and.
above ALL had been listened to by him
when he told him the secret Of his love.
AS to the gaining of knighthood, in such
stirring times 1t was no great matter for
a brave squire of gentle birth to aspire to
that honor He would leave his bones
among these Spanish ravines, or he would
do some deed which would call the eyes
of men upon him.
Alleyne was still seated on the rock, his
sxiefs and his Joys drifting swiftly over
a sunlit meadow, when of a sudden he be-
came conscious of a low, deep sound which
came booming up to him through the fog.
Close behind him he could hear the muir
muir of the boWmen, the occasional bursts
of hoarse laughter and the champing and
stamping of their horses. Behind it all,
however, came that low-pitched- DECEPTION
ed hum, which seemed to come from every
quarter and to fill the whole air. In the
old monastic days he remembered to have
heard such sound when he had walked
out one windy night at Bucklershard, and
had listened to the. long waves breaking
upon the shingly shore. Here, however,
was neither wind nor sea- and yet the dull
murmur rose ever louder and stronger out
of the heart of the rolling sea of vapor
He turned and ran to the camp, shouting
an alarm at the top of his voice.
1t was but hundred PAGES, and yet ere
he had crossed it every bowman was ready
at his horses head, and the group OF
knights were out and listening intentiy
to the ominous sound.
''It Is great body of horse" said Sir
William FELTON,, and they are riding very
swiftly hitherward.'
"Yet they must be from the princes
army" remarked Sir Richard Causton "for
they come from the north"
Nay" said the Earl of Angus cit is not
SO certain; for the peasant with whom we
spoke last night said that Ii was rumored
that Don Tello, the Spanish kings brother.
had ridden with 5000 chosen men to beat
their backward road they have come this
way"
by st. Paul. cried Sir Nigel. 81 think
that 1t is even as you say, for that same
peasant had a sour face and a shifting eye,
as one who bore US little good Will
doubt not that he has brought these cava-
liers upon us"
But the mist covers u.s. said Sir Simon
Burnley. I'VE have yet time to ride through
the further end Of the pass
Were we troop of mountain goats we
might do So" answered Sir william FELTON,,
'but 1t Is not to be passed by company
of horsemen. If these be indeed Don Tello
and his men, then we must bide where we
are. and do what We can to make them
rue the day that they found us in their
path"
well spoken. William cried Sir Nigel,
In high delight. IF there be 80 many as
has been said, then there Will be much
honor to be gained from them and every
hope OF advancement. But the sound has
ceased and 1 fear that they have gone
some other way"
"Or mayhap they have come to the mouth
Of the gorge. and are marshaling their
ranks. Hush and hearken! for they are no
great way from u.s.
The company stood peering into the dense
fog wreath. amid silence so profound that
the dripping of the water from the rocks
and the breathing of the horses grew loud
upon the ear. Suddenly from out the go