Amador ledger., 1906-07-27
CHAPTER TX.

is head. at is more hard for me to
ain obedience from you than from the
Rnscore drunken .archers who followed
pr your fair lady-mother will be here
non, and there is no need that she
hould know it. We will keep you
%ay the fe gogr and
eep a blithe face, for she who con-
esses is shriven. And now. fair moth
F. he continued, when his daughter
our blood runs colder than it did.
lleyne Edricson, would have word
18th you, for 1 would fain that you
ere in good time comes my lady. with
ut whose counsel it is not my wont
decide aught to import; but, indeed,
was her own thought that you should
ONE"
"For I have formed good opinion
e you, and can see that you are one
Fho may, be. trusted, said. the Lady
brd hath need of such a one by his
ide, for he recks so little of himself
hat there should be one there to look
& ave seen, the cloister; it were well
hat you should see the world, too. ere
GU make choice for life between them"
You can rider" asked Sir Nigel,
Eyes, have ridden much at the alb
ey
riar's hack and a warriors destrier.
Eou can sing and play?"
"On citole, flute and rebeck."
Good. You can read biazonry?"
Indifferent WELL"
'I trust that you are 1ow1y and SER
Ficeable?"
= have served all ny life, my lord"
"Canst carve too%
II have carved Two days a week for
he brethren"
"A model truly! Wilt make a squire
q squires But tell me- pray canst
mo. my lord. but I could learn"
at is of import" said he, for
owe to keep my hair well ordered, see
ng that the. weight of my helmet for
thirty years hath in some degree frayed
t upon the top"
1T is for you also to bear the purse"
paid the lady; for my sweet lord is of
would give it gayly to the first who
lsked aims of him. All these things,
With some knowledge of venerie, and
hound. with the. grace and hardihood
and courtesy. which are proper to your
hge, will make you fit squire for Sir
aAlas, LADY," Alleyne answered, 81
know we'll the great honor that you
have done me in deeming me worthy
TO wait upon SO renowned knight,
yet am SO conscious of my own weak
hess that I scarce dare incur duties
which might be SO ill fitted to fulfil"
"Modesty and humble, mind" said
n page or squire. Your words prove
that you have these, and all the rest
Is but the work of use and of time"
to have ali ready for our start before
the feast of st. Luke, for there is much
to be done in the time. You will have
leisure. therefore, if it please you to
earn YOUR deVOir."
"And have one favor to crave from
you," added the lady of the castle. as
t'You. have. as I understand. much
learning. which you have acquired at
|Beaulieu. I would have you give an
hour or two day Whilst Wills you are With
the Lady Maude; for she is somewhat
backward, I fear, and hath no love for
letters, save for. these poor fond ro-
mances, which do but fill her. empty
head with dreams of enchanted maid
ems and of Grant cavalier. Father
christopher comes over after nones
from the Priory, but he is stricken with
years and slow of speech, so that she
gets small profit from his teaching. 1
would have you do what you can with
her, and with Agatha, my young tire
And so Alleyne found himself not
only chosen as squire to knight, but
also as squire to three damozels, which
he had thought to play in the world.
And now there came a time of stir
and hustle. of furnishing of arms and
clang of hammer from all the south
land counties. Fast spread the tidings,
from thorpe to thorpe and from castle
to castle, that the old game was afoot
once more, and the lions and lilies to
Great news this for that fierce old
country whose trade for generation
had been war, her exports archers and
her imports prisoners; For SIX years
peace. Now they. flew to their arms as
to their birthright. The old soldiers
Of Crecy, of Nogent, and OF Po1ctlers
hear the war-trumpet once more, and
gladder still were the hot youth who
had chafred for years under the mar
tial tales of their sires. To pierce the
great mountains of the south, to fight
the tanners of the fiery Moors, to fol-
low the greatest captain of the age, to
find sunny cornfields and vineyards,
mandy were as bare and bleak as the
Jedburgh forests-here was golden
prospects for race of warriors. from
sea to sea there was stringing OF bows
in the cottage and clang of steel in the
Nor did it take long for every strong
hold to pour forth its cavalry, and
every hamlet its footmen. Through the
late autumn and the early winter every
road and country lane resounded with
nakir and trumpet, with the neigh or
the war-horSe and the CHATTER OF march-
In the ancient and populous county
of Hampshire there was no lack of
leaders or of soldiers for service
which promised either honor or profit.
Greatest of all the musters. however,
was that at Twynham Castle, for the
name and the fame of Sir Nigel Loring
drew toward him the keenest and bold
est spirits, all eager to serve under so
valiant a leader. Archers from the
New Forest and the Forest of Bere,
billmen from the pleasant country
which is watered by the Stour, the
Avon, and the Itchen, young cavaliers
from the ancient Hampshire houses, all
were pushing for Christchurch to take
service under the banner of the five
scarlet roses.
And now, could Sir Nigel have shown
the bachelles of land which the laws
of rank required, he might well have
cut his forked pennon into a square
banner and taken such following into
dignity of a banneret. But poverty