Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1906-08-17

"God be with thee, my honored lord,
and have thee in his holy keeping. The
Lady Loring hath asked me, the priest,
| so set down in writing what hath befallen
at Twynham, and all that concerns the
death of thy ill neighbor the Socman OF
Minstead. For when We had left us, this
evil man gathered around him all outlaws,
| ,illeins, and masterless men. until they
| we're come to such q force that they slew
| md scattered the kings men VINO went
,gainst them. Then, coming forth from
| the woods, they laid siege to thy castle,
md for two days they grit US in and shot
Aard against US, with such numbers as
we're a marvel to see. Yet the Lady Lor-
ing held the place stoutly, and on the
second day the Socman was slain-by
Inis own men, as some think-so that we
were delivered from their hands; for
which praise be to all the saints, and
more especially to the holy Anselm, upon
whose feast it came to pass. The Lady
Loring and the Lady Maude, thy fair
daughter, are in good health. May all
the saints preserve thee!''
My fair lord said Alleyne. with a
| flush on his Weather-stained cheeks, sI
love your daughter, the Lady Maude; and,
unworthy as I am, I would give my
hearts blood to serve her,
BY st. Paul! Edricson," said the
| aim high in this matter. Our blood is
very DID,
"And mine also is very DID, answered
the squire.
"And the Lady Maude is our single
child. All our name and lands center upon
her."
'Alas! that I should say it, but I also
am now the only Edricson.''
"And why have I not heard this from
you before, Alleyne? In sooth, think
you have used me ILL.,
MAY, my fair lord, saw not so: for T
know not whether your daughter loves
me, and there is no pledge between us i"
Sir Nigel pondered for a few moments,
and then burst out a-laughing. "By st.
Paul!' said he, ST know not why I should
mix in the matter; for I have ever found
that the Lady Maude vas very well able
| to look to her own affairs. Since first
she could stamp her little foot, she hath
ever been able to get that for which she
erayed; and if she set her heart on thee.
Alleyne, and thou o" r, I do not think
that this Spanish king, with his three
score thousand men, could hold you apart
Yet this I will say, that I 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, If God spare you, I think
that you will acquit yourself well. But
enough of such trifles, 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,, 1 pray you, and ask
him tc, come hither, for it is time that
we Wee 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 I'M
expected news and with his talk with
Sir Nigel. Sitting upon a rock, with his
burning brow resting upon his hands, he
thought of his brother, of their quarrel,
of the Lady Maude in her bedraggled rid
ing-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
penniless, monk-bred lad, unknown and
unfriended. Now ne 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 dignity of his family. Further,
he had become a man of experience was
counted brave among men, had won the
esteem and confidence of her father, and
above ALL has been listened to by him
when he told him the secret Of his love.
AS to the gaining of knighthood, in such
stirring times it was no great matter for
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
griefs and his joys drifting swiftly over
his mind like the shadow of clouds upon
a sunlit meadow, when of a sudden he
became conscious of a low, deep sound
which came booming up to him through
the fog. He shouted an alarm to the
camp.
at is a great body of horse said Sir
William FELTON,, 'tand they are riding very
swiftly hitherwards."
The Company stood peering into the
dense fog wreath, amidst a 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 sea of mist came the sound
of a neigh, followed by long blast of a
bugle.
at is Spanish call, my fair lord,' said
Black Simon.
by my faith, said Sir Nigel, smiling,
1--WE may promise them some sport ere
they sound the mort over US. But there
is a hill in the center of the gorge upon
which we might make our stand"
81 marked it yester night said FELTON,,
and no Detter spot could De FOUND 1or
our purpose, for it is very steep at the
back"
The whole Company, leading their
horses, passed across to the small hill
which doomed up from the mist. 1t was
indeed admirably designed for defence, for
it sloped down in front, all jagged and
boulder strewn, while it fell away behind
in a sheer cliff of a hundred feet or more.
On the summit was a small, uneven
plateau, with a stretch across of hum
bred PAGES, and a depth of half as much
again.
'Unloose the horses" said Sir Nigel.
NOW order the ranks, and fling wide the
banners, for our souls are Gods and our
bodies the kings, and our swords for
Saint George and for England!
Sir Nigel had scarcely spoken when the
mist seemed to thin in the valley, and to
shred away into long ragged clouds which