Charlevoix county herald., 1906-08-11

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 i'll neighbor the Socman OF
Minstead. For when ye had left US, this
evil man gathered around him all outlaws,
yilleins, and masterless men. untu they
were come To such force that they slew
and scattered the kings men who went
against them. Then, coming forth from
| the woods, they laid siege 10 thy CASTLE
and for two days they girt US In ana shot
hard against US, with such numbers as
were a marvel To see. Yet the Lady Lor-
| ing held the place stoutly, and on the
| second day the Socman was slain-by
| his 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 IL came to pass. The Lady
Lorng and the Lady Maude. thy fair
daughter. are In good health. May all
| the saints preserve thee!'
MY fair lord" said Alleyne with
| flush on his weather-stained cheeks, ST
love your daughter, the Lady Maude; and,
unworthy as / am, / would give my
| hearts blood to serve her.
by st. Paul! Edrlcson," said the
knight coldly, arching his eyebrows, "you
aim high in this matter. Our blood is
very Old"
"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 1 should say 1t, but also
| am now the only Edricson."
"And why have l not heard this from
you before, Alleyne? In sooth, l think
you have used me ill.''
may. my fair lord, say not so: for I
know not whether your daughter loves
| me, and there is no pledge between u.s. 4"
Sir Nigel pondered for few moments,
and then burst out a-laughing. by st.
| Paul!' said he, 81 know not why 1 should
mix In the matter; for l have ever found
that the Lady Maude vas very we'll 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
| craved; and II she set her heart on thee,
| Alleyne, and thou o. ~, do not think
that this Spanish king, with his three
| score thousand men, could hold you apart
Yet this 1 will say, that I would see you
a full knight ere you go to my daughter
with words of love. l have ever said that
| brave lance should wed her; and, by my
| soul! Edricson. If God spare you, think
that you will acquit yourself well. But
work before us, and II 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 IL Is time that
we were marching There Is no pass at
| the further end Of the valley, and 1t is n
perlous place should an enemy come upon
u.s.
Alleyne delivered his message, and then
wandered Ia
mind was all in a whirl with this un-
| 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 bedra ggled 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 he was himself Socman
of Minstead, the head of an old stock, and
the Lord of estate which, IL reduced
from its former size, was still ample to
preserve the dignit- of his family. Further,
he had become 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 1t was no great matter for
n 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
n 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.
'It Is a great body Of horse said Sir
William FELTON,, land 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
bugle.
'It is Spanish call, my fair lord" said
Black Simon.
by my faith, said Sir Nigel, smiling.
I'VE 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 IL yester night said FELTON,,
land no better spot could be found for
our purpose, for it is very steep at the
back.
The whole Company, leading their
horses passed across to the small hill
which loomed up from the mist 1t was
indeed admirably designed for defence, for
IL sloped down In front, all jagged and
boulder strewn, while 1t fell away behind
I'm a sheer cliff of a hundred feet or more.
ON the summit was a small, uneven
plateau, with a stretch across of hun
dred 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
trailed from the edges of the cliffs, and
the sun broke through 1t cleaned and
shimmered with dazzling brightness upon
the armor and headpieces of vast body
of horsemen who stretched across the
barranca from one cliff to the other, and
extended backwards until their rear-guard
were far out upon the plain beyond. Line
after line, and rank after rank, they
checked the neck of the valley with
long vista OF tossing pennons twinkling