Produced by Sandra LaythorpeUNDER THE STORMorSTEADFASTS CHARGEBy Charlotte M YongeAuthor of The Heir of Redclyffe cIllustration CoverCONTENTSChapter IThe Trust          IIThe Stragglers         IIIKirk Rapine          IVThe Good Cause           VDesolation          VILeft to Themselves         VIIThe Hermits Gulley        VIIIStead in Possession          IXWintry Times           XA Terrible Harvest Day          XIThe Fortunes of War         XIIFarewell to the Cavaliers        XIIIGodly Venns Troop         XIVThe Question          XVA Table of Love in the Wilderness         XVIA Fair Offer        XVIIThe Groom in Grey       XVIIIJephs Good Fortune         XIXPatience          XXEmlyns Service         XXIThe Assault of the Cavern        XXIIEmlyns Troth       XXIIIFulfilmentLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS    Farewell to the Cavaliers    The Hiding of the Casket    Stead Stirring the Porridge    Finding of Emlyn    Stead before the Roundheads    Emlyn at MarketUNDER THE STORMORSTEADFASTS CHARGECHAPTER I THE TRUST     I brought them here as to a sanctuary                                   SOUTHEYMost of us have heard of the sad times in the middle of the seventeenthcentury when Englishmen were at war with one another and quiet villagesbecame battlefieldsWe hear a great deal about King and Parliament great lords and ablegenerals Cavaliers and Roundheads but this story is to help us tothink how it must have gone in those times with quiet folk in cottagesand farmhousesThere had been peace in England for a great many years ever since theend of the wars of the Roses So the towns did not want fortificationsto keep out the enemy and their houses spread out beyond the old wallsand the country houses had windows and doors large and wide open withno thought of keeping out foes and farms and cottages were freelyspread about everywhere with their fields round themThe farms were very small mostly held by men who did all the workthemselves with the help of their familiesSuch a farm belonged to John Kenton of Elmwood It lay at the head of along green lane where the bushes overhead almost touched one anotherin the summer and the mud and mire were very deep in winter but thatmattered the less as nothing on wheels went up or down it but the hayor harvest carts creaking under their load and drawn by the old marewith a cow to help herBeyond lay a few small fields and then a bit of open ground scatteredwith gorse and thorn bushes and much broken by ups and downs Thereone afternoon on a big stone was seated Steadfast Kenton a boy offourteen sturdy perhaps loutish with an honest ruddy face under hisleathern cap a coarse smock frock and stout gaiters He was watchingthe fifteen sheep and lambs the old goose and gander and their ninechildren the three cows eight pigs and the old donkey which got theirliving thereFrom the top of the hill beyond the cleft of the river Avon he couldsee the smoke and the church towers of the town of Bristol and beyondit the slime of the water of the Bristol Channel and nearer on oneside the spire of Elmwood Church looked up and on the other thewoods round Elmwood House and these ran out as it were lengthening andnarrowing into a wooded cleft or gulley Hermits Gulley which brokethe side of the hill just below where Steadfast stood and had a littleclear stream running along the bottomSteadfasts little herd knew the time of day as well as if they all hadwatches in their pockets and they never failed to go down and have adrink at the brook before going back to the farmyardThey did not need to be driven but gathered into the rude steep paththat they and their kind had worn in the side of the ravine Steadfastfollowed looking about him to judge how soon the nuts would be ripewhile his little rough stiffhaired dog Toby poked about in search ofrabbits or hedgehogs or the like sportSteadfast liked that pathway home beside the stream as boys do loverunning water Good stones could be got there water rats might bechased there were strawberries on the banks which he gathered andthreaded on stalks of grass for his sisters Patience and Jerusha Theyused to come with him and have pleasant games but it was a long timesince Patience had been able to come out for in the winter a grievoustrouble had come on the family The good mother had died leaving alittle baby of six weeks old and Patience who was only thirteen hadto attend to everything at home and take care of poor little sicklyBenoni with no one to help her but her little seven years old sisterThe childrens lives had been much less bright since that sad day andSteadfast seldom had much time for play He knew he must get home asfast as he could to help Patience in milking the cows feeding