Robert Barr

“ Cromwell's eyes never left her, and again the slight smile chased the darkness from his countenance as he saw the testing of the meal, an action well known to him, for he was a miller himself, but was now about to be discomfited, for he lived in a flat country where the waterwheels are small, and it never occurred to him that a waterwheel might act as prison for a man. ”

“ She was a true daughter of that vigorous race which had crumpled up the aristocracy of England as if it had been flimsy tinsel, which the young man began to suspect it really was. He saw that the girl pitied him as a hunted wanderer, but would nevertheless deliver him to his enemies as a traitor to his country. He knew that threats or persuasion would alike be useless, while, wounded and exhausted, he could not overcome her by physical force and thus accomplish his escape. ”

“ After much labor they filled with grain the huge bin shaped like an inverted pyramid, through which the wheat flowed to the stones, and then they determined to send a messenger to camp and request the presence of either the father or one of the two sons. This was done the morning after the visit of Standish, and now Dorothy stood by the flour-obscured window, rubbing its panes with her apron, watching the approaching cavalcade and wondering if this were the expedition sent to her rescue. In that case Cromwell was slightly overdoing it: she had asked for one man, not for a dozen. ”

“ Before he could reply, Mistress Mitford appeared at the door.
"I thought you were hurried," she said. "Your meat and malt are waiting for you."
"You will come in with me?" he whispered, pleading to the girl, who with flushed cheeks kept the distance more than arm's length between them.
"Yes, I shall come," she pouted, "I think I am safer by my mother's side than by yours," and so the two entered the cottage, the valiant Standish attacking the pie with no less valor than he had displayed in battle a few days before. ”

“ When the repast was finished, Dorothy took trencher and tankard to the house, and on her return the young man bolted the upper half of the mill door, which at the same time automatically sealed the lower half.
"I distrust this door," he said, seeing the girl seemed slightly alarmed at his action. "When it is open any chance passer-by may enter, and then it is too late to hide. Now he must knock."
"There are no chance passers-by in this lonely district," said the girl.
"Then there are those who come by design, and they are still more dangerous." ”

“ He consumed half of what was in the tankard, before he set it down and replied, this time with more soberness than he had hitherto evinced:
"The texts are not all on your side, my Lady Dorothy. Tear God and honor the King,' says the Good Book. The hospitality of no household in England is dishonored when I obey the Bible, and pray God to bless the English King. Unfortunate man! Would that my prayer were as potent for him as this good ale is for me."
The young man was seated on the lowest step of the ladder, which still leaned against the bin of the hopper. ”

“ The girl opened her mouth to contradict him, but closed it without speaking.
"You will remain here," said Cromwell; "the mill must run night and day until every sack of corn within it is ground. The women will look after it in the daytime, and you at night."
Cromwell wheeled his horse toward the south, his men falling in, two and two, behind him. The girl without a word re-entered the mill, Standish following. She went to the window, looking again through the pane that again needed dusting, watching the cavalcade now trotting smartly down the valley. ”

“ Mistress Mitford sat opposite him, and Dorothy some distance apart, the elder woman plying him with questions regarding the fight, which Standish answered with some reluctance, evidently wishing to forget it all. He had been a farmer before he was a fighter, and was not yet hardened to slaughter. ”

“ Take away the trencher."
The young man leaned back wearily against the rounds of the ladder. His eyes closed, and his face went to a chalky whiteness. The girl, with a gasp of sympathy, took a step nearer to him.
"Surely you will eat?"
"Take it away: its very aroma is maddening to me. I have had nothing to eat for three days, save a mouthful of throat-parching corn while buried in this bin."
"Then why do you refuse now, when plenty is offered you? We do not starve our prisoners." ”

“ The pond was needed as a reservoir of power, for the mill was far up that valley, and the stream at this height was small. Lower down, where the rivulet became a river, there were mills in plenty that had no pond, and needed nothing more than a narrow channel cut to feed their small wheels. But Elmsdell Mill, to make the most of what water it had, possessed a wheel of great diameter, that the leverage of its spokes might make the most of the liquid force at its command. ”

“ A moment more I had been gone between them, and the flower of my youth pulverized into flour for the Parliamentarians; curse them."
"You were in no danger," said the girl severely. "How came you there?" ”

“ Their duty was to bring wheat to the mill, and they were inclined to suppose that the less they interfered in the affairs of the mighty, the better for them, for no man yet knew how the cat was to jump, though all admitted Cromwell seemed to be having the best of it. ”