David Lindsay

“ Sir David Lindsay,” said he, turning round and addressing that knight, “let us not forget to settle the engagement and darreigne that hath passed between us.”
“Nay, trust me, that shall not I,” replied Sir David Lindsay; “I but waited until thou hadst concluded thy weightier and more pressing affairs, to entreat thee that we may enter into our articles of tilting now. I do hope that nothing may arise to baulk us of our sport.” ”

“ Here she laughed. "I won, because I am the stronger-hearted of the two; he is the purer in perception."
"Thanks, Joiwind!" said Maskull simply.
The colors chased each other rapidly beneath her skin. "Oh, why do you say that? What pleasure is greater than loving-kindness? I rejoiced at the opportunity.... But now we must exchange blood."
"What is this?" he demanded, rather puzzled.
"It must be so. Your blood is far too thick and heavy for our world. Until you have an infusion of mine, you will never get up."
Maskull flushed. "I feel like a complete ignoramus here.... Won't it hurt you?" ”

“ David Lindsay’s fine face flushed, and then grew pale.
“Well, I suppose, such a big estate as yours, ma’am—for I am told that Gryphynshold is but a small portion of it, and that the bulk of it is in Maryland—will require a deal of attention, not to say what the gentleman’s own affairs may call for; but one would think you would have settled all that before you came down here, so as not to be separated so soon again. It seems such a pity,” said the housekeeper, sympathetically.
Gloria did not reply, and David Lindsay could not. ”

“ Oh, David Lindsay, if you ever loved me, have pity on me now and leave me! If you have a spark of mercy in your soul, grant my prayer, and leave me. If you have the least instinct of honor, do not insist on keeping the position that my act has given you. If you are a man and not a monster, and not a maniac, leave me and never let me see your face again.”
He gazed on her in anguish and amazement. Then he arose from his chair, crossed over to the fireplace, and stood upon the corner of the hearth, with his elbow leaning on the mantel-shelf, and his hand supporting his forehead. ”

“ A low haze concealed Barey from view. Complete stillness was in the air, broken only by the distant thundering of an invisible waterfall.
Maskull and Sullenbode sat down on a boulder, facing the open country. The moon was directly behind them, high up. It was almost as light as an Earth day.
“Tonight is like life,” said Sullenbode.
“How so?”
“So lovely above and around us, so foul underfoot.”
Maskull sighed. “Poor girl, you are unhappy.”
“And you—are you happy?”
He thought a while, and then replied—“No. No, I’m not happy. Love is not happiness.” ”

“ Her cheeks flushed and paled, and flushed again, and her eyes brightened as she arose and exclaimed:
“Yes, I will! I will do it! I will marry David Lindsay. I will put one pure, good, brave man between me and the Evil! I do not care though he is poor and rough. I know he is good and true, noble and honorable! ”

“ Maskull's eyes were red, and his face looked stupid; he was still holding the woman by the arm. She made no attempt to speak, or to get away. She seemed perfectly gentle and composed.
After gazing at the country for along time in silence, he turned toward her. "Whereabouts is the fiery lake you spoke of?"
"It lies on the other side of the mountain. But why do you ask?"
"It is just as well if we have some way to walk. I shall grow calmer, and that's what I want. I wish you to understand that what is going to happen is not a murder, but an execution."
"It will taste the same," said Tydomin. ”

“ And the soft voice sunk into silence, and when he started up and opened the window-shutters, letting in the rays of the rising sun, there was nothing to be seen but the great bare walls and floor of the room, with its scant and rude furniture.
David Lindsay sat down on one of the rough chairs, and took his head between his hands to think it over. He could make nothing of it. The voice had said: “It is I, your mother.” But the voice was not at all like that of his mother, as he remembered hers. ”

“ But the vision of her uncle in his madness arose before her mind’s eye and checked her impulse.
“No, I cannot trust him! I cannot trust myself! but I can trust David Lindsay!” she said, as she completed her toilet, put her little personal effects into her traveling-bag, and went up on deck.
David Lindsay received her there and led her at once to the saloon, where the passengers were already at breakfast. She, being the only lady, received much attention. ”

“ When they had ascended some considerable distance, David Lindsay put his head out to peer through the shadows and survey the scene.
He found that they were climbing a steep, narrow road on the face of the mountain, with a towering precipice on their right and a falling one on their left, and no room for any vehicle to pass that should chance to meet the wagon.
He drew in his head and was careful to say nothing to his companion of what he had seen. A single start of the mules—a misstep—a balk—would be destruction to man and beast—for over and down the face of the precipice they would go. ”

“ LINDSAY, Sir DAVID, first Earl of Crawford (1365?–1407) , born between 1360 and 1365, was son of Sir Alexander Lindsay, third son of Sir David Lindsay of Crawford, by his wife, Catherine, daughter of Sir John Stirling of Glenesk. He succeeded his father in the barony of Glenesk in 1382. He married about 1384 a daughter of Robert II, called in the earliest genealogies Catherine, but by subsequent writers Elizabeth and also Jean. With her he obtained the barony of Strathnairn, Inverness-shire. ”

“ Tydomin gave one malignant look at it, and sent it crashing into the gulf.
"What have I to offer, except my life?" Maskull suddenly broke out. "And what good is that? It won't bring that poor girl back into the world."
"Sacrifice is not for utility. It's a penalty which we pay."
"I know that."
"The point is whether you can go on enjoying life, after what has happened."
She waited for Maskull to come even with her.
"Perhaps you imagine I'm not man enough—you imagine that because I allowed poor Oceaxe to die for me—"
"She did die for you," said Tydomin, in a quiet, emphatic voice. ”

“ The blood is clearly unsuitable for this world, Joiwind, but after all, that was only to be expected. I am sorry I let you have your way."
"Oh, don't say that! There was nothing else to be done. We must all help one another. Yet, somehow—forgive me—I feel polluted."
"And well you may, for it's a fearful thing for a girl to accept in her own veins the blood of a strange man from a strange planet. If I had not been so dazed and weak I would never have allowed it."
"But I would have insisted. Are we not all brothers and sisters? Why did you come here, Maskull?" ”

“ Simultaneously with the fading away of the sound, the heavens seemed to open up with the rapidity of lightning into a blue vault of immeasurable height. He breathed a great breath, stretched all his limbs, and looked around him with a slow smile. ”

“ The moonlit snow was green and dazzling. Their slanting, abbreviated shadows were sharply defined, and red-black in colour. Maskull, who walked on Sullenbode’s right hand, looked constantly to the left, toward the galaxy of glorious distant peaks.
“You cannot belong to this world,” said the woman. “Men of your stamp are not to be looked for here.”
“No, I have come here from Earth.”
“Is that larger than our world?”
“Smaller, I think. Small, and overcrowded with men and women. With all those people, confusion would result but for orderly laws, and therefore the laws are of iron. ”

“ Joiwind made a cup of her hand, and drank a little of the water. She held it up to Maskull's mouth. "You must drink too." He obeyed. She then stood erect, closed her eyes, and, in a voice like the soft murmurings of spring, prayed aloud.
"Shaping, my father, I am hoping you can hear me. A strange man has come to us weighed down with heavy blood. He wishes to be pure. Let him know the meaning of love, let him live for others. Don't spare him pain, dear Shaping, but let him seek his own pain. Breathe into him a noble soul." ”

“ It was a low, grinding, roaring thunder.
"The ground is rising under us!" cried Oceaxe.
"Shall we escape?"
She made no answer, but urged the shrowk's flight upward, at such a steep gradient that they retained their seats with difficulty. The floor of the canyon, upheaved by some mighty subterranean force, could be heard, and almost felt, coming up after them, like a gigantic landslip in the wrong direction. The cliffs cracked, and fragments began to fall. ”

“ Maskull gazed from one to the other in perplexity. "Let me go alone. I would be sorry if anything happened."
Gleameil shook her head.
"Don't regard this as a woman's caprice," she said. "Even if you hadn't passed this way, I would have heard that music soon. I have a hunger for it."
"Haven't you any such feeling, Polecrab?"
"No. A woman is a noble and sensitive creature, and there are attractions in nature too subtle for males. Take her with you, since she is set on it. Maybe she's right. Perhaps Earthrid's music will answer your questions, and hers too." ”

“ He went over to Earthrid and dragged him forcibly away from his playing.
“You have been as good as your word, musician,” he said. “Gleameil is dead.”
Earthrid tried to collect his scattered senses.
“I warned her,” he replied, sitting up. “Did I not beg her to go away? But she died very easily. She did not wait for the beauty she spoke about. She heard nothing of the passion, nor even of the rhythm. Neither have you.”
Maskull looked down at him in indignation, but said nothing.
“You should not have interrupted me,” went on Earthrid. “When I am playing, nothing else is of importance. ”

“ The sky blazed deeper and deeper; it was obvious that Alppain was about to lift itself above the sea. The island had by this time floated past the mouth of the estuary. On three sides they were surrounded by water. The haze crept up behind them and shut out all sight of land. Krag was still sleeping—an ugly, wrinkled monstrosity.
Maskull looked over the side at the flowing water. It had lost its dark green colour, and was now of a perfect crystal transparency.
"Are we already on the Ocean, Gangnet?"
"Yes."
"Then nothing remains except my death."
"Don't think of death, but life." ”

“ Yet David Lindsay, after having opened the shutters and let down the windowsashes, stood in the middle of the floor, gazing down like one still half entranced, with the impression of that soft touch still on his brow, and the melody of that tender voice still in his ear.
328“Was it a dream?” he murmured to himself. “Could it have been a dream? No dream I ever had was ever so like reality. Or could some dreaming sleep-walker have entered my chamber and saluted me? Impossible! ”

“ Nightspore looked at him queerly. "Do you intend to finish the bottle before Krag comes?"
"Krag won't want any, and one must do something. I feel restless."
"Let us take a look at the country."
The cup, which was on its way to Maskull's lips, remained poised in the air. "Have you anything in view, Nightspore?"
"Let us walk out to the Gap of Sorgie."
"What's that?"
"A showplace," answered Nightspore, biting his lip.
Maskull finished off the cup, and rose to his feet. "Walking is better than soaking at any time, and especially on a day like this.... How far is it?" ”

“ Then Sullenbode bore sharply to the left, and they found level ground all around them.
"We are on the ridge," announced the woman, halting.
The others came up to her, and at the same instant the moon burst through the clouds, illuminating the whole scene.
Maskull uttered a cry. The wild, noble, lonely beauty of the view was quite unexpected. Teargeld was high in the sky to their left, shining down on them from behind. Straight in front, like an enormously wide, smoothly descending road, lay the great ridge which went on to Adage, though Adage itself was out of sight. ”

“ Bring it to an end, Oceaxe. You will find plenty of men to admire—and love you."
At that she blazed up. "Does love pick and choose, you fool? Do you imagine I am so hard put to it that I have to hunt for lovers? Is not Crimtyphon waiting for me at this very moment?"
"Very well. I am sorry to have hurt your feelings. Now carry the temptation no farther—for it is a temptation, where a lovely woman is concerned. I am not my own master."
"I'm not proposing anything so very hateful, am I? Why do you humiliate me so?"
Maskull put his hands behind his back. "I repeat, I am not my own master." ”

“ No gentleman in the land is more so. I can trust David Lindsay—trust him 212utterly. He would never kiss me against my will—never wound or offend me in any way. Yes, I will marry my old playmate, David Lindsay, and we will keep house in earnest as we used to do in fun. And then I shall be free—free as air—for I know that by the terms of my father’s will, my guardian’s power over me and my estate ceases on the day of my marriage. I know it, for I have often heard Aunt Agrippina say how thoughtless it was in my father to make such a proviso in his will. ”

“ Maskull recollected his promise to Joiwind. At the same time, he felt hungry.
"Is there nothing milder?"
She pulled her mouth scornfully. "You came through Poolingdred, didn't you? All the people there are the same. They think life is to be looked at, and not lived. Now that you are visiting Ifdawn, you will have to change your notions."
"Go catch your fish," he returned, pulling down his brows.
The broad, clear waters flowed past them with swelling undulations, from the direction of the mountains. Oceaxe knelt down on the bank, and peered into the depths. ”