Stoddard

“ He knew instinctively about what Shade Buckheath was--certainly no fit mate for Johnnie Consadine. And for the better to desert her--poor, helpless, unschooled girl--could only operate to push her toward the worse. These thoughts kept Stoddard wakeful company till almost morning. ”

“ Now I will ride past them."
'Twas a shrewd planning, for when he reached the crossroads only one man could he discern, a man in the serge gown of a black friar, who stood and waited.
"Halt, thou, my son!" commanded the friar. "Greater men than thou art bid thee stand."
"In the king's name, I will not," said Richard, "but if thou needest a nag, thou wilt find one at the inn, as I promised thee. A good beast, truly, save that he is dead. So are some of the traitors who were there, enemies of the king, as thou art. Fare thee not well!" ”

“ Their helmets were open in front, and the face of the foremost rider was that of a beardless boy. It was a very resolute face, however, and he raised his hand as he again demanded:
"In the king's name, what do ye?"
"We be free men," said Guy sturdily. "Little reason hath thy father's son to question our acts."
"Why not?" came back. "Yonder stag is a death-warrant for every man of you!"
"Not so," exclaimed the burly hunter. "I am Ben o' Coventry, and we all stand by Guy the Bow. Will thy mail shirt keep out a cloth-yard shaft, Richard Neville of Wartmont?" ”

“ He had never in all his life felt so proud and warrior-like as when he rode out from among the crags and wheeled his pony southward to find the trail of his people. He did not reach it that day, but when he made his lonely camp-fire at night, ate for supper some fish he had caught and the last of his chunk of beef, he would have been all over comfortable and satisfied if only Tah-nu-nu had been with him instead of being a long day's march nearer Santa Lucia. ”

“ The brothers work principally among men—miners, sailors, lumbermen. It’s a great work and Stoddard’s a big chap, as strong as a bull, who knows how to get close to all kinds of people. I learned all I know from Stoddard. One night as I lay there in my shanty it occurred to me that never in my whole stupid life had I done anything for anybody. Do you see? I wasn’t converted, in the usual sense”—his manner was wholly serious now, and he bent toward Wayne with the sad little smile about his lips—“I didn’t feel that God was calling me or anything of that kind ”

“ They are many a league away."
"Aye, man," said Ben, "and all the Yorkshire men know that Douglas of Liddesdale was here. All Scotland may march behind him some day."
"Then I may say to thee," said Richard, "and to every man of this company, speak not upon the way one word of the Knight of Liddesdale. Closed lips, safe head. We are on the king's errand."
"Even so!" exclaimed Ben. "I was right. I deemed the Scottish captain a bird of ill omen. Thou mayest trust thy men, Lord Richard of Wartmont. We of the greenwood are well used to keeping a silent tongue. Else were our necks worth but little." ”

“ It was but day dawning when a hunter's horn sounded a clear note at the door of the rude chamber.
"Hail, my Lord of Wartmont!" spoke Guy the Bow. "I pray thee hasten. Thy men will be ready for thee within the hour. They all have come, and they are eager to hear thee."
"On the moment!" shouted Richard. "I am ready. Tell them I come."
"God speed thee this day," said Guy. "Full many a good fellow is ready to free himself from peril of the sheriff of Warwickshire. Aye, and to draw the king's good pay and have chance for pillaging French towns. They like it well." ”

“ Richard bowed low, for he was abashed before so grand a company; but he had not ridden far before he heard Ben of Coventry assuring Guy the Bow, with his usual freedom:
"Right wise was yonder earl, thou fat-head. But doth he deem that the king hath forgotten [Pg 75] Scotland? Trust thou him for that. Ah me, that we must go and come and never kill a Scot!"
"Or be killed by them," said Guy. "Keep thy head for the French to hack at. Thou wilt get knocks enough."
"Mayhap," said Ben; "but I say one thing: Never did twelve men from Arden fare so well for no harder work than riding. ”

“ Red Wolf was too young a brave to have any business to remain while gray heads were in council. A chief would almost as soon take advice from a squaw as from a "boy."
Mother Dolores had heard nothing of all this, but her eyes had not missed the slightest thing. She had even permitted a large slice of deer-meat to burn to a crisp, in her eager curiosity.
"What did they say to the chief?" was her first question to Rita; but Ni-ha-be answered her with,
"Ask the warriors. If we talk too much we shall get into trouble." ”

“ Even the excitement of the moment could get no more than a rapid stride out of the old chief himself. He was well in advance of all others, and at the edge of the expanse of sage-brush in which One-eye disappeared he was compelled to pause for breath. Before it had fully come to him he needed it for another whoop of delight.
Along the path in front of him, erect and proud, but using the shaft of his lance as a walking-stick, came his own triumphant boy hunter. Not one word did the youngster utter, but he silently turned in his tracks, beckoning his father to follow. ”

“ Why, the choppers have fresh fish and potatoes and coffee all the while, and sometimes they have venison."
"Game," said Port, "but no pie."
"Vosh," said Susie, "what has become of all your deer?"
Just at that moment they heard old Ponto barking away at a great rate in the woods near by; and Vosh sprang up, exclaiming,—
"He's treed something!"
"Guess he has," said the deacon. "Get your guns, boys. Load with buckshot."
"Mine's loaded," said Vosh.
"Mine'll be ready in a minute," said Corry. "Quick now, Port!"
"Hold on," said the deacon. "We must all have a share in the fun, if there is any." ”

“ As I threw down my club and drew my revolver, some one across the room fired several shots, whose roar through the room seemed to arrest the fight for an instant, and then, while Stoddard stood at my side swinging his chair defensively, the great chandelier, loosened or broken by the shots, fell with a mighty crash of its crystal pendants. The sheriff, leaping away from Stoddard’s club, was struck on the head and borne down by the heavy glass. ”

“ Ulric looked and he thought of the sayings of Olaf, the son of Hakon, for a shrewd suggestion sprouteth in the mind of a wise man like a seed sown in a garden.
"Truly we were overcrowded," said Ulric, standing upon the fore deck of The Sword. "We are thrice too many souls for so small a ship as this. There was too little room for provisions or for sleeping. There is none at all for the storage of spoils. The men will not brook the burning of the shares which may fall to them. They like not my hard ruling even thus far."
"O jarl," said Knud, "what sayest thou? Let us not burn good plunder. ”

“ Well away now, up the valley, northward, rode Richard Neville and Guy the Bow, but they were no longer in any road marked by wheels of wains. They had left the highway for a narrow bridle path that was leading them into the forest.
"My Lord of Wartmont," said the archer, "I pray thee mark well the way as thou goest. Chance might be that thou shouldst one day travel it alone. Put thou thine axe to the bark of a tree, now and then, and let it be a mark of thine own, not like that of another. I think no man of knightly race now liveth who could guide thee, going or coming." ”

“ Ye are of the old midland breed of wolves that die silent but biting. 'Tis your proverb."
More did he say as he walked among them; but he inspected their weapons, as became a captain, and there came also pack beasts laden with sheaves of arrows, that every quiver might be full.
"Richard of Wartmont," he said at parting, "there is naught but good will between me and thee. English am I, and greatly do I like thy men. We were but a lost people if our yeomanry were no higher spirited than are the slavish rabble that will swarm behind the nobles of France and their unwise, cunning king. ”

“ Thou and all thine to the front, seeking Wakeham. In the king's name, forward!"
A knight in bright armor had drawn rein at a little distance, and he pointed toward the ford as he spoke. It was crowded still by Sir Thomas Gifford's men-at-arms, but the battle on the other shore had drifted far away.
"Forward, O'Rourke!" shouted Richard. "Forward, Guy the Bow! Forward, David Griffith! Good fortune is with us. We are to be under the prince's own command." ”

“ They'd better have killed her, like they did mine. It's awful to think of a white girl growing up to be a squaw. Ride for your camp, young man. I'll take care of these three."
"I will send out warriors to help you. You shall see them all burnt and cut to pieces."
"Oh, Rita!" whispered Ni-ha-be; "they ought to be burnt."
Rita was gazing at the face of old Murray, and did not say a word in reply.
"Come," said Red Wolf; "the great chief is waiting for us."
And then he added to Murray and Steve,
"The lodges of the Apaches are open to their friends. You will come?" ”

“ The sheriff’s party had fought valiantly to keep us out of the library, and now that we were within, Stoddard’s big shoulders held the door half-closed against the combined strength of the men in the ball. This pause was fortunate, for it gave us an opportunity to deal singly with the fellows who were climbing in from the terrace. Bates had laid one of them low with a club and Larry disposed of another, who had made a murderous effort to stick a knife into him. I was with Stoddard against the door, where the sheriff’s men were slowly gaining upon us. ”

“ Go back to your tower."
"My young lord," was spoken in a low voice from among the men in mail behind him, "let them alone. They are thine own men. It's only a deer more or less. There are foes enough. Hark to Ben once more."
"I heard thee, sir," said Ben gratefully. "He might do well to heed thy saying; but let him now hear what Guy may tell him."
"My young Lord of Wartmont," said Gay, "I had verily thought to go and see thee this day. Knowest thou not that Clod of Lee, the Club of Devon, hath been heard from this side the Avon? He was one of Mortimer's men, and he hateth thee and thine. ”

“ Long Bear himself was not prouder of Two Arrows and his grisly than was Sile's father of the manner in which his own boy had met and grappled with a sudden peril.
"He'll be at the head of something or other some day," he muttered, as he was dropping asleep.
Not even Na-tee-kah knew anything of the movements or whereabouts of Two Arrows this time, and her father questioned her in vain. His absence was "irregular," and when the hours went by and he did not return, the Long Bear's face put on an expression of stern displeasure.
"Boy too big," he said; "grow too fast. Brave too soon. ”

“ Steady and stern had indeed been the rule of the son of Brander, and he had brooked no gainsaying, but he had been a prudent captain from the first, and there were a full third of the men now to stand by him in his peril. Would there had been more, for on both sides the slain were many. Moreover, when a man went down that was quickly his end, on whichever side he fought, for an enemy came to thrust him.
"Wake, son of Brander! Wake!" shouted Tostig in the ear of Ulric. "Call thou upon Odin, thy father, and draw thy sword." ”

“ Red men have keen eyes for character, and Long Bear understood. So did Na-tee-kah, and yet she would have run away and hidden but for her curiosity, stirred up by what Two Arrows had told her of the contents of that camp and its wagons. An offer to a white girl of a trip to Paris might be something like it, but it would not be much more. Her eyes danced and her fingers tingled as they drew near, and yet the only thing she could see was a couple of commonplace tilted wagons and a lot of horses and mules. The moment she was on the ground the old judge came to her assistance. ”

“ The gallant animal that was to carry Richard, on the other hand, was fitted out and laden as if at any moment his rider might be changed from a lance-bearing man-at-arms to a bowman on foot. Other baggage there was none, and Lady Maud, from her crenelated peephole in the Wartmont keep, saw her son and his companion ride slowly away through the village.
"Heaven guard him!" she murmured. "But he can not gain too well the hearts of the old race. They be hard-headed men and slow to choose a leader, but they are strong in a fray. ”

“ The war with France hath come! Be thou ready!"
"Ready am I," said Richard gladly. "But I must bring my bowmen with me."
"Go thou not, then," said the earl. "Send but thy token by thy own messengers. Bid all the archers of Arden to speed them to Portsmouth in the king's name. The ships are even now gathering rapidly. Thousands of men are in perfect training, and the new levies are in hand to learn [Pg 118] the way and the will of the king. Thither wilt thou go thyself. Bid thy mother a long farewell, and haste thee. I trust that when thou seest her again thou wilt wear golden spurs." ”

“ The astral lamp from the center table in the parlor shone into our room, intercepting any view toward us. I sat by the window, the curtain of which was drawn apart, and the shutters unclosed. A few yellow leaves stuck against the panes, unstirred by the melancholy wind, which sighed through the crevices. Charles was at my right hand, by the mantel; the light from a candelabra illuminated him and Mr. Somers, while Helen and I were in shadow. Mr. Somers dealt the cards, and we began the game.
"We shall beat you," he said to Charles.
"Not unless Cassandra has improved," he replied. ”