Wayne

“ For remorse never slept so sound with Wayne of Marsh but that the lightest touch could wake it.
"And later, when Rolf pleaded hard with me to wed him—he quarrelled with me but yesterday about it—I would not go, because thou hadst need of me at Marsh. See, Ned, I've been sorry and glad with thee—I've given up more, to keep thee out of wildness, than I shall ever tell. Is all to go for naught, because a woman beckons lightly to thee from across the moor?" ”

“ Then Wayne was touched on the neck, and again on the side, just as Red Ratcliffe roused himself to leap on Hiram Hey.
Shameless Wayne in front, and Hiram, with whom he had waged many a stubborn contest, on the far side of the pinfold—it seemed that master and man would go out of life together, each dauntless, each proud in his own hard way, each ready, doubtless, to turn on the further shore of Death and take up some interrupted quarrel touching farm-matters—yet each dying because he had stayed to save the other when flight had been full easy. ”

“ Wayne of Marsh was righted now, and his kinsman wiped his blade at leisure on his coat-sleeve. Nell came to him and drew down his rough head and kissed him on the mouth; the little wisp of a woman knelt by her lover's side, and tried to stop the blood with a dainty cambric kerchief, and talked to Ratcliffe of Wildwater as if her word were greater than God's own, to bring a dead man back to life. ”

“ Wayne answered nothing, but went to the great main door and flung it wide, letting in a stream of light from the moon new risen over Worm's Hill. A trampling crowd of horses, backed by wide-shouldered fellows, filled the courtyard. Griff's voice could be heard, shrill and clear, and Wayne of Cranshaw was stooping to batter on the oak again just as his cousin opened to him.
"We're ready, Ned. Why dost hold back, lad, and keep us shivering here?" cried Rolf.
"Because there's to be no attack just yet. Get down from saddle, friends, and drink a measure with me here in hall." ”

“ The other halted a moment; then, "After we fought together," he echoed.—"See, Wayne of Marsh, I'm humbled—by you. I have been scarred by fire and lightning—through you. I despised you when first the feud broke out, thinking you a worthless lad, scarce meet to cross blades with me. Yet you have prevailed; you have made shame my portion——"
"Hold, sir! What is past, is past, and I will not hearken."
"I have cursed you, lad, till, by my life, I think there are no curses left in me. Weakness has stepped in everywhere, and even my hate is lost." ”

“ Janet caught his hands in hers. "Would he bring them? Why, sir, he would ask naught better," she cried. "Let me ride down to Marsh forthwith."
"Young blood, young blood!" said the Lean Man, with a laugh that brought the colour to her face. "I warrant the sight of Wayne is worth more to thee than fifty truces, for thou'rt eager as a hind in spring to seek this new-made lover of thine."
"Nay, grandfather," said Janet gravely; "I would do for peace sake all that I would do for love. Peace means life—life to Wayne—is that so slight a matter that I should scruple to ride down to him?" ”

“ Fill up your glasses and lift them to the cry, 'In the name of the dead man—peace between Wayne and Ratcliffe.' And then—on to them while they drink, and the dead man on the bier will lift himself to watch. ”

“ I am Earle Wayne,” Earle said, with an amused smile.
“Yes, yes; but I tell you you’ve got blue blood in your veins. A man that can do what you have done is worth knowing, and I want to know what stock you came from.” ”

“ But neither tears nor anger stayed with her for long, and her courage came slowly back after she had picked up her basket again and turned her face to Wildwater. Wayne of Marsh showed helpless as a child, and the old instinct to protect him gained on her. His strength of arm was nothing unless he had some friend to match the guile against which his uprightness was powerless. ”

“ Over the mantel were the rude letters of the Ratcliffe motto, We strike, we kill; and Wayne of Marsh smiled as his eyes fell on the device which he and his had ridden hither to disprove.
Red Ratcliffe caught the direction of his glance, and touched him lightly on the shoulder. "'Tis but an outworn saying, yond," he cried. "We neither strike nor kill, now that the dead has bequeathed us fairer days."
He beckoned toward the bier, and Wayne and all his folk drew round it in a ring, looking down upon the closed eyes and wax-white face of their old enemy. ”

“ And Shameless Wayne turned then and scanned her up and down; yet, startled as he was to see her in this plight, he asked her no question, but filled a wine-cup to the brim and set it to her lips.
"Wast ever kind to me, Ned," she whispered brokenly. "None knows, I think, how thou hast watched to give me my least need."
"Thy needs are no great burden for a man's back," he answered, in the old kindly tone that he kept for her alone.—"Does the company fright thee, bairn? Why, then, we'll none of them. Come to the parlour and tell me all thou hast to say." ”

“ But the old light shone quenchless in his weasel eyes, as he slid his left hand toward his belt, and clutched his dagger, and stumbled forward with the point aimed true for the other's breast. But Wayne had never taken his eyes from him and he warded the stroke in time.
"'Tis an old device of your folk, and one I know," cried the younger man. "Your game is played out, lean thief of Wildwater—God pity me that I lack your own strength to kill a stricken man." ”

“ So lived, so died, Anthony Wayne; gentleman, soldier, statesman, patriot. "Mad," "Dandy," "Black Snake," "Tornado." Angry with traitors—Neat-Courageous—Irresistible. None can study his life without feeling the nobleness of his character. Courtly in manners, honorable to a degree, high in aspirations, unselfishly for country, magnanimous in victory, loyal to authority, affectionate to family, pure in morality, and earnest for the right, Anthony Wayne's life is a bright example and legacy to the American youth of all times. ”

“ Janet shuddered to hear her grandfather talk of Wayne's death, as of a fact already well accomplished; glancing at the Lean Man's height and wiry frame, remembering the skill he had in wielding that dread two-handled sword of his, she felt that Wayne of Marsh, for all his lusty youth, would find a match in Nicholas Ratcliffe. And then she laughed her fears away; for was she not sending the slayers on the veriest Jack-o'-lanthorn errand that ever led men into the bogs?
"Take the men with you, sir, for Wayne can be tricky as yourself," she said gravely. ”

“ Mistress Wayne glanced desperately from side to side in search of aid, and her eyes fell on Nell's figure, standing half out of the yew shadows now.
"God pity us! 'Tis Nell," she cried.
The girl came out from the shadows and stood at her stepmother's side. "Could you not wait for one whole day?" said she. "You are very quick to make your pleasures sure. Father scarce cold, and your lover's blade scarce wiped—truly, you loved my father well!" ”

“ And while they stood there, halting between the two courses, a red-headed horseman came at a wary trot down Barguest Lane. The summer dusk was enough to show that he glanced guardedly from side to side and kept a light hold of the reins as if to turn at the first hint of danger. Seeing the gate fast closed, however, he drew rein at the far side of it and peered over into the courtyard. He glanced at the men's belts first, and saw that they were empty of pistols; then turned his horse in readiness for flight.
"God's life the fool is venturesome," muttered Wayne. "What should he want at Marsh?" ”

“ The Lean Man, once dauntless, had grown full of some unnamed terror; and, though his arm seemed strong as ever and his body full of vigour, his brain was sapless and inert. His folk came to him with fresh plans for slaying Wayne of Marsh; and he turned a haunted eye on them, and said that naught could kill the lad. The cloud which had hung over Marsh House had settled now on Wildwater, and even the hot youngsters were chilled by a sense of doom. If the Lean Man had given up hope, they said, what chance had they of snaring Shameless Wayne? ”

“ Who, like Earle Wayne, would not like to make his life foursquare? Who, although he may never attain to the worldly greatness which fell to his life, would not seek to attain that better nobility of character, which, when measured by the “golden reed of the angel,” will be found of faultless symmetry, like the city whose “length, and breadth, and height are equal?” ”

“ Nell was already at table, with the lads and Rolf Wayne of Cranshaw, who had just ridden across to see that all was well at Marsh. The lads were eyeing a saddle of mutton wistfully, and their faces brightened soon as Shameless Wayne took his place at the head of the board.
"Hungry, lads?" he said, with a kindly glance at them. "Well, and should be, after the rare work we've done to-day with sword and spear—Rolf, there'll be four more fighting men at Marsh by and by; these youngsters take to cut and parry like ducks to water." ”

“ And then she told him frankly all the story of her early regard for Earle Wayne—his misfortune and patient endurance for another’s crime—of his return, and of their mutual though unspoken affection for each other.
“Earle Wayne!” he repeated with a start. “Who is he? Where did he come from?” he demanded, with eager interest, as she spoke his name.
“I do not know. He came to my uncle when seventeen years of age. He was fatherless, motherless, and friendless; but he has proved himself, if not honored among men, to be stamped with Heaven’s nobility.” ”

“ Kill me, thou fool, least it be said I begged quarter of a Wayne."
Wayne eyed him gloomily. "Cease prating! I cannot kill you, and I cannot leave you to die among these howling moor-sprites. Can you sit in the saddle if I lift you to 't?—Peste, though, the horses have taken to their heals. Can you frame to walk, then?"
The Lean Man made a few steps forward, then stopped and seemed to stumble. "Give me thy hand, Wayne, as far as Wildwater gates. I am weak, and cannot walk alone," he mumbled. "There shall none of my folk do thee hurt—I swear it by the Mass." ”

“ The Ratcliffes were daunted a little by the downright, sturdy fashion of the man; and for a moment they hung back, remembering how Wayne of Marsh had met them time and again with witchcraft and with resistless swordplay. One looked at another, seeking denial of the folly which could credit Wayne with power to match the seven of them.
"Where is the Lean Man to-day? 'Tis strange he comes not to the sheep-washing," said Wayne of Marsh, as still they halted.
"He would not trouble," snarled Red Ratcliffe. "'Twas butchery, he said, for a man of his years to fight with such a callow strippling." ”

“ Up and down she paced, up and down, thinking of Shameless Wayne, of her step-mother, of everything that vexed and harassed her. Nor did her brain grow cooler for the night's companionship; rather, the silence let stranger fancies in than she would have harboured at any other time or place.
"Ned has such need to be strong, and he has ever been weak as running water," she muttered, and stopped, and wondered that the breeze which blew from the moor-edge down Barguest lane had grown so chill upon the sudden. ”

“ You will live, grandfather——"
"Tush, bairn! A broken jug carries no wine.—God, don't cry so, Janet! When I was hale, I could never bide the sight of tears; and now they madden me. Listen; when the breath is out of my body, my folk will wake beside the bier. Well, the Waynes must come then if they'll not come while I'm living; death will soften them, lass."
"Grandfather——"
"Peace, I say!—Whenever I die, girl, be it to-day or when it will, do thou take the news to Wayne of Marsh and bid him to the lyke-wake with all his kin. Wilt do this much, Janet?" ”

“ Shameless Wayne came to a sudden halt as he gained the lower gate of the graveyard. For the minute bell, driving its deep note through the fumes that hugged his brain, carried a plainer message to the lad than any words of Jonas Feather had done.
"There's somebody dead," he muttered, staring vaguely at the belfry-tower. "Is't—is't father? ”

“ The messenger we sent returns not—will Wayne do less to you?"
"The messenger is not slain that we know of; he may be drinking in some wayside tavern, for unless he were a very fool his horsemanship would carry him free of Wayne after he had shouted his message, as I bade him, from the lane."
"Well, he comes not back. And you, sir? Is your life of such little moment to us——"
"Thou'rt a babe," broke in the Lean Man. "Some things a Wayne will do for the feud's sake, and some he could not do. He has promised safe conduct, and if I go down with the lass, I shall return in safety. ”

“ He is mad, mad, to let good love slip from him while he grasps at shadows. I had a man's love once, girl, and I threw it aside, and—God pity all who let the gift go by."
Tears were crowding thick to the eyes of Mistress Wayne—warm, heart-healing tears which had been denied her until now. A sudden compassion seized Janet, and under the pity a gladness that Wayne of Marsh had found the struggle bitter as she could have wished it.
"He loves me, say you? Say it again, Mistress; 'tis the pleasantest speech I've heard these long days past," cried the girl. ”

“ We've eyes and swords to help us," cried Shameless Wayne, turning sharp round from his step-mother. "If they want peace, they shall have it; and if war, then they shall have that likewise. But 'tis peace, I tell you, for the Lean Man had repented of his hate before he died." ”