| Show THE thirteenth ohl ohi E A legend Legen dof of Old londom Londow BY ANGUS B 13 BEACH REACH it was in one of the earliest years of the reign of henry the eighth and on pi a glorious summers day that two men satin bat sat in earnest conversation together in iii the oak panelled parlour of a small house abutting upon st paupa churchyard the one was vas A soldier the other a priest the fubler wat was habited as an officer of the yeomen of the guard his morion morlon surmounted bya by byn a plume of feat feathers helg heig jay before him min on the table and his rich scarlet and gold uniform shone ahone gay and glisten glistening ingin in the sunshine he was a young man buti but butt vice tipe and unbridled passion were stamped like cains mark upon his hib face his eyes welo velo bloodshot his mouth coarse and sensual andnis and hla his whole bearing fierce and swaggering his priestly companion had thrown back his cowl probably for coolness and disclosed features the expression of which like that of the captain of the guards was wag evil but which unlike his was partly redeemed by an appearance of lofty intellectuality the priests forehead was high and massive anahis and his eye deep set and bright As he glanced at his companion his thin pale lip curled involuntarily and the scorn of his smile was withering but the soldier perceived it not as he carelessly set aside the silver stopp stoup from which he had been imbibing plentiful draughts of sack and remarked and so bully friar thou hast absolved all my sins truly their name was legion but that boots not now nowr they are rubbed away like rust frem from a sword blade doubtless thou art pardoned have I 1 not said sald it returned the priest and as ho he spoke his lip curled more palpably than ever that swaggerer pinned by the crossbow cross crosb bow bolt at thame said ho he of the yeoman of the guard beginning anew the muster roll of hla his transgressions think not of it replied the priest and the murder done at ae the Bankside 11 forgiven and the despoiling of tho the abingdon mercer lr 1 I have absolved 13 and the vow broken to sir hildebrand greyell grey it will not count against thee and the carrying off on of the fletty mistress marjorylu Marj oryl has been atoned for 11 and oaths lies iles imprecations innumerable rejoined the captain not so much that I 1 care about such petty matters but when one is at confession one ono mayas may as well make a clean breast of it grin gria in the name of the church I 1 absolve thee and now Captain Wyck hamme thou must perform a service for me icat it is but reasonable thou art my helper in spIrl spiritual tuai I 1 ain am thine in matters earthly we serve each other others father francis the worthy father F francis smiled it is possible that he deemed the arrangement a better one for himself than for his military friend therefore say the word continued Wyck hamme and lo 10 I 1 my bountiful forgiver of transgressions I 1 am thine for good or evil 91 father francis bent his keen black eye steadily upon his companion gazing as if he would peer into his soul at length he spoke slowly an anc calmly thou hast a yeoman in thy company of guards one mark maik huntley A larry marry yes A fine stalwart fellow follow he draws a bow like robin hood and 1 I 1 would ill III like to abide the brunt of his partisan what of himl him the priest started up his eye flashed his nostril dilated catching Wyck hammes hammels arm with his brown sinewy hand ani and and clutching it convulsively he said hoarsely ruin buin him 11 ruin him I 1 repeated the officer of the guards somewhat surprised at this unexpected outburst ruin buin him marry man bethink ye he is the flower of my company 1 I say ruin him cried the priest thou art his omm off officer licer and there area are a thousand ways plot plot piot so that he may rot in a dungeon eon orating or swing from a gallows he as as a canker in my heart but wherefore art thou set against the yeoman father asked captain Wyck hamme he has crossed my path said the priest prie bet get moodily crossed thy path how demanded banded the abb so soldier idler father franc is looked wistfully at the questioner and muttered in love captain Wych Wyc hamme khammo struck the table with his fist until the wine flacks flasks danced again and then starting to his feet with a coarse roar of laughter exclaimed cho aho ho ho hath it come to this and so a ni neat ankle ankie and buxom cheeks and a gimp waist were snore than a match for fair thy sanctity ityl I 1 and thy cell was waa solitary and cold was it not priest and a man even though a monk cannot be always praying and so thou take to wooing for an interlude brave sir priest credit me thou art a man of mettle a bold friar an honor to thine order nay thou be the founder of an order of a family I 1 mean an and d by my hal idame there will 1 be a r rare are spice of the devil in the breed but I 1 say bayl father who imsho is she bhe do her eyes sparkle her cheeks glow her 9 i Silence babbler said the priest i her laher name is too pure a thing for thee to take within thy lips for thee to speak of her mere bias ilas blasphemy phemy I 1 hail hall ha exclaimed Wyck hamme priest I 1 say unto thee beware 11 hush I 1 love lovo her love her with a depth of passion which things like thee cannot feel or comprehend I 1 hayo havo wrestled fought with it striven in the darkness and silence of my cell to crush it but I 1 cannot she is my light my airey life ilfe lifery my idol do I 1 have said iti it I have sworn jt it she shall be mine although I 1 glye elve body and aad soul to purchase the trea tred treasure sure the captain looked surprised at this outbreak wilt thou remove this man continued the priest after a pause and speaking in a voice of frightful calmness hum why marry I 1 would do much to oblige thee began the soldier when his hla companion com panion interrupted him we are in each others secrets he said the officer of the tha guard shrugged up his shoulders still hibben hieber art artt thou resolved inquired father rk branol branci quietly 1 iam I lam am was waa the reply mark huntley will not jong live to thwart thee well muttered mutter edthe the priest but the blow biow must be immediate it shall fall tomorrow to morrow said Wyck hamme leave the means to me but I 1 say father how dost thou propose to get possession of the maiden and when tonight to night replied the monk and his eye glistened 1 I am her father confessor captain Wyckham Wyc khammo mc smacked his lips A sweet duty by my faith to listen to the fluttering flu fiu thoughts of youthful fer feciale aale hearts I 1 almost would I 1 were a monk fl curses on thy licea licentious bous ious tongue exclaimed exclaim ad the churchman in a voice of suppressed passion listen 1 I have imposed on her a midnight solitary penance at the dead hour oi of 1 the night she is to kneel before the shrine of the virgin in the cathedral I 1 shall be there and attempt to carry ler ofa oal she will scream there are gags gabs 1 she will fly there are bonds and secret keeping places the world not of at my disposal while mark huntley Is my part of the job priest it is a well laid scheme schem e I 1 think it may prosper f I 1 it must answered the priest but the sun hath past the meridian is it not time thou wert wort on thy way homeward imarri marry you say true exclaimed the other and I 1 will wiil plot my sha share charein reIn in the matter as I 1 ride do so 1 l said the priest rand and fand farewell in five minutes captain wyck hamme attended by tap twp yeomen of liis his troop croop was spurring down ludgate hill on hla his way westward while father francis franeis enveloped in his cowl paced slowly and thoughtfully back bach back to the cathedral the people made way for him reverently erent orent and bowed low the father tz had the 0 reputation of being rich in the odor of sanctity and many counted themselves happy in his 1 the hours houra passed away and it became night a fair calm summers night might in chial which the moon moon and stars seemed striving to outshine each other A deep hush was upon london the last of the crew of prentices who had been whiling away the lengthened twilight by a noley noly game kamo of football in cheape CheaP 16 had been summoned within doors by his vigilant master and the streets were left to the occa home returning reveller who either paced along with tipsy gravity or made the old houses ring with snatches of the drinking songs which still buzzed in his ears the stately mass of old paupa pauls rose majestically jestic ally nily above all ments steeped in a flood of moonshine sculptured pinnacles hero standing out clear and palpable in the starry air and there broken by broad masses of deep black shadow it was near the hour of midnight when the light ight figure of a woman closely muffled in ita its draperies glided cautiously and ana timidly along the quiet pavement and tripped up the steps toward one of the sida side entrances of the cathedral the door of a from which admittance mit tance might be had into the main portion of the building was open aishe As bhe she crossed the thresh hold tho the damp chill of the tha air so go merent lerent diff from the genial atmos i phere without made her pause it 1 was wab but for a moment and thor thon fahe fabe bhe she entered the cathedral it was an awfully solemn place plade no work of mens mena hands could be e more grand its shadowy va vastness atness seemed not of the earth the eye could only dimly trace its proportions by the gorge gorgeously colored light h admitted by the painted glass a and gd imagination supplied the ret reft here wore were the vast clustered pillar the the groined zd and arie arle arched fied magnificence of the roofard overall a silence like the silence of the dead the intruder crossed arms upon her bosom for tho place was wa chall and the next mome jAMA t bel lorne lome knelt before the shri shrine nept dept of the yr virgin g n she had hardly passed pas beld a minute in devotion when a hea heavy vy hand was laid upon her shoulder with a fluttering heart she started to her feet and beheld the father francis dim lyseen close to h hers e rs father she exclaimed daughter returned the priest in a voice trembling with passionate for he thought be had his hils victim in his clutch thou must go lithnie with irie idie 11 and at the bame bamo instant before lo 10 she bhe could make a motion to prevent him ho slipped a kerchief prepared for the purpose over the lower part of her face and and abd she was unable to come sweet one come said sald father francis frands in a low trenia lous voice voice as he attempted to seize selee her arm and waist surprise and despair however gave ma mabel bel bei strength making a frantic effort she freed herself fron the rude and uttering a muttered imprecation the priest pursued but his flowing g rol roi robes es hindered his progress with a reeling head and almost insensible sei sel isible of what she did mabel Nj alel alei flew over the pavement afie sile she tried to make for the door but her confusion was too great to enable her to discover it she heard the footsteps t of the the priest close to her and fled unwitting whither she went ha I 1 now I 1 have thee panted the konkas the fugitive appeared driven into a corne the building and lie he made a plunge forward to grasp her ho he was disappointed A low door stood open in the wall leading to tho the spiral stone staircase and up it she tiow ilow like the wind As mabel put her foot upon the finst first step a loud joud clang rang through ell gli the cathedral it was the finst first chime of twelve struck by the great clock up up up wept dept pursuer and pursued fear gave unnatural al swiftness to mabel and she rushed upwards round and round the spiral staircase as though her feet felt not the stone steps the thel priest was close behind with clenched teeth and glaring eyes maddened by passion and disappointment he made desperate efforts to overtake his victim and sometimes mabel heard his hla loud paintings pan tings close behind hr her up they went wont higher and higher the gyrations of the stairs seemed endless and all the while the clock rang rans slowly out the iron chimes of midnight the place was dark but there was nothing to impede ones ones progress and here and there bars barsby bf white moonlight shining through loopholes cheque red the gloom up up higher and faster but mabel felt that her limbs were failing her she made one more one frantic bound and jol io she saw above her in a apace space on which the moonbeams moon beams fell the complicated works of the great clock she had no breath to raise an alarm which could be heard by those below she listened to the rapid rapidly footsteps ps 0 of f the friey pi fest awa a hd her he heart a rt akk ahk within her just then therl the great iron hammer which struck the hours rang the last stroke of 0 twelve upon the bell beli A thought darted like lightning through mabels brain she might make that iron tongue s speak eak for her gliding through zile elie the machi mathi machinery nery she mounted among its framework and grasping the hammer with both hands she strained every nerve and muscle of her white arm and slowly raising the ponderous weight let it fall fail upon the 0 boli beli e an and lol iol 0 w with a clan cian clang w which ich rung through her very b brain in THE tue thirteenth CHIME fell feli upon the sleeping city breathlessly was the priest preparing to seize belie her when the iron peal for a moment arrested his hla hand band he looked up there stood the tha g gentle kentle e creature amid the still throbbing mechanism her w white hite bite hands handu convulsively clasping the iran and her face distor distorted tied with terror error and fatigue the moonlight showed him all ali this and showed him the hammor hammer again moving under the maidens grasp the danger of ma hii position immediately flashed acts him he knew that there remany we were vere many within the chapela and cells attached to the cathedral sleepless watchers of the houns haur and he feared that the unusual number of chimes would attract immediate attention muttering a deep curse he turned and affa mabel el heard him hurrying down the staircase cautiously she followed andon reaching the bottom hoard heard his voice communicating with a brother monk 1 I am certain said sald the latter I 1 that the clock struck thirteen I 1 deemed brother pete peter replied re leg iea the thil low tones of the mon monk a and d JE I have come forth to inquire how 0 it could be so C cautiously autio autto U sly siy keeping in the eba aha dow mabel glided past the speaker eisho he saw tho tilo door opposite her and flew towards it As she ran father francis caught a glimpse of her retreating form and made a wild gesture of rage and di disappointment appoint meil mell the next moment mabel the open air and was soon locked and bolted in her own little zoom toom staking sinking on the he floor she cried bitterly and then rising she said L have no friends here wun with the blush of morning 1 I will procure a good palfrey and fare forth to windsor mark must know ali nil af A bright breezy morning had succeeded the fair calm night and the sun w was yet low in the horizon when mabel lorne lome mounted on a spirited palfrey left behind her the western outskirts of london and on fields and hedges in the direction of windsor sorely disquieted as she had been by the events of the past night the jocund influence of the fresh breath of morning and the merry sunshine the rapid motion through a fair country and above all the thought of meeting her lover made Nl abells cheeks bloom dind and her eyes sparkle L she caressed cares caressed sea the glancing neck heck 0 of f the bounding animal which carried her and the palfrey answered the touch of its mistress by a loud and joyful neigh and pressed merrily and speedily epe edily onward |
