Show aa ii by MILLICENT E MANN copyright 1904 by LUCAS LINCOLN CO CHAPTER IV I 1 discover a loss ed me home I 1 would dawdle sly no more about castle drout ire lie on the heath making idle s as I 1 had been doing since my hg with mistress rosemary al my blood ran like fire through eans as though I 1 had drunk a ird full of fiery chianti such as old knights of long haut for their guests I 1 was drunk enthusiasm and desire tor lon aye london london was the before which my eyes were set de ration london the place k I 1 had for the moment forgot r I 1 a bride awaited me an I 1 as so taken with these amorous abts that I 1 heeded not where I 1 and so I 1 ran into gil who oming round the manor ud denness of the collision near cocked us both over ell I 1 exclaimed as he caubu mahly by the shoulder i you he laughingly said is me better look ire going methinks ater look yourself bethink me think I 1 angly retorted rd mateis wishes to we you ld now soberly HI have news for me I 1 aek d with it thought so abad new follows apace one smells it in the vry ou and I 1 are to go to londott bitted london bad news lou hiie a mistake in the word 0 1 tel I 1 replied with a laugh at his things were coming my way iut the lifting of a finger bood h always say what 1 and what I 1 say baic at I 1 see he aed u are jealous jealous because re to be separated aroca the old and noel no doubt left at home him whilst vou follow the fortunes of the young lord 1 mock humility alous of hoep he shouted back I 1 lord waters knows that my arm is abler than noel s in the g of young lords out of saraj es it my lord for remembering is youth noel would be n london say it takes a min bength strength of muscle aid id to tread that hell place waters would have kept me at an he had needed me aby ie I 1 served him when a slip ot t like you I 1 no better before he I 1 to granada aye I 1 served him b a woman made a mess of his although thank god I 1 was not him at the time being called by a dying father I 1 could a tale relate an I 1 would he aided and as was usual with ahen he touched upon any inci tn my fathers life he shut up ht as an oyster in its shell yas strange to be called a slip by gil true as years went when compared with him but feet two and correspond ms tb and muscle count tor some was in stature with so long they almost swept the d when he walked stooping y forward the strength in ahli and hands was something pro is he could hang from the limb ree and swing tar out by rocking dy propel himself into another there catching a branch as aas a monkey might this strength had earned him the name he ape when a youth head was massive and set low on a bulky body his face was ed with hair and his blo weeping ends elaborately curled rd this style he had caught a hidalgo when in spain his were grey with infinitesimal i I 1 need not tell you that his was the keenest he was of extraction and had come to n when a boy to seek a fortune having saved bis life my fath und him to him by the closest bat can be knotted the tie of ude were a striking contrast I 1 wag nd muscular not an ounce of flukus flesh upon me I 1 won clr upon my face it seemed a habit to me and emanated from ig or fashion leader no doubt had an imperfection to hide of our fashions I 1 said to lord wa find out his disposition re g the journey while you see basil about the arrangements arrange meats man alive I 1 should think you welcome the change you are rusty with inaction you are ning to shake you are getting so venture to say that now not be able to make that oaring from the trysting place across the brook into the linden tree as you once did yes that is my one consolation he said with no lightening of the eye but I 1 knew that he was as delighted and excited as I 1 was myself despite his years I 1 shall slip off some fifty pounds or more there is nothing so good for limbering up a fat man as the looking after young sparks try to help you to ease your self to the best of my ability I 1 re turned graciously there may be a little pleasure able excitement for you even with young lords Pleasure able he echoed that 8 how one looks at it I 1 doubt me not but that there are swashing petticoats there will be mischief enough brewed to suit even the blase palates of the young yea no doubt this will bring us some excitement I 1 said with a chuckle as I 1 put my hand into my pocket to produce the slip of paper I 1 had earned at the gambling table I 1 intended to recall to his mind that the few words inscribed there should give us endless sport my pocket was empty the paper was gone what Is the mattera matter matter enough I 1 replied as I 1 searched through my pockets strewing the ground with their cn tents evidently he said you look as if you had lost a father or an equally near relative I 1 have I 1 acknowledged with a grim chuckle a nearer a wife no doubt my ruddy color did change I 1 was startled at first and then vexed as I 1 saw my frolic in london dwindle away what he yelled you have lost the paper won at arnold lodged I 1 have I 1 again admitted slowly but you need not shout it to the world besides lord felton is u tieman of honor gentlemen of honor are rare birds these days he interrupted and why need he know that I 1 hae it nota I 1 finished my sentence I 1 hat I 1 take it those londoners will not be long in finding out he said while gil tramped up and down I 1 sat down on a bench and tried to think I 1 had not lost it upon the ride homeward of that I 1 was certain for when I 1 went to pay the maid for the slipper at castle drout I 1 had fel it in my pocket no doubt it had fallen out on the floor when I 1 had thrown my coat upon the chair after stripping tor the duel or it might be that the thieving maid had p eked my pocket I 1 cared not a jot tor it did not a pair of blue eyes hold mea yet it was my letter of credit with it I 1 could levy for pleasure and excite ment where I 1 pleased among those gilded youths without it london would be tame indeed gil an you love me hasten to cas tie drout I 1 said there you will find the paper either on the floor or the possession of a black eyed maid get it from her by crook or hook for if it reaches london in her keeping well good bye to a wife the belle of london town I 1 kissed my hand airily I 1 see he began slow A black eyed maid a pale blue satin slipper he pointed to it on the ground a bleeding shoulder a duel without doubt he now pointed to my der the play opens at long haut he chuckled dryly yes a duel I 1 admitted with a grin I 1 bid you keep away from a slender youth he s an adept with the rapier it he has bested you well I 1 may he said As tor the thieving jade throttle her get the paper from her before you succumb to her charms I 1 called after him he sniffed disdainfully at that and strode off resoluteness in his eye CHAPTER V lord waters message I 1 went into the house and down a long corridor until I 1 reached the nook as the library here my fath fr nas wont to spend most of his ime A quiet herein came in re to my resounding knock it dampened my ardor so still was it in contract on tract to my impetuous ity and re called most vividly what was on the terge of slipping my mind that lord waters was a wretchedly sick man his life as gil had said had been ruined by a woman his first wife arom a gay cavalier about that UD fortunate king charles I 1 court he had become a morose roundhead A roundhead for a short time only but a morose man ever afterward it Is a matter of history how after leaving the kings side and serving crow well at both the battles of and marsden he had as sud denh resigned from the army and gone to his estate at long hant hi sussex county there he married having previously obtained a divorce from his arst w fe a squire s daughter who brought him much land and g id what cou d ahtie induced him to marry again alter such a dire failure I 1 know not men are inscrutable crea tures no doubt a woman s tender glances made him for the time forget his former disappointment I 1 was the issue of this second mar ariage my mother a gentle creature dying in child birth left lord waters to again face an existence which had slight charm for him long haut was not so many miles from london as the crow flies but separated from it by sloughs rocky hills and morasses the manor house was built on a steep hill of boulders bowl ders taken from the rocky hillside it was well nigh am pregnable and that perhaps was why in the many changes of parliament it had been left to the indisputable rights of its original owners when many other estates changed hands only one horse road led to it it was a road that in fair weather was only fair but in foul an un approach able way the wagon must be of strong timber that could even climb to where the bridle path began but let it rain and it rained often in that region by the sea the road became a river of mud A cart trying to ascend then would be buried UT to the huba and needs be forced to stay there un til spring dried up the slough the manor was surrounded by many acres of forest fen fell and some tillable land A village which was held in fief of some hundred souls was huddled at its purlous purl lus and gave lord waters little obligation they seemingly rendered him scant service except at the planting in the spring time and in the autumn there gathered together a motley age crowd consisting of mer worn en and children and they all tell to work at the i nag and ft alling ol 01 the corn when the work was dole riotous fun began flaming torch of tarred pine were placed at intervals in the open to give light and to out the harvest moon these lent a weird aspect to the glen A long board was pread with tren chons of steaming beef h ge piles of black bread and other edibles and about this the people were benched it did not take them long to lighten the table of its weight of plenty hogsheads of strong home brewed ale helped wash and paci down he beel in the bellies of the men they were like taut drawn drum heads that a touch might burst to be continued |