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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul ciichi, II est lilmt i partir de Tangle supirieur gauche, de gauche d droite. et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nteessalre. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mMhode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 MICIOCOPY tESOWTION TBT CHART (ANSI ond (SO TEST CHART No. 2) IAS ■2.8 ■ »3 US 1*0 i I 2.2 2.0 1.8 A APPLIED IN/HGE 1653 Eost Morn Street Rochealer. New York 14609 USA (716) 482 -0300 -Phone (7t6) 288 - 5989 - Fa, m 4i\ § Mj k •.: -^ ^^;,„„^ v'-fpSO?! ^^pijj -...^^^^'^ SKka .. wi »» 7 % ]i #? r^ € u % \: 't'^* ^"(•v. v.^a .#^ fr n*' 'Sfc / ■"•■x-j N JJ, #^ . ^jMOCJOEm^, v-\v q \^( -#s„-'\/<*^. V ^WP KfNGS DAUGHTERS ^■JD LUf.C; / < M^'NO 5- V A^ V ii A^--n' ^ ^ '^/-X ~'ft-:^; ite.^^ Tlf^-^-:^ m KINGS DAUGMTET^*' FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. I !?• 5"cklt MIniAter. The Raiden. The Ulac 5unbonnet The Playactreas. Bo» Myrtle and Peat. s^k".;' *"•"""'"*•• The Qrey Man. Lads' Love. Uttle Anna Mark. Lochlnvar. The SUndard Bearer. The Red Axe. The Black Douglas Love Idylls. The Silver Skull. Cinderella. fr^'^'** Travellers. Sir Toady Uon. ■• "^^^mw^m Flower-o'-the-Corn 'rrr T Kmcs DAUGMTEf •5- R. CROCKETT. _„^ ttmrottto : THE COPP CLARK COMPANY. LIMITED, 1902. PZ3 n CONTENTS. OHAPTEB i- — Frances J— ^;»« Road to Keltonhill " ' VIII.— My Daughter Yvette lA.— To Love and to Hate X.— A Woman's Wits XL-^e Judas Tree Lets Fall a Blossom: ." ' " Xm Z?^! P^ ^°'* °° **>« Stairway ^.-O^tam Spokes in Certain WhLs ' ' ' -*-iv — rh© Maison Rouge XVI. — Check t . , • • . . XIx'~Sr m"T?1" ^'*y °* ^~*her and Sister" ' vv'~^ ^"*'*" R**« of Folly . Xxt~i ! ^'^"^'^ **' *'^« Crypto' XXI.— Madame la Mar6chale XXII.-The Cradle of St. Veran " XXV ~I fi S.^««*°«« of Stolen Waters . . ' jSvt* -^ ^'T ^ ^''^^ Woodcocks 2S^'~?rX° -'^^^"^ Finds Friends .' ' ' 3^.~The Ferry of Beaucai^e " - '• AAA..— Apples of Sodom PAOB 1 10 18 26 3C 43 57 65 80 . 91 . 105 . 116 . 123 132 146 166 164 173 181 193 204 217 227 236 248 256 264 272 277 284 p c c ■a VI Contents. OHAI>T£B ^I.-Jean Cavalier's Last Temptation XX?Tri*~S^'' ***** ^^''^^ Not Tmoe S^iv V ^' Resin-Qathe^r's K™ ' ' ^^-^iT; Finf SS !;°™ «- ^- ^"P XXXlX-n^e Spid'er^Ct'web^"^"^'" vfr*""^ ^^'^^^ °f Evil .. ^-Eye and Lilith „/ I " SELAff_A Song in AntipiTuny Z PAd 2S 30 31 32 33 34' 36' 37] 38( 391 401 40£ 41£ 424 431 437 448 4£4 PAoa 293 300 313 322 331 344 367 371 380 390 400 405 415 424 431 437 448 464 Flower-o'-the-Corn '\/\r\/\*\o ,, ^ CHAPTER I. Frances. He ought to take bs tone from 2 f " '*'^ f 'ghbou^. no precisian, no enthusTt no ,t. i '"^- ^' '^'» "» but rather a man of affa£ " ^TT P"™"«°. and his flngera tap™dTh?f„i/ .""^ ""^« Pa"««i, "Once. sir^herf^'^VXutdT »'"■ T^^^^'W- gracious, who assisted mS ^th '» "^ '? '"'' ^"'y 0' money. I „ever founf mysSt anVZ ""^ """ No! not a whit the woree-hf^^if7 u '"'"^ '<»• '»• tation, well_l hadls^ ,? '•i'"'"^'"- 1° '«P»- Maurice, you have tLZL V°" ^1 ,,®°-/''P'^'" far as mere man may judT™.^^ 1 ,*' '^**-a« by over-niceness mL' yX fhanor R I"™' •??-«" one who knows. Take you^ dav^' t^^ ' " '""^ Man is young but once, remembt^ ' Th^ , ^°Z ^"^ ' all too soon wh^n n»„L """emoer. Xhe time will come their reliTh. K^s my lad th,™"* *"" '"'™ '- favour. For bv-andZ It^' J^ y"" '"^ ^i^S over your shoiratth^:'' T"^ wiU begin to look Aye. all too soonT Al^tZn, ■°'"" "^ "^""""y^"- feo to Captain xMaurico Raith (late of my Lord 2 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. Cutts's regiment) spake his newly-nominated Grace of Marlborough. The allied troops lay on the green braeface just over the Castle of Cr^vecceur. The Meuse flowed placidly beneath like a river seen in a dream. There were six secretaries writing hard at it in the next room, but for all that my lord was finding time to bestow the advice of experience upon his favourite aide. The mind of the great captain was far from easy. Nimeguen was still a cause of anxiety. Among themselves the Dutch still disagreed — as usual. Blen- heim lay far to the south, a peaceful hamlet, dreaming among its vines, and one well-bred youth, in liTr. Maurice's opinion, occupied a position of more impor- tance in the movements of the allied armies than Eugene the Prince, and a dozen Dutch generals v.itii names that sounded Hke " Kinkhost." So, with these words ringing in his ears, and in his heart a great willingness to follow his Chief's precepts, Maurice Raith took his way without the bounds of the camp. It was harvest time, which in that country happens in the high flood-tide of the July heats. All Flanders and Picardy were veritable Fields of the Cloth of Gold, in which blue blouses swung and swayed, and scythes flashed circlewise in the high bold sunshine. It was thus that he first saw her, blue and white among the gold, and ever after in his heart of hearts he called her, hke those others, " Flower-o'-the-Corn." Common folk in England call a certain gay, laughing, defiant bloom " Cornflower." In France little chil- dren leap up and shout aloud, " Bluet ! Bluet ! " when they catch sight of it. For it is a precious thing to them. And Maurice Raith, who in answering my lord's letters had a genius for finding the right word. FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 5 knew at once that for this mVi «,k l harvest field, there ™ *o „7h ""^ "'* '"'"''"8 ^^e imt-Kower-o'-the-Com" s° ^"^ "*"' '^'^^^ •»" was tm Time grew old ^""-"-o'-the-Ck,™ she srs":^k-^r';-ai~rX'i:^ That is. save about thT^„" t of th". J^^^'P'^y- aU things grow naturall^ cZL J fv f^'."'"^'" htr:f?^.'-:%-f-XrsVL: each accordi^^ :tr "'^t a^d T" ^' "" '"' '°™- the meaning a'nd inwLS Tt^lZ'^T^"' "' preamble. wora. buch is our hgS.7:;^nr£"',?.r.L\r ^f ^-p«^ between them which she b,T . ""? °' ""^^o"' stopped short irthe An. sbl ' ^"*"""'' ""<' '^e pulses out the glad„r rf LT T^^g-^' « bird brevity of life. 'Z^ tLught Thl 1°^"!? "'"^ seen so fair a thins-no not ^n ?? ^ ''* •""* """ -as. this maid wfo JltdWrn's^JT/ *<•« -S^' wavmg eomlands of the Mease vdley^ """""^ '^' ^e^Mhef^of rr"', "'"'-^^y "'-o'' *o the audibly ^^:h it tlef ^ ""'."r "'"''''»« ataost ear. It w^ ^ Is.* t7 °^'"'' '*"««« »» the settling X^lr tK- J"'y- *»d 'be Duke was just 8 oown for the seeond time in front of that w 4 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. famous town of Namur, the strongest fortress of aU those Lowlands Low, to which the folk of every country m Europe come as to a cockpit to arrange then- quarrels and to fight their battles. For these are the thmgs that make the flat lands famous— to wit Flemish mares, Dinant copper-workers, ugly women! and the finest battlefields in the world. Yet nothing was less in the mind of Maurice Raith than maidens fair or maidens Flemish, as he strolled out into the cornfields to cool his brain after toiling aU the mormng writing the Duke's letters and listening with one ear to the great Captain's advice. For mv Lord Mariborough had taken a fancy to the young man, and so for the most part kept him hard at work whde he permitted the gold-barred ornamentals of his staff to disport themselves in Brussels along the shady side of the Grande Place, or to ogle the maids of the city from under the lacework turrets of the Town Hall So it chanced that, in a field a mile or two beyond the limits of the camp, Maurice Raith, sauntering heart-free, suddenly heard, as it were, the carolling vt^ ui ^^ '°*^ '"^ ^*^^^^ ^« «to^^^ was sunk a little below the surrounding fields, as is the wont of the m.vinces of Ardennes-the banks steep and of crumbbng yeUowish ochre, with dark green plumes of broom at the top, feathering over and making a shadow pleasant to the wayfarer aU the high summer Here it was that he heard the sweet lilt of a giri's voice singing as to herself. Quick at the sound Maurice sprang at the steep face of the bank as he would have done at an entrench- ment. With one impetuous movement he burst through the broom, and lo ! he stood stone-stricken in sudden amazement. For Flower-o'-the-Corn had come into his life, and he could never be the sam^ FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 6 r.pr .The Z'^: '^iTv^^^^ »><>»« sword of Bharpness '"° ^^ '""o ''"-y vivid colour ?^S wJT """ '""y- "» •^h o' poppy or pome«anlT ^ """"*> °' «<>°'e tall virginal. Sheird eTes^haT""'/^'''''"''"""^""^ to sapphire blue, arfrom az»f b»T ''''* '"'^'" mysterious sea-violet app™^i„ » .u *"'' "8*'° to a above them aid the m^"? ^. **"" '''^ *••»' ^^one them. But her moutb .*""" ""^"^ behind Not at aU a r^poTfuf^ T *"*'. «'^'"'«» beauty. flittingfromexSnXlt^^S T ""■"*"'■"' disdainful, forgivine aU i.f ^ ' ^ ***°«'P«*"l«nt, seconds-; mofth ^ ^ *,.•,* """P"'' of twenty of pearly tS:h;^t;'^'*^f«'d -jtel-ing glimpses somema."terpieo;„th%rweUe1!^;^r'^ "^'^y^ -ii- ooct^fon't" ,^d\:1!f h'"''°? "P"" *« P'o»"t the young m^a.^'lnht^sunrCttTtl" T'^^ *" cloud. She wotb « r« , u °'®*^"^g through an April coloured t.ZZi:XrT.' f""-^' "' ""^^^^^ her hair beneath it was of t^. > '"* T'^^' '""^ parts of Indian corn ^f^ the colour of the ruddy gold and dXshadowTnJ^^T? "'""' "«•"« "« 'od it i.o.er-o..tht?^r:L"rt"^™,Tfr^^^ a';ZwTrwrr:r «'»y«ix;: that had "soth^rrsS ^L^rT'TnT '"^ not^e": ""L:: .^r „ ^° P- -""» -^te d„wn. "S express the peculiar and invincible charm !l n lii • FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. of Mistress Frances WeUwood, sole daughter of Mr. Patrick WeUwood, chaplain to Ardmillan's regiment, in the service of the Queen of Great Britain, France, and Ireland. It is hardly fair to say that the young man was struck. Rather he was buflFeted. Nor did this do him any harm, for he was a youth of some experience, this same Maurice Raith, as befitted an officer and a gentleman on the personal stafif of my Lord Marlborough. No stranger was Captain Raith to the whimsies of court dames and ladies of honour, fully alive to the fact that there were wives of rich ornaments of great City companies, who were willing to bestow embroidered suits and jewelled sword-hilts, all for the favour of a little escort duty on fine Sundays after Mr. Richard Davies or Dr. Henry SachevereU had preached in St. Paul's or Crutched Friars. Moreover, my lord did not encourage simple- tons about him, never having felt himself any the worse of my Lady Cleveland's early bounty, the pro- ceeds of which he had locked away so securely in Lord Halifax's annuity. Yet, when .ill was said and done, a forth-looking, honest, passably virtuous youth was Master Maurice Raith, brevet Captain and acting private secretary on the staff of my Lord Duke before the defences of Namur, about which the river Meuse fetches a peaceful compass, as becometh a river of the Lowlands Low. " What is your name ? '* " Frances. And yours ? " " Maurice." There was the inevitable pause as they looked at each other, blushing with beautiful unanimity. Sur- names were not asked for, somehow. Flower-o'- the-Cora fingered a saffron and purple Marguerite, ii; jii Hi FLOWER-O'-THE-CORNj 1 T^V^l ^^ "^r> ^~°^ ^^''' ^^^^'^ pincushion. Jown Th« ? """"^ instinctively, and were walking ^nfJ? u^ ^Z^y ^'^"^ *^^ ^*°^P- Frances could not tell why-mdeed. she did not know of it till afterwards. Maurice Raith switched the broom with t" !!""• *°^ "'"^^^^ »»" «n»Pty brain for something ^^.^A K T** °*'^ volubility had strangely deserted him He knew that a compliment wfuld He felt that this girl was somehow diflferent from aU others, and that his experience of court ladies and city dames would not help him in the least here. He had an odd sense of being (by an ..iversion of the proverb) a swme introduced to a trr gh of pearls-an embar- rassing business for the s-.vi .e Yet at last he found words. w«n? 11 ^^i^''\ ^^ ^^^' "°^*^3^' " tba* yon stouk wander thus far from the camp, and alone ? " A rl'^T"^ '/''^?^'^y *° ^«"nie the right to mquire. A certam brother y instmct stirred within him. mixed with somethmg else-the mtuitively superior Attitude ^rotlcLe"'"""^"^' "^^^ ^^^--' ^* »™« "The camp is dangerous." he went on. with some eagerness, "the new levies, the Badene;s. the wild tribesmen from the edge of Styria » She cut him short. «n!i ^.7 '^ • " ^^ ^"^^^^ b^^k at her, " am I a Scot and not know ArdmiUan's regiment « » "th^T^-^^n T^ nnderstand this also." she said, that It 18 God pity him who meddles with Frances Wellwood to her hurt ! ' " " ^^** "^^y b« trne," he persisted. " but the evU 8 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. might be done-done quickly, and vengeance after- wards were but a poor thing. You mu.f take care-. lZ';y y°" ^'^« ^^^^^er home. In these stormy •' iJt? ''" ^'Jm ^'""' *"'" "°^'" «h« interrupted, for we are walkmg straight away from the camp " aido « /r *'" ""'**"' ""y ^^^^o*"^! am the General's aide-a fellow-countryman-in fact. Maurice Raith ! " nni ^°""f ""*" '*'''" ''^ ^^'^^ ««« ^^»'^n his own name seemed a passport to him . In spite of his experi- ence he still took himself very seriously ^ My friend." she said, "neither does my father permit me to wander without the weapons of the flesh And some skill to use them." She slid her hand behind her. and lo ! as in a con- ZTA A T ""^'^ ^ ^'•*'*' "^ P'«t«'« in her pretty 1. tie hands Ift a moment she had return d them She bent shghtly. lifted her foot, seemed to touTh h:firge«:'^"'^^'^^"^"''«^^"-<^»-^^^^^ inJ^^!!!/^'' ^"^ ^ " '1?" ""^'^"^ "P ^^ ^i"^' «*i" «toop- Zl \L ' 7 "^"'* ^ P'^^"*^" ^ ^^t^^'y «f artillery ? Say the word. sir. I am a battalion of infantry a^squadron of cavahy, and a park of artillery all In "You are a very foolish girl!" said Maurice sententious y. and with the loftiest kind of disdain noUikell ' "" '""^ P^^^^^ "^^^' -d d^^ «/ ^^^"J'"/^'^ ^"'"^"^ '"''^^y ^^ "ght angles, "you are much too grand a person to waste your time m talking to sUIy girls. I wish you a good afl^r! noon ! I will show you it was true about the cavah-y at any rate." "'»"j'» She hailed a parsing orderly, who was taking an I. FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 9 «" M.'Ti^?K." "*." ' " ""' <>'"n«'>ded. curtly. __ Major North',, mistreM." wid the man. Thi. ™i;fi ''^"' = ' ''"' "••« '»■» ""ck into camp Th» gentleman .ay. that it « unaafe to walk ouWde The wldier did a8 he wa. bidden, without a word It wa, evident that he knew the girl perfectly She mounted easily, just touching the orderly^, out stretched finge™. Maurice Raith^toodga^nl Good-bye," she cried, arranging her Bkirta • " r,,,, away and «m> that the General^, fetter, a^^rettT copied or you wiU be !.ipped. And never walto oT/ou r- ™ ""' «""• '' » " '»'"' «»' ""/g^ow She waved her hand and was gone ' ce^r'tLfil!" ""SP^ *■" '°°*' H« ^^ "'""Uy ,Td?rf tW K soldier-servant laughed the li side of that horse. He could hear the t. : Mlverv tnll of France, WeUwood-s mirth. He res ,' S he would not think of her as •• Flowcr-o'-the-born " thing m such circumstances. Ill m CHAPTER II. The Chaplain op Ardmillan's Regiment. S K vf ^^^' ^"^^"^ ^*°^"''' ^^^° the motley hosts which conquered TaUard at Blenheim were l^anX?. ;;: 'K ''^y- ^^* «^ accustomed wis Frances to the sight that she only glanced up occa- Tscltr ^ ^"ff-d-blue of L own regiment of Scottish foot crossed the road or stood grouped in argument at an inn door. Away yonder rode General Lumley m command of the sJots Greys with a brilliant staff about him, but Frances mefe y Todded pleasantly to one or two of the officers of the sLider and the Divine Decrees with her father. Then came the press again-Wurtemburger light horsemen gow! banded and fretful like wasps, blue Franconian Lfars !td"anT^'?""^"'*^ broad silver bands at the Siee t^nh^^^'v rZ"" ^PP^^^^^ ^ ^^"«^^ «f fierce mous- Ilt^fr^^ °'*fi: ^^^«-d-y«d and milk-toothed. 1 ralv P^°^' °^'^' °^'' *^^^^ «^«^Jders at huge brawny Pomerar an privates, stolidly pushing through the ruci four abreast, placid and^^m^! X lous to mere noise as their own buUocks. Never such a host gathered together, and never so strangTa place lor mortal maid to make her home in ^ Yet through the Babel of tongues, the broad give- FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 1 1 and-take of compliments in a score of languages. Flower-o -the-Com moved easily and placidly sil- ^If/Tt ^u°''°/'°°' ^^^ *^" ^°^« «^ Major North. She sat him bare-backed, but as if on an easy-chair, one httle white hand laid lightly on the mane, and her eyes rovmg hither and thither over the ranged tents and fur her afield to the long white lines of%he city fortifications, from which came ever and anon the bf tTJh^'^'^ "^ " ^'^^ sun or an upward burst of white smoke as a mortar was discharged pU^fT^.Tru''^^"^ ** her-they had not been men eke but the hasty gibe in rough camp Enghsh, learnt in the trenches and bandied in whispers from post to ^""'^^'0^"'^^^ ^y *^^ q"i«^ «lbow of a comrade. Ihe Scots priest's daughter, beware ! Her father ^JX 1 ^^,V^^' *^" g^^ °^ ^^S^^^' Once only Black Kessel of Taxis spake roughly to her. and hi. tongue clave to the roof of his mouth. On the third day he died-as it were in the flames of heU-fire ' " This was no m repute to have in such an unruly army rTjtj '^t^^'^ ^^' own quarters Flower-o'-the- torn had a still better safeguard. From out of the opening of a narrow street came a ?.tr ^ ,f^ c'"^'"'" '"S^^^"* ^^"^g with the per- fectly-driUed Scottish swing. They were on fatigue duty, and each carried a mop and bucket, but for ahgnment and simultaneousness of movement it might have been a Field-Marshal's parade. And as they then: hands with one simultaneous unanimous gesture 'h? 1.1^' ^"^"'"^^ movements of the Military ealute. Flower-o'-the-Com did not smile. She re^ n? K^ *^' ^^°°^ ^ ^° °^°^^ w°"W have done. tnrTi % ."^"^"^'^^^"^^ "S^*- ^^'^ ^^d been accus- tomed to It eyer since she could trot about barracks 12 FWWER-O'-THE-CORN. .nd^oli^ eo the .„,tet-butU „f .be ,oIdie„ „„ I-ome^oH^^^rti^tS''" ^"^-y »-. the under aeland at DXldLrt""'' "'"' '"*'' '""«'" in Barbadoes. thermal 'oto?'"T«"*'' '^^ ^hidds died for her. AndCoes W^ J 2 T"'" °°* '"'™ well as that she bt^atS a^tT T '*' '"''^ "» thing to her. She countT^ 1 j ^^°""^ ^ ""t"™' a daily bread, or the b^tw* mI"™"™ "' "•«" a» her the which lay her al^t^'v^f /'fr -^f^r-'" waB one-aye, even M^ter Matice RaTt, " ""T"' to the General, among so many T ^'"*''' "^'^^y erect as if he had been^I^i ^ Fusihers, drew himself ^iuted, and TJgoT ^^ ^^ ^ "'«''« °° P"ade, jieLrhJuVrt^a^oe^td'^rd'^^r- -"-'"«» from her horse. UnS th» t *^"^ "^ "^ghtly broad unequal patoh^j^ /'"'''''•, ''ine^overA in «pare. his black Cked'ha^ f° ^" °""'' *«" ""d talk with a younger man tL ^ ""'• ^« ^"^ *» and bro^e J with se^e If ^hT l^^*'^ ^''^'^ culated with the cockedh!; uu. u^"^' "■»" gesti- and that in the veWent 'i' "' ^' ^"^^ '^^^^Y half-turmng as the sCow of tS m1 ™ T^-^^ path, he showed that onJnVi:- ..^ '''" '"' *•"« white squinted most ala™ n^ty or rltwT"' ''™™ «y- X^t;Ci?:tr^f^S?- »^^ wiii Of its owner. But"^;!:^-"^-:-*^^ i I FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 13 any attention to this. She ran impulsively to the eWer man, and without noticing his complLon she cast her arms about his neck and Jdssed himTcin tmental fashion, on both cheeks "Frances ! Frances ! " said the minister disen gaging her gently. "wiU you never learn m;nnrr? Do you not see that I am presently in coUoTu^Smv colonel. Sir Archibald ArdmiUau 2 It isln J^ ^ the regiment. I pray you^ ' in .„H^ °^ Francefl ! » ^ ^ ^ ^"^ "" ^""^ ^^^^e us, tne s^.t. If It IS an aflFair of the regiment von h.^1 your study, Colonel Ardmillan has "de^oom and Ins quarters. This is at present my f^nt trde^ and If you have anything to say that I maHoThear' baW-l" gate leading out of it. But /sT.Zl e^yXt^li:^'"'''' -^° ^-^^^^- bachelor's "Your daughter is right, chaplain," he said " M, th,^*""-."*" '"'™^^' '^*''> P^'haps, more zea than sincerity upon his brow. 8aid^''-!r'^ *^ "TPt"* "' P^"°'«' tl^ °">id«n," he and k^embLt^ ''t °' ''^ "P'"'"^"* » --P^ ha^e^:tu',™r.?s. ^^^ rSnl.^"^'' "'"■"''■ -^'-^ interpreted^^-g^ffil^ As he stood in speech with her father rnl««^i e- Archibald Ardinilla^had kept his Lt ^n his heaT Fo" eHhirGoTor tb^'^^ ""''' ""^S no reason to fo^r either G04 or the devd, took smaU heed of the belief 14 el FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. prevailing in the allied armies that the chaplain of places, and could summon the demons from their at D:Lr s7 '•''V^^''''^ by his severTn m" as Donat, Severio, Bandaro, and the like. These are the instructions of my Lord Duke » repeated Ardmillan. brusquely, "and I rdy upo^^^^^^^ to carry them out ! " ^ ^ ^ He turned on his heel with a brief sn1nfof;«« e r ju?.r ,^ twdquartera of his regiment A hard-brtten tidier of King William was Sif S bald ArdmJlan and one who had been wounded taT grom at Steenkirk at the same time as my iTrd^tte ^ZJ:!:^ -"-^ ««■•' ^-^ '-' You have offended our colonel air] » ao,-^ t> * i WellwooH " Tko* • X ^„ ,"®*' g*"» said Patrick vveuwood. That is not weU done. Remember that Xwtrpf. •'^'^"'^ -- -^ P-^^o»^ " The camp would miss me worse than I the oami> " camp." ^ "*" ^° "^'^ ''«" '^tl'oot tte " Without the camp !-Without the camp, bearing as reproach!" groaned the old ministe^r 3 sta,ghtwaymto a kind of reverie, and forgetting"! was^^h,s custom the immediate subject of conver! His eyes were feed, even the wandering left one growuig set and filmy. ^ ® "A great quest," he said, raising his hand with a fand of rapture, and his voice taking on its pul^n- rZ V >.f?* T'^*-*" deliver the people of the Lord out of the hand of the oppressor 'm under Z FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 15 hooves of the horses shod for war, and from before the charioteers that drive furiously ! " Then he looked at his daughter with a soft sadness, remarkable in so stem a man. " But this my dove," he went on, " my ain dove that sitteth among the rocks, that hath had her dwelling aU her days among the defenced rocks ! What shall I do with her in the day of peril— in the time of battle and war ? " The girl rose and put both her arms about the old man's neck. " Patrick Wellwood." she said, using, in the Scots fashion, the fuU name of her parent, " is it not written, * Entreat me not to leave thee or to return from foUowing after thee ? For whither thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge ! ' " " True, Frances," said the minister, " so it is written, and of the love of the young to the old. Moreover,' whither could I send you to keep you more safe than here under my hand ? Yet for this love of thine to me-ward, the Lord that is on high recompense vou my daughter!" f y , " Then I am to accompany you ? " Frances put the question with a quick upward lift of the eye- lashes. ^^ " I judge that no better may be," said the minister, yet if It were possible I would even prefer that you should abide in one of their Popish convents rather than risk life and honour among the hellish accusers of the Brethren." "If you did put me in a convent," said Frances, laughing, " I would climb over the waU and be after you m two hours. Aye, even as T did when you left me at my aunt's at Sawtflats. So, daddy, I warn you ! But whither are we to go ? " ^«t«' 16 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. The old man lifted his finger. " Hush, girl." he Come, then, closer to me ! " And tossing her bonnet over her shoulder and throw- ing back her fleece of shining curls with a pretty gesture, the daughter of ArdmiUan's chaplain skipped across and chmbed on her father's knee, even as she had done when she was a little girl of four, and Patrick WeUwood kept lumps of brown sugar in his waistcoat pocket for the only comrade whom death and the mahgnity of enemies had left to him. She set her bonnet momentarily on his long white hair, anon snatching it off again as if there was some- thmg of profanation in the act. Then she curled her toes behind bis leg. and said encouragingly as she perched herself, " Now. daddy, whisper ! " It was the old formula with which he had set him- self to put her to sleep in mountain caves, in the old days of the Scottish persecutions, and Patrick WeU- wood smiled as he heard it. " My child," he said, very gently, « once again you and I are to take our lives in our hands, and adventure into the deserts and wild hiUs, that we may brine succour to God's folk suffering there-even as in thf days not long agone, we of the Scottish reformation abode m dens and caves of the earth ! We go to the mountains called Cevennes ! " Q "P® 5f^^°°e« ? " queried the girl, " that is in the South of France, is it not ? In Languedoc, and on the borders of Spam ! " " You have not quite forgot your book lear at .u ??; ^^ ^^'^- " ^ ^^° "^""^^ ^^«aU many things that I had thought for ever put behind me. For I am to journey ostensibly as a minister of the Swiss reform kirk, on a mission to persuade the Protestant r^seB*feewsJirfK5K *T5>te*'«i«M*j FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 17 gentlemen of Provence and the Vivarais to assist the Jmg m putting down the fanatics of the utmost The girl nestled closer to her father. " You will not go anywhere without me ; you have promised^" ^oler • """' ^" "'^ ' ^^^^ that' knows its The old man sighed. " It is my fate." he said ; " Patrick Wellwood Will never lang ho snug on the lee side of aay dyke ffis weird can nae man shun, and to hear the whauoa on the muir. and the black cock craw amang the heather a his days is his fate and yours, my lassie - » Better than to hear the mouse ch^^n oa ,1 the Black Douglas, father." «t^^ed Frt^^s' swayW herself back on his knee tUl she could Wss Ceheek " Ah. lass lass ! " said the old man. gently " ve are young and see no new thing come wrang to ye' so Se think your am cosy ingle-nook and a drap halesomo A'simiS'JSK CHAPTER III. My Lord Duke. There is no doubt that of the two young people who met that pleasant clean-breathed day of July on the Brabant cornlands, Maurice Raith was the one who thought most concerning the encounter. This, of course, was not at all according to the rules of the game. The dashing young aide and favourite secretary, to whom his chief looked to draw secrets from the breasts of great ladies (who sometimes held such in their keeping), what would he care for the daughter of the Presbyterian chaplain of a Scots regi- ment but lately transferred from the Dutch roster ? ^Vhat more natural than that a simple girl like Frances Wellwood should be flattered by the atten- tions and admiration of a handsome young officer of the General's own staflf ? Yet the truth must be told. It was Maurice Raith and not Frances Wellwood who went away\with that old ache at the heart. Fifty times and other fifty he informed himself that he did not care a straw, and as often the assertion did him no good. He saw Flower- o'-the-Corn stand up against the summer sunlight, breast-high in the golden grain, a poppy (scarce redder than her lips) laid against her white dress, and eyes bluer than the blue skies looking down mirthfully at him. ^Egrr' s FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. ig she not bidden him go home and set L fh! f1 copying of his letter, ^n pain :f befng wh^p^", "'"'"^ Repcatmg this to himself with quit7W.ecessar. rehemence,hesuddenly laughed aloud. andrfeltTaS^ for when a man has once treated a matteTas al^e" be >t for ever so brief a period, he ean never take ii baclc agam into the region of the h ghesltraeedv where alone danger lies ^ "tragedy, nnfl^^l ^"'' """S^-S. put away his ill-hnmour and made the saner masculine resolve. "The S vixen! I wUl be even with her yet ' " This was. however, somewhat easier to pronose th»„ to perform, eonsidering that the young fadyhLbv this time weU-nigh forgotten his veVy existent and »* Major North's ehargjr *'* homeward upon he'tw latf '''i"°' """"'^ headquarte.^ before u me nearest chair, his plumed hat lying 20 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. broadside on the ascetic camp-bed, was striding to and fro, dictating furiously. Mounted officers were dashing out with orders to north, east, and west. " Baith / Ratth / " Maurice hoard his name shouted with increasing volume of sound. ^* Baith to see his Grace/" A young subaltern repeated the words, adding in a lower tone, " and a devil of a temper you will find him in, my friend, when he does get hold of you ! He has been demanding you with oaths and cursings for the last half-hour ! " Another muttered under his breath as Maurice passed, " God's blessing on such as you, my son ! If it were not for you and your like, we might all have had to be gold-mounted, brass-buttoned staff officers, sitting on stools all day long and writing condemnable despatches." Thus encouraged Maurice faced his chief, and lo ! the great man's mood was changed. In the morning when he preached to the lad his languid philosophy of laisser faire, John Churchill had seemed a kind of extinct volcano, smoking the pipe of peace and prating of bygone extravagances. Now he was an earthquake, an eruption, and a hurricane all in one. He stood in the middle of the room volleying orders, despatching brusque commands to the farthest limits of the camp, arranging rendezvous with his allies, Eugene of Savoy and the sulky Badener prince. " That is too curt, Powell," he cried, as he glanced at a despatch handed him by a staff secretary with silent deference ; " why in the incomprehensible name of Lucifer, son of the morning, do you not learn to express yourself with more suavity ? These gentlemen to whom you write are at least men and brothers. They have no visible tails. They stand erect upon their hind legs. Their honourable names you may read on ^-^im"^ FLOWER-0»-THE-CORN. 21 the lists of the Empire-the Prince Elector of Baden ^:rnltri^iotrd ^^ Ir ^ ^°"' «^-^«' ^- Sub'. This was the way of " Corporal John " when he h«H matters of weight upon his mind. ^^^n he had And Maurice Raith, bowing humbly before th« r r£^K --•=,^ Sirs xne army marches at once to the Snnfh f« ^u Danube perhaps, certainly to the R^^e > ■" *" **"' Ihe young man started. "My lord, you promised me a regiment » he said The Commander-in-Chief laid h,« Ko ^ \. I promised your father, Kaith, that you should \if »».«:•*:■. av-.-.- « I i «a FLOWER-0*-THE-CORN. earn it first. Were you my own son you should do no less. I should do no more ! " " I know it, my lord," said Maurice Raith ; " only show me how I am to earn it. My desire is to use my sword in your service as well as my pen." " Ah," said the Duke, with not a trace of his recent haste, " you make the mistake of all brisk young men. There are more ways of earning military renown tb' i the way of a bull at a fence. You have a head, Captu..\ liaith, but you need not knock it against a stone wall. There are a thousand youngsters in ray army who will load a forlorn hope, run headlong upon a breach, storm a fort, endure danger and hunger, or lie out three days in the open fields with their wounds un- tonded, yet think that they have done nothing out of the common. But there are not so many — indeed, I know of but one whom I would entrust with the commission which I VtriU put into your Lands this day. His name is Maurice Raith ! " The young man's heart beat fast at the words of confidence from the lips of the great master ^' \ u :. " I am wholly at your service, my lord," he said. The General nodded shortly. "You speak French lilce a native, I believe," he went on. '" For that purpose I advised your father to send you three years to Paris when we were planning how to make the most of you. You can talk like a diplomat, write like a scribe, pay court like a prince of the Holy Roman Empire— and if you could only lie with conviction, and control your hot head, you would be a tempered weapon worth usmg in the great game of principalities and powers ! " His Grace of Marlborough paused a little, narrowing his eyes and looking critically at the young man be- tween his lowered lashes. "s^mm^s^^ FLOWER.O».THE-CORN. 23 "No," he said a. if the remark were the outcome of hu sorutmy. we cannot afford to waste you on the rough-and-tumble of batUe. The like of these are good enough." With a contemptuous shoulder he indicated where half-a-dozen young officers stood chattering and jesting ITV * "^T"^"' ^*^^^"« ^^'^ despatches or merely discussmg the probabilities of the campaign To your regiments, gentlemen," he cried suddenly and the concourse broke up in scared sUence as the flap of the tent fell back. ^ Marlborough returned to a map of France which was spread out on the table before him. Maurice's eyes foUowed the direction of his commander's glance, rhe great man. with characteristic quickness, took his tnougnt. " NO'" ^l said, " that pleasure is not for me this hme, though "-here he hesitated-" my friend Prince Eugene has promised his most Christian Majesty a visit one of these days. But you. Captain Raith. are to make a httle journey, in any disguise that may smt yoi^ through a portion of Louis Bourbon's dl minions." He laid his finger far to the south, drawing it diagon- ally across the south-east comer of France ^8 gates, which may yet cripple the householder- the Grande Monarque ! You have heard of the Cevemies ? he concluded, looking up swiftly Maurice looked surprised. letters at your instauce to the chiefs of the insurrection among those mountains." "Hush!" said the Duke, smiling, "you are a clever lad. Maurice, but each morning the mind of a rjvmr •my-->»- 24 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 1 \ I 'i J good secretary ought to be like a clean-wiped slate. What I write upon it one day has no relation with what was written there the day before. But at all events, you are to journey thither, and privately and un- officially to encourage the leaders of the revolt. There are to be English ships of war on the Mediterranean coast, at a place which I will show you before you leave, upon a date which I will also communicate. You will see that the stores and warlike material reach those for whom it is intended— that is, our persecuted fellow-Protestants of the South of France." It is possible that there was a slightly humorous cast upon the Duke's countenance as he uttered these words, but his eye met that of his subordinate full and defiant. John Churchill could be a good enough Protestant when it suited him ; nevertheless, the words fell somewhat quaintly from his lips. But Maurice bowed gravely. " And, if I succeed, will that earn me my regi- ment ? " he said, quietly. A darker shade passed over the brow of the great commander. " You make me inclined to think," he said, " that I have overrated your capacity. You will come to me for your final instructions to-morrow morning at five o'clock. In the meantime you will provide yourself with whatever disguise seems to you most fitting. Remember, you must expect no assistance from us if you are caught. In that case you will assuredly be hung for a spy. Pray make your reckoning with that." Maurice bowed a second time and went out. " Surely so much risk is worth a regiment, at least," he said softly to himself, as he heard the General summon one of his fellow-secretaries to receive another letter at dictation. CHAPTKI- IV. Pierre the Waggoner. ^^L nol. '''«"»7««hen high road of middle France, none to vex ub tor a hundred leagues, save only the occasional exactions and constant oUrbearing duTt'wrh *Jh r""'-"^ ■" ">» -ty gates, and hf dust-swirls that swept and waltzed between the pollarded wiUows of its endless perspectivL Hey ! Ola ! Allez ! " cried a certain nut-brown carter to h.s leading beast as it tugged up the iX from between your knees and puU with the others you spmd^B-shanked, raw-boned lump of kziness ! " ^ And the cracking of a huge Langnedocian whip S'tCpp^""^* ''" '"-'' "' ^— '- P-- FrlJ^cT '^Th" '"^''™^ i" *^" """ ^-^y Uke that of wMer „„«''T """^ "^ "•"* '""""^t horizons, »Jder outlookmgs upon moss-hag and granite hills There are certainly some with more flole^ m«l set on e.ther side, ankle-deep _ thigh-deep, Hot choose m buttercup and meadow-sweet Th«e ^ ""^f' J'"*" °' "=°*'*8«« hy Scottish highways and redder brick cottages more deeply smothcr^Tn ivy at the corners of English lanes. But for aU that is pleasant in the pleasantest time i i " i 26 FLOWEE-O'-THE-COBN. iLtUrii' ""f." ?°"^8 " ^ ">« "orfd like « ready and the wheat standa ripe and level Anrf .„ oZ'^f r T .°."''°'^- --t-™™- btLe^ t^ towns of Eoohe-i-Bayard and Hoo. whose caUing and abode were expressed in large letters upon the tuSng of hs three great waggons. A stout young man m otner folk s affairs was this Master Pierre. He had documents, too. enough to satisfy an army of inqlei Had he not the King's own seal for the right^fT^ mto and exit out of iVance ? By prof eSl L w1^ licensed carrier of wine from the recently-!dS th^ U^ff northern Monsieur Pierre of Roohe-^S^^ cfi.^; f *J ''f ^-otter story, and he had yet another iiing m these semi-savage soUtudes-leading stranee ^IS ofT*^ "'r":. ^^°"«- "^ fanaticsXt« f for all their pams. yet daily exposing their Uvea on desolate waterless hills, where scarct a Cau^I^rd riieep could gain a livelihood, ever in daCrrf a ftotestant bullet from behind some jlip^Tush or tL'^bl^r"' ^^ ' ^''^ "">- ""'"^l fL that the bulk of the sparkhng wine of the Meuse and Moselle having been delivered at Marly for the throat of Koyalty, the thoughtful King Lolus should blH safe rkT:^he*z"""''^.'"' ""^ ^°""'-«»- -*' -X casks of the same vmtage to cheer the hearts of his faithful servants, battling year in and yearTut JS iS FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 27 hill-preachors and long-hairod enthusiasts in the blue misty valleys of the Ceveunes. At aU eveats this which foUoweth is what the afore- said Pierre of Roche-^-]3ayard and Hoo carried >vritten upon his manifests and traffic-permits: " Three great and three little casks of wine of the Moselle, coinmUted to the care of Master-carrier Pierre Dubois, of the towns of Eoche-a-Bayard and Hoo—tJie Woperty of his most Christian Majesty Louis, King of France and Brittany; to be carried free of all duty, local or tmpenal, to the King's servants, the Marechal de Monlrevd and the Brigadier-General de Planque-beina a present from his most Christian Majesty r Surely as simple, convincing, irrefragable a docu- ment as ever was written upon a sheet of paper with the royal arms of France at the top ! Nevertheless, there were other things in the barrels besides Moselle wine and the handsome joUy-faced carter had in early life' and, indeed, tiU within the last two weeks, owned to the name of Maurice Raith, while his most convincing papers had been obtained-weU. as such things c^ always be obtained when "the highest quarters " in- terest themselves in— wine carriers and their passports And certainly Monsieur Pierre the Flamand played Iiis part with vigour and resolution. He wore no false hair or beard. The stain on his complexion was not deeper than that which bronzed the cheeks of many a sturdy foUower of the crawling road waggons Ld blue-sheeted carriers' carts. Pierre of Roche-a-Bayard and Hoo had been careful not to overdo his part A man of the north, he was naturally less inclined to loud outcries and clamorous greetings than the other occupants of the roadside inns where he put up. He had also a certain quieUy smiling dignity which sat well upon hima ■". "'o-gli Bet St^he t^''' "t'*, "'""""y """«'• '"to t«l»°« ^ assault the waggoner's face. "See you," cried Pierre of Roche-4-Bayard and Hoo ho ding up his papers to the sergeant. " here ^ th^' tW r '°^' '^™^' He must needs get make bad '"" °'''°' '"^ ^^^ ^^"^-' ^^^^ then^to make bad worse, overrun me in the night. I am 30 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. ri w sej^ant; ••„« of tho 24th'Grona"rhad1? *« that wo possessed some claim to that 71 V- when did the knitted short olo"hes and bro»H K fi"'" of the waggoner constitute a u^itrot H rMaics°tl^^^ earriS ^qutt /° " aT °'" t*'" """^ ^^™ ^^e has many em:nts andZtf .''"^""" *"' ^"« Here. Manse, read the scrawl aloud » ovi.^ *i sergeant, holding the certifip«fo , -^ 1 ' "^^ *^*® his finger and thZh '^tt T^^" ^"^"' ^'^^^ running script, and no mln of hL T '?"' ^^'^"^^ ^aift to read aueht but h^nl. ^^"/^"^^ ^an make little of that rmaybe » '^""*~'"'' ^"'^^^' ^' A taU grenadier came forward and tooV fK^ rXtts^t.:!^ --» oS^t::L"a7r- tulXtnZcrS nX^"' **■' -^-' P- That is very well." he saiM « k«+ • -^ x , ctt 'h" '"' «-i^i-*y» -^^ -^ e'l r worth a gold Louis to me at headq^Tny d": - " " "uy oacK our drunken ostlers Bir » Mo„^- made a grimace and jerked his thumb behin^hto! 13: 'S o e a s FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 31 •• Jt .VT"' "'" "" '°°'°'" 'he sergeant ordered- far be it from me to interfere with tht King's ^e But when you meet with the Mar6chal de Mont^^i do not forget to «"'-P-™ that the Auldmicht^ co^ir,'"Ln •"" -^"'.".f "!,"* ''~' "'" immediately concern you, said the disguised officer. "I have ■ saved you from the drill-sergeants of King Louis I sTaU have" t^'d r^'""^"" ""•' ' ^o further' ^eXr Tlie gipsy gave vent to a low chuckle caotain "T.'""!,"'^* ^' ■"•" "° " ™''t OaUo^ay man, .w f ' mI, !?' "*• ""-"^^ grandfaither o- ye cam frae Nitlvside wi' thae weary Maxwells, that hfd i i FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 37 nae busincHs to meddle wi' Gallowa' ava. Or ve wad «.r 8«o said I to Major Grier o' the^^r^ twentieth, 8«y8 I_..Yo ken Billy, «ir a,7tirt if 1 (I<)<«na got leave to Banff (,. if»i; »>[• an that if l,o ^.k; lee^e and .yn": TL ^t"" ""i fp l^^ -V'" an let Jiet an me ho amm i»„ i l . . '*^^ *"^» fecht the F^neri^rLt' • he^"^!'. 7„7 '" Major, him kennin' me an' me kenniri.- ,^ drive aboot my business alldTaV' Berwi'Te' 'ttl garred me swear on the crossed horn-sp"L That I wad be back to him in four months' time An' J wm I.grn the soles o' my feet dinna wear oot o„ the ,J' ?"''" ""'? """"'"^ ^'"'' ''•'» ''»«w the Major of the Cameronians and recognised that the ^^ wal worthy of credit, " in that case what are ye ddn' hire on a mountain in the very middle of Franc' Trntead o1 heading for Antwerp to get a boat bound for Sifh ,°' The gipsy looked at him ounninglv and kid » h i grimy finger on a broad and Sf C "U i^ "^ possible that ye may hae your'LTsUTnd tha m" y ?he s^utrr""' ,"' '*"'• """"^'y- " here's a eHo the south as weel as to the north of France AnH the shortest cut is whyles the langest fr^v" !•' "^ R„ilbh Jj""^^^''f«npl« of proverbial lore Maurice Raith had for the time to be perforce content By thm time the horses were thoroughly wearied rhc long ascent of the Causse had tried them Zll^W and It became necessary to rest them, eitherit the firs wayside inn which presented it,e (, or to lake their camp upon the open face of the desert Sy 38 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. were however, so close to the disturbed regions that the utmos care was necessaiy. Maurice Raith took out a small case of arms whicli had been cunnincjlv concealed m the sacking under the first waggon. The eyes of the gipsy ghttercd at the sight fnif J ^^^ "?t^""^ ^"^ ^^'' gully-knife." ho said, " an' fa th a pistol or twa doesna come ^^Tang whiles in this haverin' oollandish country » " UrU.\TTu^ *^"' "''"'^'^ "^ P'^^^^^ ^"^1 «tot care- w h "h" U ' r'''' "'"'^'^ *"^ *^"^'>'^d blue blouse, with chuckles of une<,ncoaK-d satisfaction •laith na." ho said, "1 haena caniet as muckle guid poother and lead since 1 waded Boyne Water at the tad o' auld King Wullio ! And ' yer honour haes the hke for Bet there. I'se uphaud tha'i she wUlmak' t very bit as guid a use o' 't as either you or me r ' tricks here ! Ye are no on the Corse o' Slakes, you ?nHi«f ' v""' ^'' "^^ '^'' ^""^^^ drove-road iyont Carlisle. Ye are to threaten none, take no man's purse, put no wayfarer in fear. You are to consider yourself under my orders as much as if you were in the camp of my Lord Marlborough himself. And more, m word and deed, you are to treat me as Pie^e l>ubois. the waggoner of Roche-i-Bayard and Hoo who has picked you up by the way, and is likely to make a monstrous bad bargain of you " ^ u^Ji^.f' 7""' *'"' ^^^''"' y^ ' " ^^ ^%. the gipsy w th the deep inward suUenness of the race of Lvnt when tlicy feel themselves coerced without reldy'^'^ Pay attention, then," said Maurice Raith - or- maybe ye have heard of the Caird o' Carsphairn ? " Ihat was hangit juist for a chucky hen and a dozen ^ mair nor half o' them clockit ! Oh, the meequit^ O 1 1 A fine, heartsome, able-bodied man, too ; at "S I I f FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 39 least, so they tell me ! " Bet struck in, with a suggestion of the Irish keen in her voice. "Even so." said Maurice Raith. "and his Grace of Marlborough standing by to see that the knot ran true and Bet r» ^'^' '''" ^ '^^' ^°"" ^^'^'°S. Billy With this he strode oflf to test the halters and heel ropes of his horses. For the true Caussenards, Cami- sard and Cadet of the Cross alike, were famous horse stealers, and every stable in the limestone country had two doors-one that opened outward and the other mward, and which continued to do so in spite of drawn bolts and shot bars. So Maurice Raith, tUl he should find himself safe in the camp of the Camisard leaders, preferred to stable his horses at the ancient sign of La Belle Etoile. and guard them himself with his pistols upon his knees. •*♦*♦• It was, fortunately, a night short and beneficent, whose shadow swept so swiftly eastward towards tlie sunset over the middle southlands of the Cevennes Down m the vaUey of the Tarn, fairest of the glens of 1^ ranee, the mghtingales never ceased smging, but the chiU spread far up among the fantastic peaks of the JJourbie. and here, out on the hoary scalp of the Larzac the frost bit bone-deep. Maurice wrapt his cloak closely about him and sat sleepless, listening to the voices of the night ; sometimes there was a singinrr rustle as of leaves i.nd distant waters in that waterless and treeless land, sometimes the cry of a far-wandered lamb seeking its mother over the waste, or the hawkmg cry of the smaU owl. quartering the ground in quest ot held mice and great horned beetles. But as he sat there motionless, Maurice had time to 40 1 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. think, and was cratefnl t* , i he had been ablfTo doso w Z'f T°" """' ""' *'•»« he left the camp of tLZv , 1""^^ easy mind since dealt severely w^o: ZvmZ uu'" ""r"'- "" '>»'' for the good'^of hil g wlu but*^'' '"'^ '!™^'"'' relief to have evsn l,r ' **^ »" infinite I'V he knew the ioL " "'"'r;^ "•"'" ™"'' dangers, eorporal of Ln erofZ, T ""' °' ""' '""""■no »t™gth, his „n™ervr;„''" "™™f ' ""^'"y- "»" in time of danger * ^ '^'^ ""'* '■'""1^ -^'onree the perilo„^"bl2n^'o^tltr V'"' """ "'■" "P™ love could keep hTmttre '^''«™««- i^ "oney or C orshX^ti"^^ --•>-''> "r"'"^ "-■' Maurice continued to look into ^h'e '"''' ''t'' •""* waste of nothingness H^ J .? ^^^ indefinite tarily to the S. vSon he . T' """^ '"™'"»- com that day abofe theM '' T" '"^""S the figure, the h>astonlAintl^7!r*' "«''* g'^'i^h the skies, at once sanS^H ,?' *'lf "^'^ "■«»• than Would h; ev^sl rCif/^*"" diamond-bright, little matter whether or 7o ^°"'«""«'« 't seemed add":L"^r^reh°;eltt t T" """-»«• i» his career, could m'atrd t,, ''5 f' ^ °"*««' "" weemen," as his Aunt 1V„ „ " S'" '"°'«^'f "'h this he sraikd fo/r, T"'*^'" """^ ''«^« »i"" "y- with the vfew o "anrelX'^:^:'" ""«' *'"'" *« ""' tion°wrilttf°™ r*^'^''' "'«' "- """i'ta- to J^^'^^^toher, as a free-hearted maiden's ought lived (so she told heJ()wouU he W^ '"''".'''''' perish one lock of hi. IhTte ha^" Th:t"the h*° -uld W away thet^i;u1„rr.ir ISmtT x;^S;-t iLeXt fr^hds ? .e. an int:ef '^IJ^'anTtC: Zo^d pt^ bhe communed much with hora^if *u- • , P^PP^- indeed natural Fnr .^ ^' *^'^ ^irl, as was ecu natural. j8 Graee's stall-thought Icindly to^ Ob she knew him well and 1,,., J ^' ■.' ""' y*'- Were not these Ih L tflk 'd n^T "'^ '""*• faced, hard-bitten warM^rn m^'lT" *" «™^«- Presbyterian oifice;^ of AXiha„t SpT.?""*^ ffe^ui^t::^, --^ -j^^-^^^^^^ of battfe, murder anfrddtfdtrh 1^.'^ ^T"""'- cast as the pained savage swooS 1 • ,^'"« ''"'^- Ne. England'vaUey. or f^ i m^.^'ht fef 0?*!^ ^ ."' :™e:z: t:^ ir ttr ' <"^"™ '^^ ^-^: would s4u, and jo^ii' s.^n: ijr„s':;r^'' be sdent or his hearers tirU of lltening ""'" And all the whUe Patrick Wellwood fv'h-, I j 1 • ■ the desert with one Mr. Richanl^Cat;::^: ani rMdJn" 46 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. with Will Oonlon and that other Lion of the Covenant n the last surging charge at Ayrsmo.,,. wouTlTi"' tl^o conversation to a higher plane, by ealir„. uZ t eso gr,™ fighters to ob«=rvo the finger o uX" the thmgs whieh had been, which were, and espedallv the things which slionld yet come to pass "'P'"'"'"^ hef ZoM eU '""" '"'\'^«™»'. Fences leand An,! • T- ■ "'" "P™ "«' ^"indow-sill and smiled rff a L„"i 7^"' """"™ ^*"'"' a'™ smiled «a f a good angel visited him in sleep. And so perhaps, one did. '^ ""• and'LrH *? '''^■''•■"'rV'P™ "'« »»"''"■ window-^ill and loolted abroad, a belated moon rose, large nalo ' and crumbly with age about the edges. ^ ^ ' Iho waning of the moon is the time to see the Causse, rmmd fZ ':7°,f"™S'' *" hrive a level horizon all round, fiom which ramparts and towers arine t„ .k„ eye built of bleached and shivered bone? Out on Z. dim waste thee huge shapes glimmerTddenly up , ke ::.t'rtr?r''"' '"" '^^-^ -«' -^motL^o/t: .rJiJ'LdT.' ^'5'""" "'"' worm-eaten above, too pey and forlorn to east a shadow yet bright enou-h thi!Ta"„rfnd that '^^'»™' "■«> "^ sprites haunted nw waste, and that many Caus-^enards had seen the • Wild Horseman shriek past upon the blast, the flro blown far to either side from his charger's no t Us and As i-rancts sat at the window and watched the luto moon rise, she was aware of a crouching line of dart jJI V"^*— .^.,r FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 47 figure that disengaged themselves one by one from ho ,™L "1""' '"°'"""'" """80. and LracZ tho space which separated the last houses from To outer defences. For a long moment each ^wed he d and bent pair of shoulders wero silhouetted lata tho great flattened oval of the moon as it nSre^Z stowbr up out of the valley mists. A gunTa^/^' black hero and there. A scabbard cUnked shar^lT wajs, a slant bayonet gleamed momentarily like a w ow leaf turning its pale underside to tho blL iTances Wellwood and her father had reaehe I f^„ wT Ilhrnv™"""^/ V-'-'-P'- -"™^'^ bvLrLd r„ 1"'' 'he I"™"^'™* oantoa, of owit^oriand. Tho pastors of Geneva and the Doliticil kade,B of that place had their own meam of com mun.cat,j4! with the districts whoro their feSow- rehg,omst3 contmued to make sueh successful ted cfrh U '"""' "' ""' ^™8 "»«' the aU-powS wo^and v'"J'"'^,™°"8''. theroforo, for Patrick VVell- Zlv^l ?'""' *" P"^ '""' *e fastnesses of the Covcmies nearly a month before a certain Pie^ tto waggoner, of Bochc-i-Bayard and Hoo. made T encampment upon its outer margin Nevertheless, so mysterious are the waves of soW^ Tw ;■*"* P"^ »"<-^ certain seStive spmte. that Frances WeUwood. a maid of camn^ and barrack-yard,, where trumpete are nM.t?y blown and „en file out at all hours on errands dark ev" to thoT T' T' '"■"""'"S that was not the elm rf .It o^thr St f^ trough her marrow at the bcf f!th^rr:::!/™?Kt"d""' ^"^ ^t ""'^■"y *" uicrs rooia. Ihe door was unlatched. Sho 'fe ,/^- 48 FLOWER-O'-THE-COKN. where she knew it .ould ha^btnTotd FofZ rrSe-^:.----^w£ then he is very forgetful ! " For Frances had bound her father by a creat oa h not to go out and wander alone hour aftef hour ^ "pf„!l ^ ^f "^ ** *^^ fi'^* «'^g« of Namur. biddentirr,^^^ ^r^^'^' '' ^- --V' she had Ulai hutTf M^^' . ^^^"^ ^""^ "°* *^« banks of Ulai but of Meuse, and a musket-ball, be it French or English, or moulded by the Holy Roman Empire is no respecter of persons ! " ""ip>re, is " Either ho has broken his word, or he has taken t^ dreammg again." she murmured to herself? unhappiW h^d sTn tn^i^t remembe:.d the sUent e.odu^ste naa seen, and in a transport of fear she clasped her .f FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. J i 40 «B«"tt''h' :;;?' "o^U- "■'^7 ""^ ""'«» him away without tX „,.''»'"'"''" "" ™"" ■'«™' h-ve gone down a dark fold ofT,„f h i "''T'"''' ""^ *»"<'"« head, gathering !t°'„'rhfn^;''.'\7 " ""''"" "" mantilla. Then sin™ tl.7 T. ""* "*""«■■ <>' « she drew her fktZ^. ".*^' P™™^''*' t" >« ""^ window waa hiah i„w ^" '''°"'' ■"""" hor. The though, in^ll et'sc "It '°. "" ""''"'«• '"-roHaiWo ; built by the tZoZ '"'"'"'"•'' °' """ °W wal Frances^ wSJZ'^ k" J"' "T""""* «"°"8''. But father had gon^ out and . °^'"" ""^ °' ''• "er taken, ahe eouM d tnd abo'' SI,;""" ""^ "" '""' ho had not paaaed her d^t „nhe rd Sh7h "/ ,*"'" too wide awake "nneara. bhe had been wMe^ h^rThtted'Zr"' '!"" "■" ""' -"-^ niche, had ad^r lit o'n 'T '"'" '>'» P"^- Aoeor^ingly, «herrLd'tekX°f a„T: t/''^" handuponthe]atchea«iI»,>...i, jT' ' *""'"« hor open, '^he came Sfhe tut^'^'T'""""'"^'"' wall, and found heraeff 1*%^ u t"'^ ^ *8»'™t « stair, which (aa in „T„' of i/h "" ° "" """^Me part of her native l,^H?^ '"""^' °' *''" "astern the third, sC w!?hlrS ^"^ ^^"""''' ""'• -" had altogether vanfaL Ih fu *■*"* *" "•« '«"=y Pie^i^ Lath ^frrahrd"'""' ™ " »«" "" twenty, listening. Evortwhore.'" """ ■"«" "°'"'' sUenoe. The hlaek win^:^'':! t^Xrrd%C so FLO\VER-0'-THE-CORN. |£«%'v .n ctp IdoT "r "'^""^' •^^"-' -« «■« Hi^' I K^""" I',"'* °"«" o"™?!" 'o"nd her way out of the dSt t ^- ^f^- «" "*" * ^^''^ ^""''-''at more r^l ^^-."'^i.'- ^'" "'"'' » ''<«"> ""-"o of direction (when outs.de the walls of a house) Flowor-o'-the-Cor^ presently succeeded in surmounting the last sto™ FLOVVEB-O'-THE-CORN. •I \ whi.,h,li.f,.„,|,,,,,,",,™. •'','<''•.;," dry trench ... , Frances could 1 h,', head „„ l\ "; ,™''""'" """Twrt. U-no of hi. charw ;^ „ AnorT. "■" '""""'" h«r car a mntallio .„„™i « i. "'""' "■"»« '" on the hatHcwnV " „H '"' ,«"'"'>*',l hi, pioco motionica, a, thZ ' I?i^ ,■ *"'."*' """^ -"rthward, "kyhno. ''"""' '"n™t«no pinnacle, on the i>iH boat. HiH wntPh fl u* ^'''^ "^'^^^ ^nd of ^..at PcTfu„ctor;to J:;r eX StT "°'""- part of the effoctivn fi.^j,*; / "^^^ ^^® greater f«i..t in the diSr . 'rr^ht^'^r- «"" and ekirta and „pe.l ha»tSy acr^^thc "'' '"" "'""'' of tho shoop paaturo in »Z T T . "P*"™ «'««' -hohad^^n-ieirvC-Xnt^ tho expedition an?;hor«.™;htr„,l^^r' ir'''"'' « *-'> «kca,a„.c™thati/:rdr,ft:r:-r''°'"- Buta^thedarCrLifthrwa'rrrher"^ ttt a*!:„T >oria«:^i '"-r^/ °~ed like a broke^n tZk^TKn '"""''"''^ "■'"'«• the line of their marX = '°°°"' »'"'™' » ml!:;^t X^l^r:^;;:?, °''"°- '-ediatelv 52 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. M up under ,he m J, «, l^roveLZ tv f farm-bestrewn vaUevs beneafh ^:'*® ^*"»' *»omely, «-night .„d oock^ cZ ot,^etZ ^^ ""'"<' of the narrow none, <-l™,„„ j j ■ ""^ darkness with a sense If S^shr^iri""'^. ■"""" '><''• ^hen low sierras, the C^t t :^o?re" r ''f T'^ "' There. there-quiU^e^ W t "^""l^'oo"". of paUid roolTlei^J^ no^L^"!: J" "f '« hundred yards »Pm.= J^ "ownere more than two of a natural amphithX*^ '"' "■" "^^'"^ '""O glSoT Ali^te"!!''"''"'""'--"'" - 'W saw a man spring ereot .-^ .u "'''''' *« He showed black L^ a slale-n""/? ""^ '"°'^- to the signal hereTnTheA ht^'"!^""^™- ^™'"" oO. Cnging loudl, am„ng'X'r:e"k:trre',;X' FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. Th,.re Jl, r r ^- "^ "P*" *"<> hoad-.talb ground, andatn^^auu"^ """ ''™««'<"' ^ «"> haS::^^ :2"?^™^ *■"' ^ing-.. waggoner, was in the waggons, then 'the commisJ^Ti"!: ""'^ T ■"■" laat of aU the official 31 i^u u f Pookets, and tfa casks of win* "*"* '"*•' ^'' «>* "Pon thite'^l!.:;''™ "" '^'"^ "P™ 'he faces of the " We wiU m^ke h m L r '^f^er among the assailants. KingWa^oneiTa^ ^ "'u'"' ^'"«'' "'"« """l ""o Marshal's c^mp X. ^'T "^ '"^ '«"» "'o Wo^.tCLa^L-ttdl^"^ "" '""^""^ the t^„*t: 7"^^ ?f ,7' ""' yo". brethren. voice stejy. "Set S J ""'"""""'^ """"«" the lips of fvil-do^ Itk hi """y "•« ""»« 'or ^ anger and trembW ^n 1 f" '"P °' *«"• and and soul quick uxTheU ^^ ^~'"" ' ^' ^y ar^anTSr „r^°' «-" ^- - the. i 64 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. Jl M C.ti».t.. He speaks truth aX^lioM ,'"" ''™'"'"' Ihen Catinat, of the folk caUed Camisards ]ift«I ..„ w^'^xsr '""''■ ^' '^- -'- ^^ Hear ye, people ojf the heath and of fh« »,j„i, mtmrntf given His people power to breT'^e fwLd t^ kS,".^ Z\Z bo^ ^"""^ !"" •>" aifkr:hT' Jther^Ih' "p'TL^teateriS!:^?.' '^-—^ ertThT^.r^rr ''"'«•"'• -->'«» -"X'^r or'7rdr„'r..t'sit''i"t ""• *" ^""r " '°°' knees. " What i«LT» ' /"'"^ "P '™ni his these die ? " ^ " """■ """" °' '""e Bond ? ShaU •■■-». ova. Remember Hto'XoT^H 1"'"'^ **"" <•» us take the ™ord ahaU ^ri^^i '?."' *" *''«y ^h" remember alao Him wL^^^tr^^ *" '"f •, ^"O pr^s servant which SirT^r'ttZ-' *"'' "'«" with al- their horses anf gefr''"'^^''^ ^ '^^ ^f «° done evil, q thn fm.-u * .o"'*^- ^nen, if they have hands, le htm T^e 7T' "'^ *« °" "•«- Brethren of the Bond sWth! ^'"^ '"' »»' the " There is maftor in wh!wr~?' '" °°''' """d! " turnmg the rnti^abf t ZtKe'^Kr''^ <"«'• effect of her words on hi» In ^ ""S*" »«» "'e village with themTuthlt™.'" J''"""' *^ «he " Nay let t^.™ ^" ? " ** '"^"d there ! " Prophcf; "pollrntthe^^amrofr ■; ""^ «-" presence. aI Agag brouThtr^^i I 'f"' '''"' """ir shall the sparing o?th«« 5 l"^ ^ ^'"^ Saul, so righteousnL"? ^ """"" ''"twecn you and ^ur :^.?:Se!:£i£F-: rested' 66 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. i I remained a dark-browed minority, men of much suffering and many travailings, eye-for-eye and tooth- for-tooth men, who continued to edge nearer to the prisoners, fingering restlessly at their weapons. The quick instinct of Frances Wellwood caught the movement. She drew her pistol and set herself deter- minedly in the front, standing almost across the pro- strate body of Pierre the waggoner. In the feelilo uncertain light of the lantern she saw that a cruel gag had been thrust into his mouth. She bent down and released the V-shaped twig, wrapped about with a handkerchief, which had been used to hold the jaws apart. " At least let the man answer for himself," she cried. " Who and what are you ?— Speak ! " The waggoner was too much exhausted with his late rough experiences and present pain to do more than lift up his finger and point to the second of the three waggons, that which carried the largest cask of wine. It was marked with much distinctness : " For the private cellar of the Mar^chal de Montrevel, a present from his most Christian Majesty." ^^ "There," said Pierre the waggoner, hoarsely. " Let what you find there speak for me ! " h CHAPTER VII. The Chief of the Camisabds. Then was seen a wonderful sight. The plunder of a King's waggons by the Camisard peasants of the mountains. " Respect private property ! In Jean Cavalier's absence I command here ! " cried the tall, red-bearded man. " Take only that which bears the King's mark." Nevertheless the men actually sprang upon the great cask as it lay in its cradle upon the long waggon, and with hatchets, crowbars and other waggoners' gear for clearing obstacles from the road, would doubtless quickly have reduced the barrel to its component staves. But Pierre the Waggoner, from where he lay, still bound (though now ungagged), upon the rough pebbles, said hoarsely to Frances Wellwood : " Tell them to knock in the upper bung; but, for the present, to leave the lower." Instinctively the men obeyed, and this is what they found. Across the whole length of the great cask, just above the lower bunghole, a flooring or partition had been built. Beneath in the lowermost hollow there was still a sufficiency of drink to satisfy many thirsty souls — that is, if anyone had taken the notion to tap the King's puncheon. But above, all was dry as a bone, and the Camisards, t-Emm^ 68 Ml FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. banncta with various iascrinl.^nJ t 9"""^"> comforts for the woun,)«^^T "^ ■■ ' "«^'«""» «nd able packet of m nZ. ' ^?''"""' *'"' » «<»>«'der- as follows : '^ ^^^ '""P'^' '" """tin, and endo«od «»% rou/«, ^ BocS-BayZL^Too "^- ^"- ^ Marlborougu. Eugene. by othe«, most of whom o!!- ^^"^ *" reinforced protected lamps .Sir™ " T"'^ •""*"»• «»<» rough bams iu the country "'' "^ ^" """^ » ""Wcs .fd liffrid^tr.n'd't.k'T* '"" "- ''"- multitude as each'ner'di^TotlTarr T^'''^ nient was made AnH ~;j^°'^®'^>' ^ ™^ ^"*^ ^"na- village folk whoSftL H ^ f ' "'^'^^^ ^' the Poor hoavL, jo rXfe^^^^^ ^^"^ towardftho eliaunt : "" °°' ^'^^''d »« the old Huguenot Jeliovah! Jehovah! Oroire en toi, c'est la ie Augmente nous la foi. Amen I Amen t Tot the shining field-nieoA «^fK v - 5 mia piece, with its^mscription in FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. CO etters of gold : " To our fellow -religionists struggling for hberty, from their Brethren of the States-General of Jloliandr Heemod to bring these poor ignorant peasants, driven and harried by the great and powerful of their own folk, into one company with the whole Church of the Fh^t Bom, militant on earth. At last they knew that they were not alone. The glitter of the polished steel barrel was more convincing to them than many embassies. The Lord's Folk, embattled on other fields, remembering Sion by other Baby- lonian waters, were not unmindful of them, God's poor persecuted remnant on the Cevennes. And so the solemn chaunt went upward, mingled now with the weeping of women, now drowned amid the excited shoutings of men, as Pierre the Waggoner, mightily recovered by means of a draught of his own wine poured down his throat, piloted them through his stores, reserving only the packet done up in oilcloth for a future occasion. And all the whil- Frances Wellwood watched him, a stran;,'e remem- brance or vague ovasivo something teasing restlessly at her heart. As for Pierre the Waggoner he had recognised the girl of his waking vision in the Namur cornfield at the first glance, even while he lay there on the hard pebbles bound and at the point of death. But, perhaps remembering his small success in his capacity of aide to my Lord Duke, the thought came to him —"She shall know me no more as Captain Maurice Raith, but since she has saved Pierre the Waggoner, Pierre shall I be, and we will see if her hoarTis as liard here as it was in the camp at Namur ? " The process of disintegrating Pierre's stores was almost concluded when, with the fast brightening light o: the autumn morning, breaking in waves of roee \^^' ^ w 60 'I < If ! .' FLOWEB-O'-THE^RN. A» they came in .ighHwet o° rV*"" '''•' »"»«• *d s^yo^ti, Tyo'ru; '"' «"-^- "Why you roturned safe and soCd 7" """'^ """y * ^.4 inese were a few nf ih^ u x dn-ghter put to thi c° a„i!,^'^* 1""*"™' "hich the his face. *°" '^^^Ked up tenderly into ^fon^'uXmyl^'f. ^^^f' ^^yh-P- with being cheek. " but ve^ J^Zt *^^ "'"',"'»''• P««ing he? me. Thi, night^ia:„7,-"' -riehed ««"" dehverance. Yea, my feet h.l * ..^ ""« ""W of way. payemented'^^ '^^^ *™"«» » a nar«.„ and overhung with al? «?. ■ . ^"^ """^ Precious. Pran^slX.Xut'S'^th ^<:'^' '"""^ ^o™-^- the wond„,us sight of t^^m'^^^ ""i""''?' *° ""'«'• ^d perhaps with yet mo« fnriL »*^* "*«S<»«- ^£ King's waggoLr. ^Z^TZ^t^ZZ ^a him«lf^„„g^it.^PP<"»"»ent he had withdrawn the old mimrr^t^o^Zlr ""•"""'r'™''-" were walking at some ^t^Z^l^'^""^- ^he two of Camisards who wfth tt^'* 'T *« husy throng of Billy Ma4auld t*wif;'Zr :' '"'^ '^'^"^ ■ng the horaes in the wal^„7 • "^ ''°"' ''""'ess- The vUlage had emptied itself „^„ ^ho plain. ^a I FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. ei « um„oved countenance, his cle.rcC eye, of pey dartmg every way, and seemu^ to take inTer^ thing. Aa he looked at Flower-o' th. fw L ^' something bright and youtXl Vst^X^TtTe' too-early gravity of his countenance. ^^ wh^ewitllfr^f recognition and acknowledgment ^^r ft °^ P^"""" ^^«^* «»«h other, through all d^^ise this young man had discerned that Pier^ the Waggoner was other than he seemed Thrtwo me People called CamimnU " ' aco^^ur"* """ '""'"'^ '*""' """ ^™" " •'"'« " Ask them," he said, with a wave of his hand to tl,» have^but^ one leader, and the name of him^t^ He bowed a little mockingly as he spoke. 62 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. H^„„tsf .3r:„e°' "-'-^^.--i -, best gonemh of F™nor.K "?.'"": '«'°"' "'""" »'«' hath given' ^*"'h„'' vTc'J^'" V^ ""ll "" "»"'-• Ho And what more would vou hnv« ?»»„«• i »«^ smiling ; " you have th^ n J f ^'"^ Maurice, abilities of rank." advantages without the dis- " You had I think, something to ask me ? " «o;^ Cavalier, as if unwilling *^ ^- /T * ^*'" you acquainted with n.y rank .l^d i^Jn^" "^^ FLOWER-O'-THE-COUN. J 63 know that I am fuUy em|>oworecl to treat by the AUics >^ur conGdenoe. no more than poor Piorro tho Waggoner of Brabant_a sympathiser indoTwith ca";iTthr i"'"" ' r-'"^ -'y - msttment t^ carry out tho designs of greater men." courteously , I Boe your point. You have to carrv back our answers to the Du^e. and it may ^ (^tS march prosperously) return again to thL^il'nS tops. I givo you my word that your wish shall hn r-pected. It will not cost you much loss of Jutry lor we are poor folk here on the Gausses and coukl 17 mir^r °^ "^" ^r'^-^-n-cJenumTd^^ but little better accommodation than that which Pierre Dubois the waggoner, shall share with us " Nevertheless, you will guard my secret." reoeatod Maurice anxiously; "and especially (I h3 mv reasons for asking it) from the Genevan mTnister presently sojourning with you. the Pastor We^w^d' There was an unmistakable air of relief on the face of the young leader of the Camisard.s as he gave the promise required of him. ^ " You will not take it ill, then." he said. " if after this occasion I treat you somewhat distan ly and if oTmeT?*^ "^^ "' '''" '"' '"^ ^^'^'^^ ' «^- ^ -y " I thank you." said Maurice Raith ; " I have been W '??« ^^««" ""^- '^- P«-onal cimmanZf m^ I^rd Duke. and. heaven knows, they are plainly enough expressed." ^ ptamiy The two young men laughed and parted. Cavalier calLng a ter Maurice that aU kis equipment wouS be 64 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. Whereupon Pierre of Roche-i-Bayard anrf W saluted and fell in at the tail of H. ^- i V"^ waggon The .voung Camina^^' lleMo^k^:^ hira for his companion of the past niffht T^ . ■ {BMWt, mftT'TiT 1 1 I i CHAPTER VIII. Mr Dauortxr YVt t:. The viUage of La Cavalerie li.s u.' -ut u^or i' . plain face of the great Cauwe >A L. v-V v^ L .t tun« upward- like that of a deaa ..J:.: L ^^ malToratd^^J^f'^^^^^^^ ^^^ -^ «-* 1 J * "Ogee ot rock surround -iv .< . omM ut«» n.t^ defence, which for many yeir, hZb^ ««duoa. y .trengthened by the clm^Z. ^'' we KnighU Templam, ,nd part of thrwaUg we™ A« Maurice Raith approached the pUoe for the firrt time he «w a wonderful aight. Hundred. .,1 men. women, and children we«, engLd to t^i„i »P, even a» the LraeUtee had done^^old time hf b^warlc, of their Zion. The men had the" %uL and aworda cIo«, at hand aa they worked Z,^ a^awng by their .idea. Thua. for miny ^ T^ the high Cevenne, held againat the King'^ ^ ' *"" thnn^iT !;: ^ '*^° fetched water in paila, or aa though they played . g.,„o, ^^ y,J^ ^^ GO I' r ■ FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. on handcarts. AU w«ro h,..„ ■. ^i under the direction Jl -^ ". *"" ««»' "<>* rtiie. a lituTerted Z'*"^? ""°'"- "*»- »tood and intn^a ch^X of L^'b'm"'-"' "^ c,at^'-~-;-rT:tj;isvx Yet for aU that, he understood that these r.™;. ..j were men buildine bv faith^.,- . , ^'»"'««fds Zion. and establishing iof^'t?^ ^f""^ «•">•" of God and of ril. ° """° ""^ *•»« t<"nplo extended a 'syl^of'^rred LT"" 't ""»«" most odious and -onZ^^^tr^,^^^ "T" cover of which fh** T-iiio i . , * "*°®» under of tbeir enemts *'"" *""* '""« '*'"'««» "'<= "'tacks laid'oTl^rtrte^f^r? T '"'«'"«'• '- ajde o, ,Ho Dult^f^al^roT^r fo:^^^ '"^^ -mtary powerin'^^tX""' «"<«<'" of the fi„t Ra^thXht°r:ther? ' T"* """'> M""!™ ordering and* »tren:Ltn''orhe'^te MlTc'"'' for other puS thin .1*. ^ P"^"**^ *" y""* wl,ioh to /rosLut 1 vocS' At T T'"" '"°« ^ thought, and the hU w fain ^iTt^ *^'^'« a certain rejoicing totoT; tL C ^^^ Zrit'' 8.rl who of all others had po,ver to morhim ^ "" . ;| i i- c d J 1 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. I 07 For Flower^*.the-Corn na »,«n therefore leave her ZL^ "^^T' "^ ^<>»Jd Then it was certL ^h«f l^^"^^ "" *^« «^«ning. breathe the high aT of th« r """"^^ ^^^^^^ °"' ^« tart grip in it Wen tW ^^^^^^'/^th the clean near to thank her for h- °^'""^^ ^" ^^^'Jd be ' »^« ^o"W find out Xther nr J°u*- ^^'^ovor. him in his di8gu"Je ' ^' °° '^^ ***^ recognised I Yes, that would do T»» *k ! J a young lover (or wtit fa „„* "eantime-for evon murt discover Ze wav rf^„ I"™ ^ '"' « l""") ho would take up hfaTSrlr ?«."'* «">« P*™- to obtain a general k,o«5^L" '",^'"' "''' endeavour by which a few iCanuS\ 'AV^''^'" of defence and hfa MarshabT^" ,0, t> 2 *'"' "^'"^ "' *"™''"^ , Maurice Baith had ^"ely ^?'Lr"- . I closely-cropped space whTh • (?^' "P"" ">e wide / he was haUed from af« bvT. .•«^''- >»'»« Billy MarshaU. The eor^« TT""" henchman. I standing by one of theX^hl, '^"r™""' *"« packed bond'o of clothl^" H "'"" * »"'<•%- A dozen men m^b™ .Zj J. ^"""^ ""f"™ him a huge thorn stick ta hrha^d'"^:;' '^"- «« ™ pa»es to defend hi"p<;,iur^' "^ ""» ""^ng valiaut ! "Maister," he cri«H oo ' j of Maurice, " thae buik^t.^" "i: '"' """■«''» «Sht honour's breoks alane-no'^jH x-t "''" '"' ^™' t'U I am tired that they ire a't ? "^ *""*" ">«» ' nakedness, and Bet has »i'™ 1 ^ .u " *" '=°™'' ^'"'^ Hand aff there-4les. ye wanr' "' *" ""' '"" ""*°" ye want your croon crackit ■y-iMSe^^^v' es FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. }.:* I bLTo-^r.""''-""'™ "»' '^^ «"» »» "» A mail with the blood triokliag down from a broken he«d came running to Mauric, holding a cloth TSI • "^x"??^ ''''°'' "' '"""•" •» «*<• in rapid and unperfect French " wiU not give up your clottea to b^ bruehed I had the order, to attend to you^ outfit from Jean CavaUer himwlf. I dare not fa JS^ genera un e« I can inform him that I have XyeS for me-the head of an old soldier of Hi. Majeet,', Guard, and a good ProteeUnt of forty year.' repute.' Malice laughed a Uttle, but imtantly ch«kin« tT ^l ' w """"»■'"«''» o' h" «.lf-cho«„ .t^ a. Rerre the Waggoner, he apologised humbly, haaten! uig to patch up the wound, and attempti^ at the Mme time to pacify the beUigerent BiUy *^ ^ " *"* But thi. wa. «)mewhat eaaier uid than done For the deep, of BiUy Marshall were rou«d by whai of hT'""?^. '"• "?«»"'«»-"" and .hamele* ^unSer mn^ ""ZV^,;"^ '"'•"*'»• He felt Lt so much good and warlike gear was being deUberately Uirown away on a pack of pwlm-siMing knave. And he refused to be at amitrwith the lo^ P^ testant and ex-soldier of the King. '• Haud oot o- my road," he cried, waving hi. l^'. > '''»«-'ff\'P'«y-fi"it. w'ooden-jl^ atomy ! Wi yae skite o' my rung I'se ding ye into guid, gosh-I'm nane c«rin'. sae be that ye are ta^en «| o- my sicht Leave my maister's ouL 1™ ? teU ye. or I wiU Uk' the law o' ye-faith I wiU ;i' thi. verra rung I" j a wiu. wi So with Bet on one side, and Maurice Kaith on FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 60 tho other the wrathful Bmy was finally removed to the stables, protesting aM%he way that hTwa^ more than a match for all the " cheatL ^nchi^^ m^oreation and that so long as he rZalZtZe ^Id to^r'^' °u °***"' "^oreigneerin' puggy' wo«ld tooch so much as a shoe-latchet or a sWrt- button belonging to so noble a master. ^ Billv W iZ !* Z^ '"*''*' ^^^"^ ^"^P^*'* *hat Master miy had been lookmg upon the redness of the wine which remained in the lower part of my Lord MaT borough's false-bottomed casks The taU and somewhat dignified man who aff^r f k« rescue of Maurice's uniform%ad drawn upon ^Ll^ stbfeTor'^" V '°°*^"^^ "^ ^«"- them'rrhe advice '*""' ^'^"'' "«'^^"' ^ '^ ^ offer «ome MauLr"^" nl^"^^"" ^.°" '^ "^^^ y^"™^^^ off'" «aid ertam, at best. He is not acquainted with the Ian- ^Zo ™^ u *°"* "' ^^'°«y' " ™ this stabi! are also my own horses. Who will see to them ? I cannot accept that favour from your lordship/" astolhr ^"^/^ 'h^y * " -aid Maun^, much Stables of the Templarie of which the general had said !Il" y"" "'Khness do me the honour to enter ? " roLtitrT.'K^'?" •"' *"* '""^ •"• •'^'J- " I «"» f'e Je^n cL«i k" T; *"" ^ '"^ "" commands of 70 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. liJt^ ^°"I!f '"''" ^J^^cended certain steps of stone a sidef stables gave upon a little steep ravine or clef t their neck, upward and whisked about the '3^ ri^aLr" "'^'' '-<•-"«- <" *" wvs: obtainod „„„y of thir'lrj: ra'^'^u':;:^ simply by the speed with whieh they were abk t^ btiU higher, rows of iron head-pieces wmked « *K« S f "PP*' *"'*• *" ">e widest and best staUs were placed in order the nine horses of Pie^ the Waggoner, while opposite, in a kind o° ,,3 sIC'SV^' and garnished with good X" straw. BUly the gipsy and his wife Bet had made l,.rw TP""""- ^""^ P'-'We of doth^ Xch was carefully stowed away in the corner behind Billv Maunce recognised the bundle as the one wWch con' Wml^H T';'^* •'°"°™' "'"'=•' "o had tak n Th him at the last moment, with some vague idea Zt be apprehended.as a spy. It had. however, been -y^^ - a ii d k e g r t 9 I FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 71 Tnl'^K'p*^^ same hiding-place as the fiold-pioco sent to the Camwards by the States-General of Holland BO that the chances were smaU indeed that it would have done him much good if he had faUen into the hands of M. the Marshal de Montrevel Maurice saw to it first of aU that Billy and his wife were made comfortable, according to their simple and easy standard It was the custom at that time in all the rnns of the South of France that the waggoners should lodge m the immediate vicinity of theirlforscr Z r^A^"^ ^r/° *^" '^ *^°"« ^ith them. Bu at the Auberge of the Camisard village of La Cavalerie. the stables were on an unusuaUy bountiful scale. of L T' ^'**°^°« ^ it did at the mtersection of four highways, had been before the outbreak of the wars of rehgion a notable house of caU for just such ?«fi^«H^ii^r^.*^ ^^°n«r. Past ito doors had S A u "'^ u™"" °^ ««^*"^*' S*- George, and the chilly wmeless north. th! ^ A ^'''^'^^l^^'on ever thought of ascending to the second floor, where dwelt, in state semi-baroiSd S:.Te°tr^'/°^/" '*"'^^- And it was. though ^ahtv h-T , "?*'/ P'-^^^ t»»at Bome hint of his STviiLn^ ahready leaked out. that he received this invitation from his host of the Bon Chretien In time Billy MarshaU was induced to lay himself dowB on the straw. They left him using tlfe bun Uo of Maurice's regimentals as a pillow, and even in sleep denouncing fire and slaughter against any one who should attempt to despoU him of it f^^ 7T u^\^'^}^'^' ®^* composed herself stolidly Xl^^ ^f husband through the hours of the day tiU It should be h« lordly pleaeui^ to wake. She hei^ 78 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. t • ?i hi self had tMted-nothtog .face the night before Yet whir BmvTo^W •£'" <" P-P-"* 'ood forheI« wnion jjuiy would be wuble to .han.. So gince it waa h,s ple.,„„ to fdl .deep in the d^uZ .h* to Z^ P^««. perfectly aaaured that her lord, awaking to find hiniielf m a .trait betwixt the deep «« of a certainly inflict corporal punishment upon her for that, which It had been a, far from her power top"vent culi'ne ^nd^".- "' ?' "•" ^ *- •bS A 3m.l culine and legitimate conception thia of wifely dutv- Z'unb'LttH"""'' '«*■ •"" '"^°'' ""^ endu™ f^h ^d unbreathed upon unto the eve of the Judgment iJon Chretien. Maunoe mounted the atairs, which a«- cended oircula, ,y from thedarkeatcomerof h" atabC To tho« una (uainted with the pUn of auch Bo"wn housca It might haye been remarkable how quSy the wotted out. At he first turn of the ataircase the ammoniacalstabl. .meU was suddenly left totod At the second, the«, „ f™nt of the aaiendingpTt w« a fringed mat lying on the little landi^.'^rt Z third Maurice found himself in a wide h*aU. TighJ^ tZilth T- ''"\''" """"Ok upon aninn;rTu^ yard in which wa. a Judas-tree in fuU leaf, with seate of WKker and rustic branches set out. Her; and tibere » t^ shade Stood small round tables, X'tly u K •« " ""dencmg a degree of refinement to which Maurice had been a stranger, evT"!^ h^ left those mns upon the post roads „f England which were juat y held to be the wonder of the^rld But notwithstanding, and considering that he was in I FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 73 one of the moflt remote corners of France and had just mounted up from a stable, what wonder is it that Maurice stopped suddenly aghast when, at the opening of a door a girl stood before him. one hand still restmg on the handle, her dark and graceful head turned with some surprise in the direction of Martm Foy and the guest he was bringing with The light had subdued itself to a certain placable green lustre through the dense foliage of the Judas- tree, from which most of the blossoms had long vanished It touched the girl's cheek with a graceful paUor. She wore a dress of some rough-surfaced stuff, exceUently made, which fitted every curve of her hthe young figure. Motionless as she was there was yet about her a suggestion of something excessively active, vigorous, feline-not, be it under- stood the slow lazy grace of the cat. but rather the fehnity of the ta.l-switching leopard, or of the ounce lying outstretched upon a branch ready to spring upon its prey. ^ *^ ** She wore a single pomegranate fiower. rod as blood among the heaped and copious masses of her hair It gave to her dark beauty a certain Spanish suggestion, and indeed she needed no other ornament Bon nl. Jf^^'f""' n^.^''^' " "^'^ **^« »^"d^°«l of Uon Chretien for all introduction na^ !r^n** not move at aU. Only her red lips parted ahghtly. and she threw into her great black eyes something for a moment personal to Maurice Kaith— something also that he never forgot Th.8 ,8 that Monsieur Pierre, of whom you have hoard.' said Martin Foy; "he for whom I hav. ^t"M^T-T .^ ^^^*'«J^/he everlasting honou; or this huUiH); oy Jean Cavalier himself, during his 74 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. 1'^ :■' f •ojourn among a.. He ha« brought lu both arm. and hoZr." ' * •***■ "' '^"«*"<"' todo him .U cuhi«T4. ?*^^ ^'"^<'*- '''•° '""«" diffi. Um M toe Lo^^^ ^r*" «° •'»"' introducing mm aa the accredited amba«iador of the aUie.. •'I * JT^^^"? ^'""" °' Roohe-i-Bvard and Hoc Ln *T' P*"""-* poor Flemiah carter only tdc'r:"* * ^°" "'""'»* °'"~' «'<' ""' "o-Ti:; But even u he .poke he wa. conaciou. that the ^ « eye. were upoi, him. A amUe .lowly fomS L^»>T° K?' "f • """'' °f themaelve. were grSf knowl^lgeable, though al.o more than a Uttle SoS.' I*t me we your hand.," .he Mid, .uddenlv Maur.ce Raith, .track with quick fea; that le would ?r,.^ ? '""""^ " prewrving his incomito « n^r t 1, ""t ®''* «™'' "^ " «»»ewhat ^ d^M. T- """"■' •*« »"' °f thoae with great dark pupila, were a little diort-siehted To m^Z^ "*> "^ *■?' «"' "'«"'' »P*»^on had ^ Z X.^ T^ preparation connected with hi. art lien with her other hand .he turned the you^ man. finger, over, letting the tip. rest a momeS? on the «.ft pahn of her hand, noV care«LTy but mo™ „ f .he had been making an e.perime2 ^' ' Then, quite auddcnly, she lifted her eye. to hi. a»d gave him (a. it were) full-point-bUnk Z^' ^ !:^ ■>"» broken bit. of the blue of heaven f«^ wandered and lo^ hk. the eye. of FlowerV-iTcST -i FLOWER-0»-THE-CORN. 75 Rather groat storm-dark, ultra-passionate thoy seemed, tit «1 °^ T! ""^^^ ^°' «^«' -^i"^ ^n tears that are never shed-angry tears mostly, yet capalle rare. Such were the eyes into which, aU without warning, Maurice found himself looking at the head of that winding staircase, above the great limestone- Bml M^'l"".,^ ^^°*^ *^^ ^^"^ were stamping and with the faithful Bet watching at his head. Ah, Master Pierre-Master Pierre, the roulier the carrier/' triUed the girl, half laughingly haH BcornfuUy, "good Master Waggoner-I am gUd to make your acquaintance, oxceUent Pierre of Hoo and-where else did you steble your honourable norses m your own country ? " " -Aiid I aJso am honoured." said Maurice, speaking roughly; "It is a pleasure to me to be her^ ^f wme IS better and the girls are prettier than they are m my part of the country. What more can a ThTJ i ^^. **^''* '"'"^^ me-upon my word 1 had forgot go bring me a can of the best, lass. Wine Beak fnendship they say-or because you are so pretty perhaps you would prefer another way ? " He approached the girl with one arm outstretched his whiplash caught up in the other, in the traditional attitude of joUy waggoners when they encounter the prettiest serving-maid of an inn. But Yvette Foy did not move an inch, nor did the half-scomful ex- pression of her eyes change at all. Some time ago her t u ^*f ,^«*PP«"-«d down one of the many plsages which led from the landing where Maurice Raith had met his match. ,, " I wai see that ycur room is prepared," he had 7« '! •• I! FLOWEB-O'-THE-CORN. ^^"J^ wiU ri.ow you th. w.y wh.n you „. m two young people were thu« aU alone. Yet in .pite of this direct uuult Yvett. F„„ .tood with her huid rtiU on thrutoh of tt. /^ through which rte h«l come .* U,o .f „?' ."r.' upon the long turnpilce .Uur ^ "' '•*' ^Shyhook he, head. .. it w«,, mo„ ^ „^, ^„ "Ah, no," she said, "that might take in JV.,«^ the pastor's daughter of Geneva. b^n"t^S Foy. And yet you do it not that ill eood M^^. Waggoner, who have only a oounle of b i.?^ «»n fij^rs where the sjin tt tt^Tl^T And these pretty, dainty hand, were nZr in a^v man's service, I wot. Who sends a S^L fl.U^ to the seas, gets back neither fish nor iSt m^,\I for good service either by sea or land » ' tralto tSft t "^°'"^- ■ ^ ^^ •''<• ""'' "" ker con- sue said, I, myself, poor Vyette w^^^ *k * ?isiitSer°' £--^"^ -er: ing'^hit rhi:''b^ai '::^x:^i^\^ j^ r; of her small shapely head. hi^rtSe Zt h. ^ifj »««-. of her darkling hair. S^e Itffi'."^ waggoner's coat, called a *o«;^„!^.ii »■ :.^J^: MICROCOTY RBOUITlON TIST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I no ^^^ 1^ U* |3j2 [f |3j6 l£ u KUU 1^ il.8 A APPLIED IN/HGE K 1653 EosI Main Street ^S Rochester. Nex York 14609 USA (716) ♦82 - 0300 - Phone (716) 288 -5989 -Fox 78 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. He bowed to the girl with the gravest dicnitv TTn^ that he was resolved to treat her as one B„f ' t K finesse, though by no means thrown away was "Jh' rejected by Mistress Yvette ^' "^^^"^^^ wa^er. I. on the other hand, am a little village of : p ^:f^ Mi:?e:rktiot,rCir^ complacently in his turn. « Cevennel held rfJn! /I Camisards, had on a time been the Zt denceof the ancient Prior of the Order of the ^4 Templar, he indeed who built the walk a^flrst held possesion of the town. The house waa s"d at the angle of the little Grande Plaee and towered above the other domiciles of the vicinity, even tW mg a towered and crenellated crown h^her thaVThe waUs themselves-which not even the ohureh ver-wreathed balcony, with its outlook upon wl He oad and grey parapeted wall, made up for all e ^ it^uttTnrtr^ '"r" *'""" ^^"^ -'" ^^ -™ hands putting the finishing touches to the arrange- "You will find your sheets aired," he said "and there is a bell upon the table which you vvTbe .ood • But," said Maurice, " this will not do. I am but a poor waggoner of Flanders, and I have no rigl" „" desire to occupy the best room in the house ■ " i"r, said Martin Toy, bowing gravely " nermit me-for this cause left I the beft^ay,^ bu^ wit „n the walls of Millau ! For this cause Vuntedl not'ive tr. f ' "'?" "'" ^''"'*- A-"! ^-" wh„^ru ' T"" '" "y P""-- ''™«« to the man om th sir V*^" t f""^' '"°"«'" «'« -non irom the States-General of Holland to these Poor Folk in sore travaU on the mountain tops»" kimf ^f^^" y- 'P*' "><"•" "«™« instinctively a kind of channt into his voice, which Maurice had prophet or high preacher. He could distinguish the "en of Jean r^'r' v^ '''" '"""" *e%olished paused at tt 1 ™ "I ■"""'""■ '^'' 8'>'. -'"o had paused at the door of the apartment, stood with her hands behind her back and an inscrutable express on upon her face. Maurice could not teU wSe ^ was contempt or merely weariness. At all events t partaker n these things. She stood listening to her father With » kind of pride «d defiant revolt, expressed 6 82 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. features. ''^ ^^"^ expression of her The chamber was wide tlm K«^ u • custom is in these soutC' ,:!rte„i s- t^lKitt »ml went rapidly t„w„rX the door ^"^ ''"""*■ It IS tlio liour of prayer," he said ■ " P„,i t ■ itie-1 had forcotten Will , ' ™ forgive l.car the ner^^aeher f " J Te^r'"''''"^ '"'• ""^ Wiv J M„ , J^ "'^"'"^ .'f"™ Geneva expound Tiio " ay ? No, you are wearied and would renose W„II on a future occasion he will refresh yjrheart with such expositions of the true inward/ess of Scriptoe as have never been yet heard upon the Cevennes ? onve you to my daughter. PeLit her to find J the whcrew.ti,r.l to sustain the body, while I "X wI>ore to seek for the better sustenanc; of the soS <'^' \ vette Foy followed her father with her eyes a, he went out through the door. She did Tt smile £o,esom^:?shet^,-^::l-iI^ there will soon be over nn -„*i- ^i . wwnn 1, t . , ■ "'^' father, the animals will have shut themselves up in their cage " Maurice foUowed her out on the balcony In snite of her bitter speech, there was something intenTl attractive about this girl. She seemed created f- allurement. She walked like some Ahobh orThoHbah scarlet-hpped, lithe-limbed, certain of her fttract'™ power, a woman against whom the prophets of Cd Might have fulminated as against^he idotat^ o PLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. g,, 'laughter of Hcrodius, as flushed with trinmnl, .1 went out fro™ ,I„„ei„g before the i^i^ uTZ\t wondrous to behold, this innkeeper'., da ^iLr f t^ httle C«mi.ard village high on the h eln (auascs. Give her but silk for seme red I^^T , ho^e eobbled shoes, and there had 1^ be:' a" td'': The micony upon which Maurice and Yvette F„v aTrt^.rre':;^: ijr -'r- ?^'- overlooked the strcet.^Tett iS th t^trt^ corner where they were most remote from obfervati™ and pomtms the young man to a seat, leaned S elbows neghKcntly on the iron railin,. her oh n n„ clasped hands. She watched hiu, intenth " ho Z down at her bidding. ■* "" "''' The question witich troul,led Maurice was this Where gat tins girl so much refinement, so mue of the a,r of a Court, so much of what can o;iy be earnt .n the socety of men and women of the wo4l e T ? certainly in a little village, set do :; ' 'ir tt' ^'s^;tri:^is-7'^rx^"£; rminoit^f.^---:;;;.-^^^^^^ Yvette Foy have that in thcr^hS^re^^^^^ £f t ?f •oS.4X:;;r^^^^^^^^^^ have you come so far for so little J " "roKen. unZ^."'' ^ "^^ "°* '^•"^ '^'"" y°» '"»„." he said. But aU the same he did not look at her. And Yvette !i 84 FLOWER-O'-THE-CORN. Foy the innkeeper's daughter, laughed a low reso- nant laugh like the gurgling of watof underground nnk. It cannot be hid. For I am not as one of the fod.sh women I am no ostrich with her head "1 a bag. I see the thing that I see ! And that winch has brought you here is not. as they think to brmg these people a few guns, a little ^powder ad the greetjngs of their dear friends and noWe allios-who, unless it suited them, would not stretch out jvere dymg of hunger and torture. This is not hid from a man like you-no, nor yet, pray do me the honour to believe, from a woman liki me."^ Oh I have no patience with such folly I A gun or t^o and a httle powder-a few papers and gew-gaws ! A decoration, mayhap, for our friend Cavalier, and that next week Marlborough and the Prince Eugene Lm,i« «nTTi°"\r°" '^'' "^S" >'°"^^^' ^"d King Louis and all the Marshals of France sleeping in their deep graves ! I wonder, sir, that you can lend yourself for a moment to such deceit ! No, and you would not but that you come here-for what ? I im tell you for what_to follow that pale pink-and pastor. Bah! I know you men. I could break her across my knee. She has no heart ; she is an icicle, a frozen rush from the water edge. She knows nei^ier what it is to love nor what it is to hate - '' as nLht'^'bher""'."'-. ^'l 'y'' ^^^^ S^°-" ^I-^k as night--blacker, mdeed. than blackest midnight Ihe great pupils seemed to overflow the iris circles' so that there was no white left at all. She breathed so heavily that her bosom iieaved, not tumultuously ■t r FLOWER-O'-THK-CORN. gj but slinvly and roguUrly, yet with „ l„l,„„nn" culcn™ which affected the yo.mg man deeply ° And I know both," she a.ided, suddenly • her reachmg hke an echo in a great cathclrnl ' ^ "■ '"' She rose up sud