The Outlaw of Torn

ode alone down the narrow trail that led to the pretty cottage wi

e were sign or insignia of rank or house. More powerful and richer than many nobles of the court, he was wit

protection it afforded. And, for the same cause, he rode always with lowered visor, though he

good as well as mine, you must not show your face to your enemies until I so direct. The ti

t, usually passing it off as the foolish whim o

en years before, when, as a little boy he had ridden through the darkening shadows of the night, perched upon a great horse be

ere with its huge, buttressed Saxon towers whose mighty fifteen foot walls were pierced with stairways and vaulted chambers, lighted by embrasures w

e inner and outer walls, which were set at intervals with small projecting towers so pierced that

ung a high precipice, which natural protectio

below. The aspect from the great gate was one of quiet and rugged beauty. A short stretch of barren downs in the foreground only sparsely studd

ressed barbicans which must be taken before the main gates could be reached. Each barbican was portcullised, while the inner gates were similarly safeguar

orn and the grim, old man whom he called father, were of the Norman type of architecture,

ing-men, the Outlaw of Torn required many squires, lackeys, cooks, scullions, armorer

were quartered in the great stables, while the east court was

pile, fetching provender for man and beast from the neighboring farm lands of

utlaw of Torn, upon pain of death, but nevertheless his great carts made their trips regularly and always returned full laden, and though the husbandmen told sad tales to their ov

ir lord might be sacked from the wine cellar to the ramparts of the loftiest tower. Nor did anyone dare ride rough shod over the territory which Norman of Torn patrolled. A dozen bands of cut-throats he had driven from the Derby hills, and though the

lesser gods of the forest and the meadow and the chase, for though they were confessed Christians, still in the hearts of many beat a faint echo of the old superstitions of the

for generations to the heel of first one invader and then another and in the interi

ce their fierce Saxon ancestors had come, themselves as conquerors, to E

latter was for carrying his war of hate against all Englishmen, but the young man would neither listen to it, nor allow any who rode o

ing on his clanking armor and glancing from the copper boss of his shield, the sight of a little

or and lay back moodily upon a bench with his back against

he priest, "that you look so dis

e ever to prey upon my fellows? I like to fight, but there is plenty of fighting which is legitimate, and what good may all my stolen wealth avail m

y I should have hated them so before I was old enough to know how rotten they really are. So it seems to me that I am but the

rn is my father, so little do I favor him, and never in all my life have I heard a word of

ightens me that I shudder to speculate upon the consequences of voicing them aloud. Norman of Torn, if you are not the son of the old man you call father, may God forfend that England eve

hy I should keep

f Torn, because I have seen

, both men were at the tiny unglazed window. Before them, on the highroad, five knights in armor were now engaged in furious battle with a part

grasping roughly at her bridle rein. The girl raised her riding whip and struck repeatedly but futilely against the iron head

rmored condition, leaped to Sir Mortimer's back and spurred

soon brought the fugitives to view. Scarce a mile had been covered ere the knight, t

incredulity the knight reined in his horse,

yourself," crie

hness," stamme

e stuck an hundred other Engli

draw rein, but, like a black bolt, the mighty Sir Mortimer struck the other ho

hough handicapped by the weight of his armor, the knight also had the advantage of its protect

fierceness of the battle she was beholding, as well, possibly, as by the fascination of the handsome giant who had espoused her cause. As she looked upon her champion, she saw a

el-clad enemy who hacked and hewed so futilely before him. For all the din of clashing blades and rattling armor, neither of the contestants had inflicted much damage, for

e his blade through the meshes of his adversary's mail, and

the girl. "Mount and flee

which he had just come, there, racing toward him at full

n foot hope more than to momentarily delay these three fellows, but in that time you should e

was evidenced not alone by the richness of her riding apparel and the trappings of her palfrey

t knowledge or experience in the ways of women, nor had he ever spoken with a female of quality or

ct them. Possibly, in a way, he looked up to womankind, if it could be said that Norman of Torn looked up to anythin

that she was beautiful, and that she was of that class against whom he had preyed for years with his band of outlaw cu

usly offering to sacrifice his life for her-had she been the daughter of a charcoal burner

, charged with couched spears the unarmored man on foot. But as the leading knigh

, hearing his cry, followed his example, and the three of them dashed on down

il," muttered Norman of Torn, looking

ked turning to the damsel, w

lied. "And the King's men have no desire to antagonize you, even though they may unders

r Prince Edward of

ould you be take

Norman of Torn. "It is sai

ou might well deceive the Queen herself. And you be of a bravery fit for a king's son. Who are you then, Sir K

ng Henry?" queried Norman of Torn, his eyes

your face I take it you have little lov

or daughter of the devil, yet still you be a woman, and I do not war

ve of my father's knights, to visit Mary

or scarce sixty days had elapsed since he had reduced the stronghold, and levied tribute on the great baro

retrace their steps down the road when he noticed t

rtrade de Montfort, "I wil

dversary, and lifting the dead knight's visor, drew upon

ve daughter of a brave sire though she was, had she seen what he did, her heart would have quailed within her and she would have fled in terr

don his armor. Now he rode once more with lowered visor, and in silence, a little to the rear o

d fallen before his vicious and terrible attacks. While stories were abroad of his vile treatment of women captives, there was no truth in them. They were merely spread by his enemies

allied to love, but a deep longing for companionship of such as she, and such as she represented. Norman of Torn could not have translated this feeling into words for he did

s in silence when sudde

ir Knight, in answerin

thought. Was it because he feared the loathing that name would inspire in the breast of this daughter of the aristocracy h

he went on quietly. "A

id peremptorily. "Are y

oger," he answered

. "I do not take pleasure in riding with a suit o

idding, and when he smiled thus, as h

obeyed since I turned sixteen,

outh and health; and so the two rode on their journey talking

g it to an attempt on the part of a certain baron, Peter of Colfax, to abduct her

ued for his daughter's hand heard some unsavory truths from the man who had twice scandalized

"And, as you have refused his heart and hand, his head shall be y

oasting so much indulged in in those days. "You may

ho brings to the feet of his princess t

would the k

hatsoever calumnies may be heaped upon him, you shall yet e

red, though something seemed to tel

ht," she replied. "And the boon o

er friendship more than any other thing he knew of. And wishing it, he determined to win it by any means that acc

ernoon, and there, Norman of Torn was graciously welcom

added to his new desire to be in the company of Bertrade de Montfort,

d of the Baron, and here and there among the men were evidences of painful wound

y pack of cut-throats, besieged us for ten days, and then took the castle by storm and sacked it. Life is no longer safe in England with the King spending his time and money

lter when once our civil strife is settled, for the barons themselves have

ontfort. "I should like to see this fellow; what may he look like-from the appearance of you

se who claim they had a brief glimpse of him and that he is of horrid countenance, wearing a g

ured Norman of Torn. "No won

utevill. "Never in all the world was there such

g gleefully, "verily do I believe I have captured the wild Norman of Torn, for this very knight, who styles himself

which followed, and of all the c

hould the King eventually force war upon the barons? With his thousand hel

lean to the thought that he will serve neither, but rather plunder the c

l, ruthfully. "But yet I am always in fear for the safety of my wife and daughters when I be

l of Stutevill, and when one of his men laid a heavy hand upon me, it was the great outlaw himself who struck the fellow such a blow

ther subjects and Norman of Torn heard

ay, as he sat with Bertrade de Montfort in an embrasure of the south tower of the old cas

ace any danger, but there are others who look to me for guidance and my duty calls me away from you. You shall see me agai

, wherever I may be, Roger

said smiling. "Some day you

yes as she said it would have meant much to a man bett

what I should like to tell you, that you might know how much your friendship means to me. G

last look at the castle and there, in an embrasure in the south tower, stood a young woman who raised her hand to wave, and t

f life, and he felt a twinge of bitterness toward the hard, old man whom he called father, and whose teachings from the boy's earliest childhood had guided him in the ways that h

his life that caused him for the first time to feel shame for his past deeds. He did n

rown Prince of England. This, together with the words of Father Claude, puzzled him sorely.

s for the first time anxious himself to hide his face from the sight of men. Not from fea