Captain Kyd (Vol 1 of 2)

old Ro

forest

bow in the me

eye hath

weet mai

ride of the for

eye of the voyager amid a group of old trees. With its solitary square tower, and warlike battlements jagged and stern in their desolation, it still wears an air of imposing gran

ent house, the beautiful Kate Bellamont, better known throughout the barony as "wild Kate of Castle Cor." In the pastimes of the day, archery, then much practised by ladies of gentle blood, was to hold a conspicuous place, and a silver arrow was to be awarded to the victor by the hands of Lady Bellamont herself. As the hour of noon approached, the earl's

ity of the field, one hundred yards apart, was pitched upon the sward a gorgeous pavilion, one of blue, the other of orange-coloured silk: the hangings of the former were fringed with silver; and from the festooned curtains of the latter pended tassels of silk and gold. In these were laid tables spread with cloths of crimson damask, and covered with every luxury that could tempt the palate o

ersing the direction of their shots, and adding healthful exercise to their graceful pastime. The targets were both very beautiful, and gay with colours; being round wooden shields half an inch in thickness and three feet in diameter, with four circles painted o

rrows. This was the seat of the umpire of the sports-Katrine, the lovely Countess of Bellamont. Altogether, it was an imposing and gorgeous scene; and, with its stern castle rising boldly from the verdant lawn topped with battlements and towers; with its boundary on the north side, of green, dark old woods, and the c

uard of young archeresses. She was then in the prime and beauty of ripe womanhood: at that delightful age when the wife and mother, all the charms of mind and person fully developed and refined by taste and elegant culture, fascinates by a thousand n

ely fitted her magnificent bust. When she entered the field she was conducted by her juvenile escort to the throne, on which she seated herself, and with a playfully assumed queenly dignity that became her highborn air. A coronet of pearls graced her brow; and her symmetrical hand, that rivalled pearls in its soft transparenc

y carved with woodland devices, slung beneath his left shoulder, with the mouthpiece brought round in front ready for use. A little farther beyond, and nearer the castle-wall, was assembled a group of lower degree, consisting of under-foresters, retainers of the household, and neighbouring peasa

, from parcels handed them by pages, shooting-gloves, with three finger-stalls, fitted with a strap and button to fasten at the wrist, to protect their fingers in drawing the arrow. Besides these appendages of archery, each archeress wore a belt buckled about the waist, to which pended a tassel of the softest floss of Brussels, to wipe away the soil that adhered to the arrows when drawn from the ground; and also an ivory box with a metal lid, containing a perfumed paste for anoint

o the feet in numerous folds, added to the grace and picturesqueness of their appearance. Each archeress was attended by a favoured youth as an esquire, habited in a green or gray hunting-frock, bordered with a wreath of embroidered oak-leaves, with an arrow worked in silver thread on each lappel. They wore broad flapping hats, turned boldly back from the forehead, and shaded in front with a drooping black plume. Each carried a short hunting-spear, decked with ribands of the colour of his mistress' jacket, gifts from her own hand and tied thereon with

then, was Kate Bellamont not ready? Her brace, both strap and buckle, was perfect; and the wrist it was destined to compass was not to be matched for its smallness of size! The gloves, plainly were just what they should be! Her companions had been fitted, and her hand was the smallest as well as the fairest of the party; besides, there were a dozen pairs on the ground that evidently were made for no other hand. The cause could not lie in the arrows, for they were, to the eye, without fault, and of every variety of shape and fashion known to archery; nor in her handsome esquire, who, save when requested by some eager girl to assist her, had been diligently serving her with arrow after arrow, until he had emptied two quivers, the contents of which now lay strewn around. The cause is not to be found in either of these. The truth is, Kate Bellamont was playing with her little foot against the ground when she should have been trying on her glove. No sooner was one pulled half way on than she suffered it to remain so, drumming the while in a fit of absence on the sward, while h

hat difficulty I have had to get ready! But I suppose you were so engaged fitting

merest effort in the world clasped the rebellious brace. But he did not release her soft hand without giving it a slight pressure, and looking into her face with an e

quire, faste

time about it, succeeded in buttoning the silken strap across the blue-veined wrist; nor did he lift his head from the fair hand

g smile on her mouth, which she vainly tried to turn into a frown, and the dancing light in her telltale eyes, betokened anything besides resentment at the bold de

truggled very hard to cast a shadow over the sunny light that played around her lovely mouth

alone a suppliant. The expression of his face amusingly wavered between playful mockery and seriousness, as if greatly fearing, yet doubting much, that his daring act had really given of

the troubled expression of his serio-comic countenance. "Haste

e, the puzzled play of his handsome features changed to sunshine by her voice. As he spoke he brought a quiver full of

; "they always curve from the line o

the middle counteracts the weight of

n't think now you are going to have your own way."

same kind; and, besides, it is without a cock-feather. I shall have to call yo

eheld the young man so intently contemplating one of her exquisite little feet, that twice she spoke to him ere he looked up to encounter her gaze of arch astonishment. It was very plain what had

ng me a pair of slippers, Lord Robert, that you

er, to be suffered to take the measure of that tiny foot,

d created, said, "Do be quick, Lord Robert; my bow is not yet strung

ly upward, pressing the limb downward at the same time with her left wrist, and skilfully and accurately carried the eye of the bow-string into the nock. Her bow

etter done what your little fingers, with skill to guide them, I have just seen

Cormac," she said, "I do owe it all to your kind teaching; and if I win the arrow this day,

ir, mingled with respect, at this expression of k

t birthdays as this!" The rough huntsman brushed a tear from his eyes as he spoke; for the experience of years had told him that clouds would obscure the bright sky of her young hopes, and that each

an help me. I am undecided whether to shoot an arrow that tapers from the head t

her, from the long habit of shutting it in shooting, having at last got to be so firmly closed up i

l her snowy plumes shaded her burning ch

shoot arrows that taper both to feathe

he cho

he pile to the feather,"

d with his eye, "it would be a good shaft for a steady hand; but, if you will let me decide,

with a flushed brow; "the best bowmen in England-ay, Robin Hood

h some warmth, in defence of his profession; "and he who

isher's lad will even tell you a shaft swelling in the middle

aster R

sly, angry that his skill should be called in question; feeling positive

ing and ungracious a temper! Besides," she added, proudly, "I sought Cormac's opinion! Strike an old man, a

and reproached by the cutting irony of her words, approachin

ac, sir,

ry arrow sticking in its heart; but," he added, with haughty fierceness, "I will

of blood here," said the maiden, between jest

dding, Kate

e a little sore to tell him, before a lady, he knew not how

, Master Robert, for it's known to every bowman that no young hand in the co

company. Nay, Robert," she added, laughing, "I have done. Give me the shafts; and, as we are to have three shots apiece at the target, I will shoot one of each kind, and be the prize his whose arrow wins! Give me them, Robe

t arrow that was shot was from the bow of a fair-haired girl, in a blue hat and a silken bodice

"but you grasped the handle of your bow too tightly, and so made your aim unsteady. Hold your bow as light

who was distinguished by an orange-coloured spencer. This second shot was more

as the cry that on all sides

g the red or inner circle, stuck there for a moment tr

ould have brought the nock of your arrow down more towards your ear. The ear in shooting an arrow;

ou gave me, has the cock-feather awry! Stay! you need not bring the quiver, but select a shaft for me yourself. I will keep it as my forlorn hope, and mark me if it do not carry off the prize." She sought

ce to disarm, a smile to win! Blessings on thee, woman! whether in thy happy and innocent girlhood, or fair and gentle maidenhood; whether maid or matron, young or old, lovely or homely! Blessing

ow of a tall, graceful girl, struck on the outer edge of the target

smiling; "if by-and-by you launch Cupid's shafts at yo

old Cormac, shaking his snowy locks as the next archeress, a sylph-like little being, about fifteen, with dangerous hazel eyes; rich chestnut-coloured hair, that flowed

amont; "take heed! you will shoot my esquire throu

ot me through the head

d, ere she had well taken aim, away it flew, and passed through the centre of the emblazoned t

Bellamont. "Lord Robert, I wonder if that was the arrow you cho

g mistress?" asked the old for

different people where a young gentleman

ith the leave of my lady the queen, you must have a second shot at the real target. Take this arrow, that tapers from the feather to the pile; fit it to your bow-string exactly at the spot where it is wound round with silk; and, if you

ow, steadily drawing the arrow at the same time-not towards your eye, but towards your ear. Be steady! When it is three parts drawn, take your aim at the centre. Keep the head of

f the golden eye of the target. A shout from every part of the field acknowledged the s

archeress; "I am satisfied with piercing t

ere sat the lovely countess, amid her youthful attendants, participating with girli

ve the credit of having stood quiet longer than she was ever known to before! The banner with its perfor

attle," said the merry sylph. "Now, divine Kate, see that you do

oubt," said Kate, archly, glancing mischievously towards

er what you and Lord Robert could have been doing, that you loitered so long about the pa

n her turn, an

ied the tantalizing little maiden. "Really, I do begin to wonder what you and Lester could h

tring, and took her stand by the target. The instant she fixed her eyes on it her self-possession returned,

f seventeen. Descended from an ancient Milesian family, she betrayed her origin in her complexion, which was a rich brunette, reflecting in warm, sunny tints the mantling blood, which came and went at every emotion. Her eyes were dark and sparkling as night with its stars, and as, with a slightly bent brow, she fixed them on the target, they had a cool and steady expression remarkable in one of her years and sex. She wore a dark ruby velvet jacket, laced over a stomacher rich with brilliants, and a velvet hat of the same dark ruby, surmounted by a plume of white ostrich feathers, in that day a rare and costl

s of her right hand, till she had drawn it out three quarters of its length, when, pausing till she had filled her eye with the golden eye of the target, she drew it smartly to its head and let it loose from her fingers. For an instant she stood following its swift flight: the pupils of her dark eyes dilated and eager; her lips closely shut; her chest advanced; her right a

th archeresses and esquires; and even the retainers and fishermen, who were humble but curious spectators of the sports, gave vent to their admiration in shouts of clamorous

she said, laughing; "it was the ar

hand that drove it so t

Robert, who, methinks, looks somewhat blank to find I have

ire, gayly; "the wind has lulled; and, as you

rget earnestly for a moment, as obstinately bent on adhering to his original opinion as even the spir

re. Here is the arrow you chose for me, which I will fit to m

g else Lord Robert gives me," said the roguish Grace, putting up her lip an

y, by estimating it in proportion to their distance from the centre, was departed from in the present instance. By the method alluded to, a hit in the gold counts nine; in the red, three; in the orange, two; in the black, one; and their sum is t

t less careful aim than with her first shot, and was about to loose the arrow, when a hawk, bearing a live fish in his talons, soared above the cliff, and with swift wing flew high across the lawn in the direction of the forest. Quicker than thought, the point of the arrow was elevated from the target into the air, drawn to its head with a stronger arm and more resolute eye, and launched from the bow-string. With irresistible force and unerring aim, it cleft the air and struck the proud bird of prey beneath the wing. He utter

f the dark bandit of the air. But maidens of that period were too familiar with the more revolting scenes of the chase to show emotion at witn

said, with a flashing eye; "and, when next I go a hawking," she arch

ngers, carefully examining each one of its three feathers, and fitted it accurately to the bow-string; then elevating her bow, she steadily drew the arrow. All was breathless expectation. The old archer looked on as if he would not grieve if for once his pupil should miss; while her young esquire watched her with the anxiety of one who felt that his judgment and skill in the noble science of archery were at stake. As she was ready to loose the arrow, the wind, which had hitherto gently fanned her cheek, increased suddenly to a strong breeze, lifting the hair from her brow and tossing her tresses in wild confusion about her neck. The eyes of Cormac lighted up with triumph, while Lord Robert himself

taper with such an aim and in this wind, which young Lord Robert there has got old Elpsy to set a blowing to triumph over the old man's skill. Well a-day! What the gray-headed forester said of it is true, n

to sound his horn three times, and bid, in the name of the queen of archery, the band of archeresses, with their esquires, who w

, the victoress advanced to the rustic footstool of the throne, and gracefully knelt to receive, from the hand of the beautiful queen of the sports, the gli

ry, Castle Cor,

nding her arm containing the prize, "receive this fair token of your matchless skill, so well displayed

ish eye. "Poor youth!" she continued, glancing significantly towards the handsome Lord Robert, who stood at the right

r companions, gathering around her, playfully forced into the vacant seat. She was about to bound from it again, when she checked the impulse, reseated herself, and bade her esquire advance and kneel before her. T

p of wild deer towards the target, to ascertain more accurately the nature, of the several hits, while the countess, at a more dignified pace, attended by the forester, returned to the castle to prepare for the further entertainments of the day. But the fleetest of foot among the youthful bevy of fair girls had not measured half the green space between the lin