For the Faith

oon today. We travel by road and river, and hope to accomplish

ng lighting her fair face and deep, dark eyes, turned at the sound o

she said, speaking under her breath. "O

ut his hands and clasping hers. "Freda, there have been men burnt alive before this for speaking such words as we in Oxfo

ated as she

. "Is there peril in this journey? Is t

n dare to think for themselve

are not forbidden of Go

"and with them lies the issue of life and death for so many. Freda, what would you do in my place? Would you fors

forth her hand, which she had withdrawn gently from hi

he charge is given by the Spirit of God: 'Be thou faithf

nd and kissed

Freda," he cried, "for I wi

a young spruce fir, with a keen, dark-skinned face, square in outline and with a peculiar mobility of expression. The eyes were black and sparkling, and the thick, short,

nshine like burnished copper. Her eyes were of a curious tawny tint, not unlike the colour of her hair, and her complexion was delicately fair, just tinged with rose colour at the

hey were fixed upon Dalaber, was one

as he gazed into her eyes, something more personal, more human, sprang up within h

e thee! I lov

stood before him, looking very earnestly and tenderly into his eyes. It was scarcely the look of a young maiden who is b

nd speak with thee as of old. Be thou my star and my guardian angel. I ask no more. I am but a poor student yet, but I will be more one day. Others have said so

s smile at him, and again la

cience and to thy friends. Be steadfast and true; and that not for my sake, but for His in whose holy name we are called,

ith a glow of rap

y love?" he whisp

nking of that. Fix thine eyes rather on that crown o

; He loves us. I fear not to take all good at His hand. Love to Him--love to thee--fait

of his passionate devotion, and thrilled a little beneath h

. "Ah, my beloved, wilt thou not s

o would dally and tr

re I promise more. We will be content with this knowledge for the nonce. I shall watch thee, Anthony; I shall hear of thee; I shall know what thou hast power to

taken, the lovers parted, and Anthony w

arke up the landing stairs of a certain wharf in the city of London, and gazing earnestly about him at th

of the little band now engaged in the perilous task of receiving and distributing the translated Scriptures and the pamphlets issued by Martin Luther and other reformers

or of his house, which opened only a

t, though he gave a peculiar knock more than once upon the doo

and what is

e Clarke, in a low voice; and a

themselves in a very narrow entry hall, and could only

xford has come to lodge with him for a fe

rn; and after they had descended some score they reached a door, which he pushed open, revealing a roomy, cellar-like vault, in which some ha

t, whose head was slightly bald in addition to the tonsure, and whose face was thin and lined, as though with vigils and fasting and prayer.

the first moment. Their glance was turned full upon him after the priest

brought? Is he

aber, speaking for himself.

tures and in the desire for a better state of things within the church. Methinks he is stanch and true, else would I not have brought hi

e young student. "Canst thou drink of the cup we may be called upon to d

k which seemed to leap towards him from the other, ans

Dalaber in the clasp of brotherhood, and Anthony fel

and the other men, who had left their tasks and come forwa

es and packets, whose contents could easily be guessed at. The earth from beneath the stones had been hollowed out so as to receive these packets in a number of deep cavities; and when the

went on. "By a providential warning our brother, Dr. Barnes, received timely notice of visitation at his hou

e came by water in a wherry. The man knew naught of the talk of the town, save

but the man himself would have been burnt upon the morrow. The cardinal plainly told him so; and as it is, he has signed a paper which they call a recantation of heresy. Let us not judge him harshly. His friend

come. Oh, would that Ho would come Himself, to bring to an end this dark ni

es of the brethren

in this strange pageant on the morro

ore lightly; and men all agree in this, that the cardinal would rather persuade men to escape, and make the way easy for them to abjure what he calls their errors, than drag them to the stake. But he will not shrink from that last step, if he think t

larke, with the quick lighting of his clear blue

ive, intensely spiritual. Both were alike filled with a deep faith, a deep zeal; one the man of action, the other the m

come, and shall not tarry. Let Him judge; let Him make inquisition for blood. Let our care be that w

well, and departed one by one; but Clarke and Dalaber remained with their host, a

long and earnest talk which lasted far into the night, and to which Dalaber listened with the keenest interest, he bore a share, although the chief speaker was Garret, upon whose

plan. Indeed, it was thought a pious act by the authorities to witness such a scene, and might have been in one way advantageous to the young Oxford graduate to be seen at such an exhibition, if any chanced to observe him there. Not that Dalaber thought of this himself, but the elder men did; and though t

hough it wanted half an hour or more to the time when the ceremony should commence--eight o'clock in the morning the open place around the cathedral was packed whe

as seats for a great concourse of ecclesiastics beside. Opposite this platform was another and far humbler erection, evidently for the penitents; whilst over the north door, the Rood of the Northern, as it was cal

s and gold, attended by innumerable dignitaries--abbots and priors, bishops, deans, doctors, and lesser clergy, shining in damask and satin, a right goodly company. For a while all eyes were so fixed upon this glittering array that

ul heresy. His ringing voice carried all over the open space, though Anthony Dalaber could only catch an occasional phrase here and there, which perhaps was as well. But the reply, if reply there w

r breath whilst this was being done; but had observant eyes been fixed upon many of the faces of the crowd, they would have seen looks of fierce hatred directed towards the spot wh

ow" he had permitted him to witness, he slipped down into the street, and pushed his way through the thr

imself. But the Word of God! Oh, that is too much! To take it out of the hands of the poor and needy, who hunger to be fed, and to cast it to be burnt like the dung of the ear

s he passed by. But his feet brought him back to the spot of the morning's pageant, and towards evening he found himself looking upon the ashes of wh

persons were raking amid the ashes where the books had been burnt, as though to see whether some poor fragments might not have been left unconsumed; and when they failed to find even this--for o

e fixed upon him, went up to

zens, to whom is denied aught but

and spoke the words he had heard fr

et mand

ht sprang into his eyes. He looked roun

re one

moment's pause befo

rt and purpose, at least

ons. But his mind was made up. Come what might--peril, suffering, o

death, and I will give

d when he reached Garret's house he went straight to the

emotion to which his temperament made him subject, "for I would n