The Outlaw of Torn

high up in the attic of an old building, and with her was a little boy who never went abroad alone, nor by day. And upon his left breast was a strange mark which resembled a lily. When t

ere were three subjects in her curriculum; French, swordsmanship and

had commenced teaching the little boy the a

you shall go out and kill many Englishmen. Your name shall be hated and cursed the length and breadth of Engla

nd all he required to eat, and that he would be a great man when he learned to fight with a real sword,

; when, instead of this old woman, there had been many people around him, and a sweet faced woman had held him in her arms and kissed him, before he

ittle old woman. It was in the dusk of the evening but the old woman did not light the cresset, and f

ehead. When he spoke, he accompanied his words with many shrugs of his narrow shoulders and with waving of his arms and other strange and amusing gesticu

, death and poverty and the disfavor of the King have wrested it from his descendants. A few years since, Henry granted it to that spend-thrift favorite of his, Henri de Macy, who pledge

ught a crumbling pile of ruined masonry, unfit to hou

he old Frenchman. "But the three lower stories be intact and quite habitable. It be much grander even now tha

old woman

ee ample time to travel to Derby and inspect thy purchase. If thou be not entirely satisfied, Isaac the Jew shall return thy money to thee and the deed to me, but if at the

last conceded that it seemed quite a fair way to

he little old woman c

me. Thy face shall be wrapped in many rags, for tho

teeth do not pain me at all

any ask thee upon the way why thy face be so wrapped, thou art to say that thou hast a toothache. And thou do not do as I say, the King

e little boy. "For this reaso

ey travelled, riding upon two small donkeys. Strange sights filled the days for the little boy who remembered no

tiny hamlets of thatched huts. Occasionally they saw armored knights upon the highway, alone or in small parties,

d knight upon a black charger, cried out something to the other which the boy could not catch. The other knight made no response other than to rest his lance upon his thigh and with lowered point, ride toward his ebon adversary. For a dozen paces their

th his rider into the dust of the highway. The momentum of the black carried him fifty paces beyond the fallen horseman before his rider could rein him in, then the bla

He spoke tauntingly, but there was no response, then he prodded the fallen man with the point of his spear. Even this elicited no movement. With a shrug of his

bound. Naught like this h

nd do likewise, my son,"

rmor and ride upon a gre

nd mighty sword, and behind thee thou shalt leave a trail of blood and d

his memory the child carried the thing that he had seen, longing for th

journeying up-country with their wares, they saw a band of ruffians rush out from the concealing shel

t mercy they attacked the old and the young, beating them down in cold blood even when they offered no resistance. Those of t

to the little old woman for sympathy he found a grim smil

ing upon English swine. Some day thou shalt

had forced upon his childish mind that everyone must be very cruel and hard upon the poor. He had seen them in all their sorrow and misery and poverty-stretching a long, sc

the world?" he once br

men are beasts. They set upon and kill one another for little provocation or for no provocation at all. Whe

nkeys were disposed of and a great horse purchased, upon which the two rode far up into a rough and

, the cold moon, shining through the narrow unglazed windows, gave to the mighty pile the likeness of a huge,

oot, leading the horse after them. From the dark shadows of the ballium, they passed into the moonlit inner court. At the far end the old woman found the ancient st

he old planking of the floors, long unused, groaned and rattled beneath their approach. There was a sudden scamp

rays of their feeble torch. As they stepped cautiously within, an impalpable dust arose in little spurts from the long-rotted rushes that crumbled beneath their feet. A h

as she inspected the interior of the chamber. It was still an imposing room. The boy clapped his hands in delight at the beauties of the carved and panelled walls and the oak beamed ceiling, stained almost black from the smoke of torches and

, old woman was no longer an old woman-she

ears old. At this time the old man commenced teaching him to speak English, but with a studied and very marked French accent. During all his life now, he could not re

to think of the strange loneliness of his existence; nor is it probable that he missed that companionship of oth

r-a contempt which was the result of the heroic methods adopted by the little old man in the training of him

t be thy handling of the weapon that thou mayst touch an antagonist at will and so lightly, shouldst thou desire, t

few days. So, while blood was often let on both sides, the training produced a fearless swordsman who was so

th save the taciturn old man; hating the English, for that he was taught as thoroughly as swordsmanship; speaking French fluently and English poorly-and waitin

low through the Derby hills to the ruined castle, three armored knights urged their tired horses late one afternoon of a chill autumn day. Off the main roa

ed them to draw rein and watch in admiration. There, before them upon the downs, a boy battled with a lunging, rearing horse-a perfect demon of a

halter rope with which he had taken a half hitch about the horse's muzzle. Now the black reared and wheeled, striking and biting, full upon the youth, bu

y efforts were unavailing to loosen the grip upon mane and withers. Suddenly, he reared straight into t

of the knights, "he will kil

up again and the boy still clings as

st what he had gained upon the halter-he must n

housand devils. A dozen times, as the head bent farther and farther toward him, the boy loosed his hold upon the mane and reached quickly down to grasp the ne

, and there was a shadow of a smile upon his lips. Now he bore heavily upon the black withers, pulling the horse toward him. Slowly the beast sank upon his bent knee-pulling backward until his off fore leg was stretched stra

his head held to the earth, he was as powerless in the hands of the boy as a

mon de Montfort himself never mastered a h

released, sprang up also, and the two stood-the handsome boy and the beautiful black-gaz

ed the prancing but subdued animal toward the castle

ly. "We wouldst not harm thee-come, we but

listened but the

"we will ride within and learn what manne

ruined grandeur, they were met by a little, grim old man wh

ills of thine, old man," replied Paul of Merely

come there, turn again to thy right and ride north beside the river-thou canst not miss the wa

re not to sleep out again this night as we did the last. We will tarry with you

and house them over night. But there was nothing else for it, since they wou

howed less interest than he felt, but to the boy, notwithstanding that the names he heard meant nothing

of the knights, "we will drive his whole accurs

ed a pact for our mutual protection, the King must surely realize that the time for temporizing be past, and that unless he would have a

storm as I have ever seen, of which the King was in such abject fear that he commanded that we land at the Bishop of Durham's palace opposite which we then were. De Montfort, who was residing there, came to meet Henry, with all due respect, observing, 'What do

ntfort has in some manner gained an ascendancy over the

but to save his tottering power from utter collapse. But, gad, how the King hates him. For a time it seemed that there might be a permanent reconciliation when, for years after the disappearance of the little Prince Richard, De Montfort devoted much of his time and private fortune to prosecuting a searc

sation threatened, sent the youth from the room on

bright handsome face, clear, intelligent gray eyes, and square strong jaw framed in a mass of brown waving hair banged at

of leather, a soft and finely tanned piece of undressed doeskin. His long hose, fitting his shapely legs as closely as another layer of skin,

and a round skull cap of the same material, to which was fastened

asked, turning

the growlin

e, old fellow, except in

re he set down in court, I wager our gracious Queen would he hard put to it to

rd, I see it plainly. It is inde

is colloquy, they would have seen a blanc

of the party of three knight

t you be, my son?

not

your

no name. My father calls me son and

he would fetch more food from the kitchen, but he turned imm

so would be the little lost Prince Richard, if he lives. This one does not kn

ur jerkin and let us have a look at your lef

the boy without making a mov

my son," sa

l Englishmen are pigs and I loathe them as becomes a gentlem

by this unexpected outbreak, fina

foreign favorites might speak, and they ever told the good

my side," answered the boy, "and as for doing as you

ned in anger, and without further words he strode forward with outstretched hand to tear open the boy's

rd was flashing in and out against his unprotected body, inflicting painful little jabs, and the boy's tongue was murmur

s stripling, but he argued that he could quickly disarm him without harming the

t, he discovered that, far from disarming him, he would

s they backed this way and that about the room, great beads of sweat stood upon the brow of P

ed to grim smiles, and presently they looked on with sta

ertion was apparent, and his haughty confident smile told louder tha

always retreating. The din of their clashing swords and the heavy breathing of the

re boy. He would not call upon his friends for aid, but presently, to his relief, Beauchamp sprang betw

center of the stage in the place of his friend. Nor did the boy neglect Paul of Merely, but

a sheet of gleaming light, and now he was driving home his t

y, gray man leaped agilely from the kitchen doorway, and with drawn sword took his place beside the boy. It was now two against th

s left his lips ere, as though it had but waited permission, the boy's sword flashed

eauchamp heard again the little gray man's "a mort, mon fils," he shuddered, and the little hairs at the nape of his neck rose up, and his spine froze, fo

bench, dead, the little old man led

and to thee belongs the pleasur

great bull might rush a teasing dog, but the boy gave back not an inch and, w

d, when they took account of the spoils of the combat, they found themselves richer by three horses with full trappings, many pi

edge of the remarkable resemblance between his ward and Prince Edward of

r to him, obliterating the devices so that none might guess to whom it had belonged. This he did, and from then on the boy never

f the three knights the old man

d thy name be Norman, and so, as this be the ancient castle of Torn, thou mayst answer those whom thou desire to know it that thou art Norman of Torn; t

est answer for an Englishman is the sword

was to strike terror to the hearts of Englishmen, and whose power in