text stringlengths 2.05k 1.01M | title stringlengths 2 620 | author stringlengths 0 92 | author year of birth stringclasses 367
values | author year of death stringclasses 390
values | language stringclasses 16
values | downloads stringclasses 887
values | subjects stringlengths 7 775 | document id stringlengths 3 7 | type stringclasses 1
value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
"We are pretty silly children, dearie, without the child's best quality,
TRUST."
Just you _let go_ of everything and everybody and apply yourself to
doing THIS hour, with _love_, what your _hands_ find to do; and trust
the Law to bring you in due time ALL the good things you ever desired.
ACCEPT what comes as _from_ t... | Happiness and Marriage | Towne, Elizabeth | 1865 | 1960 | ['en'] | 21 | {'Marriage'} | PG10063 | |
Proofreaders
BELTANE THE SMITH
BY
JEFFERY FARNOL
AUTHOR OF "THE BROAD HIGHWAY," "THE AMATEUR GENTLEMAN," ETC.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ARTHUR E. BECHER
TO
FREDERICK HUGHSON HAWLEY
TO WHOM BELTANE IS NO STRANGER I DEDICATE THIS ROMANCE
Jeffery Farnol
London, August, 1915.
CONTENTS
I HOW BELTANE LIVED WITHIN THE ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
XXXIII HOW BELTANE HAD NEWS OF ONE THAT WAS A NOTABLE PARDONER
XXXIV HOW THEY CAME TO BELSAYE
XXXV HOW GUI OF ALLERDALE CEASED FROM EVIL
XXXVI HOW THE FOLK OF BELSAYE TOWN MADE THEM AN END OF TYRANNY
XXXVII HOW THEY LEFT BELSAYE
XXXVIII OF BELTANE'S BLACK AND EVIL MOOD, AND HOW HE FELL IN WITH THE
WITCH... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
So came Winfrida, and falling on her knee gave the goblet into her
lady's hand
She stared and stared beyond Sir Gui, to behold one clad as a dusty
miller
Her eyes swept him with look calm and most dispassionate
BELTANE THE SMITH
CHAPTER I
HOW BELTANE LIVED WITHIN THE GREENWOOD
In a glade of the forest, yet not so far... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
But Ambrose sighed and shook his head, saying:
"Art thou indeed a man, so soon, my Beltane?" and so sat watching him
awhile. Anon he rose and striding to and fro spake sudden and
passionate on this wise: "Beltane, I tell thee the beauty of women is
an evil thing, a lure to wreck the souls of men. By woman came sin
int... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Good sir, pray what's amiss?"
"The world, youth, the world--'tis all amiss. Yet mark me! here sit you
a-dabbing colour with a little brush!"
Answered Beltane: "An so ye seek to do your duty as regardfully as I
now daub this colour, messire, in so much shall the world be bettered."
"My duty, youth," quoth the stranger... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"You speak me riddles, sir."
"Yet can I speak thee to the point and so it be thy wish, as thus--now
mark me, boy! Thou art a fool, a dog, a fatuous ass, a slave, a
nincompoop, a cowardly boy, and as such--mark me again!--now do I spit
at thee!"
Hereupon Beltane, having finished the archangel's wing, laid by his
brush ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Then he raised his sword, and smote Beltane with the flat of it, and
the blow stung, wherefore Beltane instinctively swung his weapon and
thrilled with sudden unknown joy at the clash of steel on steel; and
so they engaged.
And there, within the leafy solitude, Beltane and the stranger fought
together. The long blades... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Now hereupon the stranger grew solemn likewise and looked at Beltane
with kindly, approving eyes.
"Nay, indeed," quoth he, "be not abashed, good youth; take it not amiss
that I have worsted thee. 'Tis true, had I been so minded I might have
cut thee into gobbets no larger than thy little brush, but then, body
o' me! I... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Up to an elbow sprang Beltane to find the sun new risen, filling his
humble chamber with its golden glory, and, in this radiance, upon the
open threshold, the tall, grim figure of the stranger.
"Messire," quoth Beltane, rubbing sleepy eyes, "you wake betimes,
meseemeth."
"Aye, sluggard boy; there is work to do betwixt... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"And so it be thy will, messire," said Beltane, steady-eyed.
But as they stood thus, Beltane with arms yet crossed, his lips
up-curving at the other's fierce amaze, the stranger grim-faced and
frowning, came a shadow athwart the level glory of the sun, and,
turning, Beltane beheld the hermit Ambrose, tall and spare be... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
But Beltane stood awhile to swing the great blade lightly to and fro
and to stare upon it with shining eyes. Then, having hid it within his
bed, he went forth into the glade. And here he presently beheld a great
grey horse tethered to a tree hard by, a mettled steed that tossed its
noble head and snuffed the fragrant ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Say you so, boy?" said the stranger, and rising, took from behind a
tree a long and heavy lance and thrust it into Beltane's grip; then,
drawing his sword, he set it upright in the sward, and upon the hilt he
put his cap, saying:
"Ride back up the glade, and try an thou canst pick up my cap on thy
point, at a gallop.... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Thus then, this stranger dwelt the week with Beltane in the greenwood,
teaching him, day by day, tricks of sword and much martial lore beside.
And, day by day, a friendship waxed and grew betwixt them so that upon
the seventh morning, as they broke their fast together, Beltane's heart
was heavy and his look downcast; ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Nay, but I've heard tell that she is wondrous fair."
"Hum!" quoth Sir Benedict, "I love not your red-haired spit-fires.
Methinks, an Ivo win her, she'll lead him how she will, or be broke in
the adventure--a malison upon him, be it how it may!"
So, having presently made an end of eating, Sir Benedict arose and
forthw... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
As he paced along upon his richly caparisoned steed, pinching at his
long, blue-shaven chin with supple fingers, his heavy brows drawn low,
of a sudden his narrowed lids widened and his eyes gleamed bright and
black as they beheld my Beltane standing in the shade of the tree.
"Aha!" said he, drawing rein, "what insole... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
The Duke smiled his slow smile, his curving nostrils quivered and were
still, and he glanced toward Sir Jocelyn through veiling lids. Quoth
he:
"Art, rather, for a game of ball, messire, or a song upon a lute?" So
saying he turned and signed to Gefroi with his finger; as for Sir
Jocelyn, he only curled a lock of his l... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Now Beltane had wrestled oft with strangers in the greenwood and had
learned many cunning and desperate holds; moreover, he had learned to
bide his time; thus, though Gefroi's iron muscles yet pinned his arms,
he waited, calm-eyed but with every nerve a-quiver, for that moment
when Gefroi's vicious grip should slacken... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"By all the Saints, but 'twas a mighty throw!" sighed Sir Jocelyn,
"though alack! sweet my lord, 'twould almost seem my forester hath
something spoiled thy wrestler!"
"And is the roan stallion thine" frowned the Duke, "and to none would I
lose him with a fairer grace, for 'twas a good bout as I foretold: yet,
by the h... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Alack! 'tis a ruined man am I this day! Would I had broken thy neck,
or thou, mine--and so, God den to ye, forester!" Then Gefroi the
wrestler turned and plodded on his way, walking slow and with drooping
head as one who knoweth not whither he goes, or careth. Now, as he
watched, Beltane bethought him of the purse an... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
So thought the Duchess Helen of Mortain where she sat upon her white
palfrey screened by the thick-budded foliage, seeing nought but this
golden-locked singer whose voice thrilled strangely in her ears. And
who so good a judge as Helen the Beautiful, whose lovers were beyond
count, knights and nobles and princelings, ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Breathless and as one entranced he gazed upon her; saw how her long
hair glowed a wondrous red 'neath the kisses of the dying sun; saw how
her purpled gown, belted at the slender waist, clung about the beauties
of her shapely body; saw how the little shoe peeped forth from the
perfumed mystery of its folds, and so sto... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Quoth Beltane gravely:
"Lady, 'twas from one beyond all thought wise and learned. A most holy
hermit--"
"A hermit!" says she, merry-eyed, "then, an he told thee this, needs
must he be old, and cold, and withered, and beyond the age of love,
knowing nought of women save what memory doth haunt his evil past. But
young a... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Now as she hearkened, the Duchess Helen grew angry, yet straightway,
she dissembled, looking upon him 'neath drooping lashes. Soft and
tender-eyed and sighing, she answered:
"Ah, Beltane! how unworthy are such things of a man's love! For if he
pluck them, that he may lay these flowers upon his heart, lo! they fade
and... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Quoth Beltane, soft and slow as one that dreams:
"I have seen thine eyes look at me from the flowers, ere now, have
heard thy laughter in the brook, and found thy beauty in all fair
things: methinks thy name should be a most sweet name."
Now was it upon her lips to tell him what he asked, but, being a woman,
she held ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Wherefore it was, that, looking up one evening from where he sat busied
with brush and colours upon a border of wondrous design, Beltane beheld
her of whom he was dreaming; and she, standing tall and fair before
him, saw that in his look the which set her heart a-fluttering at her
white breast most strangely; yet, fea... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Now the Duchess Helen laughed within herself for very triumph, yet her
bosom thrilled and hurried with her breathing, her cheek grew red and
her eyes bright and tender, wherefore she stooped low to cull a flower
ere she answered.
"Beltane," she sighed, "Beltane, women are not as thy flowers, that
embraces, even such a... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Soft with distance came the peal of bells, stealing across the valley
from the great minster in Mortain, and, with the sound, memory waked,
and she bethought her of all those knights and nobles who lived but to
do her will and pleasure, of Mortain and the glory of it; and so she
sighed and stirred, and, looking at Bel... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
So spake he, and turning, strode away, looking not back to where she
stood leaning one white hand against a tree. Once she called to him but
he heeded not, walking ever with bowed head and hearing only the tumult
within him and the throbbing of his wounded heart. And now, in his pain
needs must he think of yet another... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Now the Duchess, being come to her chamber, lifted her hands and tore
the ducal circlet from her brow and cast it from her, and, thereafter,
laid by her rings and jewels, and coming to the open casement fell
there upon her knees and reached forth her pale hands to where, across
the valley, the dark forest stretched aw... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Hand in hand they went a-down the winding stair, down, to the great,
dim courtyard that whispered to their tread. And, thereafter, mounting
in haste, the Duchess galloped from Mortain, unheeding stern old Godric
by her side and with never a look behind, dreaming ever of Beltane with
cheeks that crimsoned 'neath her ho... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"He is gone, Beltane the Smith is gone!"
CHAPTER V
WHICH TELLS OF THE STORY OF AMBROSE THE HERMIT
Deep, deep within the green twilight of the woods Ambrose the Hermit
had builded him a hut; had built and framed it of rude stones and
thatched it with grass and mosses. And from the door of the hut he had
formed likewis... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Most holy father, thou knowest how I have lived within the greenwood
all my days nor found it lonely, for I did love it so, that I had
thought to die here likewise when my time should come. Yet now do I
know that this shall never be--to-day I go hence."
"Wherefore, my son?"
"There is come a strange restlessness upon ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"And is this love of thine so hopeless, my Beltane?"
"Beyond all thought; she is the Duchess Helen of Mortain!"
Now for a while the hermit spake not, sitting chin in hand as one who
halts betwixt two courses.
"'Tis strange," he said at length, "and passing strange! Yet, since
'tis she, and she so much above thee, wher... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Ah, Beltane, well do I know women and the ways of women! Come, sit you
beside me and, because thou art fain to go into the world and play thy
man's part, so now will I tell thee that the which I had thought to
bear with me to the grave."
Then Ambrose the Hermit, leaning his head upon his hand, began to speak
on this ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Here, for a while, the hermit Ambrose stayed his tale, and Beltane saw
his brow was moist and that his thin hands clenched and wrung each
other.
"So thus, my son, came Duke Beltane home again, he and his esquire Sir
Benedict of Bourne alone of all his company, each alike worn with
hardship and spent with wounds. But n... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
CHAPTER VI
HOW BELTANE FARED FORTH OF THE GREEN
Thus spake the hermit Ambrose and, having made an end, sat thereafter
with his head bowed upon his hands, while Beltane stood wide-eyed yet
seeing not, and with lips apart yet dumb by reason of the wonder of it;
therefore, in a while, the hermit spake again:
"Thus did w... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Father!" said Beltane rising, his blue eyes wide, his strong hands
a-tremble, "O my father!" Then Ambrose clasped those quivering hands and
kissed those wide and troubled eyes and spake thereafter, slow and
soft:
"Now shall I live henceforth in thee, my son, glorying in thy deeds
hereafter. And if thou must needs--bl... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"These have I kept against this day, my Beltane. Take them to aid thee
on thy journey, for the county of Bourne lieth far to the south."
"Do I then journey to Bourne, my father?"
"Aye, to Sir Benedict, who yet doth hold the great keep of
Thrasfordham. Many sieges hath he withstood, and daily men flee to him
--stricken... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
CHAPTER VII
HOW BELTANE TALKED WITH ONE HIGHT GILES BRABBLECOMBE, WHO WAS A
NOTABLE AND LEARNED ARCHER
The morning was yet young when my Beltane fared forth into the world, a
joyous, golden morning trilling with the glad song of birds and rich
with a thousand dewy scents; a fair, sweet, joyous world it was indeed,
wh... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"O ne'er shall my lust for the bowl decline,
Nor my love for my good long bow;
For as bow to the shaft and as bowl to the wine,
Is a maid to a man, I trow."
Looking about, Beltane saw the singer, a comely fellow whose long legs
bestrode a plump ass; a lusty man he was, clad in shirt of mail and
with a feath... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
So Beltane strode on beside this garrulous bowman, hearkening to his
merry talk, yet himself speaking short and to the point as was ever his
custom; as thus:
BOWMAN. "How do men call thee, tall brother?"
BELTANE. "Beltane."
BOWMAN. "Ha! 'Tis a good name, forsooth I've heard worse--and yet,
forsooth, I've heard better.... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
BELTANE. "And for whom do ye fight?"
BOWMAN. "For him that pays most, _pecuniae obediunt omnia,_ brother."
BELTANE (frowning). "Money? And nought beside?"
BOWMAN (staring). "As what, brother?"
BELTANE. "The justice of the cause wherefore ye fight."
BOWMAN. "Justice quotha--cause! O innocent brother, what have such
mat... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
BELTANE. "Who fighteth not for--hire. Sir Bowman!"
BOWMAN. "Yet who hireth to fight, Sir Dove-eyed Giant, for I have
fought for him, ere now, within his great keep of Thrasfordham within
Bourne. But, an ye seek employ, his is but a poor service, where a man
shall come by harder knocks than good broad pieces."
BELTANE.... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
The rising sun made a glory all about them, pouring his beams 'twixt
mighty trees whose knotted, far-flung branches dappled the way here and
there with shadow; but now Beltane saw nought of it by reason that he
walked with head a-droop and eyes that stared earthward; moreover his
hands were clenched and his lips close... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Aha!" quoth he, "methinks we reach the fair Duchy of Pentavalon; smell
ye aught, brother?" And now, indeed, Beltane became aware of a cold
wind, foul and noisome, a deadly, clammy air breathing of things
corrupt, chilling the flesh with swift unthinking dread; and, halting
in disgust, he looked about him left and rig... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
But now, even as they stood thus, out of the green came a cry, hoarse
at first but rising ever higher until it seemed to fill the world about
and set the very leaves a-quiver. Once it came, and twice, and so--was
gone. Then Beltane trembling, stooped and caught up his long quarter-staff,
and seized the bowman in a sha... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Good fellow, is there aught I may do for thee?"
"Wife and child--and dead!" the man muttered, "child and wife--and
dead! A week ago, my brother--and now, the child, and then the wife!
Child and wife and brother--and dead!" Then Beltane came, minded to aid
him with the woman, but the hairy man sprang before her, swing... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Truly," nodded Beltane, "we parted company scarce an hour since."
The friar sat him down in the shade of the willows and sighing, mopped
his face again; quoth he:
"Now may the curse of Saint Augustine, Saint Benedict, Saint Cuthbert
and Saint Dominic light upon him for a lewd fellow, a clapper-claw, a
thieving dog wh... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Oho!" cried the friar, "and is it thou, Simon? Trouble ye the world
yet, child of Satan?"
Hereupon the blind man fell upon his knees. "Holy father," he groaned,
clasping his withered arms upon his gaunt breast, "good Friar Gui I die
of hunger; aid me lest I perish. 'Tis true I am outlaw and no man may
minister unto m... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Not so," answered Beltane, "I had rather he, of a surety, attain a
full belly, Sir Friar." Then, turning his back upon the friar, Beltane
questioned the blind man again, as thus:
"Tell me, an ye will, how ye came to shed blood?" and the outlaw,
kneeling at Beltane's feet answered with bowed head:
"Noble sir, I had a ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
BELTANE. "That same lord that showed mercy on yonder poor maimed
wretch? Know you him?"
FRIAR. "In very sooth, and 'tis a potent lord that holdeth me in some
esteem, a most Christian knight--"
BELTANE. "That ravisheth the defenceless! Whose hands be foul with the
blood of innocence--"
FRIAR. "How--how? 'Tis a godly lo... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Now as he walked him thus, within the cool, green twilight, watchful of
eye and with heavy quarter-staff poised upon his shoulder, he presently
heard the music of a pipe now very mournful and sweet, anon breaking
into a merry lilt full of rippling trills and soft, bubbling notes most
pleasant to be heard. Wherefore he... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Nay," said Beltane, shaking his head, "how if God leave these things
to thee and me?"
"Why then methinks the world must wag as it will. Yet must we repine
therefore? Out upon thee for a sober, long-legged, doleful wight. Now
harkee! Here sit I--less fool! A fool who hath, this day, been driven
forth of my lord's pres... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"How?" cried the jester, wide of eye. "Alone?"
"Nay, methinks God goeth with me. Moreover, I have this sword!" and
speaking, Beltane touched the hilt of the great blade at his side.
"What--a sword!" scoffed the jester, "think ye to mend the woes of thy
fellows with a sword? Go to, thou grave-visaged, youthful fool! I ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Gold!" cried the jester, spinning the coin upon his thumb, "ha, now do
I dream indeed; may thy waking be ever as joyous. Farewell to thee,
thou kind, sweet, youthful fool, and if thou must hang some day on a
tree, may every leaf voice small prayers for thy gentle soul!"
So saying, the jester nodded, waved aloft his b... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Or," said Beltane, "the fool shall charm thy souls to kindliness with
his pipe--"
"Ho, Roger!" cried the second forester, "split me this tall talker's
yellow sconce, now!"
"Come," growled Roger, threatening of mien, "yield us the fool, 'tis an
arrant knave hath angered his lord!"
"What matter for that," said Beltane,... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Master," said he hoarsely, "what would ye?"
"I would do to thee as thou hast done to others."
"Hang me?"
"Aye!" quoth Beltane, and setting the noose about his neck, cast the
rope across a branch.
"Master, how shall my death profit thee?"
"The world shall be the better, and thy soul know less of sin, mayhap."
"Master,... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"To live!" quoth he, "to live!" And so, with sudden gesture, stooped
his head to hide his face 'neath twitching fingers.
Hereupon Beltane smiled, gentle-eyed, yet spake not, and, turning,
caught up his staff and went softly upon his way, leaving Black Roger
the forester yet upon his knees.
CHAPTER X
HOW BELTANE MADE C... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Why come ye to me, Black Roger?"
"For that this day, at dire peril, I saw thee save a fool, Master. So
now am I come to thee to be thy man henceforth, to follow and serve
thee while life remain."
"Why look now," quoth Beltane, "mine shall be a hard service and a
dangerous, for I have mighty wrongs to set aright."
"Ha... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Ah--and what of the village folk?"
"My lord, they were but serfs for the most part, but--for Sir
Pertolepe's dogs--twenty and two--and roasted alive, poor beasts!"
But here Black Roger checked both speech and stride, all at once, and
stood with quarter-staff poised as from the depth of the wood came the
sound of voic... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Now at this some laughed and some growled, and one stood forth before
his fellows staring upon Beltane 'neath close-drawn, grizzled brows:
"'Tis a rogue, and shall dance for us upon a string!" laughed he.
"And this tall fellow with him!" said another.
"Aye, aye, let us hang 'em together," cried others.
"Stay!" said Be... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Arise! Arise! I will arise!"
And even in that moment came one in answer to the cry, one that leapt
to his right hand, a wild man and hairy who plied a gleaming axe and,
'twixt each stroke, seemed, from hairy throat, to echo back the cry:
"Arise! Arise!"
And now upon his left was Black Roger, fierce-eyed behind his bu... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Nay, first," says Beltane, sitting up, "are there many hurt?"
"Aye, never fear for that, my blood-thirsty dove, they be all most
completely dead save one, and he sore wounded, _laus Deo, amen!_"
"Dead!" cried Beltane, shivering, "dead, say you?"
"Aye, Sir Paladin, all sweetly asleep in Abraham's bosom. We three here
... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Quoth Beltane, his aching head upon his hand:
"Whither?"
"To death if needs be, for a man must die soon or late, yet die but
once whether it be by the steel, or flame, or rope. So what matter the
way of it, if I may stand with this my axe face to face with Gilles of
Brandonmere, or Red Pertolepe of Garthlaxton Keep: '... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Oh, children," said the voice, "oh, children of God, put up your
steel and pray for one whose white soul doth mount e'en now to heaven!"
and forth into the light came one clad as a white friar--a tall man and
slender, and upon his shoulder he bare a mattock that gleamed beneath
the moon. His coarse, white robe, fraye... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"So shall it be," sighed Beltane, his hand upon his throbbing brow.
"And what have ye in mind to do?"
"Forsooth," cried Giles, "to fight, good friar, _manibus pedibusque_."
"To obey my lord," said Roger, "and speak good Saxon English."
"To adventure my body in battle with joyful heart," quoth Walkyn.
"To make an end o... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"How--came this--thing?"
"She was captive to Sir Pertolepe, by him taken in a raid, and he would
have had her to his will: yet, by aid of my lord's jester, she escaped
and fled hither. But Sir Pertolepe's foresters pursued and took her
and--so is she dead: may God requite them!"
"Amen!" quoth Giles o' the Bow, hoarse-... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Alas!" cried the friar, wringing his hands, "what news is this?"
"O good friar," sobbed the woman, "my lord's hand hath been so heavy
upon us of late--so heavy: and there came messengers from Thrasfordham
in Bourne bidding us thither with fair promises:--and my father, being
head of our village, hearkened to them and... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Now would the woman have knelt and kissed his hand, but Beltane smiled
and brought her to the door. Then, wondering and amazed, she made her
obeisance to Beltane and with her babe clasped to her bosom went forth
into the night. Thereafter Beltane turned and looked grave-eyed upon
the three.
"My masters," quoth he, "ye... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Quoth Beltane:
"Duke am I in blood and Duke will I yet be in very sooth an God so will
it." Then turning to the three, who stood hearkening open-mouthed and
wide of eye, he smiled and reached to them his hand.
"Good friends," said he, "knowing nought of me yet were ye willing to
follow my fortunes. For this do I thank... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Day in, day out, the men of Belsaye eyed it askance 'neath scowling
brows and, by night, many a clenched hand was shaken and many a
whispered malediction sped, toward that thing of doom that menaced them
from the dark.
To-night the moon was full, and thus, following Friar Martin's bony
outstretched finger, Beltane of ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Swiftly they went and for the most part in silence, for Beltane's mind
was busied upon many matters.
So betimes they climbed the hill and stood at last beneath the gallows,
and, glancing up, Beltane beheld noisome shapes, black and shrivelled,
that once had lived and laughed. Forthwith he drew his sword and fell
to cu... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Burn down the gallows," said Beltane, "'tis an accursed thing, so
shall it shame earth and heaven no longer."
"How!--how!" cried the ancient man, letting fall his rusty sword,
"Destroy Black Ivo's gibbet? Dare ye--dare ye such a thing indeed? Are
there men with souls unconquered yet? Methought all such were old, or
d... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Then Beltane took from his pouch flint and steel and tinder and gave
them to the old man's trembling fingers as Giles o' the Bow came
running with the stalwart friar behind him.
So, while the five stood hushed and wide of eye, the old man knelt
before them in his rags and struck flint to steel. Once he struck, and
twi... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Thus, in a while the trembling citizens of Belsaye, starting from their
slumber, stared in pallid amaze beholding afar a great and fiery gibbet
whose flames, leaping heavenward, seemed to quench the moon.
CHAPTER XIII
HOW THEY BRAKE OPE THE DUNGEON OF BELSAYE
Being yet in the shade of the woods, Beltane paused, heark... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Amen!" said Beltane. Now, even as he spake came the sound of a distant
tucket, the great gates of Belsaye swung wide, and forth rode a company
of men-at-arms, their bascinets agleam 'neath the moon.
"Now!" spake the friar, "and you are for Belsaye, my brother, follow
me; I know a way--albeit a moist way and something... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"The dungeons lie beneath our feet," whispered Friar Martin. "Come!"
So, keeping ever in the shadow of the great square keep, they went on,
soft-treading and alert of eye till, being come to the angle of the
wall, the friar stayed of a sudden and raised a warning hand. Then came
Beltane with Walkyn close behind, and p... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"What?" cried one, coming to his feet, a squat broad-shouldered man--
"be this the dawn so soon? Well, we be ready, better to hang i' the
clean air than rot in a dungeon, say I. So we be ready, eh, my
brothers?"
But now, some groaned and wept and others laughed, while yet others got
them to their knees, bowed of head ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"I must go back," said Beltane, loosening sword in scabbard, "for needs
must I this night have word with Gui of Allerdale."
"Nay," whispered the friar, with pleading hand on Beltane's arm, "'tis
thing impossible--"
"Yet must I try, good brother--"
"Ah, dear my son, 'twill be thy death--"
"Why look you, gentle friar, I... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
So, with sure and steady hand, Beltane set wide the door, that creaked
faintly in the stillness, and beheld a small, square chamber where was
a narrow window, and, in this window, a mail-clad man lolled, his
unhelmed head thrust far without, to watch the glow that leapt against
the northern sky.
Then Beltane sheathed ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
But Sir Gui sat on, his thin lips upcurling to a smile, his black eyes
unswerving: wherefore came Beltane and seized him in fierce hands and
plucked him to his feet and so brought him to the window.
"Ha!" he cried, "look now and tell me what ye see. Speak! speak--for,
God help me! now am I minded to kill thee here and... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Arise! Arise! I will arise!"
Then Beltane cast up the bar, and, plucking wide the door, beheld the
broad, mail-clad back of one who held the narrow stair where flashed
pike and gisarm.
"Roger!" he called, "Black Roger!"
"Aye, lord, 'tis I," cried Roger, parrying a pike-thrust, "make sure of
thy work, master, I can ho... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
CHAPTER XIV
HOW BELTANE CAME NIGH TO DEATH
Down went my Beltane, weighted in his heavy mail--down and ever down
through a world of green that grew dark and ever more dark, until,
within the pitchy gloom beneath him was a quaking slime that sucked
viciously at foot and ankle. Desperately he fought and strove to rise,
... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
But hereupon Beltane got him to his knees and made shift to stand, and,
coming to the tree, leaned there, being faint and much spent.
"Aha, sweet lord," cried the archer, "a man after my very heart art
thou. What wonders have we achieved this night--paladins in sooth we
be, all four! By the blessed bones of St. Giles,... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Then sprang the squat man Osric to his feet, with clenched fist
upraised and eyes ablaze 'neath his matted hair.
"That will I!" he cried. "And I! And I! And I!" cried the rest, grim-faced
and eager. "Aye--give us but swords, and one to lead, and we will
follow!"
Quoth Beltane:
"Go you then to Sir Benedict within Bourn... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Now looking from sun to earth and beholding the shortening of the
shadows, Beltane leapt up. Quoth he:
"Sluggard that I am, 'tis late! And Roger was wounded last night, I
mind--"
"Content you, brother, 'twas nought," said Giles bending above his
cooking, "the kiss of a pike-head i' the thick o' the arm--no more."
"Yet... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Good comrades all," quoth he, "well do I know ye to be staunch and
trusty; yet to-day am I minded to speak with him men call Pertolepe the
Red, lest he shed innocent blood for that we slew his foresters--"
"Twenty lusty fellows!" nodded Giles, with a morsel of venison on his
dagger point.
"Nay, there one escaped!" qu... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Fast and furious Beltane sped on, crashing through underbrush and
crackling thicket, o'erleaping bush and brook and fallen tree, heedful
of eye, and choosing his course with a forester's unerring instinct,
praying fiercely beneath his breath, and with the three ever close
behind.
"Would I had eaten less!" panted Giles... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Ha, Cuthbert," quoth he, turning to one who rode at his elbow--a
slender youth who stared with evil eyes and sucked upon his finger,
"Aha, by the fiend, 'tis a sweet armful, Sir Squire?"
"Aye, my lord Pertolepe, 'tis rarely shaped and delicately fleshed!"
answered the esquire, and so fell to sucking his finger again.... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Dog!" panted Beltane.
"Ha! Cuthbert!" roared Red Pertolepe, writhing 'neath Beltane's
grinding heel, "to me, Cuthbert--to me!"
But, as the esquire wheeled upon Beltane with sword uplifted, out from
the green an arrow whistled, and Cuthbert, shrill-screaming, swayed in
his saddle and thudded to earth, while his great ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
But Beltane stirred not, only he dashed the water in Sir Pertolepe's
twitching face, wherefore came Roger and caught him by the arm,
pleading:
"Master, O master!" he panted, "the forest is a-throng with lances, and
there be archers also--let us make the woods ere we are beset!"
But Beltane, seeing the captive stir, sh... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Go!" he commanded.
So their disarray fell into rank and order, and wheeling about, they
marched away along the forest road with helm agleam and pennons a-dance,
the while Sir Pertolepe stared after them, wild of eye and with
mailed hands clenched; once he made as if to call them back: but
Beltane's hand was heavy on ... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"How an I defy thee?"
"Then must we carry thee, messire," answered Beltane, "yet thine own
legs were better methinks--come, let us begone."
Thus, presently, having forded the brook, they struck into the forest;
first went Walkyn, axe on shoulder, teeth agleam; next strode Sir
Pertolepe, head high, 'twixt pale-faced Ro... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Beltane paused here, and lifting mailed hand, pointed to a certain
tree. But hereupon, Sir Pertolepe, staring round about him and down
upon his galling bonds, spake:
"Sir knight," said he, "who thou art I know not, yet, if indeed thou
art of gentle blood, then know that I am Sir Pertolepe, Baron of
Trenda, Seneschal o... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Then spake Beltane, grim-lipped yet soft of voice:
"Lord Pertolepe, fain would I hang thee as thou hast hanged many a man
ere now--but this, methinks, is a better way: for here, unless some
wanderer chance to find thee, must thou perish, an so God will it. Thus
do we leave thee in the hands of God to grant thee life o... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Lord," quoth he, "this man hath slain wife, and child and brother, so
do I know him thrice a murderer. Therefore have I set this mark of
Cain upon him, that all men henceforth may see and know. But now, an it
be so thy will, take this my dagger and slay me here and now--yet shall
Red Pertolepe bear my mark upon him w... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
Then Sir Pertolepe feebly raised his bloody head, proffering his throat
to the steel and so stood faint in his bonds, yet watching the jester
calm-eyed. Slowly, slowly the dagger was lifted for the stroke while
Sir Pertolepe watched the glittering steel patient and unflinching;
then, swift and sudden the dagger flashe... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"Ah, woe is me
That I should be
A lonely wight!
That in mankind
No joy I find
By day or night,
Ah, woe is me!"
Thereafter he sighed amain and smote his bosom, and smiling upon
Beltane sad-eyed, spake:
"Most excellent, tall, and sweet young sir, I, who Love's lorn pilgrim
am, do give thee woeful gre... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 | |
"How," cried Beltane, "would'st fight with me?"
"Right gladly would I, messire--to break the monotony."
"I had rather hear thy song again."
"Ha, liked you it in sooth? 'Tis small thing of mine own."
"And 'tis brief!" nodded Beltane.
"Brief!" quoth the knight, "brief! not so, most notable youthful sir,
for even as love... | Beltane the Smith | Farnol, Jeffery | 1878 | 1952 | ['en'] | 30 | {'Blacksmiths -- Fiction'} | PG10064 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.