windows, fell upon her brow and head, wreathing them like a halo, rendering the resemblance to the picture of the virgin more than usually striking. The congregation were soon all assembled. The bell ceased its knolling. The worship began, soon however, to be interrupted by one of those stern disturbances, so common to the period. what had happened. So sudden was. the ejectment, The choir had just finished singing the beautiful old father! for my sake, speak to the man fairly. What psalm of "When Israel, by the Almighty led," when loud, long, clear and deep, came the blast of a bugle, which filled the vaulted aisle with a confusion of deafening echoes, and the breast of every worshipper with terror-for the pastoral valleys of England were dented then by the hoofs of war-horses-the clash of sabres, and the roar of muskets awoke the echoes of many a still green wood, which had never been broken before, but by the bugle-horn of the belted hunter, or the axe of the peaceful woodman. War was on every side, and every man felt that the morrow might bring it to his own door, that an hour might show the flame consuming his homestead, and his heart's blood reddening his fields. can you do against so many?" With a curse on the crop-eared scoundrel, the old royalist let his sword drop back into the scabbard, and then began to hold angry parley with the Parliamentary officer. Whaley replied that the orders were to take possession of Clipstone Hall, Church and Chase, and hold them until he received further commands from Cromwell, since he, Sir Cuthbert Clipstone, had a fortnight ago given quarter to Colonel Cleveland and a party of Cavaliers, and by so doing, proved himself an enemy to the authority of Parliament, and a partisan of Charles Stuart, known as King Charles; and further, that he, Sir Cuthbert Clipstone, was a prisoner; that the Hall was already in possession of the Parliamenary soldiers, but that they had no wish to place him under any restraint, or in any way molest him, so long as the soldiers were allowed to retain possession peacefully. While the lieutenant, with his sword point on the ground, and hand on the hilt, gravely stated these orders, and how far they were hitherto executed, Bertha glanced around the churchyard, and saw that beside several mounted troopers, whose hands rested on the pistols in their saddle holsters, there were soldiers on foot by the porch and churchyard gates, who had left their war-horses grazing among the peaceful graves, or thrown the bridlereins carelessly over the old grey monuments-that indeed they were surrounded on all sides, and that submission was simply a matter of necessity, until they could obtain aid from their friends, or it pleased the Parliamentary officers to withdraw their presence from the hamlet and the Hall. These impressions Bertha hurriedly whispered to her choleric father, who was still raving impotently at the troop, and swearing by every oath he could think, that summary vengeance should befall the whole presumptuous, canting, treasonable tribe. Presently the tramp of horses was heard outside the church-then a deep voice, as if issuing some stern command, which was followed by the march of heavy footsteps, and the clanking of armed heels, and jingling of martial accoutrements, which first filled the porchthen, after the rude slamming of the door, came echoing upon the chancel pavement, while one of the troopers, who seemed to be spokesman, halted before the pulpit, and in that long nasal tone which the Puritan leaders affected, exclaimed, “Misguided and benighted brother, my commands enforce me to compel thee to come down from the fold, where thou hast too long played the false shepherd, and led astray the foolish flock, which, to wit, are here assembled. Thou art not permitted to make any reply, but to quit this place at once, peacefully an thou willest it, but quit it thou must, and that instantly. Barnabas, Matthew, and Barachiah, advance quick, and drag down the false prophet." The last sentences were uttered in fiery haste, compared to the slow puritanic whine with which the trooper commenced speaking. sooner was the command given, than three of the troopers he had named, approached the pulpit, and were in the act of ascending, when a rush from some of the congregation caused the pastor to wave his hand and exclaim as he descended, "Not here-not in the house of prayer-not in the temple dedicated to Almighty God, must his children strive together." And while so speaking, he waved back the angry peasants and sturdy farmers as he descended. But no sooner had the foot of the preacher touched the pavement, than the two tall Babes of Grace, Matthew and Barnabas, seized him—and that the faithful followers had defended their by the surplice, while Barachiah with the butt-end of his short musket, thrust behind, and with a run which there was no resisting, the worthy pastor found himself outside the porch, and standing panting in the rural churchyard, almost before he knew where he was, or And no A collision between a part of the Parliamentary troops and the villagers, in the inn-yard of the village, cut short the parley, and drew off Whaley, furiously, vowing destruction and ruin to the whole hamlet if a hair of one of his men were injured. Sir Cuthbert and his daughter, therefore-followed at a respectful distance by the troopers-returned to the Hall. As they approached the park-entrance, they saw that the Hall had been taken possession of only by a struggle between the troopers and the retainers of the knight charge with all the strength, courage, and resolution they could bring to bear. The iron gates of the entrance had been burst open by a petard. A faithful forester, in his green livery, was stretched out lifeless beside the avenue of tall elm trees which went winding up to the Hall, his head severed by a sabre cut. As they | than four and twenty summers. His corselet was richly drew nearer the Hall, every step revealed fresh signs of inlaid, and such portions of his dress as were displayed, the struggle, in the trampled grass, broken branches, seemed more befitting a Cavalier, than a leader of the and traces of blood. Roundheads. At every outlet of the ancient building armed sentinels were stationed, while voices came from the open casements proclaiming the riot that was held within. With pallid lip and faltering step the old knight pursued his way, leaning heavier on the beautiful Bertha than he was aware of, while his eyes were dimmed with tears, which he had not the power to check, as he thought how many of his faithful retainers had fallen, whose lives might have been spared had he remained behind. Quite prepared as he was, through the scenes he had already witnessed, to see the change wrought in the home of his fathers; yet, when he entered, the reality far exceeded all he had imagined. Rioting and drinking he expected to meet, for the troop who had taken possession of the Hall professed as little godliness as any that served under the Parliamentary generals. But a far different scene met his view to what his fancy had pictured; there was neither brawl nor riotous excess in the large wainscoted hall which he and his daughter entered; those scenes were confined to another wing of the spacious mansion; here, the new occupiers seemed so intent upon examining his own private documents, that he entered without being perceived. Nearly every secret recess had been ransacked-old carved oaken bureaus broken open, hidden drawers emptied of documents, charters, and deeds, which with their ancient seals and ribbons affixed, lay piled on the dark massy table, or scattered on the polished oaken floor, amid silver flagons, huge black-letter volumes, and other relics. Sir Cuthbert seeing from the intentness with which these documents were perused, that his being present was not perceived, motioned Bertha to keep stationary within the shadow of the doorway, while they stood unobserved, and heard the following remarks: "Certes, these account for the place holding out so long and so, under what we conceived to be only rural produce, and allowed to pass the gates, were item, five barrels of gunpowder-item, one hundred weight of shot-twenty-four slaughtered beeves for the garrison, one hundred muttons, to be left behind the rick-yard; three hundred Jacobuses in gold. Marry, but the old knight spared neither pouch nor powder, cattle nor cunning, to maintain, what he and his call the good old cause. Our informant was right, though he is not a jot the less a knave to betray an old neighbor-right so far, in all he has communicated. He must not be spared, Thurlby." As the name of Thurlby was spoken, Bertha uttered a sudden cry, and, as pale as death, staggered forward, and would have fallen had not Sir Cuthbert caught her in his arms. Bertha's sudden cry brought the other occupants to their feet. The young officer addressed by the speaker as Thurlby, sprang forward to assist the old knight to place the now pale and senseless Bertha upon a couch at hand. He was a tall, stalwart youth, of not more "I thank you for your attention, sir," said Sir Cuthbert, "but you are one of the last I ever looked for in the ranks of the rebels." "I am in the performance of my duty," replied the young man calmly. "Duty!" The color rushed into the old knight's face. "Well, sir,” resumed he, we understand these things differently. I thank you for your aid. My daughter is recovering from her fright, you perceive." The young man bowed, turned upon his heel, and walked towards one of the windows. Bertha's tiring-maid, after some moments, was discovered, hid away in a closet half dead with fear, and with her aid the young maiden was led from the room into her own chamber. II. By a ruined chapel that stood at the end of a long avenue of trees, Reginald Thurlby and Bertha Clipstone paced to and fro, now in moonlight, now in shade. "This is kindly done," said Reginald to his companion, "and I care not if the whole world pronounce me a renegade, so long as my name stands unsullied in the estimation of Bertha." “It does, it is,” replied she, her tears falling as she spoke; "but oh, Reginald, the shock was so sudden to find you arrayed on the side of our enemies, that it overcame me. But I now know how ill it would have proved with us this day but for your presence. My father still refuses to listen to me, Reginald. His anger is great. He says that it would have been better for the home of our ancestors to have been levelled to the dust, rather than that one to whom his daughter's troth is plighted-should-should have—” "It is enough that he is your father," answered he, his cheek reddening as his mind shaped Bertha's unfinished sentence; "many will think as he does. So be it. Yet, Bertha, I feel that I have not done wrong. Is he not unworthy of the name of king who falsifies his word? Tell me, Bertha, am I bound to one who plays fast and loose with me? You know how well I served him-how I gave up all for him. He pledged his royal word that Cleveland's forces should not be withdrawn from your protection-but he broke that royal word. I tell you, Bertha," continued he, pacing up and down in great excitement, "I tell you, that while we have been shedding our blood, and exhausting our patrimony, he, this king, whom we believed to be the soul of honor, has been tampering with the Parliamentary forcesmaking offers to Fairfax, Cromwell, Ireton, and others, and deceiving us, who have ruined ourselves in his service. I threw my commission at his feet-told him to his face that he had broken faith with me--and rushing from his presence, hurried as fast as horse could speed, to fall single-handed in your protection; to block up with my own body, should there be no other defender, | despoil the fatherless and the widow to support their that threshold, over which King Charles had pledged cursed cause." his royal honor that no Roundhead should pass--but I came too late." "No, not too late," replied Bertha; "but for your presence, much blood would have been shed, and it gives my heart ease to know that you have not taken up arms in behalf of the rebels; for, believe me, Reginald, though the King falsified his word and his oath ten thousand times, it behoves not the honorable soldier to forsake the standard under which he has once enlisted." "Thou hast but spoken sooth, my beloved Bertha," answered the lover; "my first thought when I came up was to drive a bullet through the brain of the captain of these troopers, but some shot from one or another of his followers would have sent me to my long night's sleep, without having rendered thee that aid which I came to offer. Beside, he but obeyed his generalvillain and hypocrite though this colonel is-as we did the commands of the king. The hall must be cleared of these Roundheads, at any cost: the resigning of my commission is already known to the Parliamentary generals, and may stand us in good stead. Some method must be devised to save your father's property from confiscation, and that too, speedily. The Roundheads are but obtaining by power what the king has hitherto got by policy. The one seizes upon the estates of the Cavalier, and appropriates them to their own use, the other obtains them by persuasive appeals, so that we are stripped by both friend and foe, and left only with our naked swords, bare estates, and empty pouches." "But, surely, his majesty will at last make the concessions which the Parliamentary forces are so clamorous for," said Bertha; "then the land will again sleep in peace." So loud were the tones in which the young Cavalier spoke, and such a jingling did his weapons and armor make, as in his excitement he paced to and fro, that he heard not the sound of approaching footsteps behind the trees; nor was he aware that he had any other listener but Bertha, until the tall grave Roundhead, Colonel Thrapstone, stepped forward and exclaimed, “I knew, young man, that the leopard could as soon change its spots, and the lion browse beside the beeves, as thou and thine ever mingle peaceably with our people. I am not deceived. Many and great are the allowances I could make for the influence of this fair and comely damsel, knowing thy yearning towards her; and some little hope had I that, having found out the falsehood of the man, Charles Stuart, who is but an unsound vessel, a cracked cymbal, that thou wouldst at least have dealt fairly and openly in our cause, and declared thyself either for or against us. When I met thee by the waters this morning, I asked thee not whether thou wert an Ephraimite. I said not unto thee say Shibboleth, for knowing how this man, whom all bowed to a little while ago as king, when it is written, that thou shalt not bow down to anything on earth beneath-knowing he had spurned thee with his foot— I did think that thou wouldst have dealt fairly with me, and not have entered the fold in sheep's clothing. But lo! thou standest a wolf confessed: out of thine own mouth do I condemn thee. Thou hast come as a spy, and thy punishment will be death." He raised his arm in the moonlight as he ceased speaking, and six troopers, led by Lieutenant Whaley, stepped up. The young officer knew too well the nature of the men into whose power he had fallen, to throw away his life wantonly against such odds, and mentally quoting, "There is no armor against fate," was in the act of marching off a prisoner, guarded by the troopers, when Thrapstone said, "Thou hast had thy wish; thou hast met me in the Chase, and I hope hast found the greensward all that thou wishest." "Coward!" exclaimed Reginald, furiously, darting upon him so suddenly, that the soldiers were unprepared for the movement, and felling the tall colonel with his clenched fist, "I would give the whole of this round island, an it were mine, an I had my wish. But thou never yet hadst the courage to meet a fair foe single-handed; thou hast always had cunning enough to creep into the council, and caution enough to keep out of the battle-field. I know, and I despise thee." But the words were lost to the ear of the prostrate colonel. The blow had left him senseless, and a grim smile passed over the lieutenant's countenance, who was a brave soldier, as he looked on the fallen boaster towards whom he bore no love. "It is too late,” replied the soldier; "the king has broken his solemn promises too many times ever to be trusted again. Those who humbly entreated, with bowed heads, now draw themselves up haughtily and despise him. Dishonorably though the king has acted, in breaking his pledge, to me, yet I hate these canting psalm-singing, crop-haired hypocrites! The greater bulk are made up of such knaves as Thrapstone, who has now the command of the troops at the Hall. I would give a few of the best of my remaining acres, an he and I were alone in the Chase, with a few feet of clear greensward for a stage, and only his drawn sword between us. It was well for him that he had half-a-dozen stout troopers at his elbow, when he commenced ransacking your father's drawers and cupboards this morning; even after I interceded, and he promised that the documents should only be examined as a mere form, the smooth-tongued sniveller commenced taking notes of every paper that passed through his hands; and, worse than all, every now and then appris-colonel, then led the way to the hall, with Thurlby a ed me of their contents, as if in confidence-as if because I had chosen to resent the king's breach of faith, I had become one of the groaning, praying, cutthroat house-robbers, who, while they hum a psalm, The lieutenant left two of his men to attend to the prisoner, yet allowing him to walk with Bertha, adding, with a gruff courtesy, "Neither I nor my men have any wish to overhear your conversation, captain, with the fair lady; but if you attempt to escape, I have given orders to shoot you dead:" saying which, he fell "Die!" exclaimed Whaley, overturning the goblet back several paces, and commanded those who marched by the sudden jerk of his hand, as he started back in in advance to just keep within range of their fire-arms, his seat. "Die! He has surely done nothing deservand so left the lovers at liberty to converse without fearing of death? Had you or I, colonel, plighted our of being overheard. Thurlby thanked him for this attention. III. Ar the period of our story, almost every castle and manor-house had its guard-house or prison. Into the strong-room which served this purpose in Clipstone Hall, Thurlby was thrust with little ceremony, and a double guard stationed at the door. troth to such a fair maiden as Mistress Bertha, and known that she and her father were in such straits as they now are, we should never have drawn bit or slackened bridle-rein until we had arrived at the rescue. As for the blow he struck, forget that. He shall crave pardon for it on the morrow." "It is not for myself that I adjudge him to die. It is my duty to the cause, the Parliament, and the army that moveth me. Knowest thou not that were he not this night our prisoner, he would likely enough have been on his way, as fast as horse could speed, to the stronghold of Greythorpe, and have brought back with him by to-morrow's noon, Cleveland's whole garrison?" Whaley could not reply to this. It was, indeed, the darkest feature of Thurlby's case, that he had endeavored secretly to communicate with a detachment of Royalist troops, some few miles distant. But, Thurlby's messenger had been apprehended, and was a prisoner. The orders he received from Reginald had been overheard by a Roundhead spy sent out upon the path of the young Cavalier. When Sir Cuthbert heard of Reginald's imprisonment, he felt how grievously he had wronged the young Cavalier in suspecting his loyalty, or in doubting for a moment that he had any other motive beyond that of serving himself and his daughter, while appearing to be on friendly terms with the puritanical colonel. Sir Cuthbert endeavored in vain to gain admission to the prison, and apologize for the words he had uttered and the coldness of his manners; but the stern Roundhead, who stood guard, refused to open the door without an order from Colonel Thrapstone or Lieutenant Whaley; and he well knew that he was not likely to obtain it from the former, smarting as he was under the blow he had received from the prisoner. Thrapstone had resolved, as he walked from the ruined chapel, that Thurlby should be tried on the morrow as a spy before the military tribunal which he had the power to summon, and at which he himself would sit as judge; and that he would then sentence him to be shot, irregular though the trial might be. He thought his limited gar--thirsted with insane intensity for his blood, but rison, situation, and the fact of the prisoner having really come to the rescue of Sir Cuthbert, would satisfy any qualms that Cromwell, or any other general, might have about the matter; and if not, he should anyhow have gratified his revenge. When Whaley came in to receive final orders for the night, he found the colonel with a flask of wine before him on the table. The hypocrite apologized for having the flask before him, on account of the faintness from loss of blood by the blow struck by the "cowardly Cavalier." "He is no coward,” replied the blunt lieutenant, filling a goblet of wine and tossing it off; "if the Royalists had had a few more such swords at Marston Moor, a different tale might have been told." "Not while we had the Lord of Hosts on our side," whined the puritanical leader in reply. "Were it His will, and we had only a nail of the tent and a hammer, we should smite low our enemies, as did the wife of the Kenite when she slew Sisera as he fled from the borders of Kishon—bum, hum, hum!" and he purred like a cat dandling with its prey, and which it no more loses sight of than he lost the tenor of thought uppermost at the moment as he added, "Pity but what he had fallen amongst the brave to which he then belonged, before he came up to us to-day, a spy upon the land, and for which to-morrow he shall surely die." | Whaley, after some further conversation, withdrew. Left to himself, Colonel Thrapstone rose and began to pace the apartment-slowly at first, and then with rapid strides as he was carried away by his increasing passion. Revenge consumed him. He burned to wipe out the stigma of the blow inflicted upon him by the Cavalier. Cowardly, subtle, full of bitterness and fiendish hate, he panted to crush the youth beneath his heel dared not seek his revenge openly and boldly. He aimed to glide, snake-like, up to a defenceless foe, and strike his fangs into his heart unseen and undiscovered. For hours he walked the floor, clutching with his fingers, beating his brow, and pausing sometimes to grind his heel into the floor with uncontrollable fury, as if he fancied he held the prostrate form of Reginald beneath his foot. At last he flung himself upon a couch, and mused over the forthcoming events of the morrow, until sleep sealed his eyes. him. 66 Early on the morrow, he summoned Whaley before Bring forth the prisoner," said he; "we will proceed to business at once." "You are in a hurry with this bloody business," replied Whaley bluntly, and knitting his bushy brows as he added: "You were not always so eager to be at the work of death. I would rather lend a hand at helping a dozen out of the world in a fair field, where all are warm at the work, than sit here and see one brave fellow sentenced to death in cold blood. This morning's work will spoil my breakfast, while an hour or two of sharp fighting, hand to hand, has often given me a good appetite for my morning meal. Is he to have no quarter, colonel ?" "He shall have a fair trial," answered Thrapstone. biting his lip, and internally writhing under Whaley's remarks; for he keenly felt the allusion to his own he had well finished his preliminary humming and hawing, Lieutenant Whaley said to the prisoner, “I opine this is the fortune of war, captain; you tried to serve your friends, and have been out-generalled, and there is no more to be said. Is it true?" cowardice. "Thou knowest that I am no lover of | for the colonel seemed at a loss what to say, and before bloodshed," he added, with a peculiar glance at the lieutenant, while the latter passed his hand over his grizzly beard, and nodded in reply, "I have summoned the worthy knight to attend the trial; he is an old soldier, and, I doubt not, would have acted as I shall now act, had one of the Parliamentary soldiers, fallen into the hands of the Royalists, been proved to be a spy, and taken red-handed in the act of communication with the enemy." Whaley was silent, for he well knew if the latter part of the charge could be proved against the prisoner, Cromwell himself would be one of the first to sign his death-warrant. Scarcely had the colonel done speaking, before Thurlby entered the apartment, his hands fettered, while he was strongly guarded by the soldiers who drew up in a line on each side of the hall, leaving the prisoner standing at one end of the massy oaken table. Sir Cuthbert Clipstone, accompanied by Bertha, also entered the apartment-for the latter, much against the old knight's wishes, resolved to accompany him. Two or three soldiers, who held such commissions in the troop as were common at the period, sat at the table, at the head of which the colonel and lieutenant were placed, and one of the former officiated as secretary. There was something martial in the way the whole group was arranged; for several of the armed troopers that stood guard over the prisoner had been tried in many a hard-fought field. Bertha took her station beside her lover, who greeted her appearance with a melancholy smile; he knew that his hour was come, and he was prepared to die. He looked for no mercy-he expected none. Sir Cuthbert gazed on the scene in sorrowful silence, and endeavored in vain to stifle the sighs which from time to time escaped from his sad heart. The trial opened by the soldier who, acted as secretary reading the charge against the prisoner, which was, that he instructed one William Wilmot to take a horse from the stables of the Old Chase Inn, ride for life to the fortress of Greythorpe, and bid Colonel Cleveland send a troop of soldiers to Clipstone Hall without a moment's delay, as it was held by the Parliamentary soldiers in the command of Colonel Thrapstone; and that the said Colonel Cleveland might rely upon all the aid that he, Reginald Thurlby, late captain in the Royalist army, could procure; and that, should the Parliamentary troop barricade and defend the Hall, there was a door facing the stables which opened into the underground portion of the building, which could be readily opened; and that, with the aid of Sir Cuthbert's domestics, there would be no fear of the Royalists obtaining ready entrance, and retaking Clipstone Hall from the rebels. The trooper who stood sentinel unobserved in the stables, and who overheard the prisoner give the order to Wilmot, stepped forward and corroborated the charge. Another trooper deposed to riding over to the Old Chase, and capturing William Wilmot, just as he was in the act of mounting the horse belonging to the host in the inn-yard. When the charge was ended, there was a painful silence for a moment or two, "It is true," answered Thurlby, and there was another painful pause. The colonel was beginning with something about the spies that went up into the Promised Land, when Whaley rose suddenly and impatiently from his seat, and again said, "I suppose the sentence is, that he must be removed back to prison, until we receive further orders from General Cromwell?" "I believe that I am commander here, sir," said the colonel, "for the present? and if so, and as the prisoner has admitted his guilt, I see no necessity for either communicating with General Cromwell, or any other commander of the Parliamentary forces: and I hereby, as his own mouth hath testified against him, sentence him to be shot to death on the lawn before the Hall, at the noonday hour of twelve." Then turning to the secretary, he added, "Let the sentence be recorded, and you, Lieutenant Whaley, will see it carried into execution." He looked at Bertha, as he pronounced the doom of her lover, which the soldier was recording on the paper before him, while only the scratching of his pen broke the silence that reigned in the apartment, and was about to affix his own signature to the document, when Bertha, with clasped hands, rushed forwards, and exclaimed, "In mercy spare him! in pity to my father's grey hairs, save his live! Do plead in his behalf, good lieutenant," she added, placing her hand on Whaley's shoulder, "you are known, as he is, far and wide as a brave soldier, oh! plead for him!" "I have, I have, fair maiden," answered Whaley, his voice faltering as he spoke, "but it is useless;" then turning round, he added, "Colonel Thrapstone, I refuse to execute the sentence. His blood be upon your own head;" and with a threatening frown he quitted the apartment. The troopers exchanged deep-meaning glances with one another, evidently in approval of Whaley's conduct, though they dared not, like him, disobey their colonel, for it was well-known that not a soldier stood higher in the estimation of Cromwell than the lieutenant. Although the colonel sat pale and speechless with passion, there was a fear about his heart, and he dared not issue the command to his soldiers to make Whaley prisoner, lest the fiery lieutenant should draw his sword against him and challenge him to combat upon the spot; for that blind obedience to a superior officer, which causes so many heart-burnings in the army at the present day, did not then exist, or, if it did, was not, when broken, visited with such severe punishment as now. Taking advantage of the sensation Whaley had made, Sir Cuthbert said to the colonel, "I am an old soldier, and have had to decide upon matters of life and death when left in command, and I do not think that the severest stretch of military judgment could fairly find my young friend deserving of the sentence you have |