Men of Iron by Howard Pyle (best inspirational books .txt) ๐
Read free book ยซMen of Iron by Howard Pyle (best inspirational books .txt) ๐ยป - read online or download for free at americanlibrarybooks.com
- Author: Howard Pyle
Read book online ยซMen of Iron by Howard Pyle (best inspirational books .txt) ๐ยป. Author - Howard Pyle
CHAPTER 10
Perhaps there is nothing more delightful in the romance of boyhood than the finding of some secret hiding-place whither a body may creep away from the bustle of the world's life, to nestle in quietness for an hour or two. More especially is such delightful if it happen that, by peeping from out it, one may look down upon the bustling matters of busy every-day life, while one lies snugly hidden away unseen by any, as though one were in some strange invisible world of one's own.
Such a hiding-place as would have filled the heart of almost any boy with sweet delight Myles and Gascoyne found one summer afternoon. They called it their Eyry, and the name suited well for the roosting-place of the young hawks that rested in its windy stillness, looking down upon the shifting castle life in the courts below.
Behind the north stable, a great, long, rambling building, thick-walled, and black with age, lay an older part of the castle than that peopled by the better class of lifeโa cluster of great thick walls, rudely but strongly built, now the dwelling-place of stable-lads and hinds, swine and poultry. From one part of these ancient walls, and fronting an inner court of the castle, arose a tall, circular, heavy-buttressed tower, considerably higher than the other buildings, and so mantled with a dense growth of aged ivy as to stand a shaft of solid green. Above its crumbling crown circled hundreds of pigeons, white and pied, clapping and clattering in noisy flight through the sunny air. Several windows, some closed with shutters, peeped here and there from out the leaves, and near the top of the pile was a row of arched openings, as though of a balcony or an airy gallery.
Myles had more than once felt an idle curiosity about this tower, and one day, as he and Gascoyne sat together, he pointed his finger and said, โWhat is yon place?โ
โThat,โ answered Gascoyne, looking over his shoulderโโthat they call Brutus Tower, for why they do say that Brutus he built it when he came hither to Britain. I believe not the tale mine own self; ne'theless, it is marvellous ancient, and old Robin-the-Fletcher telleth me that there be stairways built in the wall and passage-ways, and a maze wherein a body may get lost, an he know not the way aright, and never see the blessed light of day again.โ
โMarry,โ said Myles, โthose same be strange sayings. Who liveth there now?โ
โNo one liveth there,โ said Gascoyne, โsaving only some of the stable villains, and that half-witted goose-herd who flung stones at us yesterday when we mocked him down in the paddock. He and his wife and those others dwell in the vaults beneath, like rabbits in any warren. No one else hath lived there since Earl Robert's day, which belike was an hundred years agone. The story goeth that Earl Robert's brotherโor step-brotherโwas murdered there, and some men say by the Earl himself. Sin that day it hath been tight shut.โ
Myles stared at the tower for a while in silence. โIt is a strange-seeming place from without,โ said he, at last, โand mayhap it may be even more strange inside. Hast ever been within, Francis?โ
โNay,โ said Gascoyne; โsaid I not it hath been fast locked since Earl Robert's day?โ
โBy'r Lady,โ said Myles, โan I had lived here in this place so long as thou, I wot I would have been within it ere this.โ
โBeshrew me,โ said Gascoyne, โbut I have never thought of such a matter.โ He turned and looked at the tall crown rising into the warm sunlight with a new interest, for the thought of entering it smacked pleasantly of adventure. โHow wouldst thou set about getting within?โ said he, presently.
โWhy, look,โ said Myles; โseest thou not yon hole in the ivy branches? Methinks there is a window at that place. An I mistake not, it is in reach of the stable eaves. A body might come up by the fagot pile to the roof of the hen-house, and then by the long stable to the north stable, and so to that hole.โ
Gascoyne looked thoughtfully at the Brutus Tower, and then suddenly inquired, โWouldst go there?โ
โAye,โ said Myles, briefly.
โSo be it. Lead thou the way in the venture, I will follow after thee,โ said Gascoyne.
As Myles had said, the climbing from roof to roof was a matter easy enough to an active pair of lads like themselves; but when, by-and-by, they reached the wall of the tower itself, they found the hidden window much higher from the roof than they had judged from belowโperhaps ten or twelve feetโand it was, besides, beyond the eaves and out of their reach.
Myles looked up and looked down. Above was the bushy thickness of the ivy, the branches as thick as a woman's wrist, knotted and intertwined; below was the stone pavement of a narrow inner court between two of the stable buildings.
โMethinks I can climb to yon place,โ said he.
โThou'lt break thy neck an thou tryest,โ said Gascoyne, hastily.
โNay,โ quoth Myles, โI trust not; but break or make, we get not there without trying. So here goeth for the venture.โ
โThou art a hare-brained knave as ever drew breath of life,โ quoth Gascoyne, โand will cause me to come to grief some of these fine days. Ne'theless, an thou be Jack Fool and lead the way, go, and I will be Tom Fool and follow anon. If thy neck is worth so little, mine is worth no more.โ
It was indeed a perilous climb, but that special providence which guards reckless lads befriended them, as it has thousands of their kind before and since. So, by climbing from one knotted, clinging stem to another, they were presently seated snugly in the ivied niche in the window. It was barred from within by a crumbling shutter, the rusty fastening of which, after some little effort upon the part of the two, gave way, and entering the narrow opening, they found themselves in a small triangular passage-way, from which a steep flight of stone steps led down through a hollow in the massive wall to the room below.
At the bottom of the steps was a heavy oaken door, which stood ajar, hanging upon a single rusty hinge, and from the room within a dull, gray light glimmered faintly. Myles pushed the door farther open; it creaked and grated horribly on its rusty hinge, and, as in instant answer to the discordant shriek, came a faint piping squeaking, a rustling and a pattering of soft footsteps.
โThe ghosts!โ cried Gascoyne, in a quavering whisper, and for a moment Myles felt the chill of goose-flesh creep up and down his spine. But the next moment he laughed.
โNay,โ said he, โthey be rats. Look at yon fellow, Francis! Be'st as big as Mother Joan's kitten. Give me that stone.โ He flung it at the rat, and it flew clattering across
Comments (0)