Men of Iron by Howard Pyle (best inspirational books .txt) ๐
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- Author: Howard Pyle
Read book online ยซMen of Iron by Howard Pyle (best inspirational books .txt) ๐ยป. Author - Howard Pyle
It was into his grim presence that Myles was introduced by Gascoyne. Sir James was in his office, a room bare of ornament or adornment or superfluous comfort of any sortโwithout even so much as a mat of rushes upon the cold stone pavement to make it less cheerless. The old one-eyed knight sat gnawing his bristling mustaches. To anyone who knew him it would have been apparent that, as the castle phrase went, โthe devil sat astride of his neck,โ which meant that some one of his blind wounds was aching more sorely than usual.
His clerk sat beside him, with account-books and parchment spread upon the table, and the head squire, Walter Blunt, a lad some three or four years older than Myles, and half a head taller, black-browed, powerfully built, and with cheek and chin darkened by the soft budding of his adolescent beard, stood making his report.
Sir James listened in grim silence while Gascoyne told his errand.
โSo, then, pardee, I am bid to take another one of ye, am I?โ he snarled. โAs though ye caused me not trouble enow; and this one a cub, looking a very boor in carriage and breeding. Mayhap the Earl thinketh I am to train boys to his dilly-dally household service as well as to use of arms.โ
โSir,โ said Gascoyne, timidly, โmy Lord sayeth he would have this one entered direct as a squire of the body, so that he need not serve in the household.โ
โSayest so?โ cried Sir James, harshly. โThen take thou my message back again to thy Lord. Not for Mackworthโno, nor a better man than heโwill I make any changes in my government. An I be set to rule a pack of boys, I will rule them as I list, and not according to any man's bidding. Tell him, sirrah, that I will enter no lad as squire of the body without first testing an he be fit at arms to hold that place.โ He sat for a while glowering at Myles and gnawing his mustaches, and for the time no one dared to break the grim silence. โWhat is thy name?โ said he, suddenly. And then, almost before Myles could answer, he asked the head squire whether he could find a place to lodge him.
โThere is Gillis Whitlock's cot empty,โ said Blunt. โHe is in the infirmary, and belike goeth home again when he cometh thence. The fever hath gotten into his bones, andโโ
โThat will do,โ said the knight, interrupting him impatiently. โLet him take that place, or any other that thou hast. And thou, Jerome,โ said he to his clerk, โthou mayst enter him upon the roll, though whether it be as page or squire or bachelor shall be as I please, and not as Mackworth biddeth me. Now get ye gone.โ
โOld Bruin's wound smarteth him sore,โ Gascoyne observed, as the two lads walked across the armory court. He had good-naturedly offered to show the new-comer the many sights of interest around the castle, and in the hour or so of ramble that followed, the two grew from acquaintances to friends with a quickness that boyhood alone can bring about. They visited the armory, the chapel, the stables, the great hall, the Painted Chamber, the guard-house, the mess-room, and even the scullery and the kitchen, with its great range of boilers and furnaces and ovens. Last of all Myles's new friend introduced him to the armor-smithy.
โMy Lord hath sent a piece of Milan armor thither to be repaired,โ said he. โBelike thou would like to see it.โ
โAye,โ said Myles, eagerly, โthat would I.โ
The smith was a gruff, good-natured fellow, and showed the piece of armor to Myles readily and willingly enough. It was a beautiful bascinet of inlaid workmanship, and was edged with a rim of gold. Myles scarcely dared touch it; he gazed at it with an unconcealed delight that warmed the smith's honest heart.
โI have another piece of Milan here,โ said he. โDid I ever show thee my dagger, Master Gascoyne?โ
โNay,โ said the squire.
The smith unlocked a great oaken chest in the corner of the shop, lifted the lid, and brought thence a beautiful dagger with the handle of ebony and silver-gilt, and a sheath of Spanish leather, embossed and gilt. The keen, well-tempered blade was beautifully engraved and inlaid with niello-work, representing a group of figures in a then popular subjectโthe dance of Death. It was a weapon at once unique and beautiful, and even Gascoyne showed an admiration scarcely less keen than Myles's openly-expressed delight.
โTo whom doth it belong?โ said he, trying the point upon his thumb nail.
โThere,โ said the smith, โis the jest of the whole, for it belongeth to me. Sir William Beauclerk bade me order the weapon through Master Gildersworthy, of London town, and by the time it came hither, lo! he had died, and so it fell to my hands. No one here payeth the price for the trinket, and so I must e'en keep it myself, though I be but a poor man.โ
โHow much dost thou hold it for?โ said Gascoyne.
โSeventeen shillings buyeth it,โ said the armorer, carelessly.
โAye, aye,โ said Gascoyne, with a sigh; โso it is to be poor, and not be able to have such things as one loveth and would fain possess. Seventeen shillings is nigh as much by half again as all my yearly wage.โ
Then a sudden thought came to Myles, and as it came his cheeks glowed as hot as fire โMaster Gascoyne,โ said he, with gruff awkwardness, โthou hast been a very good, true friend to me since I have come to this place, and hast befriended me in all ways thou mightest do, and I, as well I know, but a poor rustic clod. Now I have forty shillings by me which I may spend as I list, and so I do beseech thee that thou wilt take yon dagger of me as a love-gift, and have and hold it for thy very own.โ
Gascoyne stared open-mouthed at Myles. โDost mean it?โ said he, at last.
โAye,โ said Myles, โI do mean it. Master Smith, give him the blade.โ
At first the smith grinned, thinking it all a jest; but he soon saw that Myles was serious enough, and when the seventeen shillings were produced and counted down upon the anvil, he took off his cap and made Myles a low bow as he swept them into his pouch. โNow, by my faith and troth,โ quoth he, โthat I do call a true lordly gift. Is it not so, Master Gascoyne?โ
โAye,โ said Gascoyne, with a gulp, โit is, in soothly earnest.โ And thereupon, to Myles's great wonderment, he suddenly flung his arms about his neck, and, giving him a great hug, kissed him upon the cheek. โDear Myles,โ said he, โI tell thee truly and of a verity I did feel warm towards thee from the very first time I saw thee sitting like a poor oaf upon the bench up yonder in the anteroom,
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