In the Days of Chivalry | Page 9

so; and let him but once find that out, and the
lives of the boys would not be safe either by night or day. The retainers
of the proud baron might swoop down at any moment upon the
peaceful mill, and carry off the prey without let or hindrance; and this
was why the secret of their birth and name had been so jealously kept
from all (save a few who loved the house of De Brocas) by the devoted
miller and his wife.
But Gaston little recked of the threatened peril. The fearless nature of
his race was in him, and he would have scorned himself had he failed to
speak out boldly when questioned by the haughty foe of his house. If

the De Brocas had been ruined in all else, they had their fearless honour
left them still.
But the priest's face was grave as he let the boys lead him into the
narrow bedchamber where they slept -- a room bare indeed of such
things as our eyes would seek, but which for the times was
commodious and comfortable enough. He was pondering in his mind
what step must now be taken, for it seemed to him as though the place
of safety in the mill in which their mother had left her sons could hide
them no longer. Go they must, of that he felt well assured; but where?
That was a question less easily answered offhand.
"Father," began Gaston eagerly, so soon as the door had closed behind
the three, and Raymond had coaxed the dim taper into its feeble flicker
-- "Father, we have come to thee for counsel -- for help. Father, chide
us not, nor call us ingrate; but it has come to this with us -- we can no
longer brook this tame and idle life. We are not of the peasant stock;
why must we live the peasant life? Father, we long to be up and doing
-- to spread our wings for a wider flight. We know that those who bear
our name are not hiding their heads in lowly cots; we know that our
sires have been soldiers and statesmen in the days that are past. Are we
then to hide our heads here till the snows of age gather upon them? Are
we, of all our race, to live and die obscure, unknown? Father, we
cannot stand it; it shall not be! To thee we come to ask more of
ourselves than yet we know. To thee our mother commended us in her
last moments; to thee she bid us look in days to come when we needed
guidance and help. Wherefore to thee we have come now, when we feel
that there must surely be an end to all of this. Tell us, Father, of our sire;
tell us of our kinsfolk. Where be they? Where may we seek them? I
trow thou knowest all. Then tell us, I beseech thee tell us freely all
there is to know."
The good priest raised his eyes and thoughtfully scanned the faces of
the two eager youths. Gaston was actually shivering with repressed
excitement; Raymond was more calm, but not, as it seemed, one whit
less interested. What a strong and manly pair they looked! The priest's
eyes lighted with pride as they rested on the stalwart figures and noble

faces. It was hard to believe that these youths were not quite sixteen,
though man's estate was then accounted reached at an age which we
should call marvellously immature in these more modern days.
"My children," said the good old man, speaking slowly and with no
small feeling, "I have long looked for this day to come -- the day when
ye twain should stand thus before me and put this selfsame question."
"You have looked for it!" said Gaston eagerly; "then, in very sooth,
there is something to tell?"
"Yes, my children, there is a long story to tell; and it seemeth to me,
even as it doth to you, that the time has now come to tell it. This day
has marked an era in your lives. Methinks that from this night your
childhood will pass for ever away, and the life of your manhood
commence. May the Holy Mother of God, the Blessed Saints, and our
gracious Saviour Himself watch over and guard you in all the perils and
dangers of the life that lies before you!"
So solemn were the tones of the Father that the boys involuntarily sank
upon their knees, making the sign of the Cross as they did so. The
priest breathed a blessing over the two, and when they had risen to their
feet, he made them sit one on each side of him upon the narrow pallet
bed.
"The story