The Tower Bell

Southland Times, Issue 23782, 1 April 1939, Page 6 (Supplement)

The Tower Bell

Clang! Gilbert’s horse, Grey Plume, Started nervously as the single deep note of a bell echoed through the quiet woods in the Merrie England of Queen Elizabeth’s days. The boy rode on and came to an old stone •watch-tower in a clearing. Through a window opening near the top could be discerned a large bell. “Help! Help!” zi sharp cry. nearby caused Gilbert to wheel his mount abruptly. A moment later he was galloping through the trees, until swerving into a broad path, he came upon an exciting scene. Two men in cloaks with hoods concealing their faces were holding a prancing pony, while a third was trying to pull the rider, a young golden-haired girl, from the saddle. Drawing his sword for action, the boy charged down on the group, and before Grey Plume’s rush the three attackers scattered hastily. One man made a spring forward aS the newcomer thundered by, but dropped back with a howl at a resounding blow from the flat of Gilbert’s blade. Quick-wittedly the girl turned her lively mount and together she and her rescuer raced on along the hardbeaten track, only slackening their pace when at a safe distance. “Sir Thomas Grayshaw. with but one servant, will shortly pass this way,” declared the maiden, her face pale. "I am his daughter Silvia, and was riding to meet him when by chance I overheard yonder knaves plotting to waylay him. But a confederate must have seen me from the watch-tower and clanged the bell as an alarm.” “I am called Gilbert, and I am an orphan. A month agone I set out with only my trusty Grey Plume, to seek my fortune, but so far my wanderings have profited me little. I fear,” rejoined her companion.

“But for your bravery ’twould have fared ill with me,” said Silvia, ‘‘but now I must go back to warn my father." “Riding openly, you would be stopped again,” was the quiet answer. “Let us tie the horses beside this stream, and return afoot by stealth.” Adting on this sensible suggestion, the pair were soon skirting the old tower again, near the base of which two fine horses were now tethered. Silvia uttered a low cry of dismay. “The black charger is my father’s,” she muttered. “They have captured him already.” Gilbert grimly eyed the massive Stronghold, then, followed by the anxious Silvia, he advanced cau- * tiously, and began to scale the looming wall. The stonework was rough and weather-worn, and footholds were plentiful, but it was a difficult and perilous feat. Both the daring young climbers were breathless as they drew themselves in through the belfry window. From the bell a thick rope hung down through a hole in the floor to the lower part of the building, end, peering through this gap, Gil-

bert and Silvia could see Sir Thomas Grayshaw and his servant standing, bound, before a rude table. Around them were gathered four cloaked figures. Owing to the thickness of the wall, the watchers’ clambering ascent had not been heard, but unfortunately Gilbert’s foot trod on a faulty board which creaked loudly. "A spy!” came a shout from below, and the tallest kidnapper darted to the worn steps leading up through a trap-door into the bell chamber. In the nick of time the boy shot the trap-door bolt, but the iron was almost rusted through, and as heavy blows thudded on the under-side of the flap, he knew that it would not hold for long. ' “Look! Soldiers!" exclaimed Silvia from the window, which overlooked a wide stretch of country,

where in the distance a company of horsemen were trotting. “If only we could signal to them ’’ “The bell will attract them, I warrant,” responded the other quickly, “but we must also escape from here right speedily lest we be caught and carried off before the soldiers arrive." ' Clang! Clang! Clang! Deafeningly the huge alarm bell pealed forth as Gilbert’s lusty young arms hauled at the rope, then slipping through the narrow window, he and Silvia safely made their risky descent. As they fled across the clearing, however, two men dashed from the tower and gave The fleet-footed youngsters soon reached the stream, and, running across the fallen tree trunk which spanned it, they swung astride their horses. “Now to meet the soldiers and rescue your father," quoth the boy, but at that moment the leading pursuer who was just crossing the log “bridge," slipped and toppled headfirst into the stream. _ Hampered by his enveloping cloak, the man struggled vainly i

against the swift deep flow,- and was rapidly being swept away when Gilbert sent Grey Plume plunging down the bank. The gallant animal stoutly breasted the current, and its rider was able to grasp the drowning kidnapper and draw him to land. Presently he lay gasping on the grass. “Why, ’tis Geoffrey of Kernwood!” broke out Silvia in amazement, for the man’s hood had fallen back, revealing a strong tanned face. “I know him well and believed him a true and honest farmer.” “Aye. and that I am, mistress Silvia," panted Geoffrey eagerly. “I and my three friends owed money to your father, Sir Thomas, and when we could not pay at the appointed time he took our lands from us, and now our families are iigh to starving. “The tower in the woods was once lived in by my uncle, a miser, though no wealth of his was ever found when He died. In desperation we agreed to waylay Sir Thomas and force him to sign a paper giving us back our lands until we were able to pay him in full, and promising not to punish us. But we meant no harm to him or to you.” There was something about the man’s manner that convinced the two listeners that he was speaking the truth. “My father, I know, is sometimes a harsh man ” acknowledged Silvia, ’her blue eyes clouding, but she was interrupted by a pounding of many hooves. “Bravely done, good youth,” said a clear firm voice. “I saw your

deed of rescue. But why rang yonder bell so loud and urgent?’ Gilbert, Silvia, and the sturdy farmer found themselves gazing at the regal figure of Elizabeth, Queen Of England, as she rode at the head of her bodyguard! Recovering from his confusion, the boy dropped on one knee and respectfully explained the situation to Her Majesty. Then the whole company moved off to the tower where Sir Thomas and his henchmen were released. Whilst on a journey the Queen had consented to stay at night at Sir Thomas’s castle, and he had been riding ahead to make preparations when he had been kidnapped. “I can show you how to pay the money you all owe," whispered Gilbert to Geoffrey of Kernwood, and leading the way to the upper chamber, he pointed to the bell clapper, a large metal ball showing patches of gleaming yellow on either side. “Believing the bell would probably never be used again, your uncle melted down his riches into one solid gold ball which he smeared over with grime and ung in place of the bell tongue. But

when I pealed the bell some of the dirt was rubbed off, and I noticed the gold shining through.” “I counsel you, Sir Thomas, in future to deal more kindly with those poorer than yourself,” de-. clared Queen Elizabeth, when she learned of the discovery. “And to you, Gilbert, I gladly offer a place in mine own service, for your bold heart and ready wits have amply merited it.” Nor in the years that followed did Her Majesty regret her choice, for Gilbert proved himself both loyal and gallant.