ONE:The weapons wielded by the powerful arm of the smith were not such as those, who had little interest in the detention of the monk, would care to encounter. The attacks of the castle people relaxed, the energy of the rescuers increased; the smith, with the skill of a practised workman, loosed the fastenings of the postern gate, and the band, rushing through and forcibly closing it after them, father John was again a free man.
"What'll Handshut think it?""How are you, Reuben? I've heard a lot about you, but nothing from you yourself. Is it true that you've sent away your daughter and her family from Grandturzel?"Robert turned round and faced Bardon, whose eyes rested approvingly on the gleaming froth of Bessie's hair.The girls cried a great deal at their grandmother's deathshe had never taken up enough room in the boys' lives for them to miss her much. As for Reuben,[Pg 203] though he had been fond of her, he could not sincerely regret her, since for the last few months she had, so to speak, been carried on entirely at a loss.