PRISCILLA OF THE GOOD INTENT
PRISCILLA OF THE
GOOD INTENT
A ROMANCE OF THE GREY FELLS
BY
HALLIWELL SUTCLIFFE
Author of “Mistress Barbara,” “Benedick in Arcady,” etc.
BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1909
Copyright, 1908,
By Halliwell Sutcliffe.
Copyright, 1909,
By Little, Brown, and Company.
All rights reserved
Printers
S. J. Parkhill & Co., Boston, U.S.A.
PRISCILLA
OF
THE GOOD INTENT
CHAPTER I
THE blacksmith’s forge stood just this side of the village as you entered it from Shepston, and David Blake, the smith, was blowing lustily at his bellows, while the sweat dripped down his face. The cool of a spring morning came through the doorway, against which leaned a heavy, slouching lad.
“Te-he, David the Smith! Sparks do go scrambling up chimney,” said Billy the Fool, with a fat and empty laugh.
They called him Billy the Fool, for old affection’s sake, with no sense of reproach; for the old ways of thought had a fast hold on Garth village, and a natural was held in a certain awe, as being something midway between a prophet and a child.