Beltane the Smith

by Jeffery Farnol

FRIAR. "In very sooth, and 'tis a potent lord that holdeth me in some esteem, a most Christian knight—"

BELTANE. "That ravisheth the defenceless! Whose hands be foul with the blood of innocence—"

FRIAR. "How—how? 'Tis a godly lord who giveth bounteously to Holy
Church—"

BELTANE. "Who stealeth from the poor—"

FRIAR. "Stealeth! Holy Saint Dunstan, dare ye speak thus of so great a lord—a son of the Church, a companion of our noble Duke? Steal, forsooth! The poor have nought to steal!"

BELTANE. "They have their lives."

FRIAR. "Not so, they and their lives are their lord's, 'tis so the law and—"

BELTANE. "Whence came this law?"

FRIAR. "It came, youth—it came—aye, of God!"

BELTANE. "Say rather of the devil!"