Far behind them the two galleys labored heavily, now sinking
between the rollers until their yards were level with the waves,
and again shooting up with a reeling, scooping motion until every
spar and rope stood out hard against the sky. On the left the
low-lying land stretched in a dim haze, rising here and there
into a darker blur which marked the higher capes and headlands.
The land of France! Alleyne's eyes shone as he gazed upon it.
The land of France!--the very words sounded as the call of a
bugle in the ears of the youth of England. The land where their
fathers had bled, the home of chivalry and of knightly deeds, the
country of gallant men, of courtly women, of princely buildings,
of the wise, the polished and the sainted. There it lay, so
still and gray beneath the drifting wrack--the home of things
noble and of things shameful--the theatre where a new name might
be made or an old one marred. From his bosom to his lips came
the crumpled veil, and he breathed a vow that if valor and
goodwill could raise him to his lady's side, then death alone
should hold him back from her.
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