



Produced by Al Haines.




[Illustration: "Old Squire Metcalf, as he went out to meet him, broke
into a roar of laughter."  (Page 84.)]




                               THE WHITE
                                 HORSES


                                   BY

                          HALLIWELL SUTCLIFFE

           _Author of "Ricroft of Withers," "The Open Road,"
          "A Chateau in Picardy," "The Strength of the Hills,"
                                 etc._



                       WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED
                     LONDON, MELBOURNE AND TORONTO
                                  1916




                         To my Sister's Memory




                              *CONTENTS.*


CHAPTER

I.--WHO RIDES FOR THE KING?
II.--SKIPTON-IN-CRAVEN
III.--SOME MEN OF FAIRFAX'S
IV.--THE LAST LAUGH
V.--THE LADY OF RIPLEY
VI.--HOW MICHAEL CAME TO YORK
VII.--A HALT AT KNARESBOROUGH
VIII.--HOW THEY SOUGHT RUPERT
IX.--THE LOYAL CITY
X.--THE RIDING IN
XI.--BANBURY CAKES
XII.--PAGEANTRY
XIII.--THE LADY OF LATHOM
XIV.--A STANLEY FOR THE KING
XV.--TWO JOLLY PURITANS
XVI.--THE SCOTS AT MICKLEGATE
XVII.--PRAYER, AND THE BREWING STORM
XVIII.--MARSTON MOOR
XIX.--WILSTROP WOOD
XX.--THE HOMELESS DAYS
XXI.--SIR REGINALD'S WIDOW
XXII.--MISS BINGHAM
XXIII.--YOREDALE




                            *Illustrations*


"Old Squire Metcalf, as he went out to meet him, broke into a roar of
laughter."...... _Frontispiece_ (Page 84.)

"'You're the Squire of Nappa, sir?' he said."

"'Yes, you can be of service,' he whispered."

"'Say, do you stand for the King?'"

"Without a word of any kind, a third prisoner was thrown against them."

"They saw, too, that his sword was out, and naked to the moonlight."

"'Well, sir?' she asked sharply.  'You rob me of sleep for some good
reason doubtless?'"

"They turned sharply as the door opened, and reached out for their
weapons."

"'We hold your life at our mercy,' said Rupert."

"'Lady Ingilby, come to see whether her husband lives or is dead for the
King.'"

"'If the end of the world came--here and now--you would make a jest of
it.'"

"Her eyes searched eagerly for one only of the company, and disdained
the rest."




                          *THE WHITE HORSES.*



                              *CHAPTER I.*

                       *WHO RIDES FOR THE KING?*


Up through the rich valley known now as Wensleydale, but in those days
marked by the lustier name of Yoredale, news had crept that there was
civil war in England, that sundry skirmishes had been fought already,
and that His Majesty was needing all leal men to rally to his standard.

It was an early harvest that year, as it happened, and John Metcalf, of
Nappa Hall, stood at his garden-gate, watching the sunset glow across
his ripening wheat.  There were many acres of it, gold between green
splashes of grass-land; and he told himself that they would put the
sickle into the good crop before a fortnight's end.  There was something
about Squire Metcalf--six feet four to his height, and broad in the
beam--that seemed part of the wide, lush country round him.  Weather and
land, between them, had bred him; and the night's peace, the smell of
sweet-briar in the evening dew, were pleasant foils to his strength.

He looked beyond the cornfields presently.  Far down the road he saw a
horseman--horse and rider small in the middle of the landscape--and
wondered what their errand was.  When he had done with surmises, his
glance roved again, in the countryman's slow way, and rested on the
pastures above the house.  In the clear light he could see two figures
standing there; one was his son Christopher, the other a trim-waisted
maid.  Squire Metcalf frowned suddenly.  He was so proud of his name, of
his simple squiredom, that he could not bear to see his eldest-born
courting defeat of this kind.  This little lady was niece to his
neighbour, Sir Timothy Grant, a good neighbour and a friend,