At sunset the boys went out to feed the cattle , bring in heaps of wood , and lock up for the night , as the lonely farm-house seldom had visitors after dark . The girls got the simple supper of brown bread and milk , baked apples , and a doughnut all ` round as a treat . Then they sat before the fire , the sisters knitting , the brothers with books or games , for Eph loved reading , and Sol and Seth never failed to play a few games of Morris with barley corns , on the little board they had made themselves at one corner of the dresser . `` Read out a piece , '' said Tilly , from Mother 's chair , where she sat in state , finishing off the sixth woolen sock she had knit that month . `` It 's the old history book , but here 's a bit you may like , since it 's about our folks , '' answered Eph , turning the yellow page to look at a picture of two quaintly dressed children in some ancient castle . `` Yes , read that . I always like to hear about the Lady Matildy I was named for , and Lord Bassett , Pa 's great-great-great-grandpa . He 's only a farmer now , but it 's nice to know that we were somebody two or three hundred years ago , '' said Tilly , bridling and tossing her curly head as she fancied the Lady Matilda might have done . `` Do n't read the queer words , 'cause we do n't understand 'em . Tell it , '' commanded Roxy , from the cradle , where she was drowsily cuddled with Rhody . `` Well , a long time ago , when Charles the First was in prison , Lord Bassett was a true friend to him , '' began Eph , plunging into his story without delay . `` The lord had some papers that would have hung a lot of people if the king 's enemies got hold of 'em , so when he heard one day , all of a sudden , that soldiers were at the castle-gate to carry him off , he had just time to call his girl to him , and say : ' I may be going to my death , but I wo n't betray my master . There is no time to burn the papers , and I can not take them with me ; they are hidden in the old leathern chair where I sit . No one knows this but you , and you must guard them till I come or send you a safe messenger to take them away . Promise me to be brave and silent , and I can go without fear . ' You see , he was n't afraid to die , but he was to seem a traitor . Lady Matildy promised solemnly , and the words were hardly out of her mouth when the men came in , and her father was carried away a prisoner and sent off to the Tower . `` But she did n't cry ; she just called her brother , and sat down in that chair , with her head leaning back on those papers , like a queen , and waited while the soldiers hunted the house over for 'em : was n't that a smart girl ? '' cried Tilly , beaming with pride , for she was named for this ancestress , and knew the story by heart . `` I reckon she was scared , though , when the men came swearin ' in and asked her if she knew anything about it .
The boy did his part then , for he did n't know , and fired up and stood before his sister ; and he says , says he , as bold as a lion : ` If my lord had told us where the papers be , we would XXXXX before we would betray him .
came commanded die going hung knew knit like tossing waited