The Young Castellan, by George Manville Fenn.
________________________________________________________________________
A Castellan is a person in charge of a castle, and that is what young
Roy Royland has become, while his father, Sir Granby, is away defending
his king. For the time is about 1640, and there is a move afoot in the
country of England to do away with the monarchy. In the castle most of
its old defences have not been used for many years, perhaps centuries,
and old Ben Martlet sets about restoring them, cleaning up the armour,
teaching young Roy the arts of self-defence, by putting him through a
course of fencing, by restoring the portcullis and draw-bridge, and by
training the men from the neighbouring farms to be soldiers.
But eventually, through treachery, the Roundheads, as those who oppose
the monarchy, are called, manage to take the castle, and to make Roy and
his mother, along with old Ben Martlet and the other defenders,
prisoner. This can't do the management of the tenant farms much good.
Eventually Sir Granby, Roy's father, appears on the scene, and the
Roundheads are chased away. As we know from our history books, the
Monarchy was restored, and peace spreads again through the land of
England.
________________________________________________________________________
THE YOUNG CASTELLAN, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.