The Outlaw of Torn quotes
The lines readers remember from The Outlaw of Torn, by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
15 quotes · About the book
Standout lines
Here is a story that has lain dormant for seven hundred years.
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Here is a story that has lain dormant for seven hundred years.
At first it was suppressed by one of the Plantagenet kings of England. Later it was forgotten. I happened to dig it up by accident.
“But then, as I have no army,” retorted the laughing girl, “if you reason by your own logic, I shall be indeed quite safe.”
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“Why,” cried the girl’s mother in exasperation, “between robbers and royalists and the Outlaw of Torn, you would not be safe if you had an army to escort you.”
“But then, as I have no army,” retorted the laughing girl, “if you reason by your own logic, I shall be indeed quite safe.”
And when Roger de Condé attempted to dissuade her, she taunted him with being afraid of meeting with the Devil of Torn, and told him that he might remain at home and lock himself safely in her mother’s pantry.
Such a look would nerve a jackal to attack a drove of lions, thought the outlaw.
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… had escaped, and yet—no, Joan certainly had not, for now he distinctly remembered that his eyes had met hers for an instant just before the blow fell upon him, and he thought of the faith and confidence that he had read in that quick glance.
Such a look would nerve a jackal to attack a drove of lions, thought the outlaw.
What a beautiful creature she was; and she had stayed there with him during the fight. He remembered now. Mary de Stutevill had not been with her as he had caught that glimpse of her, no, she had been all alone. Ah!
He had not the heart to tell her that he loved only Bertrade de Montfort, but it had been a thousand times better had he done so.
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… my rightful colors, when the spell of the moonlight and adventure be no longer upon us, and then,”—he paused—“and then I shall tell you who I be and you shall say if you still care to call me friend—no more than that shall I ask.”
He had not the heart to tell her that he loved only Bertrade de Montfort, but it had been a thousand times better had he done so.
She was about to reply when a dozen armed men sprang from the surrounding shadows, calling upon them to surrender. The moonlight falling upon the leader revealed a great giant of a fellow with an enormous, bristling mustache—it was Shandy.
Birth and station spelled honor to her, and honor, to the daughter of an English noble, was a mightier force even than love.
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She was indeed but a little girl chained by the inexorable bonds of caste to a false ideal.
Birth and station spelled honor to her, and honor, to the daughter of an English noble, was a mightier force even than love.
That Norman of Torn was an outlaw she might have forgiven, but that he was, according to report, a low fellow of no birth placed an impassable barrier between them.
Possibly it be but a bad habit that will yield to my maturer years.
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“I do not know that I hate either, My Lord Earl,” replied the outlaw. “I have been taught since birth to hate you all, but why I should hate was never told me.
Possibly it be but a bad habit that will yield to my maturer years.
“As for why I fought as I did today,” he continued, “it be because the heart of Lady Bertrade, your daughter, be upon your side. Had it been with the King, her uncle, Norman of Torn had fought otherwise than he has this day.
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Chapter I
Here is a story that has lain dormant for seven hundred years.
Show the passage
Here is a story that has lain dormant for seven hundred years.
At first it was suppressed by one of the Plantagenet kings of England. Later it was forgotten. I happened to dig it up by accident.
Chapter VI
“The Black Wolf dead, Red Shandy and John Flory wounded, James Flory, One Eye Kanty and Peter the Hermit prisoners!” he ejaculated.
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The villain’s eyes fairly popped from his head when he saw his four comrades coming, unarmed and prisoners, back to the little room.
“The Black Wolf dead, Red Shandy and John Flory wounded, James Flory, One Eye Kanty and Peter the Hermit prisoners!” he ejaculated.
“Man or devil! By the Pope’s hind leg, who and what be ye?” he said, turning to Norman of Torn.
“I be your master and ye be my men,” said Norman of Torn.
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“Man or devil! By the Pope’s hind leg, who and what be ye?” he said, turning to Norman of Torn.
“I be your master and ye be my men,” said Norman of Torn.
“Me ye shall serve in fairer work than ye have selected for yourselves, but with fighting aplenty and good reward.”
Chapter XI
“I would give my soul to the devil,” said Norman of Torn, “would it buy me the right to remain ever at the feet of Bertrade Montfort.”
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But what am I saying! Did Roger de Condé not wish to be elsewhere, he had accepted and, as he did not accept, it is proof positive that he does not wish to bide among the De Montforts.”
“I would give my soul to the devil,” said Norman of Torn, “would it buy me the right to remain ever at the feet of Bertrade Montfort.”
He raised her hand to his lips in farewell as he started to speak, but something—was it an almost imperceptible pressure of her little fingers, a quickening of her breath or a swaying of her body toward him?—caused him to pause and raise his eyes …
Chapter XII
“But then, as I have no army,” retorted the laughing girl, “if you reason by your own logic, I shall be indeed quite safe.”
Show the passage
“Why,” cried the girl’s mother in exasperation, “between robbers and royalists and the Outlaw of Torn, you would not be safe if you had an army to escort you.”
“But then, as I have no army,” retorted the laughing girl, “if you reason by your own logic, I shall be indeed quite safe.”
And when Roger de Condé attempted to dissuade her, she taunted him with being afraid of meeting with the Devil of Torn, and told him that he might remain at home and lock himself safely in her mother’s pantry.
Chapter XIII
Such a look would nerve a jackal to attack a drove of lions, thought the outlaw.
Show the passage
… had escaped, and yet—no, Joan certainly had not, for now he distinctly remembered that his eyes had met hers for an instant just before the blow fell upon him, and he thought of the faith and confidence that he had read in that quick glance.
Such a look would nerve a jackal to attack a drove of lions, thought the outlaw.
What a beautiful creature she was; and she had stayed there with him during the fight. He remembered now. Mary de Stutevill had not been with her as he had caught that glimpse of her, no, she had been all alone. Ah!
In that instant Norman of Torn had learned the difference between friendship and love, and love and passion.
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Slowly his arms relaxed, and gently and reverently he lowered Joan de Tany to the ground.
In that instant Norman of Torn had learned the difference between friendship and love, and love and passion.
The moon was shining brightly upon them, and the girl turned, wide-eyed and wondering, toward him.
He had not the heart to tell her that he loved only Bertrade de Montfort, but it had been a thousand times better had he done so.
Show the passage
… my rightful colors, when the spell of the moonlight and adventure be no longer upon us, and then,”—he paused—“and then I shall tell you who I be and you shall say if you still care to call me friend—no more than that shall I ask.”
He had not the heart to tell her that he loved only Bertrade de Montfort, but it had been a thousand times better had he done so.
She was about to reply when a dozen armed men sprang from the surrounding shadows, calling upon them to surrender. The moonlight falling upon the leader revealed a great giant of a fellow with an enormous, bristling mustache—it was Shandy.
Chapter XIV
Birth and station spelled honor to her, and honor, to the daughter of an English noble, was a mightier force even than love.
Show the passage
She was indeed but a little girl chained by the inexorable bonds of caste to a false ideal.
Birth and station spelled honor to her, and honor, to the daughter of an English noble, was a mightier force even than love.
That Norman of Torn was an outlaw she might have forgiven, but that he was, according to report, a low fellow of no birth placed an impassable barrier between them.
Chapter XV
Religion, my son, be a bootless subject for argument between friends,
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“
Religion, my son, be a bootless subject for argument between friends,
” replied the priest, “and further, there be that nearer my heart just now which I would ask thee. I may offend, but thou know I do not mean to.
Chapter XVI
Possibly it be but a bad habit that will yield to my maturer years.
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“I do not know that I hate either, My Lord Earl,” replied the outlaw. “I have been taught since birth to hate you all, but why I should hate was never told me.
Possibly it be but a bad habit that will yield to my maturer years.
“As for why I fought as I did today,” he continued, “it be because the heart of Lady Bertrade, your daughter, be upon your side. Had it been with the King, her uncle, Norman of Torn had fought otherwise than he has this day.
Chapter XVII
The Devil of Torn! How that name froze the hearts of the assembled guests.
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“Oh, save me, save me! for he has come to kill me,” he ended in a pitiful wail.
The Devil of Torn! How that name froze the hearts of the assembled guests.
The Devil of Torn! Slowly the men standing there at the board of Sir Roger de Leybourn grasped the full purport of that awful name.
Norman of Torn acts first and explains afterward, if he cares to explain at all.
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“I would gladly go to hell after Peter of Colfax,” replied the outlaw. “What my grievance be matters not.
Norman of Torn acts first and explains afterward, if he cares to explain at all.
Come forth, Peter of Colfax, and for once in your life, fight like a man, that you may save your friends here from the fate that has found you at last after two years of patient waiting.”
Chapter XVIII
I am freer than the King, My Lord, for the King be a prisoner today.
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Can you blame me if I look with levity upon the King’s price? It be not heavy enough to weigh me down; nor never has it held me from going where I listed in all England.
I am freer than the King, My Lord, for the King be a prisoner today.
”
Chapter XIX
A lion at bay with forty jackals yelping at his feet.
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“If I had not before known it, My Lord,” she replied haughtily, “it would be plain to me now as I see forty cowards hesitating to attack a lone man. What other man in all England could stand thus against forty?
A lion at bay with forty jackals yelping at his feet.
”
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