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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40692 ***
+
+Foxholme Hall
+And other Tales
+By WHG Kingston
+Published by Virtue and Co, London.
+This edition dated 1867.
+
+Foxholme Hall, by WHG Kingston.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+FOXHOLME HALL, BY WHG KINGSTON.
+
+STORY ONE, CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY ONE--FOXHOLME HALL; OR, CHRISTMAS AT AN OLD COUNTRY HOUSE.
+
+We had our choice given us whether we would spend our Christmas holidays
+with our most kind and estimable old relative, our mother's cousin, Miss
+Gillespie, in Russell-square, and go to the theatre and panoramas, and
+other highly edifying entertainments, or at Foxholme, in the New Forest,
+with our great uncle, Sir Hugh Worsley.  "Foxholme for ever, I should
+think indeed!" exclaimed my brother Jack, making a face which was not
+complimentary to Cousin Barbara.  "But she is a good kind old soul, if
+she wasn't so pokerish and prim; and that was a dead-alive fortnight we
+spent with her two winters ago.  I say Foxholme for ever."
+
+"Foxholme for ever," I repeated.  "Of course there couldn't be the
+thinnest slice of a shadow of doubt about the matter.  There'll be
+Cousin Peter, and Julia, and Tom and Ned Oxenberry, and Sam Barnby, and
+Ponto, and Hector, and Beauty, and Polly; and there'll be hunting, and
+shooting, and skating, if there's a frost--and of course there will be a
+frost--and, oh, it will be such jolly fun!"
+
+A few weeks after this we were bowling along the road to Southampton on
+the top of the old Telegraph, driven by Taylor--as fine a specimen of a
+Jehu as ever took whip in hand--with four white horses--a team of which
+he was justly proud.  I see him now before me, his fine tall figure,
+truly Roman nose, and eagle eye, looking as fit to command an army as to
+drive a coach, with his white great-coat buttoned well up to his
+gay-coloured handkerchief, a flower of some sort decking his breast, a
+broad-brimmed beaver of white or grey, and a whip which looked as if it
+had just come from the maker's hands--indeed, everything about him was
+polished, from the crown of his hat to his well-fitting boots; and I
+believe that no accident ever happened to the coach he drove.  There was
+the Independent, also a first-rate coach, and, in those days, Collier's
+old coach, which carried six inside, in which we once made a journey--
+that is, Jack and I--with four old ladies who ate apples and drank gin,
+with the windows up, all the way, and talked about things which seemed
+to interest them very much, but which soon sent us to sleep.
+
+The sky was bright, the air fresh, with just a touch of a frosty smell
+in it, and we were in exuberant spirits.  We had our pea-shooters ready,
+and had long been on the watch for the lumbering old vehicle, when we
+saw it approaching.  Didn't we pepper the passengers, greatly to their
+indignation!  What damage we did we could not tell, for we were by them
+like a flash of lightning.
+
+At Southampton we changed into a much slower coach, which, however,
+conveyed us safely through the forest to the neighbourhood of Lyndhurst,
+when, waiting in the road, we espied, to our intense delight, a
+pony-carriage driven by Sam Barnby, who held the office of extra
+coachman, gamekeeper, and fisherman, besides several other employments,
+in the establishment at Foxholme.  With us he was a prodigious
+favourite, as he was with all the youngsters who went to the place; and
+Sir Hugh, I know, trusted him completely, and employed him in numerous
+little private services of beneficence and charity when a confidential
+agent was required.  He was the invariable companion of all the
+youngsters in our boating, fishing, and shooting excursions.
+
+It was dusk when we got into the carriage, and as our way lay for some
+distance through the thickest part of the forest by a cross-road which
+few people but Sam Barnby would have attempted to take at that late
+hour, we could often scarcely distinguish the track under the thick
+branches of the leafless trees which, stretching across it, formed a
+trellis-work over our heads, while the thick hollies and other
+evergreens formed an impenetrable wall on either side.  Now and then,
+when the forest opened out and the forms of the trees were rather more
+clearly defined, they often assumed shapes so fantastic and strange,
+that I could scarcely prevent a sort of awe creeping over me, and half
+expected that the monsters I fancied I saw would move from their places
+and grab up Jack, Sam Barnby, the carriage, and me, and bolt off with us
+into some recess of the forest.  Jack was talking away to Sam.  I had
+been up bolstering the night before, and had not slept a wink.  Suddenly
+the carriage stopped, and I heard Sam and Jack utter an exclamation.  I
+echoed it, and pretty loudly too; for I thought that one of the monsters
+I had been dreaming about had really got hold of us.
+
+"Hillo! who have we got here?" exclaimed Sam.  "Do you hold the reins,
+Master Jack, and I'll get out and see."
+
+I was now fully awake.  I asked Jack what it was.
+
+"We nearly drove over somebody; but the pony shied, fortunately.  There
+he is; I can just see him moving."
+
+"Why, I do believe it's poor silly Dick Green!" exclaimed Sam.  "Is it
+you, Dicky?  Speak out, man!  How came you here?"
+
+"Yes, it be I," said the idiot.  "Can't I sleep here?  It's very
+comfortable--all clean and nice--no smoke, no noise."
+
+"Why, you would be frozen to death, man, if you did," answered Sam.
+"But, I ask, what brought you here?"
+
+"That's a secret I bean't a-going to tell thee," whispered the idiot.
+"But just do thee stop here; thee'll foind it very pleasant."
+
+"No, thank you; we'd rather not," said Sam.  "But just do thee get into
+the carriage alongside Master William there, and we'll take thee to the
+Hall, and give thee some supper--that's what thee wants, lad."
+
+"Well, now, that's kind like," simpered the idiot.  "I know thee well,
+Sam Barnby; thee had'st always a good heart."
+
+"Well, well, lad, don't stand talking there, but scramble in at once,"
+cried Sam, as he forced the poor creature down by my side.
+
+Soon afterwards we passed a woodman's or a keeper's hut, from the window
+of which a gleam of light streamed forth on the idiot's face, and a
+creeping feeling of fear stole over me as I caught his large lack-lustre
+eyes peering into mine, the teeth in his ever-grinning mouth looking
+white and shining under his upturned lip.  I knew that he was said to be
+perfectly harmless and good-natured, but I would have given anything if
+Jack would have changed places with me.  I did not drop off to sleep
+again, that is very certain.  The way seemed far longer than I had
+expected, and I almost fancied that Sam must have mistaken his road--not
+a very likely thing to occur, however.
+
+As we neared the lodge-gate of Foxholme, I shut my eyes, lest the light
+from the window should again show me the poor idiot's face staring at
+me.  All disagreeable feelings, however, speedily vanished as we drove
+up in front of the chief entrance, and the hall-door was flung open, and
+a perfect blaze of light streamed forth, and the well-known smiling
+faces of Purkin, the butler, and James Jarvis, the footman, appeared;
+and the latter, descending the steps, carried up our trunk and hat-boxes
+and a play-box we had brought empty, though to go back in a very
+different condition, we had a notion.  Then we ran into the
+drawing-room, and found our uncle Sir Hugh, and our kind, sweet-smiling
+aunt, and our favourite Cousin Julia--she was Sir Hugh's only daughter
+by a first marriage--and our little Cousin Hugh--his only son by the
+present Lady Worsley; and there, too, was Cousin Peter.  He was Sir
+Hugh's cousin and Aunt Worsley's cousin, and was cousin to a great
+number of people besides--indeed everybody who came to the house called
+him cousin, it seemed.
+
+Some few, perhaps, at first formally addressed him as Mr Peter, or Mr
+Peter Langstone; but they soon got into the way of calling him Mr
+Peter, or Cousin Peter, or Peter alone.  He wasn't old, and he couldn't
+have been very young.  He wasn't good-looking, I fancy--not that we ever
+thought about the matter.  He had a longish sallow face, and a big mouth
+with white teeth, and lips which twisted and curled about in a curious
+manner, and large soft grey eyes--not green-grey, but truly blue-grey--
+with almost a woman's softness in them, an index, I suspect, of his
+heart; and yet I don't think that there are many more daring or cool and
+courageous men than Cousin Peter.  He had been in the navy in his youth,
+and had seen some pretty hard service, but had come on shore soon after
+he had received his promotion as lieutenant, and, for some reason or
+other, had never since been afloat.  Sir Hugh was very much attached to
+him, and had great confidence in his judgment and rectitude; so that he
+tried to keep him at Foxholme as much as he could.  He might have lived
+there and been welcome all the year round.
+
+I have said nothing yet about Cousin Julia.  She was about twenty-two,
+but looked younger, except when she was about any serious matter.  I
+thought her then the most lovely creature I had ever seen, and I was not
+far wrong.  There was a sweet, gentle, and yet firm expression in her
+face, and a look--I cannot describe it--which would have prevented even
+the most impudent from talking nonsense or saying anything to offend her
+ear.
+
+Our uncle, Sir Hugh, was tall and stout, with a commanding and dignified
+manner.  No one would have ventured to take liberties with him, though
+he was as kind and gentle as could be.  He had been in the army when he
+was young, and seen service, but had given it up when he succeeded to
+Foxholme, and the duties attached to its possession.  "I should have
+been ill serving my country if I had remained abroad and left my tenants
+and poor neighbours to the care of agents and hirelings," I heard him
+once observe.  He was very fond of the army, and it was a great trial to
+him to leave it.
+
+Our aunt was a very pretty, lively, kind, amiable woman, and devotedly
+attached to our uncle.  She was small, and slight, and young-looking,
+though I don't think that she was so very young after all.
+
+Hugh was a regular fine little chap, manly, independent, and yet very
+amiable.  He might have been rather spoilt, because it was a hard matter
+not to make a good deal of him.  People couldn't help thinking of him as
+the long-wished-for heir of the old place and the old title, and what
+joy he had brought to Sir Hugh's heart and what pride and satisfaction
+to that of his mother, and that he would some day be the master of
+Foxholme (all hoped that day might be far distant); and they prayed that
+he might worthily represent his honoured father.
+
+After all, however, there was no one we thought so much about as Cousin
+Peter.  How full of life and spirits and fun he was!  A shade, however,
+of gravity or melancholy occasionally stole over him.  He had an inner
+deeper life of which we boys knew nothing.  We used to be surprised,
+after he had been playing all sorts of pranks with us, to go and see him
+sit down as grave as a judge along with Sir Hugh, and talk as seriously
+as anybody else.  Then he would jump up and say something quiet and
+confidential to some young lady, and crack a joke with some old one; and
+again he would be back among us, baiting the bear, standing on his head,
+or doing some other wonderful out-of-the-way thing.  I remember that
+even then I more than once remarked that whenever he drew near our
+Cousin Julia, there was a greater sobriety and a wonderful gentleness
+and tenderness in his manner; and often, when she was not looking, and
+he thought no one else was looking, his eyes were turned towards her
+with a look which older people would easily have interpreted.  I thought
+myself, "He must be very fond of her; but that is but natural--everybody
+is."
+
+STORY ONE, CHAPTER TWO.
+
+I should like to give a full description of the events of those
+never-to-be-forgotten Christmas holidays.  Besides ourselves, we had two
+cousins and the sons of some of Sir Hugh's friends, and no end of
+grown-up guests, young ladies and their mammas and papas, and several
+gentlemen who were in no ways stiff or distant, and we didn't mind
+saying what we liked to them.  I remember that Christmas-day--how
+happily it began--how, on a fine frosty morning, we all walked to the
+village church--how we found it decked with hollies, reminding us that,
+even in mid-winter, our merciful God never withdraws His blessings from
+the earth--how we could not help listening with attention to the sermon
+of the good vicar, who reminded us that we were assembled to commemorate
+the greatest event that has occurred since the creation of the world.
+He bid us reflect that the Christ who was on that day born into the
+world, a weak helpless infant, prepared to endure a life of toil, of
+poverty, and of suffering, and at the same time of active unwearied
+usefulness, was our Lord the Son of God himself; that He took our sins
+upon Him, shed His blood on the Cross, suffering agony and shame, which
+we had merited, that He might wash our sins away; died and was buried,
+that He might, though sinless himself, for our sakes endure the curse
+sin brought on mankind, and thus accomplish the whole of the work He had
+undertaken to fulfil; how He rose again, ascending into Heaven
+triumphant over death, that He might then, having lived and suffered as
+a man on earth, feeling for our infirmities, plead effectually for us;
+that He had suffered the punishment due to us, before the throne of the
+Almighty, an offended but a just and merciful God, full of love to
+mankind.
+
+I never before understood so clearly that the whole work of redemption
+is complete--that Christ has suffered for us, and that, therefore, no
+more suffering is required.  All we have to do is to take advantage of
+what He has done, and put our whole faith and trust in Him.  The vicar
+then described most beautifully to us how Christ lived on earth, and
+that He did so that.  He might set us an example, which we are bound in
+ordinary love and gratitude to imitate, by showing good-will, love,
+kindness, charity in thought, word, and deed, towards our fellow-men.
+How beautiful and glorious sounded that Christmas hymn, sung not only by
+all the school-children, but by all the congregation.  Sir Hugh's rich
+voice, old as he was, sounding clearly among the basses of the others.
+He did his best, and he knew and felt that his voice was not more
+acceptable at the throne of Heaven than that of the youngest child
+present.  Then, when service was over, Sir Hugh came out arm-in-arm with
+our aunt, followed by Julia and little Hugh, and talked so friendly and
+kindly to all the people, and they all smiled and looked so pleased, and
+replied to him in a way which showed that they were not a bit afraid of
+him, but knew that he loved them and was interested in their welfare;
+and Lady Worsley and Cousin Julia talked in the same kind way, and knew
+everybody and how many children there were in each family, and asked
+after those who were absent--some at service, and some apprentices, and
+some in the army or at sea.  Master Peter also went about among them
+all, and seemed so glad to see them, and shook hands with the old men,
+and joked in his quiet way with the old women.  He contrived to have a
+word with everybody as he moved in and out among them.  Then the vicar
+came out, and a few friendly loving words were exchanged with him too.
+
+"We shall see you and Miss Becky at dinner as usual, Mr Upton," said
+Sir Hugh, as they parted.
+
+"I should be sorry to be absent, Sir Hugh.  On twenty-nine
+Christmas-days have we taken our dinner with you, and this will make the
+thirtieth, if I mistake not," answered the vicar.
+
+"Ah, time flies along, and yet Miss Becky does not, at all events,
+remind us of it," said Sir Hugh.  Whereat Miss Becky, who was very fair
+and somewhat fat, laughed and shook hands heartily with Sir Hugh and
+Lady Worsley, and smiled affectionately at Julia and little Hugh, and we
+commenced our homeward walk.  How enjoyable it was--how pleasant was,
+our light luncheon! for we dined at five that we might have a long
+evening.  We all looked forward to the evening with great delight.
+Scarcely was dinner over than a sound was heard--a bell in the hall
+striking sweetly.  We all jumped up, led by Master Peter, and arranging
+ourselves, some on the great oak staircase and others in a circle at its
+foot, we stood listening to the Christmas chimes and other tunes struck
+up by a dozen or more men with different-toned bells--one in each hand.
+Scarcely had they ceased and received their accustomed largesse from Sir
+Hugh's liberal hands, than some young voices were heard coming up the
+avenue.  They, as were the rest, were admitted at a side-door, through
+the servants' hall, where tea and ale, and bread-and-cheese, and cakes,
+and other good things, were ready to regale them.  The young singers
+came trooping into the hall, one pushing the other forward; shy and
+diffident, though they well knew that they had no reason to fear the
+lord of that mansion nor any one present.  At length they arranged
+themselves, and the leader of the band beginning, they all chimed in,
+and sang, if not in a way to suit a fastidious taste, at all events,
+with feeling and enthusiasm, a beautiful Christmas carol.  The words are
+simple, but often as I have heard them I have never failed to feel my
+heart lifted up to that just and merciful God who formed and carried out
+that great and glorious work, the scheme of the Redemption, thus
+wonderfully reconciling the demands of justice with love and mercy
+towards the fallen race of man.  Surely this is a theme on which angels
+must delight to dwell, and to which they must ever with joy attune their
+voices and their harps; so I used to think then and so I think now, and
+hope to think till I reach the not unwelcome grave, and find it a happy
+reality.  Several hymns and other appropriate songs were sung by the
+children, and then the leader began to sidle towards the door, while the
+rest nudged and elbowed each other, and at length they all shuffled
+demurely out again, but not a minute had passed before they were heard
+shouting and laughing right merrily in the servants' hall.  Their places
+were quickly supplied by a very different set of characters.  They were
+dressed with cocked hats and swords, and uniforms of generals and
+princes, which, though highly picturesque, were not of a very martial
+character, or calculated to stand much wear and tear, being chiefly
+adorned with coloured paper and tinsel.  The tones of their voices
+showed that, notwithstanding the lofty-sounding names they assumed, they
+were not of an aristocratic rank, nor, though they all spoke in poetry,
+was that of a very marked order.  There was Julius Caesar, and Mark
+Antony, and Caractacus, and the Black Prince, and King Arthur, and
+Richard the Third, the Emperor Alexander, Marshal Blucher, and several
+other heroes, ancient and modern, including Napoleon Bonaparte and the
+Duke of Wellington.  Some were tall, and some were short, and some fat,
+and others thin, and I had, even then, strong doubts whether they bore
+any similarity to the heroes they represented as to figure, while,
+certainly, they were not in any way particular as to correctness of
+costume.  One little chap, who was evidently looked upon as a star, came
+forward and announced that he was Julius Caesar, and a short time
+afterwards he informed us that he was Marshal Blucher.  Having marched
+round the hall in a very amicable way, they ranged themselves in two
+parties opposite each other.  One hero on one side defying another on
+the other, they rushed forward and commenced, in the ancient Greek and
+Trojan fashion, a furious verbal combat, always in verse, the last lines
+in one case being:
+
+  "I tell thee that thou art but a traitrous cheat,
+  So fight away, or I will make thee into mince-meat."
+
+They were not in the least particular as to who should fight one with
+the other.  Julius Caesar and the Black Prince had a desperate combat,
+and so had Mark Antony and King Arthur, the two British heroes coming
+off victorious, and leaving their opponents dead on the field.  The most
+terrific combat was that between the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon
+Bonaparte.  For folly five minutes they walked about abusing each other
+in the most unmeasured versification, I was going to say language,
+flourishing their swords, and stamping their feet.  They put me much in
+mind of two turkey-cocks preparing for a fight.  It might be remarked
+also that in this, as in the previous instances, the modesty of the
+heroes did not stand in their way, when singing their own praises:
+
+  "I am that hero, great and good,
+  Whom France and Frenchmen long withstood.
+  I beat them all well out of Spain
+  And I will beat them all again.
+  And Bony, as you know 'tis true,
+  I thrashed thee well at Waterloo
+  So if you have not had enough,
+  All will allow you're very tough;
+  Come on, I say, I do not mind thee,
+  For as I was, you still will find me."
+
+Thus spoke the great Duke of Wellington.  Bony answered in a similar,
+only in a somewhat more abusive strain, when, throwing the sheaths of
+their swords on the floor, they commenced a furious and deadly combat.
+At length Napoleon was slain; but, somewhat outraging our school notions
+of history, Julius Caesar rushed forward to avenge his death.  He,
+however, got more than he expected, and was soon laid alongside Bony.
+One hero after another rushed forward, but all were finally slain, and
+the Iron Duke remained master of the field.  He, however, overcome by
+fatigue and numberless wounds, sunk down at last, and died also.  Now a
+new character appeared at the door, in the person of a doctor, with a
+long nose and a stick, which he held constantly to it.  Having explained
+who he was and what he would do, or rather what very few things he
+couldn't do, he produced a huge snuff-box from his pocket, and first
+approached the slain hero of Waterloo, saying,--
+
+  "Take some of my sniff-snuff,
+  Up thy riff-ruff,
+  And rise up, brave Duke of Wellington."
+
+Up jumped the Duke with wonderful agility, and began dancing about right
+merrily.  The same words produced a similar effect on all the late
+combatants, and, the doctor helping them up, they were all soon dancing
+and jumping about as merrily as the Duke.  This amusement was of short
+duration, and a moral was taught us as to the brevity of all worldly
+happiness, for suddenly, the door bursting open, in rushed a huge figure
+like a moving holly-bush, but it had a head and arms and legs.  It was
+of an allegorical character, intended to represent Time; but, instead of
+a scythe, the arms held a broom, by lustily plying which, he speedily
+swept all the heroes and the great doctor off the stage.  These mummers,
+as they are called in that part of the country, always used to excite my
+warmest admiration.  We used to call them jiggery-mummers at Foxholme,
+because they danced or jigged in the peculiar fashion I have described.
+They are a remnant of the morris-dancers of olden days.  They were
+generally called on to repeat this play in the servants' hall, and often
+in my younger days did I steal down to witness the exhibition.  This
+closed the public amusements of the evening.  The evening of that holy
+day at Foxholme was always spent in a quiet, though in a cheerful way.
+Sir Hugh would have preferred having the mummers perform on another day,
+but the custom was so ancient, and the people were so opposed to the
+notion of a change, that he permitted it to exist till he could induce
+them to choose of their own accord another day.  We spent a very
+pleasant, happy evening, and we knew that for the next day Master Peter
+had prepared all sorts of games for our amusement.  Little Hugh had been
+with his mother watching the mummers, and highly amused, giving way to
+shouts of hearty laughter.  Then he ran off to Julia, while Lady Worsley
+was attending to some of her guests; next he attached himself for a time
+to Master Peter, and from him made his escape into the servants' hall to
+witness the mummers' second representation.  I remember that Jack and I,
+with several other boys, went out before returning into the drawing-room
+to smell the air, and to discover if there was a frost.  How pure and
+fresh and keen it was.  The gravel on the walk felt crisp as we trod on
+it.  The stars in countless numbers shone with an extraordinary
+brilliancy from the dark cloudless sky.  There was no doubt about a
+frost, and a pretty sharp one too, and our hopes rose of getting
+sliding, skating, and snowballing to our hearts' content.  While we were
+standing with our faces turned towards the park, I remember that Jack,
+who had a sharp pair of eyes, said that he saw a deer running across it.
+We declared that it must have been fancy, as it was difficult to make
+out an object through the darkness, except it was against the sky, at a
+distance even of twenty yards.  As we had run out without our hats, we
+very quickly returned into the warm house.
+
+STORY ONE, CHAPTER THREE.
+
+We were sitting round Master Peter, listening to an account he was
+giving us of a trip he once made, when a midshipman, through Palestine,
+when the drawing-room door opened, and Mrs Moss, little Hugh's nurse,
+appeared, to beg that he might be sent up to bed.  There was nothing
+unusual for Nurse Moss coming for Master Hugh, who always objected to be
+sent off to bed, but I saw Lady Worsley turn suddenly pale.
+
+"Why, nurse, I thought that he had gone to you nearly half an hour ago,"
+she exclaimed.  "He has not come into the drawing-room since the mummers
+were here.  Oh! where can he be?"
+
+"Probably coiled up in an arm-chair in the other drawing-room, or in the
+study," said Sir Hugh, calmly, seeing our aunt's agitation; but I
+thought that even his eye looked anxious.  The next moment everybody was
+hunting about in every possible direction.  The child was not in the
+north drawing-room, nor in the ante-room, nor in the study.  That was
+soon made clear.  Where was he, though?  Some of the party went
+down-stairs, to help the servants look in that part of the house; others
+searched through the bedrooms.  Every cupboard, every chest and box, was
+opened.  We looked under every arm-chair, and bed, and sofa in the
+house.  We boys were, I must say, the most active in our movements, and
+it was a mercy that we did not set the house on fire.  We looked into
+every attic--those inhabited and those full of lumber.  In the latter I
+should not have been quite happy alone.  They were full of so many
+strange articles of furniture and ornaments, or what were once
+considered such, and pictures in corners, with eyes, as the light of our
+candles fell on them, staring out so curiously, that I could not help
+fancying that some person had got in there to frighten us.  Frequently
+the cry was echoed through the house--"Is he found? is he found?" with a
+reply in the negative.  Sir Hugh headed one party, Lady Worsley another,
+Cousin Peter a third, and Julia a fourth.  After a most systematic
+search not a trace of the lost child could be discovered.  Matters had
+now become very painful.  Our aunt was almost overpowered with her
+feelings of anxiety, and Julia was nearly as much agitated.  Sir Hugh
+next summoned the servants, as well as all the family, into the hall,
+and questioned every one to discover by whom his son had last been seen.
+Several of the servants acknowledged to have observed him enter the
+servants' hall, but no one could say positively that he had gone out
+again.  No further information could be elicited from any one.  The
+matter had become truly alarming and mysterious.  While the female part
+of the household continued the search within the house, we, with all the
+lanterns which could be mustered, and extemporised torches, began a
+search outside.  The ringers and the singers and the mummers had taken
+their departure.  Messengers were, therefore, sent after them to the
+village, to call them back, that they might be questioned.  The child
+would scarcely have left the house of his own accord, and yet, if not,
+who would have ventured to carry him away?  What temptation, indeed,
+would there have been for any one to do so?  That was the question.  I
+had never seen Cousin Peter in such a state of agitation as he now was,
+though he tried to be calm and composed.  Round and round the house we
+went, and looked under every tree and bush, and into every dark corner.
+At last the mummers, and the singers, and ringers, began to come up from
+the village, accompanied by the greater part of the population of the
+place, all anxious to know what had happened.  A variety of rumours were
+afloat.  Everybody sympathised with our uncle.  As soon as they were
+assembled he addressed them, and then begged those who had anything to
+say to step forward that he might hear them one by one.  Not a word of
+information, however, was elicited of any value.  They had seen little
+Hugh in the servants' hall, and on one occasion he had darted forward
+and run in and out among the mummers; but they thought that he had gone
+back again among the servants.  Hopes had been entertained that he, for
+a freak, had run off with the mummers or singers; but they all
+positively asserted that he was not with them when they left the Hall.
+Inquiries were made whether any suspicious characters had been seen in
+the neighbourhood.  The people talked for some time among themselves.
+Then John Hodson, the village blacksmith, stepped forward, and said that
+two days before a stranger had spoken to him as he was working in his
+smithy, and asked a number of questions about the place; but he didn't
+mind them at the time, and thought that it was only for curiosity's
+sake.  The cobbler, Ebenezer Patch, also recollected that a stranger had
+spoken to him, but he didn't heed much at the time what questions were
+asked or what were answered.
+
+"What was he like, Patch?" asked Sir Hugh, in a hoarse voice, which
+sounded strange to my ears.
+
+"Why, Sir Hugh, he had, I marked, a very white, long face, and he had an
+odd bend in his back, which made him look somewhat short.  He spoke
+gently, I mind, just like a gentleman, and I made no doubt that he was
+one," answered the cobbler.
+
+The blacksmith gave the same account of the stranger.  It seemed to
+agitate our uncle strangely; so it did Cousin Peter.  They talked aside
+for some time.
+
+"Can that wretched man have had anything to do with it?"  I heard Sir
+Hugh say.
+
+"Too probably, indeed, should he really have been in the neighbourhood.
+I fear so," remarked Cousin Peter.  "At all events, we must endeavour to
+discover where he has gone.  He is capable of any daring deed of
+wickedness.  My only hope is that we are mistaken in supposing that the
+person seen was he."
+
+"The description suits him too closely to leave any doubt on my mind."
+
+I did not hear more, and I had no idea who the person was of whom they
+were speaking, except that he was the stranger seen in the village; nor
+could I tell why they should fancy he had had anything to do with the
+disappearance of little Hugh.
+
+After a further consultation, Cousin Peter and two other gentlemen went
+to their rooms, and returned booted and spurred, and, putting on their
+great-coats, accompanied by Sam Barnby, rode off in two parties in
+different directions.  Notwithstanding this, another search, intended to
+be still more rigid than the first, was instituted, both inside and
+outside the house.  Meantime, Sir Hugh had ordered lights into the
+library, and spent the night writing letters to magistrates and others,
+and papers of all sorts for printing, offering rewards for the recovery
+of the lost child.  Lady Worsley was for most of the time in the
+drawing-room with Julia and several other Indies, who were in vain
+attempting to comfort her.  No one went to bed that night at Foxholme
+Park.  We boys were called in by Sir Hugh, and highly proud at being
+employed by him in copying notices to be sent out in the morning,
+offering a reward for the discovery of little Hugh.  We were all very
+sorry for the loss of our small cousin; but we liked the excitement
+amazingly.  For my part, I must own that I could not, however,
+altogether forget the games Cousin Peter had prepared for us, and the
+amusement we had anticipated, and regret for the fun and frolic we
+should miss, mingled somewhat with the sorrow I really felt for the loss
+of little Hugh, and the trouble which had come on our uncle and aunt and
+all the family.
+
+STORY ONE, CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+Morning came at last, and as the family assembled in the breakfast-room
+with pale anxious faces, the question again and again was asked if any
+trace had been found of little Hugh, Cousin Peter and the other
+gentlemen, and Sam Barnby, came back; but they did not appear to have
+anything satisfactory to communicate.  Poor Cousin Peter, I never saw
+his face look so long and miserable.  I thought the anxiety would kill
+him.  He deemed to feel the event even more than Sir Hugh, who several
+times murmured, "God's will be done, whatever has happened to the
+child."  It must be a great thing to be able to say that under all the
+trials of life.  With daylight the search through the park and grounds
+was recommenced.  I know that I cried outright when I saw men with nets
+dragging the ponds.  I had not realised the possibility that the dear
+little fellow might actually be dead, as this proceeding suggested.  I
+was very thankful each time that I saw the drags come up empty.  As I
+remarked, the ground had become so hard early in the evening, that no
+footprints could have been left on it.  This circumstance made it
+impossible to discover the direction little Hugh could have taken, had
+he gone off by himself, which it was utterly improbable he should have
+done, or that of anybody else.
+
+Several gentlemen, county magistrates, and lawyers, and constables, came
+during the day to see Sir Hugh, some to offer him advice and assistance,
+others to receive his directions.  He and Cousin Peter seemed at last to
+have made up their minds that little Hugh had been carried off by the
+mysterious individual who had been seen by the blacksmith and cobbler;
+but how he had contrived to get into the house, no one could tell.  The
+mummers indignantly denied that any stranger could have come in with
+them, while the servants as positively asserted that no one whom they
+did not know had entered the house that evening.  Another guest had been
+expected in the afternoon, a Mr Strafford.  I had remarked that
+whenever his name was mentioned, Cousin Julia had looked very
+interested, and once or twice I saw a blush rising on her cheek.  He had
+been there before, and Sir Hugh spoke highly of him.  Julia had met him
+at a house where she had been staying in the summer.  Cousin Peter, on
+the contrary, looked sad and pained, I fancied, whenever he was spoken
+of; and putting that and other things together, I had little doubt that
+Mr Strafford was a suitor for Cousin Julia's hand.  I was, therefore,
+curious to know what sort of a person Mr Strafford was.  Both Sir Hugh
+and Julia expressed themselves anxious for his arrival, under the belief
+that he would materially assist in discovering what had become of little
+Hugh.  Why, I could not tell, except that he was a barrister, and that
+barristers were supposed to be very clever fellows, who can always find
+out everything.  It was late in the afternoon, growing dusk, when a
+post-chaise drove up to the door, and a slight, active, very intelligent
+and good-looking young man got out of it.  I was in a low window in the
+ante-room reading, hidden by the back of a large arm-chair.  I looked
+out of the window and saw the new arrival, who the next instant was in
+the room, when Julia went out to meet him.  From the way they greeted
+each other, I had no longer any doubt of the true state of the case.
+They of course did not see me, or they might not have been so
+demonstrative.  Mr Strafford listened with knitted brow to the account
+Julia gave him of little Hugh's disappearance, or rather I may say of
+his abduction, for she had no doubt of his having been carried off by
+the mysterious stranger.
+
+"It is a sad alternative, for the sake of the family; but I see no other
+course to pursue," said Mr Strafford.  "The unhappy man must be
+captured at all hazards.  If we attempt to make any private compromise,
+he will escape, and too probably never allow us to hear more of your
+brother.  For his own sake, I do not think that he will have ventured to
+be guilty of violence."
+
+"Oh! the disgrace, the disgrace to the family!" dried Julia.  "Yet he
+cannot be so cruel, so ungrateful, so wicked, as to venture to hurt poor
+dear little Hugh."
+
+"On that score set your mind at rest," answered Mr Strafford.  "He will
+try to escape with him, I suspect, to the coast of France, and his plan
+will be to take him to some distant place where he thinks we shall not
+discover him.  I have no doubt that your father and cousin have already
+taken measures to stop him.  At all events we will see about it at once,
+as there is no time to lose."  Mr Strafford now went on into the
+drawing-room, where Sir Hugh and Lady Worsley were waiting to see him.
+From what I had heard, I now began to suspect who the mysterious
+stranger was.  I hurried off to consult with Jack on the subject.  He
+agreed with me that he must be a cousin of Sir Hugh's, who, being his
+nearest kinsman of the male branch of the family, would succeed to the
+title and estates, should he die without a son.  This man, Everard
+Worsley, was always a wild profligate character, and was at present
+outlawed, so that he could not venture to show his face openly in
+England.  Of course it would be a great thing for him to get the heir
+out of the way, as should no other son be born to Sir Hugh, he would
+probably be able to have the statute of outlawry removed (I think that
+is the proper term), and come and take possession, and turn Lady Worsley
+and Cousin Julia out of the house, and send all the old servants about
+their business, and fill the place with his own abandoned, reprobate
+companions, and hangers on.  This was a possibility, I had heard it
+whispered, might occur.  It was the skeleton in the family cupboard; it
+was the not improbable event of all others to be dreaded and deplored.
+I had heard, too, that this disreputable kinsman was nearly related to
+Cousin Peter, and that Cousin Peter had an unbounded abhorrence for him,
+that is to say, as much as he could have for any human being.  I fancied
+that Cousin Peter himself was in the line of succession, though I did
+not know exactly where; but I was very certain that nothing would have
+caused him more acute sorrow than to see those he loved so well removed
+to make way for him.
+
+I observed that Cousin Peter met Mr Strafford in the most frank and
+cordial manner, and at once entered with him into a discussion as to the
+steps which should next be taken for the recovery of the child.  I did
+not hear all that was to be done.  I knew, however, that a number of the
+most intelligent and trustworthy men in the neighbourhood were engaged.
+Some were sent off to all the places on the coast whence boats could get
+off, to ascertain if any had gone across the channel, and to examine any
+which might be going, while other parties were, as soon as it was
+daylight, to scour the forest in every direction.  We boys, under Sam
+Barnby, were, much to our satisfaction, to engage in this latter
+service.  Sir Hugh and the rest of the family, overcome with fatigue,
+were compelled to go to bed; but all night long people were coming and
+going with messages, showing that a very vigilant and active search was
+being carried on.  Neither Cousin Peter nor Mr Strafford, however, went
+to bed, as they had taken upon themselves the direction of the search.
+Indeed, unless Everard Worsley had succeeded at once in getting away
+from the neighbourhood, it seemed scarcely possible that he should now
+be able to make his escape.
+
+STORY ONE, CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+Long before daybreak we boys were up, called by Sam Barnby, and, having
+breakfasted, and by his advice, filled our pockets with bread and ham
+and tongue and brawn, set off while the first streaks of dawn were still
+in the sky, to commence our search through the forest.  The sky was
+cloudless, the stars shining brightly at first, but one by one they
+disappeared as the light streaming through the leafless trees on the one
+hand, seemed to be rolling back the gloom of night on the other.  The
+air was pure, but keen as razor-blades, as Sam observed, and would have
+saved us shaving, if we had had beards to shave.  The crisply frozen
+grass crackled under our feet as we trod rapidly over it, with
+difficulty restraining our inclination to sing and shout out, so high
+were our spirits raised by the exhilarating atmosphere.
+
+We walked on rapidly, covering, by Sam Barnby's directions, as much
+ground as possible, while, however, keeping each other in sight, which
+could be more easily done at that time of the year than in the summer.
+Every now and then we came on a herd of forest ponies, which went
+scampering away, shaking the hoar frost from the bushes as their shaggy
+coats brushed them in passing.  Less frequently we encountered herds of
+the fallow deer, once so numerous.  They would stand for an instant
+gazing at us, as if wondering why we had invaded their domains, and
+then, fleet as the wind, they would fly, following one after the other,
+till they reached some knoll or thicker wood, where they would stop and
+scrutinise us as we passed.  We were all soon in a thorough glow from
+the exercise we were taking, for the ground was far from level.  Now we
+had to ascend a height, now descend into a valley, circuit a marsh, or
+leap across a stream--a feat not always easily accomplished.
+
+We passed many spots of historic fame which I cannot here stop to
+describe.  Many were highly picturesque and beautiful, and had
+attracted, I doubt not, the pencil of Gilpin, who was minister of
+Boldre, not far off.  On we went, hour after hour, unflaggingly, till
+Sam called a halt, and each of us produced the provender we had brought.
+Sam had strapped a large fishing-basket to his back, and to our
+infinite satisfaction, when we found that our own supplies were totally
+inadequate to satisfy the cravings of our keen appetites, he brought
+forth an abundance of eatables and a bottle or two of the stoutest of
+stout ales, that, as he remarked, a little might go a long way.  There
+must have been real stuff in it, for, though he gave us each but a few
+thimblefuls, it set us up amazingly, and away we went as full of spirit
+and strength as when we first started.
+
+I cannot describe all the adventures we met with.  Jack was on the right
+of the line, I was next to him.  Suddenly I heard him cry out.  I ran up
+to him, calling to the others to halt.  Jack pointed to an object under
+a bush.  It was the body of a man.
+
+"Is he asleep?"  I asked.
+
+"He is very quiet," said Jack.
+
+Indeed he was quiet.  All our shouting did not arouse him.  He was
+dressed in a smock frock and long brown gaiters; but his hands were
+white, and his face fair.  "He is dead, young gentlemen!" said Sam
+Barnby, gravely, when he came up.  "Who can he be?"
+
+We all stood aloof.  None of us had ever seen a dead mail.  It was a sad
+object.  Sam, stooping down, examined the body.
+
+"To my mind, this is no other than the unfortunate gentleman we are
+looking for.  He is no carter, and under his smock his dress is that of
+a gentleman."
+
+This was indeed valuable information to carry home.  Sam wanted as to
+help him remove the body, but we had no fancy to do that.  What,
+however, had become of little Hugh?  If the miserable man had really
+carried him off, where had he bestowed him?  Could he have murdered the
+child first, and then destroyed himself?  The thought was too dreadful
+to be entertained.  How had he met with his death?  That was another
+question.  Again Sam examined the body.
+
+"This tells a tale, at all events," he exclaimed, holding up a little
+shoe.
+
+It was evidently Hugh's.  This man had carried him off--of that there
+was no longer a shadow of doubt.  What had become of him though?  We
+searched round and round the spot, under every bush, and in the hollow
+of every tree.  Not a further sign of the child could we discover.
+There would be still daylight sufficient for us to go to the Hall with
+the information, and to return.  The question was who should go and who
+should stay by the dead body, which we considered that we ought not to
+leave.  Without Sam we could not find our way, so it was necessary that
+he should go, at all events.  At last my brother Jack asked me if I
+would remain with him.  I own that I did not like it.  There was
+something terrible at the thought of being out alone with the dead body
+of our wicked kinsman, as we supposed the man to be.  Yet I did not wish
+to exhibit any fear, and put as bold a face on the matter as I could.
+
+"Yes, of course, if you wish it, Jack, I'll stay with you," I answered
+at once.  "Somebody must stay, and I suppose that we are the right
+people to do so.  We can run about to keep ourselves warm.  I shan't, of
+course, mind it a bit, if you don't.  You'll not be long gone, will you,
+Sam?"
+
+"Oh, no fear, Master William," answered Sam Barnby; "we'll be at the
+Hall and back in no time.  We've come a long round to get here."
+
+This answer encouraged me a little, and I managed, I flatter myself, to
+look thoroughly unconcerned.  We had each of us thick sticks: not that
+there was anything to fight with; for even wild hogs don't attack people
+who let them alone; but I know that I clutched mine very tightly as the
+rest of the party disappeared among the trees of the forest, and Jack
+and I were left on guard.  As to looking on the dead man, that was more
+than I dared do; so I walked about, flourishing my stick and talking to
+Jack, as far as I could get from the spot where the dead man lay,
+consistently with my undertaking to keep guard over it.  Jack did not
+seem to care very much about the matter.  Now he walked close up to the
+spot; then he joined me and talked on indifferent subjects, though I
+don't think that even he cared to look directly at the dead man.  We
+began at last to become very tired of our guard, and to wish that our
+friends would return and relieve us.  I had no watch.  Jack had
+forgotten to wind up his, so we could not tell how time sped.
+
+Not far off was a dark clump of hollies, to which I had extended my
+walk.  As I was turning round, I heard a slight rustling of the leaves,
+and, to my inexpressible horror, I caught a glimpse of a pair of eyes
+gleaming out at me through an opening in the boughs.  I instantly
+connected them somehow with the man supposed to be dead, and, when I
+hurried back to Jack, I half expected to find that the body had got up,
+and, by some means or other, gone round into the holly-bush.  No; there
+it lay, quiet enough, never more to move of its own accord.  But to what
+could those eyes belong?
+
+"Jack!  Jack!"  I stammered out, feeling that I must look very pale and
+frightened, "I have seen a pair of eyes!"
+
+"Whereabouts?" asked Jack.  "I suppose that they are in somebody's head,
+then?"
+
+"That's the question," said I; "I am not quite so sure of it."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!" cried Jack; "let's have a look at the place.  Where did
+you see them?"
+
+I pointed to the spot, and plucking up courage as he walked up to it,
+followed him, clutching my stick tightly.  The holly-bushes formed a
+tolerably large screen, so that we should have to make a wide circuit to
+get to the rear.  Nothing was to be seen in front.  No eyes were visible
+where I had caught the glimpse of them.  Jack said it was fancy, but
+still he had an inclination to examine further.  I would rather have
+waited till the arrival of our friends, but he, telling me to go round
+one end, ran round the other, that we might catch anybody who might be
+there.  I didn't like it, but still I went, feeling that I was
+performing a deed of mighty heroism.  I was resolved not to allow Jack
+to call me a coward; indeed, he very seldom did so, because anything
+that he dared do, I did; the only difference was that he liked it, and I
+didn't.  I got round therefore as fast as he did, and just behind the
+spot where I had seen the eyes, there they were again, but this time I
+discerned a head and face into which they were fixed--a face I had seen
+before.
+
+"There, there!"  I cried, pointing to the face as Jack came up.
+
+It was that of the poor idiot lad, Dicky Green.  He was crouching down,
+evidently trying to conceal himself from us.
+
+"Why, Dicky, what are you doing here?" cried Jack.  "We won't hurt you."
+
+"I was a looking to see what'd happen next.  He's a sleeping, bean't
+he?" answered the idiot, pointing in the direction of the dead man.
+
+"It's a sleep from which he will never awake, lad," said Jack.  "He is
+dead, lad."
+
+"Lor', be he?  Then you won't go for to tell of I?" exclaimed Dicky,
+whimpering.  "Mother sent I to look for the little one's shoe, when I
+told her how I'd got hold of him and gi'en the man as was a trying to
+take him from me a pretty hard clout on the head.  I thought I'd made
+him quiet, but I ne'er meaned to kill him, that I didn't."
+
+"The little one!" cried Jack, a new light bursting on us.  "What do you
+know of him?  Where is he?"
+
+"Oh, he's all right, and happy as he can be, I wot," said Dicky, with a
+grin, which made us doubt the truth of his assertion.
+
+Our fear now, however, was that the idiot would escape from us before we
+could ascertain whether or not he really did know where little Hugh was.
+Still, we could not help hoping that the child was safe.  Jack
+therefore did his best to keep him talking till our friends should come
+from the Hull.  Happily, the poor creature was very fond of keeping his
+tongue moving, as other people with a limited supply of brains are apt
+to do.  Though he talked on, we could not make out more than we had
+already.  To our great relief, we heard at length the sound of voices
+approaching us.  Soon Sir Hugh, with Cousin Peter, Mr Strafford, and
+several other gentlemen on horseback, with Sam Barnby and a whole posse
+of men, appeared in the distance.  We shouted to them to come to us.  No
+sooner did Dicky Green see them, than he began to tremble violently;
+then, looking to the right and left, he bolted off through the forest.
+Fortunately, Cousin Peter saw him, and gave chase on horseback; Sam
+Barnby also followed in the direction we pointed.  Still Dicky ran very
+fast, dodging in and out among the trees.  Meantime, Sir Hugh and Mr
+Strafford rode up to where the dead body lay on the grass.  As soon as
+Sir Hugh saw the features of the corpse, he said in a sad voice:
+
+"It is that unhappy man, cut off in the middle of his career; but my
+boy, my boy, where can he be?"
+
+Though Dicky Green ran fast, he was ere long overtaken and brought back.
+He stood before the gentlemen with one of his most idiotic looks, which
+made it seem hopeless that anything could be got out of him.
+
+"Come, come, Dicky, that will not do for us," said Cousin Peter; "rouse
+yourself up and tell us all you know about this matter.  No one will do
+you any harm, lad."
+
+Thus spoken to kindly, after some time, Dicky looked up and said:
+
+"Thee wants to know about the little chap, and if I tells thee, thee
+won't ask how that one there came by his death?"
+
+"If we do ask, it will not be to bring any harm on you, Dicky.  You may
+be assured of that," said Cousin Peter.
+
+Dicky thought for some time, and then began to move off through the
+forest.
+
+"He is going towards his mother's cottage; I shouldn't be surprised if
+little Master Hugh be there safe enough," whispered Sam Barnby.
+
+"Bless you, bless you, Sam Barnby, for those words, and I believe that
+they are true," exclaimed Sir Hugh, as we all followed the idiot, except
+a couple of men, who were left with the dead body.
+
+In a short time we reached a wretched tumble-down hut of mud, with a
+roof of thatch, green with age, and full of holes, in which birds had
+built their nests.  There at one end we found a bed-ridden old woman,
+the idiot's mother, and on a little pallet-bed in the further corner lay
+a blooming child fast asleep.  Sir Hugh stepped forward, signing to us
+not to make a noise, and lifting the child in his arms, bestowed a kiss
+on its brow.  The boy awoke, and seeing his father--for it was our dear
+little Hugh--threw his arms round his neck and exclaimed:
+
+"You've come, papa, for Hugh at last; Hugh is so glad, so happy!"
+
+It was a happy meeting we all had at the Hall that evening, and grateful
+were the hearts of Sir Hugh and Lady Worsley at the recovery of their
+darling boy.  I remember that afterwards there was an inquest, and that
+the magistrates met, but, except from the ravings of poor Dicky Green,
+there was no evidence how the deceased gentleman who was found in the
+forest came by his death.  He was accordingly buried quietly in the
+parish churchyard, and as little fuss as possible made about the matter,
+though of course it had the usual run of a nine days' wonder.  I am
+happy to say that little Hugh grew up, and as he is the father of a
+number of boys, there is not much chance of the property going out of
+the old line for want of a male heir.
+
+STORY TWO, CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY TWO--The Rocking-Stone: A Chronicle of the Times of the Wars of
+the Roses.
+
+Two of the most powerful nobles of England, the Duke of Somerset and the
+Earl of Warwick, were one fine summer's day, in the year of our Lord
+1449, walking together in the Temple Gardens, on the banks of the
+Thames.  Their conversations were on affairs of state.  Ere long they
+expressed decided differences of opinion.  Their tempers warmed up; the
+dispute ran high.  They appealed to the nobles and gentlemen attending
+on them, but all drew back.  They had long been rivals, each seeking for
+power and influence.  Warwick possessed immense popularity both with the
+soldiery and populace.  He is since well known in history as the
+Kingmaker.  He was not a man to brook opposition.
+
+"It is well that we should know our foes from our friends," he
+exclaimed, plucking as he spoke a white rose from a bush which grew
+near.  "Let all who claim to be my friends wear henceforth the white
+rose in their helms or caps."
+
+"And I, too, wish to know who are my friends and who my foes," said the
+Duke of Somerset, walking on rapidly till he reached a red rose-tree
+which he saw in the distance.  "I shall expect all those who love me, or
+the cause I espouse, to wear this flower of blushing hue."
+
+Several knights and gentlemen hurried after the duke, and imitated his
+example in placing red roses in their caps.  The earl watched the
+proceedings of his rival with a smile.
+
+"My challenge is quickly accepted," he observed, turning to those who
+surrounded him.  "But am I to stand alone?  Have I no friends who wish
+to show that they are ready to espouse my cause?"
+
+"Ten thousand swords would be ready to leap from their scabbards the
+moment you summon them," answered a sturdy knight, Sir Herbert de
+Beauville.  "I, for one, am ready to risk castle, and lands, and jewels,
+and life itself, in your service; and as a pledge of my sincerity, I
+place this white rose in my helm, and, so help me Heaven, may I ever be
+true to it and to you while life remains!"
+
+The rest of the party, following the knight's example, pledged
+themselves to the earl, and placed white roses in their helms or caps.
+It was curious to see the two parties, as they henceforth walked apart
+with the insignia they had so hastily assumed prominently displayed,
+eyeing each other with glances indicative, it might be, of that fearful
+struggle which was so soon to commence, and to devastate the fair land
+of England and deluge it with blood.  Some of those present turned
+traitors to the cause they had espoused, and others more than once
+changed sides, but amply did Sir Herbert de Beauville fulfil the pledge
+he had given on that occasion.  He was one of those men who consider
+that black is black, and white is white, and so, having passed his word
+that he would wear the white rose and support the house of York, he
+fought on, amid all its changing fortunes, till he had lost the larger
+portion of his once ample possessions.  His ancestral castle of
+Beauville, in the north of England, in a sadly dilapidated condition,
+with its park and a few hundred acres of land, was at length all that
+remained to him.  In the fatal fight on Bosworth Field, holding himself
+bravely, as was his wont, he was desperately wounded.  He would have
+fallen from his horse had not he been supported by his faithful
+servitor, Roger Bertrand, who led him from the fight to a retired spot
+near a brook, where he could attend to his gaping wounds, and stanch the
+life-blood flowing from his veins.  In vain, however, the brave squire
+exerted all his skill.  It was too clear to him that his beloved
+master's hours were numbered.  The knight also was well aware that his
+last blow had been struck for the cause he had so long espoused, and
+that he should soon be numbered with the dead.  He committed, therefore,
+his wife and young son, who was named after him, to Roger's care.
+
+"Mark you, Roger, watch over the boy as a precious jewel.  Remember his
+noble blood and parentage, bring him up as becomes both, and above all
+things, when he comes to man's estate, take care that he finds a bride
+befitting him, and does not wed beneath him.  I fear me much that I do
+not leave him as rich a heritage as I received, but should quiet times
+ever come back to this realm of England, with your careful nursing, it
+may once more be made as profitable as of yore.  You know my wishes,
+good Roger; I can speak no more.  Especially in that one point of
+marriage guide the boy aright.  Lift me up.  How goes the fight?  Let me
+behold the white rose of York once more triumphant.  See--see--they
+charge forward!  No--alas! they turn and fly.  Then welcome death!"  The
+old knight, pressing Roger's hand, uttered the word, "Remember," and
+fell back and died.
+
+The brave serving-man, rising to his feet, stood over the dead body of
+his master with drawn sword, to protect it from spoliation, and
+ultimately succeeded in bearing it off from the field, so as to give it
+honoured sepulture in the precincts of the neighbouring church.  The
+priests were desirous to keep the knight's armour in pawn, that masses
+might be said for the repose of his soul.
+
+"Thanks, reverend and worthy gentlemen," answered Roger, quietly.  "But
+my dear master was as hearty a prayer as he was a fighter, and methinks
+if he's failed while he lived to make his peace with Heaven, nothing
+that you or any other can say will aid him now that he is gone, and
+knows more about the matter than you and all the world besides put
+together."
+
+"What rank heresy is this you are speaking?" exclaimed the priest.  "The
+prayers of the Church not of use to the dead, do you say?  This savours
+strongly of the abominable tenets of Wycliffe.  Why, you must belong to
+the abominable sect of the Lollards, Master Roger."
+
+"Nay, but I was only speaking in the case of my good master," answered
+the latter, in his quiet tone.  "I said that he was a hearty prayer; and
+what is the use of a man's praying if his prayers are not to be heard?
+But if my master's prayers were heard--and I am sure they were--then
+there is no further need of any one praying for him.  I am a true son of
+Holy Mother Church.  I know nothing of Master Wycliffe, and conclude
+that he has been dead no small number of years."
+
+The priest, not accustomed in those days to controversy, had nothing to
+say in reply to Roger's remarks, though, still suspecting him strongly
+to be a Lollard, he would have liked to entrap him, and have the power
+to bring down punishment on his head.  Honest Roger, however, not aware
+of the feelings of animosity he had excited, frankly wished the irate
+ecclesiastic farewell, and with the arms and armour of his late master,
+all that remained of him, took his departure for the now mourning castle
+of Beauville.
+
+It is not necessary to describe the grief of the Lady Beauville, nor of
+the young Herbert, who was of an age to feel deeply the loss he had
+suffered.  As may have been suspected, Roger Bertram was a Lollard, as
+was also the mistress of the castle, though they had found it necessary
+to conceal their opinions.  Young Herbert was accordingly brought up in
+the principles of Wycliffe, a copy of whose New Testament was one of the
+most prized possessions of his mother.  It was her chief delight to
+instruct her son in the glorious truths it contained.  Alas! however,
+the shock she received on hearing of the death of her beloved lord, and
+the complete overthrow of the cause for which he had so long striven and
+fought, was so great, that from that time she sank gradually, and ere
+long followed her husband to the grave.
+
+Roger Bertram thoroughly carried out his promise to his master.  Young
+Herbert de Beauville grew up into a noble-looking youth, who, though he
+did not possess any large amount of book-learning, was the leader in all
+the manly exercises of the period.  He was brave and open-hearted, of a
+kind and generous disposition, and had ever proved himself affectionate
+and obedient to the guardian placed over him.  He had, however, a
+determined will of his own, and Roger discovered that, if he wished to
+retain his influence over his ward, he must not pull the reins of
+authority too tightly.
+
+As Herbert increased in years this became more and more evident,
+especially when the youth mixed in the world, and there were not wanting
+those who urged him to assert his own independence, and who hinted that,
+now he had grown nearly to man's estate, it was no longer incumbent on
+him to obey implicitly one who had merely been placed in authority to
+watch over him while he was a boy.  Good Roger Bertram, though he was
+able conscientiously to do his duty with regard to watching over his
+young charge, found that it was a difficult matter to restore a fallen
+house, and to bring long-neglected lands again into cultivation.  The
+old retainers and tenants who once cultivated the fields had been
+carried off by their feudal lord to the wars, and their bones lay
+bleaching on many a battle-field.  The lands could not be let, and no
+money was therefore forthcoming to restore the dilapidated castle fast
+crumbling to pieces.  It had never been restored since the last siege
+laid to it by the Lancastrians.  At that time a large portion of the
+walls had been battered by cannon, then only recently introduced, and
+another part had been undermined: the enemy, indeed, were on the point
+of forcing an entrance, when it was relieved by the appearance of the
+Yorkist party.  Roger's hope, therefore, was that as soon as his young
+lord was of age he would retrieve his fortunes by a wealthy marriage.
+Unfortunately there would, he knew, be much difficulty in finding a
+bride for him among the fallen Yorkist families, us greedy King Henry
+took good care to confiscate all the property he could from any excuse
+lay hands on.  Roger was also himself much attached to the principles of
+the Lollards, and he wished, if possible, that the young Herbert should
+marry into a family which held them.  There were many families at that
+time who read Wycliffe's Bible and Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales"--more,
+indeed, than are generally supposed.  The English, as a nation, never
+bowed the neck very readily to Rome, and even in the darkest days there
+were some who put no faith in her assumptions and pretensions.  The more
+enlightened had also ere this discovered what a clog to the prosperity
+and progress of the country existed in the many thousands of lazy and
+idle monks and friars, and other members of what were called religious
+orders.  Still it may be considered that the lower classes generally,
+and many of the upper, were ignorant in the extreme, and believed in all
+those gross superstitions which have ever been the direct result of the
+teaching of the Church of Rome, where no counteracting influences are at
+work.  As Roger did not himself possess much book-learning, he was
+compelled to leave young Herbert under the instruction of Father Mathew,
+the curate of the parish, to whom Sir Herbert had confided the charge of
+his education.  Not that the knight had any great esteem for the
+learning of the father, but simply that he knew of no one else under
+whom he could place his son.
+
+Father Mathew was not a learned man, but he had cleverness enough to
+conceal his ignorance, and Sir Herbert, who, though a brave soldier, was
+no clerk, was not likely to find it out.  If the truth must be said, the
+curate was himself fonder of hawk and hound than of his books, and it
+was whispered that if a fat pullet came in his way, even on a fast day,
+he did not always turn aside from the temptation.  He could, however, do
+more than many of his brethren, for he could not only read his breviary,
+but write a neat hand and copy manuscripts with precision--an art he had
+learned in the cloister, and which was still the chief mode of
+multiplying books; for printing had only been introduced into England
+about twenty years before.  Such was Father Mathew; in the main, with
+all his faults, an honest man.  Roger, who had more shrewdness than his
+late lord, was not altogether satisfied with him, but he consoled
+himself with the thought that his young charge might have had a worse
+preceptor when he saw him growing into a fine handsome young man, with
+many noble and generous qualities, though certainly more addicted to
+field sports and athletic exercises than to the study of any of those
+branches of knowledge by which he might restore the fallen fortunes of
+his house.
+
+Meantime, Roger was not unmindful of his purpose to secure a rich wife
+for his young lord.  He looked about in every direction, far and near;
+but the only damsel he could hear of at all likely to prove suitable was
+the Lady Barbara, the only child of the stout Baron Fitz Osbert.  She
+was said to be fair to look on, and pious and good, and possessed of all
+the accomplishments which distinguished well-brought-up young ladies in
+those days.  There were difficulties to be overcome, however.  Herbert
+had not seen her, and might not be willing to wed her when he did.  Her
+father, the baron, had been a stout Lancastrian, and, although the rival
+houses of York and Lancaster were now united under Tudor rule, he was
+very likely to be prejudiced against the son of an old opponent.  While
+the honest Roger was travelling about the country and troubling himself
+greatly in search of the desired heiress, an event occurred which seemed
+likely to bring his schemes to naught.  Herbert was one day returning
+from hawking--the quarry having led him a long distance from home--when,
+as he was passing through a wood of some extent, he heard a cry and loud
+shouts for help.  Urging on his steed over the green sward, he saw two
+persons on horseback endeavouring to escape from three armed men on
+foot.  That the latter were robbers he had little doubt--Cornishmen,
+from Lord Audley's wild troops, after the fight at Blackheath.  One of
+the persons on horseback was a country damsel, and, from the panniers
+between which she sat, it appeared she had been to dispose of the
+produce of her farm at market; the other was a serving-man, or
+farm-servant, apparently, for he also had a number of baskets slung
+about his horse.  He had a bow at his back and a trusty sword by his
+side, with which he might, if necessary, defend his young mistress.
+These ideas passed through Herbert's mind the moment the scene appeared
+before him.  The serving-man had drawn his sword, and was endeavouring
+to keep the robbers at bay.  The robbers, however, seemed to be laughing
+at his efforts, and while one of them was keeping him in play, the other
+two had run round on either side, and were on the point of seizing the
+reins of the damsel's pony, when Herbert appeared.  He dashed forward,
+and, with the impetuosity of youth, without asking any questions, cut
+down one of the robbers, and was about to treat the other in the same
+way when he made his escape between the trees.  The serving-man had in
+the meantime given a good account of the robber who had attacked him,
+who lay wounded and, to all appearance, dying on the ground.  He had,
+however, first contrived to give honest Rolfe a severe cut on the arm
+and another on the side, which would probably have compelled him to
+yield to the attacks of the other ruffians had not young Herbert de
+Beauville come to his assistance.  The damsel had wonderfully maintained
+her self-possession during the events which have been described; but
+when Herbert reached her, and, taking her hand, assured her that all
+danger was past, her pale cheeks and quivering lips told him that she
+could not longer contain her feelings.  He helped her to dismount, and
+placing her on the trunk of a fallen tree, endeavoured to calm her
+spirits, while Rolfe limped off to fill a bowl, which he had just
+purchased in the market, with water from a neighbouring brook.  This
+revived the damsel, and, as soon as she was able to speak, after
+thanking Herbert for the service he had rendered her, she told him that
+her name was Gertrude Alwyn, and that she lived with her father, stout
+John Alwyn, a yeoman, on his farm nearly a league off.
+
+"Then I must offer my services to escort you to your home, sweet
+Mistress Gertrude," said Herbert, in as courteous a tone as he would
+have used towards a princess.  "I can take no denial, as it is
+unbefitting that you should continue your journey alone.  Mayhap some
+other robbers may meet you, or you may be beset by some other danger."
+
+Whatever might have been the fears of the damsel, she was not unwilling
+that so handsome and courteous a young man should escort her homewards.
+Not till honest Rolfe had come up to hold her reins while she again
+mounted, did she and Herbert discover how badly he had been hurt by the
+robber who had attacked him.  He made light of his wounds to save his
+young mistress pain, but she refused to proceed till they were bound up,
+and some further time was lost in this operation.  Herbert rode by the
+side of Gertrude, conversing with her as he went.  He thought that he
+had never seen so fair a damsel, so gentle and so lovable, while she was
+certain that she had never met so kind and courteous and noble a youth.
+It was late when they reached Donington Farm.  Master Alwyn, the owner,
+did not seem much surprised to see his daughter escorted by so gay a
+cavalier as young Herbert de Beauville.  Having thanked him warmly for
+the protection he had afforded to his daughter, and her deliverance from
+the danger which had overtaken her, with much courtesy he invited him to
+remain to supper, which meal was even then being placed on the table.
+
+Young Herbert was not unwilling to accept the invitation, seeing that
+already his heart, or fancy, or whatever organ or sense by which young
+men are moved, had already been captivated by the bright eyes and sweet
+face of the fair Gertrude.  There was a bright moon about to shine, and
+he had no tender mother or loving sisters who would be anxious at his
+non-appearance at the usual hour.  Gertrude did not omit to tell her
+mother of the hurts Rolfe had received.  On hearing this, the dame, with
+alacrity, examined them, dressing them with much skill, of the
+possession of which she was not a little proud.
+
+After this, three demure damsels and seven stout labouring men came into
+the hall, and took their seats at the table.  They then ate in silence
+the messes which Mrs Alwyn served out to them.  Master Alwyn, meantime,
+kept up a very pleasant conversation with his guest.  He was evidently
+far superior in attainments to men generally of his position in life,
+for he could both read and write, and knew something of what was going
+forward in the world.  In appearance he was not, however, superior to
+other yeomen or well-to-do farmers; and his dame, though evidently a
+notable thrifty housewife, was not above her class in manners or in
+information.  As Herbert looked from one to the other, and then
+exchanged a few sentences with their daughter, he wondered how so fair a
+creature could have sprung from so rough a stock.  He sat on, unwilling
+to leave the society of so charming a being, till at length he had no
+excuse for lingering longer.
+
+As he rode homeward, with his hawk sleeping on his shoulder, and his
+hounds by his side, his thoughts were so completely occupied with the
+fair Gertrude, that he reached the castle gates almost before he was
+aware of it.  Good Roger was away on the errand which has been spoken
+of, and Father Mathew had never been wont to chide his pupil very
+severely.  Now that he had come to man's estate, he wisely abstained
+altogether from doing so.  Herbert was therefore accustomed frankly to
+tell him all that occurred.  He accordingly described how he had met the
+damsel and her servant, and saved them from robbers.
+
+"You have acted bravely, my son, and you deem the damsel fair to look
+on?" said Father Mathew.
+
+The last words were uttered quite in an indifferent tone, as if the
+matter were of very little consequence.
+
+"Oh yes; the damsel is perfectly beautiful," exclaimed the youth,
+enthusiastically.  "I have never seen one I could so devotedly love and
+adore."
+
+The priest gave way to a low laugh, and remarked:
+
+"Perchance the next time you see her she may not appear so charming, and
+still less so the following.  Methinks, too, that she is not such a one
+as the young lord of Beauville ought to wed."
+
+"I have heard of noble knights wedding with maidens of low degree, whose
+beauty and rare excellence made them fit to take their place among the
+highest in the land.  Such is the damsel of whom I speak.  It would be a
+grievous pity to let so charming a rose bloom unseen, or to allow her to
+mate with some rough thistle or thorn unworthy of her."
+
+The priest laughed outright.
+
+"Certes, the charms of the damsel have made you poetical, my esteemed
+pupil," he remarked.  "I must go forth to see this rare piece of
+perfection.  I wonder whether I shall esteem her as you do."
+
+Now, although Herbert had a great regard for his reverend tutor, he did
+not altogether desire to have him become acquainted with the damsel, and
+he at once, therefore, began to repent that he had praised her in such
+glowing terms.  He scorned, however, to retract anything that he had
+said, yet he determined to try and prevent Father Mathew from visiting
+Donington Farm till he had secured, as he hoped to do, the affections of
+its fair inmate.  It was not till late at night that the priest and his
+pupil retired to their beds.  At an early hour the next morning the
+young lord of Beauville was on his way to Donington to inquire if
+Mistress Gertrude had recovered from the effects of the fright to which
+she had been subjected.  He also persuaded himself that he was anxious
+to learn how it fared with sturdy Rolfe.
+
+He went well armed in case he should meet any of the band of robbers
+whose comrades he had so roughly handled.  On reaching Donington, he saw
+Father Mathew's grey mare at the gate.  The father must have left the
+castle by break of day, and have ridden pretty fast to get there before
+him.  Herbert met him coming out.
+
+"Ah, my son, you said not that you were coming here to-day," he remarked
+quietly.  "However, I am not surprised.  The damsel is truly fair to
+look on, and calculated to win a young man's heart.  But beware, I say--
+beware.  Now go in and pay your visit and inquire after her health, and
+say all the foolish things you proposed saying, and then come out again.
+I will wait for you, and we will ride back to Beauville together."
+
+This was not at all according to Herbert's intentions, yet he could not
+help himself without positively refusing to comply with the father's
+wishes.  He found the dame and her fair daughter within.  There was some
+constraint in their manner at first, but the latter was evidently
+pleased to see him.  He thought her not less lovely than on the previous
+evening.  The visit, however, was not such as he had anticipated.  In
+vain he tried to learn what Father Mathew had been saying about him.  At
+last he was obliged to take his leave and join the latter, who had been
+walking his horse up and down, waiting for him.  The young man had
+learned wisdom.
+
+"I will be even with him," he thought to himself.  "I will let him
+suppose that he is right, and that on a second visit I have not found
+the damsel as charming as I at first described her."
+
+He carried out his plan, but whether or not Father Mathew was deceived
+he could not tell; for the wary priest made no reply to his remarks by
+which he could judge what was passing in his mind.  When Roger returned,
+Herbert took good care to say nothing to him about fair Mistress
+Gertrude, and, somewhat to his surprise, Father Mathew was equally
+reserved on the subject.
+
+It was curious, however, that from that time forward his hounds or his
+hawks always led him in the direction of Donington, and, though he
+brought home less game than formerly, he never grumbled at his ill-luck.
+Perhaps both Roger and Father Mathew were watching him, but, if so, he
+was not aware of it, and was perfectly well satisfied with the course he
+was taking.  He found that Mistress Gertrude was not over strictly
+brought up, and that her parents did not object to her mixing with other
+young people, and enjoying the spoils and pastimes suitable to their
+age.  At all festivals and merry-makings Herbert became her constant
+attendant.  He cared not if any one remarked that he demeaned himself by
+associating as he did with a yeoman's family.  Master Alwyn did not
+object to his consorting with his daughter, and therefore no one else
+had any business to find fault with him.  He engaged warmly with other
+young men of his age in the various athletic sports then generally
+practised.  It was his delight to excel in them, and whenever he won a
+prize, as he often did, he was wont to bring it and place it at the feet
+of the fair Gertrude.  He did so with a right noble air, and it was
+often remarked that she received these attentions with a grace which not
+the first lady in the land could surpass.  He was not without rivals who
+desired to gain the chief place in her affections; not that she gave
+them any encouragement, for her heart was already entirely surrendered
+to Herbert.
+
+Among the many devices employed by that money-loving monarch, Henry the
+Seventh, was that of confiscating the property of any of his nobles or
+other wealthy persons who gave him cause of offence by rebelling or
+intriguing with his enemies.  Not far off resided a certain Master John
+Fisher, once a wealthy merchant in London, who had in an evil hour for
+himself purchased one of these estates, lately belonging to a Lord
+Nevile, of ancient lineage, much beloved in the country.  Master Fisher
+was a worthy honest man, and would have proved a greater benefactor to
+the people among whom he came to reside than he had afterwards the power
+of being, had not the king looked on his hordes as a mine of wealth from
+which it was his royal privilege to extract whatever he might require.
+The merchant had several sons, who naturally desired to live like the
+young lords and gentlemen around them.  One of them, Thomas Fisher, had
+set his eyes on Mistress Gertrude.  He had more fortune than his
+brothers, money having been bequeathed to him by an uncle, also a
+merchant.  His personal appearance was in his favour, and, altogether,
+he might have been considered a very good match for the yeoman's
+daughter.  Master Fisher, his father, however, did not approve of it,
+and desired that he should wed into some noble family, which would give
+him a better standing in the country than he could otherwise obtain.
+Thomas, however, was of an obstinate disposition, and would by no means
+give her up.  Wherever there was a prospect of meeting her there he was
+always to be found, though he had to confess that of late she certainly
+had given him very little encouragement.
+
+There was in the neighbourhood of Beauville Castle a large open common,
+in the centre of which were certain Druidical remains--huge blocks of
+stone, some like pillars standing upright, and others placed on a pivot
+over another by means the knowledge of which appears afterwards to have
+been lost.  One of these stones, the largest in the group, was so placed
+that the slightest touch would set it vibrating.  It was generally
+believed, however, that this could only be done by the good and
+virtuous, and that any one not deserving that character, though they
+might shake it ever so violently, could not move it.  Here, from near
+and far, it had been the custom of the youths and lasses to assemble on
+festivals and holidays to amuse themselves with the games and sports
+then in vogue.  Archers came to exhibit their skill.  Quintains were set
+up, at which young men delighted to run, with lance in rest, either on
+foot or on horseback.  Here were practised hurling the bar, casting the
+lance, running races, and other similar active sports; while on May-day
+a pole was set up, round which the morris-dancers assembled, and the
+Lord of Misrule held his court.  People of position in the county did
+not disdain to come to these merry meetings.  One fine afternoon, on the
+1st of May, 1493, a large number of persons of all ranks and ages were
+assembled in the neighbourhood--of the rocking-stone.  The still wealthy
+merchant, Master Fisher, and the yeoman, Master Alwyn, and Herbert's
+faithful guardian, Roger Bertram, and several knights and justices with
+their families, and Father Mathew, and other priests and curates, and
+not a few monks and friars, who had come with the spirit of pickpockets
+of the present day to try what they could filch from the pouches of the
+merry-makers.
+
+After the gay assemblage had got somewhat weary of the ordinary sports,
+a number of persons repaired to the rocking-stone, where they amused
+themselves by daring each other to give evidence of their virtuous lives
+by setting the stone rocking.  Several had gone forward, when the stone
+was clearly seen to vibrate.  At length the names of several damsels
+were called out, and, among others, Mistress Gertrude Alwyn was summoned
+to go forward and move the stone.  There might have been a slight blush
+on her cheek at appearing before so many people on such an undertaking;
+but yet, with a slight laugh and a smile on her lips, she advanced
+towards the stone.  There was a perfect silence among the crowd of
+spectators as she touched the stone.  It did not move.  Again and again
+she touched it, with all the force she could exert.  The stone remained
+as immovable as if part of the mass on which it rested.  There was a
+general groan uttered by the crowd, an evidence of their full belief in
+the truth of the legend, while, at the same moment, a piercing cry was
+heard, and the unhappy damsel was seen to fall fainting to the ground.
+Dame Alwyn ran forward to raise her daughter, followed by young Herbert
+de Beauville, who declared aloud that, for his part, he believed the
+stone might sometimes rock and sometimes cease to rock, but that this
+had nothing to do with the virtue or want of that quality in those who
+touched it.  There was a cry of "Heretic Lollard" from among the crowd,
+but Herbert silenced it by declaring that he would slit the tongue and
+break the head of any one who uttered it, or a word against the fair
+fame of Mistress Gertrude Alwyn.  The poor girl was mounted on a pillion
+behind her father and conveyed back to Donington, weeping bitterly.  A
+number of persons collected round the stone, and soon afterwards, on
+being touched by chance, it was seen to rock as before.
+
+Herbert remained some time behind the Alwyn family, stalking about with
+his hand on the hilt of his sword, evidently longing for an encounter
+with some one; but as no person present seemed disposed just then to
+beard him, he at length mounted his horse and rode after his friends.
+Again and again he assured Master Alwyn, and his dame, and sweet
+Mistress Gertrude of his disbelief in the knowledge of the stone of the
+character of those who touched it, and that he would not credit a word
+against her fair fame should the cardinal, or bishop, or the Pope
+himself utter it.  Gertrude thanked him with tears in her eyes, but
+begged him to return home and talk the matter over with Master Roger
+before he took any steps to vindicate her character, which he told her
+that he was resolved to do.  His worthy guardian did not look on the
+matter in the light he did.  He confessed that he did not believe that
+Mistress Gertrude was of light character, but that if the world did so,
+it was nearly as bad, and that she was not a fit bride for him.  Herbert
+did not see the matter in this light, and argued the point with great
+vehemence, and declared that nothing should prevent him from vindicating
+her character by marrying her forthwith.
+
+In this same year a claimant to the throne of England appeared in the
+person of a handsome youth, who pretended to be Richard Duke of York,
+second son of Edward the Fourth.  He had married the Lady Catherine
+Gordon, a cousin of the King of Scotland, who espoused his cause.  No
+sooner did he appear in arms than Herbert, faithful to the traditions of
+his family, prepared to join him.  He had no retainers, no money, only
+his own good sword and ardent young heart.  Roger was now too old to
+bear him company, much as he wished it.  He would, indeed, have
+dissuaded his young master from the enterprise, on the ground that the
+Houses of York and Lancaster were already united, and that, after all,
+the new claimant to the crown might be only a pretender, as was
+asserted, and not the true prince; but then he thought that absence
+might cure him of his love for Gertrude, and that mixing in courtly
+society might make him desirous of wedding with the fair Lady Barbara
+Fitz Osbert.  Roger was, however, far too wise to hint anything of the
+sort, and with inward satisfaction he saw him go to bid farewell to
+pretty Mistress Gertrude, hoping that the young people might never meet
+again.  Herbert, however, had no such thoughts in his mind.  Again and
+again he repeated his promise to Gertrude that he would remain faithful
+to her, and that, come weal or come woe, he would return, if alive, and
+marry her.  The world might say what it dared--might traduce and scorn
+her, but he would believe her true.  He spoke with so much earnestness
+that she believed him, and pledged her own word to be faithful to him in
+return.
+
+Not till Herbert had paid this farewell visit to Mistress Gertrude did
+the wily Father Mathew attempt to cast any slur on her character, or to
+dissuade his pupil from his intended marriage.  He left nothing unsaid
+which he thought could produce that result.  Every insinuation he dared
+make he whispered into Herbert's ear.  Roger also was not slow to
+support the curate's remarks, while at the same time he warmly praised
+the charms of the Lady Barbara Fitz Osbert, the heiress of the castle of
+Hardingham and its broad domains.  Herbert listened, pained in mind, and
+moved, but not convinced.  "Should she be fake, there is no virtue or
+faith in womankind, and I would as lief throw away my life in the first
+battle in which I am engaged as live."  Many young men have thought the
+same thing, and changed their mind.
+
+No sooner had Herbert taken his departure than Father Mathew, who had
+got into the confidence of Master Thomas Fisher, urged him to press his
+suit.  Old Master Fisher had become very much averse to it, on account
+of the reports which were current; but Thomas asserted that he
+disbelieved them, and that, in spite of all that might be said against
+Mistress Gertrude, he was resolved to marry her.
+
+Years rolled on; news came of the expedition of the Scotch king and the
+supposed prince into England, and of its failure.  After that nothing
+more was heard of the unfortunate husband of the Lady Catherine Gordon
+or of young Sir Herbert de Beauville, who had been knighted by the King
+of Scotland.
+
+Meantime a visitor had come to Donington.  He was evidently a man of
+superior birth.  He was frequently seen in the company of Mistress
+Gertrude, and various were the surmises about him.  Both Master Alwyn
+and his dame paid him the greatest respect.  He was somewhat advanced in
+life, though still strong and active.  His bronzed complexion, and more
+than one scar visible on his cheek, showed that he had been engaged in
+war in southern climes.  He did not appear to seek concealment, but at
+the same time not a word did he let drop which could allow people to
+guess who he was.  At length one day a dozen men-at-arms and several
+knights, with two led horses, appeared at Donington, and the stranger
+and Mistress Gertrude were seen to mount and ride away after an
+affectionate farewell of Master Alwyn and his dame.  No people were more
+puzzled than Roger Bertram and Father Mathew.  They remained at
+Beauville, holding the castle for Sir Herbert, though it seemed very
+doubtful whether he would ever return.  One day a wandering minstrel
+came to the neighbouring hamlet.  He approached a house, the bush hung
+over the door of which showed that entertainment for man and beast was
+to be obtained in the establishment.  The minstrel took his seat in the
+public room, and quickly entered into conversation with those around
+him.  His object seemed to be to obtain information about the persons in
+the neighbourhood.  Among others he asked after Master Alwyn and his
+dame.  They were living as before in the old house, and enjoying good
+health and strength.
+
+"They had a daughter," observed the minstrel, in a calm voice.
+
+"Oh, the hussy!--she long since went away with a gay knight, who came
+with a band to carry her off, and no one knows what has become of her,"
+answered his loquacious informant.
+
+"It is false!" exclaimed the minstrel, starting up.  Then, suddenly
+checking himself, he added: "I mean, such reports as these often get
+about without due foundation."
+
+However, he could not calm the agitation this information caused him,
+and, having paid his reckoning and slung the harp he carried over his
+shoulder, he left the house.  He took his way towards Beauville.  Father
+Mathew was standing at the entrance as he approached the old castle.
+
+"Go thy way--go thy way; we want no vagrants here.  We have enough of
+our own starving poor to feed without yielding to the rapacity of
+strangers," cried the father, eyeing him askance.
+
+The minstrel humbly turned aside, and, not far off, met old Roger
+Bertram.  He was about to avoid him, when Roger, eyeing him narrowly,
+hobbled forward, for he could not run, and, taking him in his arms,
+exclaimed:
+
+"My son--my own boy--my young master--and art thou really come back
+sound in limb and health?  Thrice happy is this day."
+
+The minstrel was no other than Sir Herbert de Beauville.  He seemed too
+much broken in spirits even to laugh at the way Father Mathew had
+treated him.  He had escaped, not without difficulty, after the defeat
+of the pretended Richard of York, who, acknowledging himself as Perkin
+Warbeck, had surrendered to the King.  Herbert had now only one object
+on earth for which he desired to live--to establish the fair fame of
+Mistress Gertrude Alwyn; and he had resolved, he said, to trace out the
+author of the calumnies he had heard against her, or, if he could not do
+that, to punish every one who had been known to utter them.
+
+It appeared that her disappointed suitor, Master Thomas Fisher, had been
+heard to repeat the evil reports concerning her.  Here, then, was an
+object on whom he could wreak his vengeance.  Master Fisher had, by
+means of the wealth which had fallen to him, been able to purchase a
+title and honours of the mercenary king, and he now gave himself all the
+airs of an old noble.  When, therefore, Sir Herbert challenged him to
+mortal combat on account of words uttered against the fair fame of a
+damsel undeserving of such reproach, he was compelled to accept the
+challenge.  Space does not permit a description of the combat.  The
+newly-made baron was overthrown, and as Sir Herbert stood over him with
+his drawn sword, he confessed that he had himself, in revenge, inserted
+a small pebble in a hole under the rocking-stone, by which it became
+fixed and incapable of moving.  On this Sir Herbert granted him his
+life, on condition that he should repeat the statement whenever he
+should so require him to do.  He had it also made out in writing and
+duly attested, and, with this document in his hand, he set out to visit
+Master Alwyn and his dame.  His heart sank within him when he learned
+from them that Mistress Gertrude was not their daughter, but the only
+child of the Earl of Fitz-Stephen, who had, by the sacrifice of a
+portion of his patrimony, which had gone into the king's coffers, lately
+regained the remainder.  His spirits, however, rose again when they
+encouraged him to hasten forthwith to, the earl's castle and to try his
+fortune with the lady, showing her the document he had brought with him.
+He followed their advice; the Lady Gertrude received him in a way to
+satisfy his utmost hopes, and presented him to her father as the only
+person she would ever marry.  They were accordingly wedded, and by
+living in privacy till the death of Henry, Sir Herbert escaped being
+implicated in the attempts made by the pretended Richard of York to gain
+the English crown.
+
+STORY THREE, CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY THREE--REGINALD WARRENDER; OR, EARLY DAYS AT ETON.
+
+"Reginald, my boy, I was at Eton myself, and, in spite of some
+drawbacks, I loved the old place right dearly, and so I intend to go
+with you, and to introduce you to all the spots I remember so well; but
+I don't suppose any of my old acquaintance and chums are still to be
+found there.  However, the very sight of the walls and towers of the
+school, the meadows, the river, and the Castle in the distance, will
+make me young again.  You will find a good deal of difference between it
+and where you have been before.  The discipline there is apt to take a
+good deal of pride and self-sufficiency out of a fellow--not that you
+have much of them, I hope.  The tutor I have chosen for you, Mr
+Lindsay, is a first-rate man.  You are to live in his house.  I was at a
+dame's--a real dame--a very good, old lady, though some are men you will
+find.  There is much the same discipline and order kept in both.  We
+will have our portmanteaus packed by Friday, so that we will sleep in
+London, and go down there on Saturday morning, that you may have the
+best part of that day and Sunday to look about you."
+
+These remarks were made by Squire Warrender to his son, who had hitherto
+been at a boarding-school, where he had received the first rudiments of
+his education.
+
+Reginald thanked his father for his intentions.
+
+"It will be very delightful to have you with me, papa," he exclaimed;
+"it will not feel at all as if I were going to school; and, besides,
+Eton is the place of all others I wished to go to.  I don't much fear
+the fagging or the bullying, and I can take pretty good care of myself
+now."
+
+In truth Reginald had no longer any dread about going to school.  He had
+accepted schooling as a necessity of boyish existence, and had made up
+his mind to endure all its ups and downs with equanimity.  The day for
+their departure arrived.  Mary, his sister, did not fail to promise to
+write as usual, and John assured his young master that he would take
+good care of Polly, his pony, and Carlo and the other dogs, and the
+ferrets, and all his other animate or inanimate treasures.  Reginald had
+been disinclined to accept Mrs Dawson's offer to fill a hamper with her
+stores; but the Squire recollected that in his time, at all events, such
+things were not looked on at all with contempt by the youngsters at
+Eton; so a hamper even better supplied than before was provided for him.
+The Squire and he started away in very good spirits, cutting jokes to
+the last as they drove off.  They had no time to see sights in London,
+and early the next morning, after breakfast, they started off with all
+Reginald's property for the Great Western station, and within an hour
+the latter found himself in the long-thought-of and often-pictured town
+of Eton.  He looked out eagerly on either side as they drove along
+towards his tutor's.  So did the Squire, especially when they reached
+the High Street.  Many a place did he seem to recognise.
+
+"Ah! there it is just as it was," he was continually exclaiming.
+"There's my old sock-shop--_soake_, a local term for baking, is the
+better spelling.  I spent money enough there, so perhaps they will
+remember me; so we will have a look in there by-and-by.  Ah! there's the
+Christopher too, where we will go and dine.  I dare say Lindsay will ask
+us; but I must be back in town to-night, and it would delay me to accept
+his invitation, and perhaps we may fall in with some acquaintance whom
+you may like to ask to dine with us."  The Christopher was an hotel,
+Reginald found, much patronised by the boys and their friends.  Mr
+Lindsay was in school, but Mrs Lindsay was at home, and received them
+very kindly.  Reginald thought her a very nice person, and so she was,
+and contributed much, as a lady always can if she sets the right way
+about it, to make the house thoroughly comfortable and pleasant to its
+inmates.  She told Reginald that his room was ready for him.  How proud
+he felt to find that he was to have one entirely to himself!  His things
+were at once taken up to it, and he begged the Squire to come up and
+have a look at it.  It was not very large; but the walls were neatly
+papered, and it looked perfectly clean.  Neither was the furniture of a
+grand description.  There was a bedstead, which, when turned up, looked
+like a cupboard, and a sideboard of painted deal, a small oak chest of
+drawers, or rather a bureau, in the upper part of which cups and
+saucers, and plates, and a metal teapot, and a few knives and forks and
+a muffin-dish, were arranged, and there was a deal table covered with a
+red cloth, and two rather hard horsehair-bottomed chairs.
+
+"Here we are, sir," said Reginald, as the maidservant with considerable
+discretion retired, that the young gentleman might look about him.  "Sit
+down and make yourself at home; I feel so already.  The place has
+capabilities, and I hope that the next time you pay me a visit, you will
+find that I have taken advantage of them.  I will get some pictures, and
+hang them up, and some pegs for my hats find fishing-rods, and hooks for
+my bats, and then a Dutch oven, and a frying-pan, and a better kettle
+than that will be useful in winter."
+
+"Perhaps you will not object to an arm-chair or a sofa," observed the
+Squire.
+
+"An arm-chair, certainly," answered Reginald, "thank you; but with
+regard to a sofa, they are all very well for women.  I think, however,
+that if a fellow's legs ache, he may put them up on another chair, and
+if he has got an arm-chair to lean back in, he will do very well."
+
+"You are right, Reginald; I hate luxurious habits," said the Squire.
+"Do not give way to them.  They are not so bad in themselves as in
+consequence of what they lead to--self-indulgence and indolence: this is
+the vice of the present day.  But come along, we have plenty to do."
+
+The Squire, leaving word that he would call again, took Reginald back
+into the town.  They were getting hungry, so very naturally they
+proceeded in the first place to the well-remembered sock-shop, known by
+the world at large as a pastry-cook's.  A supply of ices and strawberry
+messes was at once ordered and discussed with great gusto, buns and
+other cakes giving some consistency to the repast.  Who would have
+expected to see Squire Warrender, of Blessingham, who had not perhaps
+for years taken any other than a solid meat luncheon, with bottled
+stout, or a biscuit and a glass of wine, lunching off sweet cakes and
+strawberries and cream?  But the truth was, that he did not feel just
+then a bit like Squire Warrender, of Blessingham; he was once more
+little Reginald Warrender, somewhat of a pickle, and very fond of those
+said luscious articles.  To be sure another Reginald Warrender stood by
+his side; but he was, as it were, a part of himself, or it might he
+himself, or a younger companion.  At all events he felt a great deal too
+young just then to be anybody's father, and was quite surprised that the
+young women behind the counter did not recognise him.  Surely they were
+the very same he must have known.  While they were eating away, an old
+lady with spectacles on her nose, and a high white cap on her head, came
+into the shop.
+
+"I have come with this youngster here to show him about the place," said
+the Squire.  "This is a shop I used to know well once upon a time; but
+the young ladies here don't seem to recognise me."
+
+"I should think not," said the old lady, laughing, as did the young
+ones.  "Perhaps I might though, if I knew your name.  What years were
+you here?"
+
+The Squire told her.
+
+"I was about their age then, and stood where they now stand," she
+observed, as she went into an inner room, and brought down a longish
+parchment-covered volume.  "Oh, I now remember you perfectly well,
+Master Warrender," said she, turning over the pages, and evidently also
+forgetting how many years had rolled away since the Squire was Master
+Warrender.  "You were a very good customer of ours, that you were,
+indeed.  You had a good healthy appetite: six dozen oranges, three dozen
+queencakes, a couple of dozen hot-cross buns for breakfast on one
+occasion.  I suppose you didn't eat them all yourself though.  And now I
+see you left owing us a little account.  It was no great matter; only
+fifteen and sixpence for cherries and strawberries."
+
+"Sold, papa!" whispered Reginald, aside, and highly amused.  "It is
+pleasant, however, to be able to pay off old scores."
+
+"I fear that the account is too correct," said the Squire.  "Let me see,
+how was it?  Ah, I recollect--a wager, I am afraid.  Cleveland and I.
+We tried to see which could eat the most in a given time.  Don't you go
+and do such a silly thing though, Reginald, or I'll disinherit you.  He
+ought to have paid, for I beat him; but I ordered them.  Well, I will
+pay you now with interest."
+
+"Oh no, no, sir, thank you; I could not think of it," said the old lady.
+
+However, as she said the words in a tone which evidently did not mean
+that she positively would not receive the amount, the Squire pulled out
+a sovereign, and handed it to her.
+
+"There is the sum with interest--very small interest though," he
+observed.  "I wish that I could pay all the debts of my younger days as
+easily."
+
+The old lady was highly pleased, and promised to stand Reginald's
+friend, and to give him good advice whenever he would come to her.
+
+"And I wish, sir," said she, "that I could as easily get in all the
+debts owing to me."
+
+Thereon the Squire took occasion to impress very strongly on his son the
+importance of not running into debt.  "If you cannot pay for a thing,
+you should not get it," he remarked.  "Never mind how much you may want
+it.  You may fancy that you can pay some day; but before that day comes
+you will have wanted several other things, all of which have to be paid
+for out of this sum in prospect, which may possibly never come at all.
+Then one person will press for payment, and then another, and then you
+will think that there can be no harm in borrowing, and the chances are
+that you become the slave of the person from whom you borrow.  Take my
+advice, Reginald, keep out of debt and be free.  I have spoken only of
+worldly-wise motives for keeping out of debt, but it is morally wrong--
+it is dishonest.  The Bible says, `Owe no man anything.'  That is right,
+depend on it.  Some fellows fancy that it is fine and gentlemanly to run
+into debt, and that it is a spirited thing to bilk a tradesman.  I
+think, and I am sure you will, that it is one of the most ungentlemanly
+and blackguardly things to deprive any man of his just rights, not to
+say unchristianlike and despicable."
+
+This conversation took place as the Squire and his son were walking
+towards the school-house.  They walked about the noble edifice, under
+the fine arched gateway, and beneath its venerable walls.  Then they
+looked out upon the rich green meadows, and the avenue of lofty elms,
+and Reginald thought it a remarkably fine place, and began already to
+feel proud at being able to call himself an Eton boy.  As the boys were
+still "up," that is, in school, the Squire proposed walking down the
+town to have a look at the Castle, and some of the old places on the
+way.  As they were leaving the building, they met an old man with a
+vehicle loaded with tarts and buns, and cakes of all sorts.  As they
+passed close to him, he looked hard at the Squire, and said, "Beg
+pardon, sir, but I think I know you, sir, though it is a good many years
+since you ate any of my buns."
+
+"And I am very certain that I know you, old fellow," answered the
+Squire, highly delighted.  "You are Spankie himself, or I am very much
+mistaken."
+
+"You are right, sir, the same, and that young gentleman is your son just
+come up here; I should have known him in a moment from his likeness to
+you," said old Spankie.  "Never forget anybody I have once known.  Now I
+think of it, were not you one of those young gentlemen who played the
+trick to Mr Fowler, I think it was, or one of the masters of his time?
+What a good joke it was!  Ha, ha, ha!"
+
+"What joke do you mean?" asked the Squire.  "I remember no good joke
+that I ever played.  I am afraid that I had not wits enough."
+
+"I'll tell you, sir; if you were not one of them, it was somebody else,"
+answered old Spankie, who probably knew that well enough, but wanted to
+tell a good story to gain time that he might find out, if possible, who
+the old Etonian was--a fact of which he was in reality perfectly
+ignorant.  "Two of the young gentlemen, tall big lads for their ages,
+took it into their heads to dress up as foreigners of distinction, with
+moustaches and beards, and corked eyebrows, and spectacles, and large
+shirt-collars, with no end of gold chains, and such flash waistcoats,
+all of satin, and covered over with green and yellow and pink flowers.
+One was a Greek prince, and the other a Polish count, travelling for the
+improvement of their own mind, and with the intention of establishing a
+great public school like Eton in Greece or Turkey, or some outlandish
+place or other.  Well, there they were walking arm in arm through the
+High Street, looking into the shops and around them on every side, and
+stopping to admire the prospect whenever there was a prospect to admire,
+just for all the world like strangers who had never seen the place
+before.  They caught sight of Mr Fowler coming along; so says one to
+the other, `Let's sell him, and make him show us over the place.'
+`Agreed,' answers the other.  They had been keeping up all their airs,
+and they knew that he had seen them, so they marched boldly up to him,
+and making him a polite bow, says one of them, `Saire, I see dat you are
+one academic gentleman, and if you will be kind to two strangers vill
+you have de great goodness to show us over dis grand, dis magnificent
+town?'  Mr Fowler, who was born and bred in Eton, and was very proud of
+it, was highly delighted, and said that he would have the greatest
+pleasure in doing what they wished.  They knew that, and so they knew
+when to lay it on the thickest.  And so didn't they just praise the
+place and the masters, and everything they saw, and a great deal they
+said that they had heard, till he was quite beside himself.  Then they
+began talking Greek and Latin to him, and if he hadn't been so pleased
+he would have found them out.  Then they asked all sorts of questions
+about the school, and he promised to write out all the rules and
+regulations, and the whole plan on which it was conducted, and a good
+deal of its history, and all his own ideas about founding a school.  The
+more inclined they found him to write, the more questions requiring
+answers they plied him with; and ever after they boasted of the long
+imposition they had set him.  They gave him an address of a friend of
+theirs in London, and begged him to send what he had written there.  He
+did send it, and they got it too, and they used to show his lucubrations
+with no little pride, and all he had said about the school.  He would
+have been in a rage had he found them out.  They asked to see one of the
+houses just as they were passing their own tutor's, with whom they knew
+he was intimate, and they actually made him show them their own rooms.
+It was a wonder they were not discovered, for there on the table in one
+of the rooms was a wig and a false pair of moustaches.  They hurried out
+in a great fright, saying that they did not think it was right to
+intrude on the privacy of any young students.  At last, when they had
+pretty well walked Mr Fowler off his legs, and got tired themselves,
+they wished him good-bye, with a profusion of thanks, and betook
+themselves to the Christopher.  They had invited him to dine with them
+at an hour they knew he could not come--not but what they would have
+been very happy to see him, but they thought the risk was too great--he
+might have found them out eating.  They had a jolly good dinner at the
+Christopher, and then they paid their bill and waited till dark, when
+they pulled off their moustaches and beards, and put on pea-coats,
+slipping out unobserved, and so got back safe to their rooms.  One of
+them told me all about it afterwards, and I couldn't help thinking you
+was him, sir."
+
+The Squire was milch amused, and encouraged old Spankie to continue his
+narrations.
+
+"Well, sir, if it wasn't you sold Mr Fowler so cleverly, it surely was
+you who got up the great donkey race on the Slough road, just outside
+Eton."
+
+"Suppose it was me, or suppose it was not, just do you tell my boy here
+all about it.  I like to hear you speak of old times," answered the
+Squire.
+
+"Well, sir, the young gentlemen got hold of two fine donkeys, and turned
+out in regular jockey costume,--caps, silk jackets, top boots, and all.
+Great swells they looked, and there was no end of boys went out to see
+them.  The whole road was full for a mile or more.  A course was formed,
+and off they set; but donkeys never will run when you want them, or,
+rather, they always will run when you don't want them.  As ill-luck
+would have it, who should come by but the Doctor.  He wasn't a man a bit
+less than the present to play a joke with.  What should one of the
+racers do but run right against his carriage, and make the horses kick
+and rear, and, in spite of all the unhappy jockey could do, he couldn't
+get him away.  The Doctor just saw who they were, and though it may be
+supposed he was in a towering rage, says he quietly enough, `Go to your
+tutors and report yourselves, and come to me this evening.'  Of course
+they knew that they would get flogged, and so one of them provided
+himself with a pair of wicket-keeping gloves, and went in quite boldly.
+`It's my duty to flog you,' says the Doctor--`strip.'  `It's my duty to
+save my skin,' says the young gentleman, putting on his gloves quite
+deliberately; and when the Doctor began, he warded off all the cuts till
+the master grew weary.  Then he handed them to his friend, who put them
+on and saved himself in the same way.  Of course they got all the credit
+of being flogged, and were laughed at for their pains, till they told
+how they had saved themselves with their cricketing gloves."
+
+"Tell that story to the marines," said the Squire.  "However, I dare say
+some of it is true enough; but I wasn't one of the jockeys, and I
+wouldn't advise my son to imitate them either.  However, old friend, I
+like to hear you talk of bygone days, and here's a five shilling piece.
+Let my son take it out in buns and tarts when he has a mind to do so."
+
+"Thank ye, sir, thank ye," said old Spankie, and the Squire walked on,
+knowing that he had secured another friend for Reginald.  They hurried
+on to Windsor Castle, which had been much altered and beautified since
+the Squire had seen it, and certainly, rising up as it does from its
+richly-green forest, with its terraces and towers, it has a peculiarly
+handsome and regal appearance.  When they got back, the boys were just
+coming out from two o'clock absence, and were running off to their
+dames' and tutors' houses.  The Squire looked narrowly at them as they
+passed, to try and find the sons of any of his acquaintance who might be
+there.  Had he written to ascertain the houses they belonged to, he
+would easily have discovered them.  Suddenly Reginald left his father's
+side, and ran after a boy whose hand he seized and wrung warmly.
+
+"What, Warrender, are you come here?" asked his friend.
+
+"Indeed I am," answered Reginald; "but I had no notion that you were
+here, Power.  How very fortunate I am to find you!  But come along, I'll
+introduce you to my father.  He'll want you to dine with us."
+
+Of course Power was nothing loth to accept the invitation.  He had come
+up just in time, before he was too old, and had at once taken a fair
+standing in the school, being in the upper division of the Fourth Form,
+and about to go into the lower remove.  He was, too, in Reginald's own
+house, which was a very great satisfaction.  The Squire at length found
+out the son of a friend of his--young Anson, and invited him to join his
+dinner-party at the Christopher.  As he wanted to see the cricketing and
+boating in the afternoon, he had ordered dinner early; and, saying he
+might not exactly know what Eton boys of the present day liked, he had
+left the selection of the dishes to the landlord.  A very merry party
+they were seated round the dinner-table at the Christopher, and ample
+justice did they all do to the dinner provided.  The Squire wished to
+give the boys the best of everything, so he ordered champagne and
+claret.
+
+"Wine?" said Anson, looking at Power.
+
+The latter nodded, and with due gravity they hobnobbed together, tossing
+off the sparkling contents of their tall glasses.
+
+"Very good wine they give at the Christopher," observed Anson to the
+Squire; "in my opinion, this Chateau Margaux claret is about as
+first-rate tipple as one finds anywhere."
+
+"I fancied their Lafitte was better, and ordered it accordingly,"
+answered the Squire, much amused at his young friend's remarks.
+
+"Oh, certainly, I am very glad of that," quickly replied Anson.  "The
+fact is, I had not tasted their Lafitte, and supposed that they could
+have nothing better than their Chateau Margaux."
+
+"Try this, then," said the Squire, pushing a bottle of freshly-decanted
+claret towards him; "say what you think of it."
+
+"Perfect nectar," answered the young gentleman, smacking his lips.
+"This beats the other hollow.  I must row mine host for not giving us
+his best wine the last time I dined with my uncle here."
+
+"We were not so particular in my days," observed the Squire; "good
+honest port and sherry sufficed us.  But I tell you what, lads, stick to
+the light wines, and a moderate quantity of them will do you no harm;
+but eschew spirits-and-water, or spirits in any shape, as you would
+poison, and when you drink beer, don't go swilling away huge quantities,
+as I see some fellows doing, as if their insides were mere tuns made to
+hold liquor.  Just look at the great, fat, pursy, bloated fellows you
+often meet, and think how you would like to become as they are.  Well,
+they brought themselves to that state by swilling beer and
+spirits-and-water.  Others have sent themselves to their graves by the
+same means, and others, though not pursy, have lost their health and
+stamina, and spirits, and are burdens to themselves, and useless in the
+world."
+
+Reginald used to say of his father that he did not preach much, but that
+he had a wonderful way of bringing in good advice, and sugaring it at
+the same time.  In the present instance he was washing down a temperance
+harangue with champagne and claret.  He knew that his advice would much
+more likely be taken than if he had ordered toast-and-water and small
+beer for dinner.
+
+In very good humour with themselves, with the world in general, and with
+Eton in particular, which Reginald thought a first-rate place indeed,
+they sallied forth into the playing-fields, where several cricket
+matches were going on.  One, Oppidans against Collegers, excited most
+interest, because there always is, though there ought not to be, a good
+deal of party-feeling between the collegers, the boys on the foundation,
+and those who are not; the latter, who are more frequently sons of men
+of wealth and influence, looking down upon those who have gained their
+position by their talents and industry.  The broad smooth green meadows,
+with the fine grey school buildings, and their magnificent trees rising
+up behind them, presented a very gay and animated appearance.  Numbers
+of boys in their picturesque cricketing costumes were lying about in all
+directions--England's nerve and spirit, and head and heart--those who
+were hereafter to head her armies and guide her councils.  Little wotted
+they then of the destinies in store for some of them.  A stranger might
+have said, as he saw their active forms bounding here and there--There
+is England's bone and muscle.  So there was, but that is to be found
+rather in her wide fields, in her mines, her coal-pits, on her broad
+quays, in her manufactories, in her towns, and on her railroads.  The
+different games were sufficiently apart, so as not to interfere with
+each other.  Round each of the scorers knots of amateurs were collected,
+watching the game with intense interest, and applauding or condemning,
+as each hit was well or ill made or fielded.  At a respectful distance
+from the wide-flying balls, a number of ladies, and children, and
+nurses, and other spectators, wandered about admiring the play or the
+cricketers.
+
+"Come along here," said Power to the Squire and Reginald, as he led them
+up to one of the best spots for witnessing the sport; "it's a hard-run
+game--well hit, Hawkins--beautifully run!--he's my tutor's pupil--the
+others will have hard work to get him out--I've known him score twice as
+many as any other fellow in the eleven--bravo, Langdale!--a first-rate
+hit--well fielded, too--he'll get caught out though--he often does--he
+hits too wildly."
+
+So Power ran on.  The Squire at once entered into the spirit of the
+game.  He clapped his hands as enthusiastically as any boy.  "Capitally
+hit!--Smartly run!" he shouted.  "Reggie, my boy, I wish that you were
+playing.  Well done!  Who is that tall fellow with the light hair?  He
+caught out Langdale in fine style.  You said he would be caught out."
+
+"Oh, that's Gull, an Oppidan," answered Power; "he's one of their best
+fielders.  Who is going in next, I wonder?  Beaumont, I see.  Ah, he's
+one of our crack players."
+
+"Beautiful! beautiful!" shouted the Squire, as other hits were made.
+"Capital--first-rate--bravo--bravo--well run--a superb hit!"
+
+His animated remarks soon drew the attention of the boys towards him.
+When they heard from Anson that he was an old Etonian, they regarded him
+with a respect he might not otherwise have obtained, and all were eager
+to show him any attention in their power.  They went on end had a look
+at the other games, and at last the hour came when it was necessary for
+the Squire to turn his steps towards the station.  He had also on his
+way there to introduce Reginald to his tutor, Mr Lindsay.  Old Spankie
+had been looking out for them.  He had seen Power with him, and thus
+learned his name and all about him.
+
+"Ah, Mr Warrender," quoth the man of buns and tarts; "it's a great
+pleasure to feel that you remembered me, as well as I remembered you.
+The moment I set my eyes on that young gentleman, I was certain that he
+was your son.  If he had come alone, I should have known that his name
+was Warrender."
+
+This assertion was even more than the Squire could well swallow.
+
+"I used to find your buns more digestible than your word; I hope they
+are so now," he answered, laughing.
+
+The Squire did not forget a good thing when he said it himself, and this
+saying was many a time afterwards repeated to his own infinite
+satisfaction at Blessingham.  He was able most conscientiously to
+introduce Reginald with a very good character to Mr Lindsay, who being
+a good physiognomist, was satisfied that he had got a tractable pupil.
+The three boys accompanied the Squire to the station.  Reginald did not
+feel a particle of sadness till just as the Squire was getting into the
+carriage, and then a suffocating sensation rose up in his throat which
+made him feel that he must have a good hearty cry--not for himself, but
+it was a reminder of how much he loved his father.  Away rattled, and
+puffed, and smoked, and steamed the train, and Reginald Warrender was
+left to his own resources.
+
+STORY THREE, CHAPTER TWO.
+
+Reginald, with Power and Anson, as soon as they had seen the Squire off,
+hurried back to the Brocas--some fields on the banks of the river.  The
+rapidly-flowing stream passes by them, and on its smooth but somewhat
+sedgy current all sorts of boating were taking place, and Reginald was
+quickly initiated into a knowledge of the variety of craft used by the
+boys.  As he was very well up to boating, he found no difficulty in the
+matter.
+
+"Here, you see," said Power, "we have one ten-oared and six eight-oared
+boats.  Any boy in the Fifth form may join them.  There is another upper
+and four lower Fifth-Form boats.  We speak of the three upper and four
+lower boats.  There is a captain for each of them, and he selects his
+crew from among the fellows who wish to join.  You observe that the crew
+of each boat has a different uniform, and on grand occasions, when all
+appear in full dress, we flatter ourselves that we appear to great
+advantage.  Besides these, there are what we call outriggers, and
+tunnies, and tubs; and, of course, you will at once have one of them."
+
+"Which do you intend to be, Warrender, a `dry bob,' or a `wet bob'?"
+said Anson, coming up to them.  "I hope the latter."
+
+Reginald did not exactly know what this meant; but as Anson had given
+him a hint, he answered, "Oh, of course a wet bob."
+
+"Oh, ah, that's the swell thing.  I am glad of it.  I thought you were
+the sort of fellow for wet-bobbing."
+
+Reginald found that wet-bobbing consisted in paddling about in a boat of
+one's own, even though it might be only a "tub," or dinghy.
+
+"But, I say, can you swim?" asked Anson; "because you know that you will
+not be able to boat till you have `passed.'"
+
+"What's passing?" asked Reginald.
+
+"Oh, I'll tell you," said Anson.  "A good number of fellows from time to
+time got drowned from boats being capsized, and at last a law was passed
+that no fellow should be allowed to boat till he had passed a swimming
+examination before certain of the masters.  We have an old waterman,
+Harry Cannon, who teaches the lower boys to swim at Cuckoo Weir.  As
+soon as he thinks a fellow can swim well enough he advises him to have a
+try the next passing day.  It's great fun to see the weather-beaten old
+fellow Harry in his Eton blue coat and Eton arms worked in silver on his
+sleeve, as he sits in his punt from one end to the other of a summer's
+day, dangling lower boys at the end of a short blue pole.  Often
+fellows, if they have any pluck, can swim in two or three weeks.  They
+make nothing of bathing three times a day in summer when they are
+learning to swim.  Just go any warm summer day to Cuckoo Weir, after
+twelve, or after four, or after six, and you'll find it crowded with
+fellows bathing, and many of them waiting till Harry can give them a
+turn in his belt.  On a passing day two or three of the masters come
+down and take their stand just above `Middle Steps.'  A punt then
+carries out a number of shivering and rather funking fellows into the
+middle of the stream, and as the master gives the word, one after
+another jumps overboard, and according to his pluck takes a `rat's
+header' or `forter.'  Then away they swim to the lower steps, and if
+they get there in safety and in pretty good style, they have to swim out
+again from where the master is standing, turn, and come back when he
+calls.  If they sing out like Caesar, `Help me, Cassius, or I sink,'
+they are handed over again to Harry Cannon for further instruction; but
+if the master says `You'll do,' then the chances are that some of the
+friends of the fellow who has passed have come up in a boat, and they
+say that they will take him down to the Brocas if he will steer them.
+The probabilities are, that he knows nothing about steering, and as
+little about the sides of the river he ought to keep; so, of course, he
+will run them into the bank once or twice, if not oftener, before they
+get into the real river at `Bargeman's Bridge,' and he is certain to get
+in the way of an eight just below Brocas Clump, from not crossing over
+soon enough.  But you'll know all about this before long, so I needn't
+have told you, except that it is useful to know what you have to go
+through.  I forgot to tell you that the bathing-place to which the fifth
+form go is called Athens, and of course it is a good deal better than
+Cuckoo Weir."
+
+Reginald thanked Anson very much for his graphic account of their
+bathing and boating, and he said that he should, thanks to Toby Tubb's
+instruction, get passed on the first passing day, that he might at once
+begin boating.
+
+This resolution was very much applauded, for both Power and Anson were
+warm advocates of boating.  It was now nearly lock-up time, so they had
+to go back to their tutors.  On their way Reginald was accosted by a
+number of boys, who, in pretty sharp tones, inquired his name.
+
+"Are you at a dame's house?"
+
+"No; I am in Mr Lindsay's house," he answered.
+
+"I say, are you come to school here?  What's your name, then?" asked
+another.  "What house are you in?"
+
+Reginald told him.  So on it went till nearly a hundred boys had made
+the same inquiries, and received the same answer.  Reginald was not
+sorry to get back to Mr Lindsay's, for he was really beginning to get
+tired, and be a little hungry, too, in spite of his dinner at the
+Christopher.  Power and Anson came to his room to help him put it in
+order; but he had a considerable number of other visitors, mostly
+Fourth-Form boys, who came in to ask him his name, and to make him tell
+all about himself.
+
+"I knew a Warrender," said one.  "Are you his cousin?  He was a fellow
+with a hooked nose and hawk's eyes."
+
+"Warrender you mean," put in another; "Warrender who was here was a very
+good-looking fellow, only he squinted with one eye, and never could
+parse a line of Horace correctly."
+
+Reginald said that he had no cousin that he knew of, though he might
+possibly be related to the talented individual spoken of.  The answers
+he made to the very miscellaneous and unexpected questions put to him
+satisfied them that the new boy was no "muff."  The lower boys
+especially felt a great respect for him, because he acted in so very
+different a way from what they had done, and took all things so
+completely us matters of course.  He went into Power's room to take tea,
+where Anson and two or three other fellows of Power's standing joined
+them.  He was in the lower Fifth Form.  Shortly before bed-time they
+went down to the hall to supper.  Here he, of course, had again to reply
+to the various questions put to him by boys he had not before met.  Then
+Mr Lindsay invited him to come and have some conversation, and seemed
+tolerably satisfied by the answers he made to all the questions put to
+him.  A bell then rang, and the names of all the boys belonging to the
+house being called over by one of the praepositors, to ascertain that
+none were missing, prayers were read by Mr Lindsay, after which all the
+boys retired to their rooms to go to bed.  Reginald, as may be supposed,
+very quickly tumbled into his, and went to sleep.  Thus ended the first
+day at Eton.
+
+At his age we are apt to count time by days, and to note especially the
+events of each day.  As we grow older, we reckon oftener by weeks--
+advancing, we think it enough to note what has happened during each
+month, till at last the years themselves slip by with almost the
+rapidity, we fancy, of our earlier days.  Two important things with
+reference to this remark should be remembered when we are young.  One
+is, that we must prepare for the future, or the future which we have
+fancied so far off will come suddenly and find us unprepared; another
+is, that we should learn to wait patiently for events till they occur,
+being assured that they will occur, and that we should, in the meantime,
+endeavour to employ ourselves to the best possible advantage.  Many a
+young man fancies that it is not worth while preparing for what cannot
+happen for so long a time; or again, that the time has already passed
+for doing a thing, and that it is useless to attempt it.  This is
+especially the case with regard to commencing some useful employment, or
+preparing for a profession.  It is never too late to be employed
+usefully.  Many a man has risen high in a profession into which he has
+not entered till late in life.
+
+Sunday is truly a day of rest at Eton.  Reginald found that he was not
+expected to get up till nearly nine o'clock.  As he was always an early
+riser, he was dressed before eight, and set to work systematically to
+unpack his clothes and to put them away.  Then he sat down to read, and
+the book he read every boy will do well to read, not only on Sundays,
+but on other days in the week.  After he had read a couple of chapters,
+he found that he had still some time to spare, so he arranged the books
+he had brought on some book-shelves hanging against the wall, and then
+Power came in and told him that he must come and breakfast with him.
+Prayer bell next rang, and all the boys in the house assembled in the
+hall, when, as usual, Mr Lindsay read prayers.
+
+Reginald was much surprised to find so many big fellows either in the
+sixth form, or in the upper Middle-Fifth--from fifteen years old up to
+nineteen and even twenty--in every respect full-grown men.  As he looked
+at them he thought to himself, "I suppose that I shall have to be fag to
+some of those big fellows--clean their boots, and brush their clothes.
+Well, patience; many a better fellow than I am has done the same thing,
+and not been the worse for it.  Whoever fags me shall not have to
+complain that I am in a sulky pet--that I'm determined."  Prayers over,
+they all hurried to breakfast.
+
+Reginald accompanied Power to his room, where three or four other
+fellows were assembled.  He was scarcely prepared for the capital repast
+he found spread.  There were a couple of cold chickens and a tongue,
+some potted meat or other, and his well-known acquaintance, a pot of
+orange marmalade, one of strawberry jam, and some honey.  There were
+both tea and coffee, a good allowance of butter (there is a regular
+quantity served out), and a large pile of hot rolls,--three, he found,
+being served every day to each boy.
+
+Breakfast occupied nearly an hour, and very pleasant Reginald found it.
+He then had to get ready for morning chapel at eleven.
+
+"I am glad to see that you have brought a couple of good hats," observed
+Power.  "I was afraid that you might have thought that you could go
+about Osberton fashion in a cap or tarpaulin.  We here, you see, never
+wear anything but black hats, except with cricketing and boating
+dresses.  Remind me to have a look at your other things to see that they
+are all right.  It's as well to be particular.  If you are, you'll take
+a good standing at once in the school among the fellows: better by half
+be a dandy than a sloven or a muff."
+
+On their way to chapel Reginald was accosted continually as on the day
+before by fellows asking his name and all sorts of questions, but he had
+a ready and a good-natured answer for all.
+
+He did not think that there was much devotion at chapel, especially as a
+great number of the boys came provided with a store of sacking things,
+with which they were continually filling their mouths, such as
+lollipops, sugar-candy, barley-sugar, and other sweet compositions.
+
+It is extraordinary what an amount of these inside-deranging mixtures,
+supplied by the renowned Spankie and other men at the Wall, lower boys
+at Eton will consume.  The Wall, _par excellence_, Reginald soon found
+out is a low wall in front of the upper school, outside the school-yard.
+"The men at the Wall" are sellers of "sock;" that is, eatables--sweet
+mixtures generally.  They are so called from usually taking their stand
+there.  Old Spankie has been described as a soft-tongued fat old man,
+who professed to know about everything and about everybody.  He carries
+a tin, and deals mostly in buns and jam.  Another man wheels in a
+hand-cart after every school-time, from which he produces ices,
+strawberry messes, and sucking-things of all sorts.
+
+"You remember the Squire's advice," observed Power; "I adhere to his
+principles, but all the fellows don't.  It is extraordinary how they
+will run into debt with those men, and more than anticipate their next
+half-year's pocket-money--little geese that they are.  It enrages me to
+see some of them sucking and eating away all the day long, as if that
+was their chief object in life.  I call them sucking babies, but it
+would be difficult to break them of the practice.  I have known fellows
+at the beginning of the half obliged to dodge those cake-men as if they
+were bum-bailiffs and they gentlemen in difficulties, either going into
+the school-yard by the lower school passage, or else sneaking in close
+behind a master, knowing that they would not attempt to attack them in
+his presence.  It is extraordinary what some of them will eat.  I was
+once fagged by two Fifth-Form boys who were `staying out,' that is,
+supposed to be too unwell to go into school, and what do you think it
+was for?  You would scarcely believe me when I tell you that these sick
+fellows, and I suppose that there was something the matter with them,
+had laid a wager one against the other, that they would eat six dozen
+oranges a-piece.  The one who could not manage it was, of course, to be
+the loser.  The two dozen I got them was, I know, the fifth instalment.
+One ate rather more than six dozen, the other was very sick when he had
+finished the fifth; but you may depend on it, both of them had to `stay
+out' for two or three days after it, and to take no end of medicine."
+
+"I should think so, nasty pigs!" exclaimed Reginald, who, although he
+could make very good play with his knife and fork at dinner or
+breakfast, had a great contempt for sweatmeat and sugar-plum eaters.
+
+"You are right," said Power.  "Those sort of fellows are mere gratifiers
+of a low animal propensity, like the unlicked cubs of a bear, who will
+steal sugar wherever they can find it.  I never put much confidence in
+such fellows, and I wish Etonians could be cured of the habit."
+
+Reginald was very anxious to have an insight into the plan of the school
+arrangements, and Power undertook to enlighten him.
+
+"In the first place," he observed, "you must understand that there is
+the Lower School, and whatever the boys belonging to it may think of
+themselves, it is but a very insignificant appendage to the
+establishment of Eton.  It is generally composed of small boys, who have
+been to no other school.  It is, indeed, more of a private school with
+none of the advantages of one, and all the disadvantages of a public
+school.  So I will say no more about it, and you, at all events, will
+not belong to it.  The Upper School, which is really Eton, is divided,
+in the first place, into Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Forms.  The Fourth
+Form is again separated into two parts--the lowest retains its name, and
+the other is called the Remove.  The Fourth Form is subdivided into
+Lower, Middle, and Upper, and the Remove into Lower and Upper.  The
+Fifth Form is also divided into Lower, Middle, and Upper, and these
+divisions are again subdivided according to convenience, usually into
+three divisions each.  The Sixth Form consists of twenty fellows,
+namely, ten Oppidans and ten Collegers.  The boys on the foundation are
+called Collegers: the management of the College and the Collegers is a
+very complicated matter.  They are the fellows you see going about in
+heavy black cloth gowns.  They go by the name of `Tugs,' which is short
+for tug muttons, because they used, it is said, to be fed on tough
+mutton.  The lower boys treat Tugs with great contempt, because they
+look down upon them as belonging to an inferior class.  This they should
+not do, and it is arrant folly into the bargain; for many a Tug has
+risen to be a Lord Chancellor, or to fill one of the highest offices of
+the State, while the self-satisfied Oppidan, who has snubbed him as a
+boy, has ended his days as a sub in a marching regiment, having run
+through all his property before he was of age.  High up in the school
+there is a good deal of party-feeling indulged in by fellows who ought
+to know better.  It comes out when `Collegers and Oppidans' are being
+played, either at football or cricket."
+
+"I do not think that I shall ever be able to remember all about the
+Fourth and Fifth Forms and Removes," said Reginald.
+
+"Here you have it in black and white, then," said Power.  They were
+sitting in his room after chapel, enjoying that _otium cum dignitate_
+which an Etonian learns so well to value.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+1.  Lower School, composed of small boys neither learned nor wise.
+
+Fourth Form: 2.  Lower. 3.  Middle. 4.  Upper.
+
+Remove. 5.  Lower. 6.  Upper.
+
+Fifth Form.
+
+7.  Lower, with about three divisions.
+
+8.  Middle, with about three divisions.
+
+9.  Upper, with about three divisions.
+
+10.  Sixth Form, composed of ten Oppidans and ten Collegers.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+"When a fellow like you, for instance, arrives first, if he has been at
+a good private school, his tutor examines him.  If he thinks well of him
+he is placed in the Upper Fourth, or perhaps in the Remove at once.  If
+he is not above the average, he joins the Lower Fourth, with the rest of
+the unplaced.  He remains in it till `Trials,' which come off about a
+month after the beginning of the half.  According to his knowledge, he
+is then placed finally in the Lower, Middle, or Upper Fourth.  Now you
+must understand that although Fourth Form is in the Upper School, yet
+all below Fifth Form, that is, Upper and Lower Remove, and Fourth Form,
+are called `Lower Boys.'  All Lower Boys are liable to be fagged, so
+that `Lower Boy' is equivalent to `Fag.'  Lower Fourth is generally in
+the hands of a young master, and, like puppies not yet broken in, they
+are consequently very disorderly.  There are also always a few fellows
+at the top of the division who have come out of Lower School, and take
+considerable delight in putting the new-comers up to mischief.
+New-comers have a fortnight's `law' before they are liable to be fagged.
+This is to give them time to look about them, and to learn the ways of
+the school.  At the end of that time the captain of their house allots
+them to some master.  As to fagging, I decidedly say in a large school
+like this it is a very great advantage, and wonderfully assists the
+governing powers by giving a number of fellows who would otherwise be
+idle something to do.  It teaches, also, fellows to take care of
+themselves, as well as some accomplishments which they may find very
+useful in after-life, when they come to knock about the world.  After
+all, too, what are the hardships?  A fellow has to lay his master's
+cloth for breakfast, get his muffins and eggs, make his tea and his
+toast, and be ready to cook a mutton chop and anything else he may
+require.  He may also have to clean his shoes and brush his clothes, but
+in that there is nothing very terrible.  The only disagreeable part of
+house fagging is being sent out at odd hours or in bad weather to get
+things when a fellow would be rather sitting in his own room.  There is
+no cricket or football fagging here, but out of doors a Fourth Form boy
+is liable to be fagged by any one in the Upper or Middle Fifth Form,
+either to run on errands, to buy things for him, or to stand behind a
+Five's court, and to pick up the balls, or to carry books for him.  This
+may be called miscellaneous fagging.  The captain of Upper Remove is
+excused fagging by custom.  Lower Fifth neither fags nor can be fagged.
+`Upper Lower' can fag miscellaneously, but cannot own private fags.
+Middle Fifth seldom have fags `of their own,' as the captain of their
+house probably appropriates three or four, and gives the second captain
+two or three, and so on, and thus uses up the `Lower boys,' before they
+come to the end of the Upper Fifth.  The most unpleasant fagging
+certainly is behind the `Five's walls.'  The old ones, you will find,
+are between the chapel buttresses in the school yard.  You are fortunate
+in having come up in the middle of the half, because you will have time
+to become known to fellows, and will be saved a considerable amount of
+annoyance.  If you had come at the beginning of the half, you would have
+found that the Fifth Form arrived two or three days after you.  The next
+day all the Lower boys are collected together, and are then allotted to
+the Fifth Form, as I have described.  The Fourth Form are made to do the
+greater part of their lessons under their tutor's eye, but boys higher
+up in the school do nearly all their work in their own rooms, and only
+just go over it with their tutor when it is known.  This, of course, is
+a great advantage, as we can learn all our lessons when we like, and are
+not tied down in any way.
+
+"There are two examinations--one from Upper Fourth into Lower Remove;
+and the second, which is the hardest, from Lower Fifth into Upper and
+Lower Fifth.  A boy takes a step upwards twice a year, unless he should
+be plucked at one of these examinations; so that suppose he is placed in
+the Middle Fourth--about the average place occupied by a new boy--it
+will take him two years to get into Lower Fifth, the ambition of every
+one, as he is then, as I have said, exempted from fagging.
+
+"Every saint's day here is a whole holiday.  Saturday is always a
+half-holiday, and there is one other half-holiday every week; so that
+the number of hours we are in school is very limited.  Yet it is so
+contrived that we have at no time but a little over two hours to
+ourselves.  On whole holidays there are two chapels--one at eleven
+o'clock, and another at three o'clock.  There is a roll-call at two
+o'clock, just before dinner, and another at six o'clock.
+
+"Generally speaking, we get up at half-past seven.  There is school for
+three-quarters of an hour.  We have repetition usually for most days in
+the week.  Breakfast always at nine.  School at eleven, as also at
+three, and a quarter-past five.  School lasts only about three-quarters
+of an hour at a time.  Dinner always at two.  Lock-up at night varies
+from five to a quarter to nine.  We have supper at nine, and go to bed
+at ten.  So you see, in the natural order of events, we have no very
+overpoweringly hard work.  The time from morning school to breakfast is
+known as `After Eight,' because, you see, we come out of school at
+eight.  From breakfast till school again, `After Ten,' because breakfast
+is supposed to be over at ten; and for the same reason from school to
+dinner is called `After Twelve,' from dinner to school `After Two,' from
+school to school `After Four,' and in summer from school till lock-up
+`After Six.'  There is, I should have said, also every week one play
+after four, which means three o'clock school, but none at five o'clock.
+On half-holidays there is `absence,' that is, calling over names at two
+o'clock, and in summer at six; and on half-holidays there is church at
+three instead of school.  On whole holidays there is `absence' at a
+quarter-past nine, and church at eleven as well as at three.
+
+"Of late years, mathematics, which used to be neglected entirely, have,
+with great advantage, been introduced at Eton.  There are several
+mathematical masters, who have their different schools.  Each division
+goes to the mathematical school three times a week.  At first the
+fellows set their faces very much against the system, and even the
+classical masters didn't seem much to approve of the innovation; but
+they now all see the importance of it, and mathematical studies are now
+as popular as any other.  The Reverend Stephen Hawtrey is the principal.
+Donkeys may sneer and bray at him, which donkeys always find it very
+easy to do; but a more philanthropical, kind-hearted, sensible, and
+religious man is not to be found.  I remember when the mathematical
+schools were first opened, the fellows tried to cough down the masters
+when they began to lecture.  They got also cat-calls, penny-trumpets,
+and all sorts of things to make a noise, and then had strings made fast
+to them, which they carried up their sleeves.  Scarcely had the masters
+begun to speak than they commenced their row.  Now one of the masters
+was an old naval officer who had been to Cambridge, and not at all a
+sort of person to play tricks with.  They tried it on once or twice with
+him, and he seemed not to take much notice of their proceedings.  His
+eye, however, was marking those who were making most noise, and in the
+midst of the greatest row down he pounced upon them, and, feeling for
+the strings inside their waistcoats, made a grand seizure of
+penny-trumpets, whistles, cat-calls, and similar musical instruments.
+He told them quietly that he did not wish to have any of them flogged,
+but that if it occurred again he should desire the praepositor to put
+them `in the bill.'  This is, as you will find, for a fellow to have his
+name written on a slip of paper, and sent up to the Head Master.  The
+fellow whose name is in the bill is told `to wait,' which means that he
+is to go to the Head Master's room after school to be flogged.  It is an
+unpleasant operation, and a fellow looks thoroughly foolish when he
+comes down after it, and his friends kindly ask him how he likes it--
+what he thinks of it--how he feels?  On the occasion I am speaking of,
+the fellows did try it on again the very next day of attendance, and
+half a dozen of them got a good flogging for their pains.  After that
+they behaved with much more quietness."
+
+While they were talking, Anson came in.
+
+"There is one more point I have to tell you about," said he, "and very
+important too: it is as to the rules of `shirking.'  You must know that
+everywhere except just in college,--that is, about the school, and in
+the playing-fields, or on the way to your dame's or tutor's,--is `out of
+bounds.'  Therefore, if you meet a master, you have to get out of his
+way into some hiding-place.  In the country you get under a hedge or
+behind a wall.  In the town you run into a shop, and if you do this at
+once, so as to show respect to the master, very few will say anything to
+you, though they see you as clearly as possible, and know perfectly well
+who you are.  The Sixth Form need not shirk, as they may go anywhere.
+Of course, there are certain places if a fellow is seen in, a master
+will follow him, otherwise he never attempts to do so.
+
+"There is a small house just outside the bounds, where the people are
+licensed to sell beer.  It is called the Tap.  It is used almost
+exclusively by us.  If a fellow is caught going in or out, he is pretty
+severely punished, and yet no master ever thinks of coming in to look
+for us.  Not long, ago a number of our fellows were in the passage, when
+who should walk in but one of the masters to order some beer for
+himself.  He couldn't with a very good conscience punish us, so he took
+not the slightest notice of us, though we made sure he would.  To our
+great satisfaction, away he walked again as if we had not been there.
+They keep there a long glass, which is brought out and emptied on
+important occasions by certain fellows, such as the winners of the
+pulling or sculling races--the eleven who have gained a well-contested
+match.  It is a long tube with a bulb at the bottom, and holds about a
+pint and a half.  Its contents must be drunk off without stopping to
+take breath, and the difficulty is when one gets down to the bulb to
+prevent it all rushing out at once, and running over one: a fellow
+stands by and marks the time one takes to drink the contents.  I must
+take you there some day.  There are several places of the sort up the
+river, where we are pretty well known.  I must introduce you also to our
+favourite liquor, and I think that you will agree with me that it is
+first-rate.  We call it `Shandy Gaff.'  It's a mixture of beer and
+ginger-beer in equal portions, and on a hot day I know nothing more
+refreshing."
+
+"I feel as if I knew all about Eton already," said Reginald; "you have
+told me so much."
+
+His friends laughed.  "There are a good many more things which you will
+have to learn not yet dreamed of in your philosophy," answered Power.
+"I haven't told you anything yet about our games--football, cricket,
+running, jumping, steeple-chasing.  They are very different from those
+at most private schools.  It will take you the best part of a year to
+learn all the rules of football alone.  It will take you nearly as long
+before you know all the regulations about boating.  However, now, when
+Eton is in its glory, is the time of the year to pick up all that sort
+of information.  We think more of play than lessons, and even the
+masters never expect to get more than the regular schoolwork out of the
+boys.  You'll probably stay on till you have worked your way up to Sixth
+Form, which just now perhaps looks at a very unapproachable distance.  I
+forgot to tell you that the Sixth Form have the power of setting
+`poenas;' Collegers sometimes do it, and are thought great `brutes' for
+so doing.  Oppidans rarely ever use their power.  It assists them
+somewhat in keeping the Lower boys in order.  You'll observe, too, how
+particular we are about our costume.  Those who wear jackets always keep
+to black ties, and those who have taken to tail-coats invariably appear
+in white ties.  These sorts of customs may appear trifles, but they all
+contribute to keep up discipline and order in the school.  I, at first,
+thought them very nonsensical; I now see their use."
+
+Reginald, when he went to his snug little room that night, thought that
+he knew a great deal more about Eton than he did in the morning; and
+though he was glad to be there, he felt altogether thankful that he had
+not come at an earlier age.
+
+STORY THREE, CHAPTER THREE.
+
+The important day arrived when Reginald was to be examined by his tutor,
+that it might be ascertained where he was to be placed in the school.
+He got up before the bell rang, soused his head thoroughly in cold
+water, and, having sponged himself all over, dressed briskly, and sat
+down to look over some of the books he knew.  He was pretty well up in
+Greek as well as in Latin, though he had not gone very deep into the
+intricacies of either language.  Mr Nugent, his tutor, had grounded him
+well also in mathematics, so that he was in no particular fright as to
+the result of his examination.  He wanted, however, to be as well placed
+as possible, if the truth might be known, to get out of fagging as soon
+as he could.
+
+After prayers, Mr Lindsay told him to come to his room with his books.
+He went there with a good heart also.  His Latin construing and parsing
+seemed to satisfy his tutor, and then he read some Greek.  Mr Lindsay
+looked pleased.  This encouraged him.  He went over book after book with
+perfect ease.  The chances are, that he knew less than many a boy who
+had passed a much worse examination; but he had the advantage of
+possessing well-strung nerves, and of not feeling that he was doing
+anything dreadful or out of the way.  Whatever he did know he recalled
+at once to his memory.  He had also no wish to pretend to know more than
+he did.  All was perfectly natural with him.  His head and his voice
+were clear, and so on he went without the slightest hesitation.  Had he
+been suddenly asked to sing a song which he knew, he could have done so
+with ease.
+
+"You have got through very well," said Mr Lindsay; "I am happy to say
+that I shall be able to get you very satisfactorily placed."
+
+Reginald was not a little pleased.  He would have liked to ask "Where?"
+but he thought that might not be etiquette; so he restrained his
+curiosity, and ran off with a light stop to deposit his books in his
+room, and afterwards to join Power at breakfast, with a remarkably good
+appetite.
+
+"Where do you think I shall be, though?" he asked more than once.  Power
+guessed, but did not like to run the risk of disappointing him, so
+wisely would not give an opinion.  At last, a short time before eleven
+o'clock, he set off with Mr Lindsay to make his _debut_ in school.  He
+was left by himself in the school-yard while Mr Lindsay, as did most of
+the masters, went into "Chambers," to have a talk with the Doctor.  He
+felt for a moment a little forlorn, standing in that wide place with so
+many boys around him, and yet not one he could call a friend or even an
+acquaintance; for neither Power nor Anson had yet come.
+
+The boys now began to pour into the school-yard.  Many came up to him
+and began the old standard questions.
+
+"What's your name?" asked one; "any relation of Warrender at Rowley's?"
+
+"No," answered Reginald.  "I have had no relation here since my father
+was at Eton, that I know of."
+
+"Oh, yes--but surely you're a cousin of Tom Jones?" observed one who was
+looked upon as a great wag.
+
+"I am not aware that I have that honour," answered Reginald.
+
+Several similar questions he had to answer, which he did in perfect good
+humour.  At last a big, hulking fellow, who looked as if he had got fat
+on sucking-things, rolled up to him.  There was something in the boy's
+air which reminded him wonderfully of a bully at his former school.
+
+"How are you, Master Jones?" said the fellow, with a supercilious look.
+
+"Pretty well, Tommy Green," answered Reginald, giving him back glance
+for glance.
+
+"How dare you call me Green!" exclaimed the big boy, looking angry.
+
+"Because you have a remarkably verdant hue about you," answered
+Reginald, who felt galled by the tone of bullying superiority assumed by
+the other.
+
+The big boy's rage at the unusual impudence of a new fellow instantly
+blazed forth.  "Take that for your pains, young one!" he cried out,
+giving Reginald a blow on the chest; "and that--and that--and that."
+
+Reginald was for a moment staggered, but instantly recovering himself,
+he flew at the big fellow, and returned the blows with interest.
+
+"A mill--a mill--a mill!" was the cry, and fellows rushed up from all
+parts of the yard, and closely surrounded the combatants.  Reginald
+defended himself as well as he could from his big antagonist, who,
+fortunately, though evidently inclined to bully, was no great adept in
+the science of pugilism.  At another time Reginald would have fought
+with the hope of victory; now his chief object was to defend his face,
+so that he might not have to make his appearance before the Doctor with
+a black eye or a bleeding nose.  He made up for want of size and weight,
+and science also, for he had not much of it, by his activity, and
+consequently the big fellow exhausted his strength by frequently
+striking at the air, when he thought that he was going to put in an
+effective blow.  As Reginald's courage and coolness manifested
+themselves, he gained plenty of supporters, and he soon guessed that his
+opponent was no great favourite.  The exclamations and cries in his
+favour every moment grew warmer and warmer.  This encouraged him, or
+rather, for he did not want much encouragement, discouraged the other.
+He continued fighting as cautiously, but commenced more aggressive
+operations, very much to the astonishment of the big fellow, who had
+fancied that he was going to gain an easy victory,--in fact, intended to
+give the new-comer a thrashing for his impudence.
+
+"Well done! well done!  Famously hit!  Bravo!  Pitch into him, little
+one!" were the exclamations over and over again repeated by his friends;
+while the opposite party kept shouting, "Go it, Cicester!--Give it him
+soundly!--Hit him hard!"  Cirencester, however, did not seem to be very
+successful in putting this advice into execution, and impartial
+observers were of opinion that Warrender was getting the best of it,
+when the cry was raised of "All up--all up!" and the masters were seen
+coming out of the Doctor's door.  After stopping a minute to have a
+short chat together, they proceeded to the school.
+
+The moment the masters appeared, the combatants were separated, and
+Cirencester drew off without making any remark.  The delay enabled
+Reginald to arrange his neck-tie, smooth his hair, and shake himself
+into his jacket.  He felt rather bruised and heated, but he bore
+fortunately no remarkable outward traces of his combat.  He soon
+rejoined Mr Lindsay, who took him to the Doctor, who looked, he
+thought, benignantly at him, and great was his satisfaction to find that
+he was placed in the Lower Remove.
+
+From that moment he resolved to show that he had not been wrongly
+placed.  It was a great satisfaction to feel that he should have only to
+remain a year numbered among those who could be fagged.  He was thus
+also only one division below Power.  He found that unless he was
+"plucked," he should rise one division every half-year, with certain
+trials and examinations interposed, into Fifth Form, and so on, but that
+there was no trial into Sixth Form, the vacancies in it being filled up
+by seniority.
+
+Power and Anson congratulated him on his successful _debut_ in the
+school-yard.
+
+"Cicester, big as he looks, is below you in the school," observed Anson.
+"He is an earl, but we don't take note here of titles.  He eats too
+much to be strong, and thinks too much of himself to have many real
+friends.  I am very glad that you treated him as you did, because I
+think that it will sicken him of attacking you again, and make other
+fellows treat you with respect.  Of course, however, there are
+tuft-hunters here as well as elsewhere, and as some of the Fifth Form
+are among his friends, you must expect to be fagged a little sharply by
+them occasionally, if you get in their way.  However, you'll know how to
+manage to keep out of rows.  One thing I have found out; there is no use
+attempting to shirk fagging.  A fellow is always certain to get the
+worst of it.  There is no dodge a fellow can try which the Fifth Form
+are not up to, because you see that they have tried them all themselves.
+The worst thing a fellow can do is to show the sulks.  He is certain to
+take nothing by it.  I always find it best to do a thing willingly and
+promptly, however disagreeable it may be."
+
+Reginald thanked his friends for their advice, and moreover took care to
+follow it.
+
+The next day, when he went into school, he was found to have prepared
+his lessons particularly well, and the master looked at him with an
+approving eye, as a boy likely to do credit to himself, and some little,
+perhaps, to the school.  From the very first Reginald set himself
+against the use of cribs.  He was rather laughed at for this, at first,
+by his associates, who were aware of what they considered his peculiar
+crotchet.
+
+"I have just a question to ask you fellows," he observed one day.  "Do
+you think it right or gentlemanly to tell a lie?  Answer me seriously,
+not in joke."
+
+It was agreed that a lie was ungentlemanly and wrong.
+
+"Well, is it not equivalent to the telling a lie to pretend to have
+obtained knowledge in one way, when you have obtained it in another?  Is
+it not the same to take up a copy of verses or an exercise which you did
+not write, and to pretend that you wrote them?  That is one reason why I
+will not use a crib.  I should feel ashamed of myself, and disgraced
+every time I did so.  Another reason is, that we came to school to gain
+knowledge, to prepare ourselves for college, and for our future course
+in life, as completely as we can; and the use of cribs prevents our
+doing this, for though they may enable us to get through a lesson,
+depend on it a lesson learnt with them is very quickly again forgotten.
+There is nothing like having to turn over the leaves of a dictionary
+that we may find a word, to enable us to remember it."
+
+"Yes, but few fellows can turn over the leaves as quickly as you can,"
+observed Anson.
+
+"I learned the knack at a private tutor's long ago," answered Reginald.
+"I thought it a bore at first, but he showed us how to do it properly,
+and I very soon found the advantage of what he insisted on."
+
+Power supported Reginald in this and many other respects, when he held
+out boldly against what his straightforward, honest mind at once saw to
+be bad practices.  He made enemies by so doing, but he also made
+friends; the enemies he made were the least worthy, and the friends the
+most worthy of his school-fellows--many of them becoming and continuing
+firm and fast ones.
+
+Reginald very soon made acquaintance with old Harry Cannon, the waterman
+at Cuckoo Weir.  Fully thirty fellows were either standing on Lower
+Steps or in punts, without a rag on them, ready to plunge into the clear
+stream; or were swimming about by themselves, spluttering and coughing;
+or were being dangled at the end of old Harry's blue pole.  Reginald had
+thought that it was necessary to go, at all events, in the first place,
+to old Harry.  Many of the fellows, not knowing that he could swim,
+tried to frighten him; but, without much ceremony, he doffed his
+clothes, and in he went with a "rat's header" at once, and swam boldly
+up the stream, stemming it lustily; then he turned a sommersault, trod
+water, and went through a variety of manoeuvres to which the youngsters
+present were but little accustomed.
+
+"You'll do, sir; you'll do," shouted old Harry, quite delighted with the
+spirited way in which he took to the water; "a Newfoundland dog couldn't
+have done it better."
+
+Of course, on the first "passing day," Reginald--who was to be met by
+Power, Anson, and some others of his new friends, in a boat--started off
+for Middle Steps.
+
+The masters stood ready.  Reginald jumped into the punt, and, with
+several others, was carried out into mid-stream.  Several were ordered
+to plunge overboard before him.  Most of them went in with "footers,"
+and now two or three were ordered to come out and take further lessons
+from old Harry.  Reginald waited patiently till his turn came, and then
+overboard he went with a fine "rat's header," and downwards he dived.
+He did not come up.  The masters were alarmed, and shouted to old Harry
+to look for him.
+
+"What can have become of the boy?" exclaimed one of them, in real alarm.
+
+Suddenly, not far off, up came Reginald, with a big stone in his hand.
+
+"All right!" he exclaimed.  "I wanted to bring a trophy from the
+bottom;" and, depositing it on Middle Steps, away he swam in good style
+to Lower Steps.  Just touching them, away he went--now swimming with one
+arm, now with the other, now with both hands like a dog, now turning on
+his back and striking out with his feet.
+
+"You'll do, and do famously!" exclaimed the master, who was not famed
+for bestowing unnecessary compliments on any one.
+
+Reginald came out with no little feeling of allowable pride, and,
+dressing quickly, stepped on board the boat, when, taking the yoke-lines
+in a knowing manner, he steered away for Bargemen's Bridge, where the
+stream once more joins the river.
+
+Reginald at once threw himself into boating most zealously.  He was
+always on the water, practising away, and soon became as proficient with
+oars as with sculls--his great ambition being to belong to an eight-oar.
+He and Power took a lock-up between them, for which they paid five
+pounds; and though they liked it very much, they agreed that it was not
+half so much fun as their boating in old days at Osberton, with Toby
+Tubb as coxswain.  Reginald did not neglect cricket, however; but as he
+was still numbered among the Lower boys he could only belong to the
+Sixpenny Club.
+
+The playing-fields at Eton are divided between different clubs.  The
+boys subscribe to one or the other according to their position in the
+school.  Above the Sixpenny, to which the entrance is only one shilling,
+is the Lower Club, to which those in the Fifth Form belong who are
+considered not to play well enough to belong to the Upper Club.  To the
+Upper Club the clever and all the first-rate players alone belong.  The
+grand cricketing time is "after six," when, in the playing-fields, the
+balls are flying about as thickly as in a general action, or, at all
+events, as at "Lord's" on practising days; while, especially at the
+great matches in the Upper Club, the non-players lie on the turf,
+indulging largely in Bigaroon cherries and other fruits in season, and
+making their remarks on the game.
+
+Such is the every-day Eton life in which Reginald found himself placed.
+There was abundance of occupation to pass the time, and yet no very
+salient events worthy of description.  After he had been there about a
+fortnight, he found himself apportioned, by the captain of his house, to
+a master who had already another fag.  That fag, Cross, had been all his
+school-life at Eton, and was well accustomed to the work, so thought
+nothing of it; but when Reginald first found himself ordered to perform
+some menial office, he could not help his spirit rising in rebellion;
+but he soon conquered the feeling, the absurdity of which he
+acknowledged to himself, and he at once set about his task with a
+cheerful countenance and willing hands.  The out-of-door fagging went
+more against the grain, as he did not like to be sent here or there by
+any stranger about some trifle, when he wanted to be doing something
+else; but he soon got reconciled to that also, with the reflection that
+all Eton fellows had to go through it.
+
+Cross and he got on very well together.  They were not great friends,
+but they never quarrelled.  Their master, Coventry, was good-natured,
+though strict in having the duties they owed him performed, and his
+orders obeyed.
+
+Reginald was talking over Coventry's character with Power, and
+observed--"I would fifty times rather serve a strict master like him
+than one of your easy-going, idle fellows, who all of a sudden takes it
+into his head that he will have everything in apple-pie order, and
+thrashes you because you do not know what he wants."
+
+"Certainly," answered Power.  "When I first came I had a master who
+never by any chance was in the same mind two days together.  He would
+have different things for breakfast and tea, and everything in his room
+arranged differently.  He kept my mind on a continual stretch to guess
+what he would want, till he made me very nearly as mad as himself.  At
+last I informed him that I would do anything that he told me, but that I
+could not undertake to guess his wishes.  He could not see the
+reasonableness of my arguments, and so I at length gave up any attempt
+to please him--he of course never being satisfied; and thus we went on
+till the end of the half."
+
+What with observation, conversation, and his own personal experience,
+Reginald daily gained a larger amount of knowledge of the world in which
+he was destined to move--not of the bad which was taking place, but of
+the way to conduct himself in it.
+
+STORY FOUR, CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY FOUR--THE CREW OF THE ROSE.
+
+A crew of Johnians were rowing down the Cam on a fine summer day, in
+their own boat Two of them were freshmen--sixth form boys in manners and
+pursuits; the coxswain had entered on his third year, and was reading
+for honours.  These were English youths.  The fourth--Morgan ap
+Tydvill--was from Wales, a pleasant, companionable fellow, proud of his
+country, proud of his own family in particular, and proud of the boat,
+of which he was part owner; generous and friendly, but very choleric,
+though easily calmed down.  The fifth was Gerald O'Mackerry, of Irish
+genealogy, as his name intimates, and his patronymic was a subject of
+much harmless pride with him.  These two latter personages were in their
+second year.
+
+For some time the four rowers bent earnestly to their oars, the coxswain
+doing the principal part of the talking work; but as the stream carried
+the boat along, and there was no necessity for constant pulling, they at
+times restrained their arms to let their tongues run free.  The chatting
+commenced thus:--
+
+"We haven't given a name to the boat yet."
+
+"Well, I vote for the `Hose.'"
+
+"I think the `shamrock' sounds well," said O'Mackerry.
+
+"The Leek," was Ap Tydvill's suggestion.
+
+"`_Leek_!'--an unlucky name!" observed Green, the coxswain, who, though
+a gentlemen and a scholar, was sadly addicted to punning; but they were
+all of Saint John's College, and therefore punsters by prescription.
+This bad pun let out a good deal of punning; when it ceased to flow, the
+original subject was renewed.
+
+"Will the Trinity boat beat us next month?  They have a choice crew, all
+in capital condition, and heavy men.  O'Mack is the only twelve stone
+man here," (all gownsmen, you know, are _men_, however boyish in years
+and appearance), "and Tyd is such a little fellow!"
+
+"I'm five feet seven," replied he, rather snappishly; "and I can tell
+you that the mean height of a man's stature is but five feet four.
+(Murmurs of dissent.)  O'Mack is about ten inches above the standard;
+but I'll back a man of my own height (drawing himself up majestically)
+against him for walking, jumping, running, fighting, wrestling,
+swimming, throwing a bar, or rowing a long distance--if he have my
+breadth of chest and shoulders, and such an arm as this," displaying a
+limb as hard and muscular as that of a blacksmith.  By his own estimate
+he was of the perfect size and form.
+
+  "In wrestling nimble, and in running swift;
+  Well made to strike, to leap, to throw, to lift."
+
+His vanity, however, though quizzed unmercifully, was not humiliated by
+any detected failure in his bodily proportions, which he submitted to
+measurement.  The circumference of his arm and wrist was considerable--
+the whole limb and his chest brawny, hirsute, and muscular.
+
+"I'm not afraid of Trinity," shouted he loudly, if not musically.
+"_Sumamus longum haustum et fortem haustum, et haustum Omne simul_, as
+Lord Dufferin said at the Norwegian Symposium, and we shall bump them."
+
+At the spirited Latin watchword, our Cantabs commenced a chorus, "_Omne
+simul, omne simul_," etc, etc, which Tyd himself had set to an old Welsh
+tune of the Bardic days.  The effect was thrilling--the coxswain, both
+sonorously and with a correct ear, singing, "_Omne simul, omne simul_,"
+and beating time with his feet against the stretcher, while the rowers,
+arms and lungs and all, pulled and chorused sympathetically.
+
+This sport lasted about half an hour, and then the question was again
+mooted, "What name shall we give to the boat?"
+
+Green, the steersman, put the question: "Those who vote for the Rose
+will say ay--three ays; those who vote for the Shamrock--one; those who
+vote for the Leek--one."
+
+"The ays have it."
+
+Three triumphant cheers for the majority.
+
+The freshman, quite cockahoop at the victory gained over Ap Tydvill and
+O'Mackerry, ventured to ask the Welshman "how it happened that a leek
+became the national emblem of Wales?"  He readily answered, "When my
+country was able to lick (query: leek) your country,--I don't include
+yours, O'Mackerry,--one of our jolly old princes having gained a great
+victory over one of your Saxon leaders and his army, took up a _chive_,
+which he found growing somewhere near the Wye, and said, `We'll wear
+this henceforward as a memorial of this victory.'"
+
+"Pooh, pooh," said the coxswain; "the true version is this.  Once upon a
+time, Wales was so infested with monkeys that the natives were obliged
+to ask the English to lend them a hand in destroying them.  The English
+generously came to their assistance; but not perceiving any distinction
+between the Welsh and the monkeys, they killed a great number of the
+former, by mistake of course; so, in order to distinguish them, clearly,
+they requested that the Welshmen would stick a leek in their bonnets."
+A running fire (though on water) commenced against poor Monsieur Du
+Leek--as the bantering youngsters, with profound bows and affected
+gravity, chose to name Ap Tydvill--of pedigree immeasurable.
+
+However, he recovered his serenity, after an explosion of wrath somewhat
+dangerous for a moment; and, on the free trade principle, began to quiz
+some one else.
+
+"Mack," said he, "do you remember the ducking you got _there_, among the
+_arundines Cami_?" pointing to a deep sedgy part of the river.
+
+"I do; and I had, indeed, a narrow escape from drowning, or rather from
+being suffocated in the deep sludgy mud."
+
+"How was it?" one of the others asked.
+
+"I was poling a punt along the bank, looking for waterfowl to have a
+shot, you know, and I pulled myself into the river!"
+
+"You mean, Paddy," said Mr Tydvill, "that you pulled yourself out of
+the river."
+
+"No; I mean what I say; there is no blunder for you to grin at.  I stuck
+the pole so firmly into the deep mud, that I could not pull it out; but
+it pulled me in."
+
+"Why didn't you let go at once?"
+
+"I hadn't time to think of that; instinctively I grasped the pole, lost
+my balance, and tumbled into the river."
+
+The unfortunate youth was extracted from the deep slime among osiers by
+a labourer near hand, and he dried his clothes in a cottage--
+
+  "Quae villula tectum,
+  Praebuit--"
+
+without any bad results.
+
+"But, do you remember, Master Tydvill," said O'Mackerry, "the day when I
+was so near catching you and throwing you into the deep hole--clothes
+and all?  Ay, and you deserved a ducking?"
+
+"But really, Mack, would you have pitched me in, when you knew that I
+was a bad swimmer, especially when dressed?"
+
+"Assuredly I would have done so, for I was unusually hot in my temper,
+though very cold in my body at that moment; however, I suppose that I
+should have acted the part of the Newfoundland dog, and dragged the
+puppy by his neck out of the water."
+
+This complimentary part he addressed to the crew at large, and then
+described the incident.
+
+He had been sitting on the top bar of a ladder, of which the lower end
+rested on the bottom of a very deep part of the river under a high and
+steep bank, for the purpose of aiding a swimmer in his ascent from the
+water.  The day was cold, and O'Mackerry remained in a crouching posture
+for a few moments on the ladder, meditating the plunge, but not taking
+it.  His playful friend stole behind and jerked him, heels over head,
+into the water, and immediately ran away.  O'Mackerry, after recovering
+from the shock and getting out of the river, pursued the offender nearly
+half a mile, and happily without catching him.  Tydvill rather
+unhandsomely afterwards caricatured his friend as a barometrical green
+frog in a broad pellucid bottle partly filled with water, squatting on a
+rung of a ladder, ingeniously serving as a graduated scale, to show the
+condition of the atmosphere; the frog rising or descending as its
+sensations led it to immerse its body in water, or rise more or less
+above it.  O'Mackerry was a capital swimmer, and was sometimes seen to
+capsize himself from an Indian canoe, which he had purchased somewhere
+on the river Shannon, into its tidal waters with his clothes on, for the
+purpose of habituating himself to swim under such difficulty.  He had
+the satisfaction of saving the lives of two persons in danger of
+drowning, by his skill, courage, and presence of mind.
+
+"But how did you learn to swim and dive so well?"
+
+"When I was a little boy, I was fond of books of Voyages, and I liked,
+above all things, to read the description of the bathing pranks of the
+Otaheite savages, who were such active divers, that when a nail was
+thrown overboard, they would plunge after it, and catch it before it
+reached the bottom.  I thought that I could do what a savage did so
+easily, and I soon learned to do what so many animals do without any
+instruction at all.  If you want a model, take a frog, and imitate its
+motions in the water.  Courage is everything."
+
+"But, Mack, every one hasn't such long and strong legs and arms as you
+have--just like a frog's."
+
+"Thank you for the comparison--not for the first time, Master Tyd--but I
+have not a great belly like a frog's, which is useful in swimming--at
+least in floating.  A large pot-bellied man may lie on the water as long
+as he likes, if he keeps his head well back so as to have it supported
+by the water--and with his heels closed and neck up."
+
+"But surely in that position he would be like a log on the water, and
+make no way," remarked some one of the listeners.
+
+"True, but he can rest himself in that position until he chooses to
+strike out again.  Just fancy yourself a fish: you are specifically
+lighter than water, and you can lie as near the surface as you please;
+use your fins and you can move about to the right or left--as a boat is
+moved by its oars; use your tail and you steer in any direction--as the
+rudder turns the direction of the boat.  Then fancy your fins and tail
+cut off--there you lie like a raft--without poles or oars--but you do
+not sink.  If you have one fin, or part of one, you move like a boat
+with one whole or broken oar.  Now our bodily apparatus is not designed
+like that of a fish for swimming, but it is capable of enabling us to
+swim sufficiently well for our necessities.  Just read Old Franklin on
+the art of swimming, and you will understand the theory of the matter at
+once.  The great difficulty in practice is the fear which people have of
+being drowned, and this can only be overcome by accustoming ourselves to
+the water."
+
+"Now, Mack," said Tydvill, "you know I cannot swim; what ought I to have
+done if you had pitched me into that awful hole?"
+
+"You should have kept yourself from struggling and plunging, letting the
+back of your head lie quietly under the water, with your mouth free for
+breathing--but not for screaming and water-drinking--till I had taken
+the trouble of catching hold of you."
+
+"But surely," replied Tydvill, "the weight of my clothes would have sunk
+me?"
+
+"I think not," rejoined his friend; "the water would have supported them
+too, though you'd have found them very heavy when you came out of it.
+Will you try the experiment?"
+
+"The theory is sufficient for me," concluded the sprightly Welshman.
+However, another of the crew put this question:--
+
+"Since the body can be supported on the surface of the water, as
+O'Mackerry has said, and with little exertion, or without any, as in
+swimming on the back, how is it that a drowned body sinks, and often
+rises some days afterwards?"
+
+"Because," said our philosopher,--who had been crammed on the
+subject,--"the lungs of a drowning person become filled with water, and
+therefore the body, becoming specifically heavier, sinks.  The body
+remains at the bottom only until the water has been quite freed from it
+by _compression_; it then is swelled and expanded by gases generated
+within, and becoming lighter than the water, rises to the top."
+
+They had for some time been leaning on their oars, enjoying this chat,
+and were about to retrace their course, when one of the English lads
+asked O'Mackerry if he had ever been in real danger in a boat.  The
+other reflected a little, and then thought of an incident which had
+occurred to him some years ago, before he had learned to swim.  "Yes,"
+said he, "but for God's good providence I would have been," ("You mean
+_should_, I suppose," said Coxswain Green, in an under tone) "assuredly
+drowned.  I had been contriving how to put out striker lines in a deep
+loch near my father's house, and, not having a boat, I substituted a
+stable door, taken from its hinges, as a raft for my purpose.  I had
+read of rafts on the Rhine with whole families on them--with a cabin and
+cow-house and pig-sty; and why should not my miniature raft support my
+weight?  I floated the door--balanced myself nicely upon it--put out for
+the middle of the loch, gently paddling it with a pole, and fearful of
+the slightest change of my position, which would have destroyed the
+horizontal equilibrium of my feeble raft.  When I had gone far enough--
+into water thirty or forty feet deep--I sent off the strikers, but
+unfortunately flung away my paddle along with them.  My insensibly
+nervous movements caused the door to incline into the water at one side
+an inch or two.  I moved a hair's breadth; it then declined to the other
+side.  It would sink.  I had no doubt of this.  Then I gently stooped to
+try if I could unfasten a shoe; but this was impracticable.  I tried a
+balancing movement again, and the door righted, but not entirely.  My
+presence of mind, however, did not fail me.  I took off my hat, and
+paddled myself with this from side to side alternately, until I reached
+the strand--through thick masses of aquatic plants--the water-lily in
+particular, whose long and interlacing stems would have embraced me to
+death, if I had fallen among them.  I have never known any one to swim
+or bathe in that dangerously deep loch.  I do not see how I could have
+escaped drowning at that time if I had slipped from the raft."
+
+This led the adventurous youth to narrate another difficulty from which
+he had been mercifully extricated by God's providence.  He had been
+snipe-shooting in an Irish hog, and thoughtlessly trod upon a green,
+firm, and sound-looking, but very treacherous quagmire, us he was
+watching a snipe which had just sprung up.  He was suddenly immersed in
+the semi-fluid peat to his shoulders, and only saved from quickly
+subsiding into the depths of the morass by a solid bed of clay, at the
+depth of five feet and a half.  He sank to his under lip, barely
+escaping suffocation, and having his breath spared for shouting.  He was
+pulled up by various contrivances, a reeking column of black mire.  As
+it seemed clear that Mr O'Mackerry must have been engulfed in the bog
+if he had been half an inch under six feet two in stature, it was
+illogically argued that it would be a general advantage to manhood if
+all were exceedingly tall--suppose of the height of the suite of the
+Duke of Brunswick (composed of men some inches above seven feet), which
+came to London a hundred years ago.
+
+"Of course," said Tydvill, "Churchill is right in the Rosciad when he
+says:
+
+"`Your hero should be always tall, you know.'"
+
+But the wiser ones of the crew showed that the ordinary height, as fixed
+by the Almighty, is the best.  If the scale of men were raised a foot or
+so, with proportioned frame and weight, horses and other beasts of
+burden should be increased also; else the giants could neither hunt nor
+even travel, nor find beef and mutton, etc, for their support.  And if
+the animals were larger, more grass, etc, would be required than at
+present.  The whole scale of proportions would require alteration.  Who
+can dare to think that God's design is not the best?  Neither giants nor
+dwarfs form the general rule, and extreme exceptions are happily very
+rare.
+
+"What became of the gun?" inquired one of the party.  "I hope that was
+not swallowed up?"
+
+"No; that was pulled up with me.  I had kept fast hold of it; we fell
+and rose together, and so I was not--
+
+  "`Doomed to perish by the slaughtering gun.'"
+
+However, it was unfit for service, like its owner, for the remainder of
+that day; its chilled barrel looked as if it were moaning forth to me,
+in hollow tone,--
+
+  "`Stay by me--thou art resolute and faithful;
+  I have employment worthy of thy arm.'"
+
+It will be seen that Mr O'Mackerry had a smattering of classical lore.
+He was asked to name his last poet.
+
+"Dryden," said he, off-hand.
+
+"You hadn't a _dry_ den when you were up to your chin in the wet, black
+hole," quickly added Tydvill.  Here there was unanimous applause.
+
+This led to some conversational nonsense about punning.
+
+"What is a pun?"
+
+"Don't you know," said O'Mackerry, "Swift's definition in the essay
+which he entitled `The Ars Punica sive flos linguarum, by Tom-Pun-Sibi,
+Dublin?'"  None other of the crew knew anything concerning it; O'Mack
+therefore gave them the concluding part as a specimen, and in reply to
+the question.  "Punning is an art of harmonious jingling upon words,
+which, passing in at the ears and falling upon the diaphragms, excites a
+titillatory motion in those parts, and this being conveyed by the animal
+spirits into the muscles of the face, raises the cockles of the heart,
+and promotes the end of good fellowship, which is laughing."
+
+Just at that moment the crew in training for the coming race between the
+rival universities neared the Rose, for so the boat must now be called,
+and, as in duty bound, the latter drew to the opposite bank to allow the
+eight-oared cutter to pass at fullest speed, and then following in her
+wake, the rest of the trip was passed in comparative silence, so eagerly
+did our freshmen note each movement of that skilful crew.
+
+STORY FIVE, CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY FIVE--THE FORCE OF CONSCIENCE--A TALE BY A NAVAL CHAPLAIN.
+
+Soon after I entered Holy Orders I joined the old ---, 74, in the West
+Indies.  As we were for a considerable time stationary at Port Royal,
+Jamaica, and my health was suffering from the climate, I obtained leave
+to take a few weeks' cruise with an elder brother, who commanded a brig
+of war on the station.  While I was on board the brig, she was sent in
+search of a piratical craft, which had of late been committing great
+depredations on British commerce in those seas.  At length, after a long
+search, we sighted her, made chase, attacked, and, after a desperate
+fight, captured her, with a loss of several of our own men, and
+one-third of the pirates killed and wounded.
+
+Among the pirate crew a young man was brought on board badly wounded,
+whose countenance exhibited such an expression of deep melancholy and
+despair, that I could not help feeling compassion for him; indeed, I
+persuaded myself that he must be less guilty than his companions.  They
+were, or their physiognomies woefully belied them, as villainous a set
+of scoundrels as were ever collected together, and their captain, if
+report spoke true, was the greatest miscreant of them all.  I attended
+daily by the bed-side of the unhappy youth I speak of, and had hopes,
+although he said little, that I had worked on his mind some impression
+of the awful state in which he was placed; but as he recovered his
+strength his obduracy of heart appeared to return, and he seemed to have
+persuaded himself that he should escape the punishment of his crimes.
+
+After a long beat we at length entered Port Royal in triumph with our
+prize, and were thanked by all the merchants for the service we had
+rendered them.  The pirates were tried without delay, one of them
+turning king's evidence, and being all convicted of the most atrocious
+murders on the high seas, with this single exception, they were all
+sentenced to death.
+
+The evening before his execution the young man I spoke of sent to
+entreat me to visit him.  I gladly acceded to his wish.  I found him
+heavily ironed and chained to the ground, in a room with a
+strongly-grated window, where three of his piratical shipmates were also
+confined.  These latter were Spaniards, and dark ferocious-looking
+ruffians they seemed--more like beasts than men with immortal souls, so
+brutalising are the effects of habitual crime.
+
+They regarded me as I entered with glances of furious hate, for they
+recognised me as having belonged to the ship which captured them, and,
+had they not been manacled, they would, I truly believe, have rushed at
+me to satisfy their longing for vengeance, but their chains, fortunately
+for me, holding them down, they again sank into the sullen apathy from
+which my appearance had roused them.
+
+Sitting down on a low stool, furnished by the gaoler, I expressed my
+willingness to afford the prisoner every aid in my power that his awful
+state demanded.
+
+"You were kind to me, sir, when I lay wounded, from the first, on our
+passage here, and I thought you would excuse me speaking to you," he
+answered, looking furtively around as if some one was watching him.
+"Oh, sir, there are many, many things weighing like hot lead upon my
+mind, and I must tell them to some fellow-creature before I am sent on
+my last voyage, or I should have to come back again to haunt this world,
+which is already sick of me and my crimes.  Oh, sir, it is dreadful to
+think of dying when one has lived as I have done; yet my life for some
+years has been one of misery, ever haunted by a hideous spirit or a
+being of--There it is, sir! see, see!  I knew that I could not talk of
+him without his coming!  There, there, there!" he shrieked out.
+
+I exerted all my powers to soothe the mind of the poor wretch, throwing
+in such observations as I thought might tend to bring him to think on
+the new state of existence he was about to enter.  Pirate as he was, I
+felt that he was still a fellow-creature, and who can tell what strong
+temptations might have led him into crime?  Who among us can say how we
+should have withstood the same?  Let us feel grateful that we have
+received the benefit of a religious education, and pray Heaven to keep
+us from sin.  Seeing that until he had relieved his mind by a narration
+of the circumstances in his career which pressed most heavily on it, he
+would be unable to attend to me, I told him that I was prepared to
+listen to anything he might have to say.  On this he immediately
+commenced a sketch of his life in almost the following words:--
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The Confessions of a Pirate.
+
+"I am a Devonshire man, and was born near Salcombe.  A wild-looking
+place is Salcombe Range.  My father's cottage stood on the hill facing
+directly down the bay, or range, as they call it in the west country, so
+that the only view I remember in childhood was that of the dark cliffs
+on each side of its entrance, with its heaving and foaming waters; the
+only music I ever heard, their hollow melancholy sound.
+
+"My father had been an officer of excise at Plymouth, and, having
+somehow or other made his fortune, retired here to end his days.  This
+he soon did, for, shortly after I was born, my mother dying, he took to
+drinking harder than ever--he was never a very sober man--and before I
+was seven years old I was left an orphan.  I had now no one to look
+after me, except an old woman, whose chief occupation was mixing
+smuggled spirits to fit them for the market; when she used to taste and
+taste the stuff till she went reeling to bed.  I consequently had plenty
+of time and opportunity to follow my own inclinations, and was early
+taught all sorts of wild pranks by boys older than myself.
+
+"For some time my principal employment consisted in dodging the steps of
+the revenue officers, both when a run was about to be made, and
+afterwards when the tubs and cases were to be carried up the country.  I
+could neither read nor write, and as for religion, I never heard of it;
+indeed, I was as ignorant as could well be.  At last, the clergyman of
+the parish took compassion on my unprotected state; and the old woman
+who had charge of me dying, like my father, in a fit of drunkenness, he
+sent for me up to his house, and asked me if I should like to go to
+school.  Though I did not know what school meant, I answered `Yes,' for
+I wanted to go somewhere; it little signified to me where.  As I was
+treated kindly I got on very well, so that in three years I was
+considered one of the best scholars in the school, though at the same
+time one of the wildest.  The vicar was a strict man, and, though he
+expressed himself satisfied with my progress, I was never a favourite of
+his.
+
+"Although I had continued my intimacy with several of my early smuggling
+companions, I managed to reach my eighteenth year without being
+considered worse than a wild sort of chap.  About this time I formed an
+acquaintance with a pretty girl, the daughter of a respectable farmer in
+the neighbourhood.  Her old father spoke to me on the subject.  I
+knocked him down and fled.  I had behaved like a villain.  I knew it
+then; I feel it now.  The poor girl refused to see me when I afterwards
+tried to meet her, and soon died of a broken heart.  The neighbourhood
+was no longer to my liking.  I felt that every finger was pointed at me;
+but I stifled conscience, and tried to appear indifferent as to what
+folks said of me.  Oh, that I had listened to that small voice then!  My
+after-life would have been very different.
+
+"I had always been accustomed to get about in boats; and having just
+before formed the acquaintance of a noted smuggler, one Brand Hallton by
+name--I then thought him one of the finest fellows on either side of the
+channel--I made my first trip across to the coast of France in his
+company.  That man was the chief cause of my subsequent career in crime
+and misery--my evil genius.  Oh, sir, warn all the young men you may
+meet to shun the company of the wicked and immoral as they would a
+pestilence!  They are the instruments with which the devil works out his
+deeds of darkness.  I did not know how bad he was, or, perhaps, I might
+have avoided him and been saved.  For two years or more, I was
+constantly in some smuggling craft or another; and though we frequently
+lost a cargo, we managed to escape being taken and sent on board a
+man-of-war to serve the king.  This hazardous varied sort of life just
+suited my taste, and, as I had more learning than the rest of my
+companions, I was looked up to by most of them.  However, our success
+was not to last for ever: through the treachery, as we afterwards
+discovered, of one of the people we employed on shore, we were unusually
+unfortunate; and, suspecting what was the case, we vowed to be revenged
+on whomever it might be.
+
+"I had never seen blood shed--my hands were free from that crime.  Oh
+that they were so now, I should not care so much about dying!  We had a
+large cutter, carrying four guns, with forty stout hands on board, Brand
+Hallton being our captain; so that we could easily beat off any revenue
+boats which might attempt to board us.
+
+"Every one was armed to the teeth; and on the occasion I am about to
+speak of, the word was passed that all the helpers on shore should come
+prepared for resistance, in case of being molested.  We took in our
+cargo, consisting of silks, laces, tea, and other valuable commodities,
+at Cherbourg, and made the land just before sunset.  We stood in at
+once, and found the spotsman at his post, with a signal that all was
+clear.  The night was pitchy dark, though calm; and, except the signals,
+not a light was shown.  About fifty men were stationed on shore, to
+carry the things inland.
+
+"We set to work as fast as possible getting the things into the boats,
+and all went on well for some time.  I, with some others, in one of the
+boats, had left the cutter, when a pistol was flashed from the shore as
+a signal for us to return; but, before we had pulled many strokes, there
+was a rapid discharge of fire-arms, while loud shouts, oaths, and cries
+arose: torches were kindled, and by their light we could see our friends
+on shore mixed in a hot fight with a number of red-coats.
+
+"As soon as we made out what was going forward, we pulled back as fast
+as we could to the vessel, to put the bales into her, intending to
+return to assist our people; but, before we reached her, a splash of
+oars was heard close to us, and in a moment a large boat was alongside
+our galley.  At the same time, a loud voice ordered us to surrender;
+but, as we were not the chaps to do that in a hurry, our coxswain drew
+his pistol, and fired it towards the boat.  A deep groan was the answer,
+and immediately other pistols were fired on each side.  By the flashes
+we saw a number of men, their cutlasses shining brightly, about to
+spring into our boat; but, at the same time, we knew that we must beat
+them or die.  They were brave fellows, and would, perhaps, have taken us
+all; but we were fighting with halters round our necks; for after the
+resistance we had offered, we knew that, if made prisoners, we should be
+hung.  They had already cut down two or three of our people, when
+another of our boats came up, and attacked them on the other side.
+There was now little chance for them: we dared not save them if we
+would.  They fought bravely to the last--every one of them was killed.
+
+"They were countrymen, and were only doing their duty.  That night's
+work, sir, weighed like lead upon my conscience, till other crimes drove
+the thoughts of it out, and my heart became seared.  It is only now that
+I am about to quit the world that my conscience is roused up.  It is
+very terrible, sir.  My life seems a dreadful dream; and I cannot even
+now believe that I am to die to-morrow to go where I have already sent
+so many others, not more fit to die than I am.  It is too much to think
+of.  I wonder what sort of a place I shall be in to-morrow at this
+time!" he suddenly exclaimed, after a long silence.
+
+"You must trust in the mercy of One who is all merciful," I answered,
+"and repent of your crimes, and then be assured, as was the thief on the
+cross, you will be forgiven."
+
+"I wish I thought it might be so, sir," he observed, "but I have been
+too wicked--too great a reprobate for pardon; and _he_--_he_ knows
+better!--that ghastly figure there!--_he_ shakes his head, and grins at
+me, mocking at the very idea of it!  Oh, that I could have another spell
+of life to get free of him!  Is there any chance of being let off?" he
+asked, with sudden animation.
+
+"Not the slightest," I answered.  "Do not for a moment indulge in such a
+hope."
+
+"Well, sir, well--perhaps it is best as it is.  I have thought a good
+deal about death since I lay wounded, and have made up my mind to the
+worst.  My life has long been a burden to me; but it is the future--the
+future which makes me tremble; and then that dreadful ghost-like figure
+unnerves me.  Off with you--off!" he shrieked out.  "Leave me for this
+once at rest!"
+
+The Spaniards, aroused by his cries, scowled fiercely on him, and
+cursing him for a noisy madman, again sank back upon the stone floor.
+After being silent for a minute, he appeared to have perfectly recovered
+his senses, and continued--
+
+"I will go on, sir, with what I was telling you about--I want to get it
+off my mind.  Well, after we had killed the people in the revenue boat,
+we hove the things into the cutter, and pulled again to the shore to
+assist our friends.  It was fortunate for them that we did so, for the
+soldiers had come down in great numbers, and completely got the better
+of them.  Some were made prisoners, numbers were either killed outright
+or desperately wounded, and the remainder were fighting hand-to-hand for
+their lives, close down to the water's edge.  Some of the best men were
+with us.  We were fresh and desperate; so, managing to drive back the
+soldiers for a minute, by a furious charge, before they again came on,
+we covered the retreat of the rest to the boats, and then followed
+ourselves.  In a moment they were afloat, and we were pulling off from
+the shore.  Several volleys were fired at us without doing us any
+mischief, and we could see the soldiers, by the flashes of their
+pistols, galloping up and down along the beach, in search of those of
+our friends who were trying to escape.  About twenty of our people got
+off, but of course all the things, except a few we had on board, were
+lost, and we vowed vengeance against whomever had betrayed us.  We all
+took a dreadful oath to that effect, which we most fearfully fulfilled.
+Oh!  I wish that it had been broken.
+
+"We were sullen and out of humour enough when we got on board; but there
+was no time then to meditate on revenge, so we lost not a moment in
+making sail and standing off the coast.  We well knew that, after what
+we had done, the revenue cruisers would be keeping a very sharp look-out
+for us; but we were not to be daunted, even by the certainty of death,
+if taken.  We spoke a lugger standing in for the coast, and two nights
+afterwards we ourselves followed her, and ran the rest of our cargo.
+When on shore, about that work, we discovered who it was who had
+betrayed us, and we renewed our oath to be revenged on him whenever we
+could get him into our power.  He was a man who often had acted as
+spotsman for us, and in whom we placed entire confidence, though with
+the world in general he did not enjoy the best of characters.  His name
+was Arnold, a tall, fine-looking fellow, still in the prime of manhood.
+He had been bribed to deliver us into the hands of the law, and,
+fancying that his treachery was undiscovered, he was now looking forward
+to getting a larger reward by informing against us a second time.  We
+did revenge ourselves!  Oh, it was dreadful!  Ah!--there he is!  His
+livid, corpse-like face is laughing, and muttering at me behind your
+back.  I knew I could not speak of him without his coming.  Yes, yes,
+yes!--I'll follow!  I'll follow!--I know I must!"
+
+And the wretched man broke into loud shrieks for mercy.  He soon
+recovered, and continued--as if he had not interrupted himself--
+
+"We allowed two months to pass before we ventured back to the coast,
+when we ran in with a valuable cargo, which we landed without his
+knowing anything about the matter.  Five of us, among whom was Brand
+Hallton, who had dependence on each other, then went on shore at night.
+We had been persuaded by Hallton that we had but one course to pursue,
+and we had promised to obey his directions.  While we waited hidden
+among the rocks on the beach, at some short distance from Arnold's
+house, we sent word by a lad we took with us, that we wished to speak to
+him about running another crop of goods.  It was a dark night, with a
+drizzling rain, but perfectly calm, the only noise we could hear being
+the ripple of the water on the sand, while nothing could be seen but the
+high beetling cliff above us.  For a long time we waited; the moments
+seemed hours to me.  We then thought he suspected something, and would
+not come.  At last we heard the sound of footsteps on the beach moving
+towards us.  My heart beat faster.  I ground my teeth in my eagerness.
+I thought I was about to do an act of justice.  That he might not by
+chance take alarm, one of our men went forward to welcome him as a
+friend.  The stranger proved to be Arnold.  Another then joined him, and
+began to talk about the business in hand.  He took the bait eagerly, and
+offered to lend us his assistance.  As he came by where I, with the
+other men, lay hid, the first two put their pistols to his head, and
+threatened to blow his brains out if he uttered a word, while we rushed
+on him, pinioned his arms, and gagged him, to make sure of his not
+giving an alarm.  Powerful man as he was, he trembled violently in every
+limb, for he then felt that we were aware who had before betrayed us;
+and more than that, he well knew it and our _laws_; he knew that we were
+not men to hesitate at punishing a traitor.  From the moment we seized
+him we did not exchange a single word with each other; but, lashing his
+feet, we lifted him into our boat, which was close at hand.  At the same
+time, also, we lifted into her a large stone, with a rope made fast to
+it, and then shoved off from the shore.
+
+"We pulled off for a mile or more, and then laying on our oars, we told
+the miserable wretch what we were about to do, giving him one minute to
+prepare for death.  In his struggles to free himself, as he heard his
+doom, he contrived to loosen one of his hands, and to slip the gag from
+his mouth.  He shrieked out in an agony of fear, and, as he entreated us
+to let him live, he trembled as if every limb in his body would part.
+He talked of his wife and family, who would starve if he were taken away
+from them; he promised, in the most abject terms, to be our slave--to
+work for us to the utmost of his power--to do all we could require of
+him; but we laughed at his offers; we reminded him that he had shown no
+pity to us--that he had caused the death of several of our friends and
+the imprisonment of others, and that he must take the consequence of his
+treachery.  Again, with groans and tears, he petitioned for mercy; he
+was not a man much given in general to words, but now they flowed forth,
+like a torrent in winter, with prayers for life; but nothing, he could
+say could alter our determination.  At first, he attempted to deny what
+he had done, but we soon made him acknowledge his crime: he had broken
+our laws, and must abide the penalty.  At last, we got tired of
+listening to him; we were eager for vengeance, and yet we felt a
+pleasure in witnessing his agony.
+
+"`Come--we have had enough of this palaver,' said one of our people.
+`If you have got a bit of a prayer to say, be quick about it.'
+
+"`In a minute more you won't be in so great a hurry to open your mouth,'
+sneered another.
+
+"The miserable wretch saw we were in earnest, and I believe he did try
+to say a prayer; but we were in a hurry to finish the job.  I fully
+believe, indeed, that every one of us had thought we were going to do an
+act of strict justice; but when it came to the point, my mind misgave
+me.  There was, however, now no drawing back; I dared not even utter my
+thoughts to my companions.  My hands trembled as I assisted to make the
+rope, with the stone to it, fast round his feet; but the darkness
+prevented their seeing my agitation.  We then let the stone hang
+overboard, while we lifted our victim, thus bound hand and foot, on to
+the gunwale of the boat.  For a moment we let him remain there; and oh,
+what a cry of agony he gave as we tilted him up, and down he went
+straight into the deep sea!--the water closed over his head, and not a
+mark remained to show that a moment before another living being had been
+with us in health and strength!  We thought the sea would for ever hide
+the deed from mortal eye, and that no one but ourselves would ever be
+able to tell how Arnold died.  Ah! fools that we were to think to escape
+punishment for work like that!
+
+"As soon as all was over, for an instant we sat silent and stupefied,
+and then shipping our oars, we pulled towards the cutter as hard as we
+could, away from the accursed spot.  We had not pulled many strokes when
+a horror seized me.  I could have shrieked aloud, but my fear was too
+great, for there, directly in our wake, was Arnold!  Up he had risen--
+his body half out of the water--his countenance blue and livid--his eyes
+starting from his head--his hair on end--his arms extended towards us,
+as if he would clasp the boat in his embrace, and carry us down with him
+to the dreadful place he had come from!  Larger and larger he grew--a
+pale flame seemed to play round his features, distorted with rage and
+agony!  As fast as we could pull, he came hissing after us!  We all
+shrieked with horror--we stretched every nerve to get away from him--but
+the harder we pulled the faster he came along.  We sent the water flying
+from our bows, our oars bent and cracked; but nothing would do--on, on
+he came!  Oh, how I wished I had had nothing to do with the foul deed!
+We had shown no mercy to him--we knew he would show none to us.  You do
+not believe what I am saying; but it is as true as that I am speaking to
+you.  See, sir!--see, there is his face at the farther end of the room--
+just as he appeared to me on that fatal night!  He has never quitted me
+since, and never will--he will be with me on the scaffold to-morrow,
+jeering and cursing me, and I shall meet him where I am hound to in the
+other world.  Oh! why did I do that deed?
+
+"The dead man had got within a few fathoms of us, when, expecting every
+moment to feel myself within his cold grasp, I could bear it no longer,
+and swooned away.
+
+"The pale, waning moon was shining on my face from out of the pure sky
+when I came to my senses, and I found myself lying on the deck of the
+cutter, which was running briskly across the Channel.  I got up and
+looked around me; all that had passed seemed a horrid dream, but I knew
+it was too true.  I was afraid to speak of what had happened, and, when
+I once referred to it to one of my partners in crime, he reminded me
+with a dreadful threat of my oath of secrecy.  In vain I tried to banish
+the thoughts of it from my own mind; every night did the accusing
+spectre recall it with terrible certainty, for no sooner did darkness
+appear, than, whenever I looked out on the sea, whether in storm or
+calm, when the stars shone bright, or the sky was overcast, there, in
+the wake of the ship, appeared the blue, livid figure of the wretched
+Arnold.  It was very, very dreadful, sir.  I dared not return to my
+native place, nor to any neighbourhood where I was known, for I felt
+that everybody would point at me as a murderer; I knew the mark of Cain
+was on my brow.  I grew weary of existence, even a smuggling life was
+too tame for me; I longed for a change of scene, for more excitement;
+and falling in with a French brig bound for the coast of Africa, I
+shipped on board her.  Her sails were loose and her anchor spread, as I
+handed my traps on deck, and, before I had time to see the faces of all
+her crew, we were standing with a strong breeze out of the harbour of
+Bordeaux.
+
+"My evil destiny still pursued me.  There was one on board, whom rather
+than have met I would have jumped overboard and swam on shore again, had
+it been possible.  That man was Brand Hallton.  He had been the first to
+lead me into crime, and I knew of so many black deeds he had done, that
+I feared and hated him more than any man alive, though I could never
+withstand his evil persuasions.  A short time passed before he came on
+deck, as he had been attending to some duty below.  I knew him in a
+moment, but he pretended not to recognise me, though he soon afterwards
+took an opportunity to assure me that he would stand my friend if I
+would not attempt to claim his acquaintance.  I found that he had
+entered before the mast under an assumed name, but on what account he
+did not choose to inform me, though I had little doubt it was for the
+sake of performing some piece of villainy or other.  I dared not disobey
+him; indeed, I should have gained nothing if I had attempted to betray
+him, and thus we appealed by degrees to form an intimacy.
+
+"We had on board a freight of coloured cottons, beads, and other
+trinkets, with hard dollars to exchange for slaves, with manacles to
+keep them quiet when in our power.  That coast of Africa is a deadly,
+burning place, as we had soon reason to know; but I cared not for heat
+or for sickness--neither could increase the wretchedness of my own
+miserable fate.  For some days after sailing I began to hope that I had
+escaped from my tormentor, but one night, on going on deck to keep my
+watch, as I looked over the side to observe how fast the ship was going
+through the water, there, on the sea, a few fathoms only from her,
+appeared that dreadful figure.  He has never since then quitted the ship
+I have sailed in.  Sometimes, as the moonbeams played upon the waters, I
+have seen him following in our wake, with his arms spread out, leaping
+from the waves and making horrid faces at me.  When I have been keeping
+a look-out ahead, he has appeared as if leading the way, pointing with
+one hand and threatening with the other, and every now and then turning
+round his gibbering distorted countenance, his eyeballs starting from
+their sockets, and his hair on end as I first saw him.  Night after
+night have I thus been haunted, till life became a burden to me, and I
+should have jumped overboard and drowned myself, but I knew that he in a
+moment would fly at me like a shark at its prey, and carry me down in
+his cold clasp to the unfathomed depths of the ocean.  I was afraid to
+ask any of my shipmates if they saw him, for they would at once have
+said I was a murderer; and thus my mind was left to brood in silence on
+my awful destiny; yet I fear, sir, there were many of those with me who
+were likely to have seen sights almost as dreadful.  Oh! what a dreary
+voyage that was.  At last, we sighted a long, low line of coast, with
+the trees gradually rising from the water, and a grey, sandy beach below
+them.  This was the deadly coast of Africa, somewhere about the mouth of
+the Gambia; but we stood on farther to the south, and came to an anchor
+a short way up the Gaboon River, our yard-arms almost touching the lofty
+palms, cotton-trees, and monkey-bread trees, which grew on its banks.
+It was a beautiful-looking spot, but death was in every gale, and those
+of our crew who slept on shore died soon afterwards of a fever, which
+carried off several others of our men.  I wished to be of the number,
+but neither sickness, shot, nor the sea, could have power over one
+accursed like me.
+
+"We found the greater part of our living cargo already assembled in
+barracoons close down to the shore; and the remainder arrived in a few
+days from the interior--men, women, and children, to the number of three
+hundred.  They were all prisoners, taken in war with a neighbouring
+tribe--hostilities being continued solely for the purpose of making
+slaves.  As we received them on board, we stowed them away as close as
+they would pack between low decks, where there was barely room for them
+to sit upon their hams; but you know what a hell-afloat a slave-ship
+presents, and, though we did our best to keep them alive, we lost many
+before the voyage was over.  After leaving the coast, we shaped our
+course for Martinique, where our captain intended to dispose of his
+slaves, and then to go back for another cargo.  What with the stench of
+the slaves, the heat of the weather, our bad food and water, I wonder
+any of us survived.  We used to have the poor wretches in gangs at a
+time upon deck to air themselves and to take exercise, but they were
+quickly sent down again below, and I believe, had it not been for fear
+of their dying, they would never have been allowed to taste the fresh
+air of heaven.  The captain and the first mate used to sleep in a sort
+of round-house on the after-part of the deck, with arms by their side
+ready to defend themselves in case of a surprise, for they had not much
+confidence even in their own crew, though they were not worse than the
+general run of slavers.
+
+"One day I was sitting in the shade under the foot of the foresail,
+trying to get a little fresh air as it blew off the sail, when Hallton
+placed himself near me, pretending to be busily engaged in working a
+Turk's head, or some such thing.  The rest of the people were either in
+the after-part of the ship, or lying about the decks asleep.  Looking
+cautiously round to see that no one observed him, he addressed me.
+
+"`How like you a slaving life?' he began; `pleasant isn't it?  Black
+fever, yellow fever, and the stench of these negroes in one's nose all
+one's days.  For my part, I'd as soon mend shoes, or turn tailor, as
+spend my time in this way.'
+
+"`Then why did you join the brig?  You knew how she was to be employed,'
+I observed.
+
+"`I, my fine fellow!  I never, for a moment, intended to keep at this
+work; I had other objects in view.  I know I can trust to you, so I do
+not mind talking of them.  I have long formed a plan by which we can
+make a rapid fortune, and spend our days, like gentlemen, in luxury and
+independence.  Ah! you are a lad of spirit, and will join me; but the
+idea must not be hinted at, even to the stars.'
+
+"He thus continued for some time, letting out by degrees what he was
+thinking of, so that the whole of his proposal should not take me by
+surprise, when he explained it to me.
+
+"Well, we reached Martinique in safety, and, after landing the slaves,
+prepared for another trip across the Atlantic.  How Brand Hallton gained
+the information, I do not know; but, while lying here, he learned that
+on our return the brig was to be fitted up with cabins, and that the
+merchant who owned her intended to return in her to France, with his
+family and all the wealth he had amassed.  In the meantime, he was
+busily employed in working his way into the confidence of the worst
+disposed of the crew, and was very active in engaging several new hands
+to supply the place of those who died by fever.
+
+"The second voyage was much like the first.  We took on board a still
+larger number of blacks, and lost many of the whites by sickness.  Day
+after day we lost one or other of our crew, till scarcely any of those
+who sailed with us from France remained.  The first man we lost died
+raving mad: it was dreadful to listen to him.  No sooner did he touch
+the water than there was Arnold's ghost, with its fierce staring eyes,
+surrounded by a pale, blue light, and, seizing the corpse in its grasp,
+it turned it round and round, gibbering and mowing at it with delight,
+it seemed, and then plunged with it beneath the waters.  I shuddered as
+I saw it, for I felt that such would be my fate, or, perhaps, a worse
+one; for I fancied that if I was seized with the fever, I, perhaps,
+should be thrown overboard while yet alive, and I pictured to myself the
+horror of feeling myself in _his_ power, carried down--down--down to
+eternal fire and torment.  I could not withdraw my eye from the spot
+where I had seen the corpse disappear.  As I watched, that dreaded
+figure again rose to the surface without his prey; and, as we sailed
+along, he kept following in our course, his countenance now assuming a
+look of eagerness, as if watching for further victims.  He was not
+disappointed: two days afterwards, another Frenchman died, and his fate
+was like that of the first; and such was the lot of every one who died
+on board the ship.  Though I felt on each occasion that my turn would
+come next, I lived on, and did not even catch the fever.  After landing
+the blacks in Martinique, we found that Hallton's information was
+correct; and the brig, a remarkably fast sailer and a fine vessel in
+every way, quickly prepared to take the merchant, his money-chests, and
+his wife and daughters, on board.  Once or twice I thought of warning
+them of what I more than expected their fate would be; but fear of
+Hallton, and the influence he had gained over me, prevented me from
+saying anything; and they embarked.
+
+"The old gentleman was in high glee at the thought of returning once
+more to his _belle France_.  His wife was a Creole, and did not seem
+much to like the trouble of moving; but his daughters were in raptures
+with the idea of visiting Paris and all its wonders.  There were three
+of them; all remarkably handsome girls, tall and slight, with clear
+olive complexions and sparkling eyes.  The old man loved his daughters
+almost as much as his dollars, of which he had many thousands on board,
+the greater part of the wealth he had accumulated during upwards of
+thirty years' banishment from his native land.  For some days after
+sailing all appeared to go on well, and I hoped that Hallton had given
+up the evil intentions I knew he had entertained; for I began to feel a
+tender interest in one of the younger daughters of our owner.  What is
+strange, sir, is, that whenever she was on deck at night, where she
+often came to watch the bright stars glittering in the water, the
+dreaded ghost of Arnold never appeared.  Those few days were the only
+ones of anything like peace or happiness I have enjoyed since I plunged
+so deeply into crime.  She was indeed to me a ministering angel: and I
+determined, for her sake, to try and reform.  Hallton suspected
+something and watched me narrowly, keeping his plans entirely from me,
+so that I was not prepared for the tragedy which was soon to follow.
+Two of our mates having died from the fever, I was appointed to do duty
+in the place of the youngest, and, by this means, had opportunities,
+which I should not otherwise have enjoyed, of paying slight attentions
+to the young ladies.
+
+"I was not long in discovering that my unfeigned devotion had its due
+effect on the heart of Mdlle.  Julie, the youngest of the three.  Though
+respectful and tender in my manner, I was bolder than under other
+circumstances I should have been towards one so much my superior in rank
+and education.  She either did not consider how much below her I was
+placed, or disregarded the circumstance, for in perfect innocence of
+heart she encouraged my advances; and her old father and mother being
+generally in their cabin below, had no opportunity of discovering what
+we were about.  At last I ventured to offer my arm to assist her in
+walking the deck when the ship rolled much.  She accepted it with but
+slight hesitation; and from that day forward I was her constant
+companion, her sisters being rather amused than otherwise by what they
+considered merely a sailor's gallantry towards the youngest and
+prettiest lady present; the captain, who, in his way, was a very
+respectable man, taking them under his especial care.  They were,
+however, not so fond of the fresh air as Mdlle.  Julie, and thus she was
+often on deck alone with me.  Often would she stay by my side, watching
+the sun sink with a halo of ruddy flame into the ocean, till the
+twinkling stars came out, and the pale moon cast its tranquil light upon
+the sea.  She used to recount to me, with artless simplicity, the events
+of her short life, and all her hopes and prospects for the future.  She
+was not ambitious: she would like to see Paris and all its wonders; but
+after that, she would be content to settle down in a quiet little
+country village, with--
+
+"`One you love,' I added, as she paused.
+
+"`Yes,' she answered, blushing.  And I thereon spoke of my love and
+devotion, but confessed my poverty and the hopelessness of ever gaining
+sufficient to support her.
+
+"She smiled at my scruples; told me that she had wealth enough for both,
+and that she valued a true and honest heart more than all the riches of
+the world.
+
+"Poor girl! she little knew the accursed wretch to whom she was ready to
+link her fate.  Once or twice I thought of telling her the truth; but I
+dared not: indeed, while I was by her side, I already felt better, and
+thought I might reform.  Dreams--dreams, which were soon to fade away,
+and leave the frightful reality more glaring before my eyes.  Some time
+had thus passed; the winds were light and baffling, so we had not made
+much way, when one night, during my watch on deck, I found Brand Hallton
+standing close by me, just before the mainmast.  Besides the man at the
+wheel, there was only one lookout man forward awake; the rest of the
+watch were fast asleep, stowed away under the poop-deck.
+
+"`How fares your love with the old Frenchman's pretty daughter?' said
+Hallton, touching my arm.
+
+"I shuddered as he did so, and could scarcely answer.
+
+"`What matters that to you?'  I at length replied.  `She is not likely
+to think of one so mean and poor as I am,' I added.
+
+"`No, no,' he answered, in a low, jeering tone; `you can't deceive me,
+my man.  She looks upon you as an officer and a gentleman.  Ha, ha, ha!
+With one like me, a poor man before the mast, the case would be
+different.  I'll tell you what it is, Hawkins.  The girl loves you, and
+would marry you to-morrow, if we had a priest to join your hands.  She
+does not know that you are a murderer,' he hissed in my ear.  `If any
+one told her, she would not believe it.  I know what women are when they
+are in love, as that girl is with you; but the old father would not be
+so deaf; and, at all events, he would as soon see his daughter in the
+grave as married to one like you.  Ha, ha, ha!'
+
+"`I do not know what you are aiming at,' I exclaimed, turning round on
+my tormentor.  `Do you wish to provoke me?'
+
+"`Pardon me, Mr Officer,' he answered, laughing; `I forgot your rank.
+No, I do not wish to provoke you; but I wish to tell you the truth, that
+you are following a wild-goose chase, which will only lead you among
+shoals at last.  Take my advice: change your course, and give up this
+sentimental work.  The girl shall be yours, if you follow my advice; but
+if not, you will lose her to a certainty, and do yourself no good into
+the bargain.'
+
+"I told you, sir, how complete was the power that man exercised over me
+from my having participated with him in the murder of Arnold, nor was he
+lenient in exercising it.  Though my spirit was rising, he soon made me
+quail before him.  He so worked upon me, that he at length brought me
+over to agree to a plan he had formed.  This was to put under hatches
+the master and such of the crew as would not join us; then to alter the
+ship's course towards the coast of America, where he proposed to make
+off with as much of the gold as the boats would carry--with Mdlle.
+Julie as my share--after cutting away the masts, so that we could not be
+pursued, should the master and his companions, by any chance, break
+loose from the hold.  He sneered when I told him, that as there was to
+be no bloodshed, I did not object to join him in his plan.  I was very
+wicked, I know it; but bad as I was, he was worse.  I was tempted by the
+hopes of winning Julie, for he had convinced me that I could never gain
+her by fair means.  He was deceiving me all the time.
+
+"It did once cross my mind that I would try to make amends for my former
+crimes by endeavouring to save the old merchant, and trust to his
+gratitude to reward me by his daughter's hand; but my courage failed me
+when I thought of the difficulties I should have to encounter, besides
+the risk, even should I succeed in preserving the father, after all, of
+losing the young lady.  You see, sir, I had no ballast to keep me
+steady; from the want of it the first breeze capsized me, as it will
+every man who attempts to sail without it.  The next morning the young
+lady came on deck, looking fresh and fair as the flowers in May.  I
+walked with her as usual before her sisters appeared, but there was that
+on my countenance which prevented me meeting her eye.  She rallied me on
+my silence, and I tried to recover my spirits, but in vain.  I was on
+the point of telling her of the danger she was in, and of vowing to
+protect her and her family with my life, when, as my lips were about to
+utter the words, I caught the dark eye of Brand Hallton watching me at a
+distance: pretending that the duty of the ship called me away, I quitted
+her side.  I cannot tell you, sir, what my feelings were as I walked
+for'ard.  I would gladly have cut the villain down as I passed him, but
+I dared not, my eye quailed before his dark sneering glance.  I dived
+below to my cabin, and buried my face in my hands; I thought my heart
+would have burst.  Again and again I cursed the bitter fate which had
+delivered me into the power of that more than fiend.  I was aroused from
+my stupor by a dreadful shriek.  I rushed on deck.  Near the companion
+lay the old merchant, life ebbing fast away from a deep gash on his
+head, which had rendered him all but senseless; one of his daughters was
+kneeling over him, her hands uplifted as if to protect him from further
+violence.  Brand Hallton was furiously engaged with the captain, whom he
+had driven right aft, and, as I appeared, a blow from his cutlass sent
+him reeling into the sea.  Giving one cry for help, which Hallton
+answered with a laugh of derision, he cast a look of despair towards the
+ship, and the waters closed over him for ever.  The murderer then
+turning upon me, exclaimed--
+
+"`You would have betrayed us, would you?  You shall suffer for it.'
+
+"I was unarmed, and before I could seize anything to defend myself, a
+blow from his cutlass stretched me on the deck, but not senseless; I
+wish that I had been so, I should have been spared the horrors I was
+witness to.
+
+"Apparently satisfied with his vengeance, the miscreant turned to other
+acts of blood.  Some of the men had overpowered the first mate, who had
+remained faithful to the master, and who, even now, while death was
+staring him in the face, refused to accept his life on the dreadful
+terms the mutineers proposed.  Lashing his hands behind him, they placed
+him at the outer end of a plank, which they shoved over the stern of the
+vessel, some of them holding it down in-board.
+
+"`Will you join us?' said Hallton.
+
+"The mate was a brave fellow.
+
+"`No!' he exclaimed with a firm voice; `never!'
+
+"`Let go,' cried Hallton, with an oath, `he would have hung us if he
+could.'
+
+"The man jumped off the plank.  Not a cry escaped the mate, as, with a
+sullen splash, he fell into the sea, and sank immediately.
+
+"The deeds of horror which followed I will not describe.
+
+"The ship was now entirely in the power of a gang of the most murderous
+ruffians who ever dared the vengeance of Heaven.
+
+"During all this time the eldest of the three young ladies lay senseless
+on the deck; but what had become of Julie and her sister I knew not.  A
+minute afterwards I heard a shriek; I opened my eyes; Julie herself
+rushed on deck.  She cast one terrified glance around--not a friendly
+eye met her sight.
+
+"She saw me bleeding, and apparently dead; she would have thrown herself
+down near me"; but she encountered Hallton on the way.  Darting from his
+grasp, before any one could stop her, she fled aft, and threw herself
+over the taffrail into the sea.  Hallton immediately ordered a boat to
+be lowered, but the falls were unrove, and it was some time before it
+was in the water, and the brig hove up into the wind.  Oh! what an agony
+I was in!  I did not wish her to be saved.
+
+"I could only hear Brand shouting to the men in the boat, and pointing
+out to them the direction they were to pull; I watched every movement
+anxiously; I conjectured that she was still struggling in the waves--
+love of life triumphing over her fears--and probably kept up by her
+garments.
+
+"`Pull away, and you'll have her yet,' shouted the chief mutineer.
+There was another horrid pause.  `No, she has sunk,' he cried.  `A few
+strokes more, and watch for her if she rises.  I see her hair below the
+water.  Oh, you fools, you have missed her!'
+
+"He still stood watching--an age it seemed to me.  My feelings almost
+overpowered me.  He stepped down on the deck.  I heard the boat
+alongside: the men came on deck: they brought not Julie.  She had
+escaped them; and, had I dared to pray, I would have thanked Heaven for
+it.
+
+"After this, I know not what occurred for several days.  I was in a
+raging fever; and, had I not lost so much blood, I should have died.
+Hallton had spared my life, both because I was the only man, besides
+himself, on board, who understood how to navigate the ship, and because
+he knew my temper, and that I was completely in his power: he had only
+to threaten to deliver me up as the murderer of Arnold, and I was again
+his slave.
+
+"Well, sir, when I was able to crawl on deck, we were running up the
+Gulf of Mexico; and, after changing our destination several times, we
+stood for Vera Cruz.  Hallton never once referred to what had occurred:
+he spoke to me soothingly, telling me that, as he had been elected
+captain, I was to be his first mate, and that a Spaniard, called
+Domingos, was to be second.  I told him that I was ready for anything;
+for, in truth, I had no longer any power of thought.  All I wanted was
+excitement; and when he talked of the wealth we should gain by pirating,
+I only longed for the chase and the fierce fight.  When we were within
+two days' sail of our port, the captain told me that he was convinced it
+would never do to take the brig into the harbour, where she might be
+recognised by the people on board some of the other vessels; that we
+must look out for some other craft; and then taking the two to one of
+the quays at the south of Cuba, where the old pirates used to resort, we
+must refit, and alter one of them, so that she could not possibly again
+be known.  I had nothing to say against his plan, which, being agreed to
+by all the crew, we once more changed our course.
+
+"We cruised for some days on the Spanish main, when we sighted a large
+schooner, which was at once pronounced to be an American merchantman.
+They are very fast vessels in general; so that, if we alarmed her, we
+could not hope to come up with her in the chase.  Sending down our
+topgallant-masts, we clewed up the topsails, and, slacking the braces,
+we let the yards swing every way, while, at the some time, we hoisted
+signals of distress.  The schooner made us out before long, and stood
+towards us to see what was the matter.  When she was about a mile from
+us, it fell a dead calm, and we were consulting whether we would get
+alongside her in boats or wait for a breeze to board her, when the
+captain ordered all the men to lie down; and, standing upon the
+taffrail, he made signs that we were in want of water.  On this, a boat
+was lowered from the schooner, with six hands in her, and we saw a
+couple of kegs handed down the side.
+
+"Oh! sir, it was a devilish trick we played those who were ready to
+relieve our distress--one that a seaman naturally looks on with peculiar
+abomination; but we seemed to delight in outraging all the laws both of
+God and man.  With rapid strokes the boat pulled towards us; and as her
+crew eagerly jumped on the deck of the brig, they were knocked on the
+head and tumbled below.  The last two who remained in the boat were
+stabbed, so as not to make any noise.  We then stripped off their shirts
+and hats, and six of our best hands, including Hallton, dressing up in
+them, with three others concealed at the bottom of the boat, pulled
+towards the schooner.  Another boat was got ready on the opposite side,
+to where the schooner lay, to support the first, if necessary.
+
+"Our people were not suspected till they got almost alongside the
+schooner, when the Americans, seeing strange faces instead of their own
+friends, could not doubt what sort of customers they had to deal with.
+They seized what arms they could lay their hands on to defend
+themselves; but it was too late for resistance.  Hallton and his crew
+were on board before they had time to load a musket.
+
+"The greater number were cut down on the instant: a few defended
+themselves on the fore port of the vessel, but the second boat
+following, boarded on the bow, when these too were quickly overpowered.
+Not one of our party was hurt.  The master of the schooner and his two
+mates were killed.  Some of the crew, to whom we offered their lives on
+condition of joining us, accepted our terms; but several refused to do
+so.  After taking possession of our prize, which was a remarkably fine
+schooner, just suited to our purpose, we set to work to dispose of our
+prisoners.  Hallton, with his usual diabolical cunning, hit upon a plan
+to secure the obedience of those of the schooner's crew who had joined
+us, by making them murder the remainder of their shipmates.
+
+"It was cold-blooded, dreadful work.  The victims were compelled to
+stand at the gangway, while, one by one, their former friends advanced
+with a pistol, and, blowing out their brains, hove them into the sea.
+Two men had thus been murdered, when it came to the turn of a youth of
+respectable appearance, the son of the owner, I think he was, to perform
+the part of executioner.  He had at first consented to live, but I have
+my doubts whether he did not even then contemplate what he afterwards
+attempted.
+
+"Seizing the pistol which was offered him, with a stern look he advanced
+towards the wretch he was ordered to kill; but, instead of drawing the
+trigger, he turned suddenly round, and taking a deliberate aim at our
+captain, fired.  The ball grazed the captain's cheek.  With a look of
+fury he rushed with his drawn cutlass at the daring youth, who, standing
+firmly prepared for his fate, was cut down on the deck.  Life ebbing
+fast away from several tremendous gashes, the young man lifted himself
+from the deck on one arm--
+
+"`Wretch,' he said, `my pistol missed its aim, or I should have saved
+the lives of my companions, and your crew from further crime; but be
+assured that your career of wickedness will quickly be brought to a
+close, and that the fate to which you have consigned so many others will
+soon be your own.  May Heaven pardon me for what I would have done!'
+
+"`Heave the young villain overboard, some of you! and stop his prating,'
+exclaimed the captain, stamping with fury.
+
+"But none of us stirred--hardened as we were, we could not do it: even
+we were struck by his heroism; and at that moment, had he chosen to be
+our captain, we would gladly have deposed Hallton and followed the dying
+youth in his stead.
+
+"`Am I to be disobeyed?' cried the captain as he gave another cut across
+the face of the unhappy man; and dragging the yet living body to a port,
+with his own hands hurled him overboard.
+
+"That murder cost him his influence over us; and I think even the worst
+of us would have been sick of him had he been destined much longer to
+command us; but the words of the murdered youth were soon to prove true.
+
+"You will scarcely believe it, sir, but not only were all the prisoners
+made to walk the plank, but Hallton--fearing that some of the others
+might attempt his life--murdered the rest of the schooner's crew who had
+entered with us, not excluding the two who had commenced their career by
+shooting their own shipmates.  Well, sir, I shall soon have done with my
+history.  After taking everything out of the brig, we scuttled her, nor
+did we leave her till we saw the waves close over her topgallant masts.
+We then did all we could to alter the appearance of the schooner, and
+shaped our course for Cuba.
+
+"We there passed some weeks, spending our ill-gotten wealth in every
+kind of debauchery and folly.  We then refitted our craft and again went
+to sea.  After taking and sinking several merchantmen, with all their
+crews on board, we returned to our former rendezvous; and this work
+continued for some time, till we fell in with the ship of war which
+captured us.
+
+"There, sir, I have given you a sketch of the greater part of my career,
+the rest you know; and I assure you, sir, that I have been far happier
+since I was taken than during any former time of my manhood.  That one
+dreadful thought oppresses me, that I must meet Arnold and be carried in
+his cold embrace, down, down, down--
+
+"Oh, save me from him--save me!" cried the pirate, hiding his face in
+his hands, and cowering down towards me, to escape from the vision which
+haunted his imagination.
+
+I remained with him for the greater part of that night; and, at length,
+quitted him more composed in mind and resigned to his fate than I could
+have expected.  The next morning was to be his last; and at his
+particular request, I accompanied him to the fatal scaffold.  A large
+crowd had assembled--blacks and whites, soldiers and sailors, to witness
+the execution of the noted pirates.  With a firm step he walked from his
+prison to the foot of the gibbet, and mounted the steps.  Resting a
+moment, he addressed the spectators, exhorting them to take example from
+his dreadful fate, and to avoid the evil courses which had, step by
+step, conducted him to it.  At length the executioner warned him that
+his time was up.
+
+"I am ready," he answered, and was about to submit his neck to the fatal
+noose, when, starting back, he exclaimed in a voice of agony, "He is
+come! he is come!  Oh, save me from him!--save me!"
+
+Before he could utter more, the drop was let fall, and all was soon
+over.  The rest of the crew died making no sign.
+
+Such was the closing scene in the life of a pirate--the dreadful phantom
+conjured up by his conscience haunting him to the last.
+
+STORY SIX, CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY SIX--THE SPIRIT OF THE STORM.
+
+There once existed in the Pacific Ocean a beautiful island, called the
+Island of Gracia.  In the early ages of the world, before the human race
+had begun to explore the more distant regions of the globe, it was
+probably a wild and barren rock, with abrupt sharp-edged hills and dark
+pools of stagnant water, without a patch of green herbage, or animal or
+vegetable life of any description to enliven its solitude; while the
+only sound heard around it was that of the wild waves dashing
+ceaselessly on its rugged shores.  Ages passed away, and those
+indefatigable insects, the coral worms, built up their wonderful
+habitations, like lofty walls, around it; toiling, seemingly, for no
+other purpose than to show how for their structures can surpass in size
+the most mighty efforts of men.  The reefs thus created broke the force
+of the fierce waves; a soft yellow sand was formed, and shells of many
+shapes and delicate tints were washed up uninjured on the beach.  The
+sun and rain, with alternate influence, softened also the hard rock, and
+a soil was formed, and birds of the air rested there in their passage
+across the ocean, and brought seeds of various descriptions from
+far-distant lands, which took root and sprung up; and the hills became
+clothed with fragrant shrubs and gorgeous flowers, and tall trees with
+luscious fruits grew in the valleys, and a soft green herbage covered
+the banks of the silent lakes and murmuring streams.  Thus the island
+became a fit habitation for man.  Now, it happened that a canoe or a
+galley with many oars, or a vessel of some description, such as was used
+in ancient times, with a chief and his followers, and their wives and
+children, set sail from a remote country.  Either they fled from their
+victorious enemies, or they were driven by a storm so far from their
+native shores that they could not return.  Thus they floated over the
+ocean, till they reached the Island of Gracia.  So shattered was their
+vessel by the tempest, and so delighted were the chief and his people
+with the appearance of that beautiful land, that they were well
+contented to remain.  Their chief now became their King.
+
+In the course of a few generations the descendants of the first
+adventurers had thickly peopled the whole island, and had lost all
+record of the land from whence they came, nor did they know whether it
+lay to the north or south, or to the east or west.
+
+Monarch succeeded monarch, till King Zaphor came to the throne of
+Gracia.  Everybody loved King Zaphor, for he was a benignant and
+paternal sovereign, who attended to the wants of his subjects.  The King
+had a daughter, the Princess Serena; he loved his people, but he
+absolutely doted on his daughter.  She was the child of his affections,
+the sole relic of a departed wife, the soother of his regal cares, the
+companion of his hours of retirement.  The people loved their King, but
+they almost adored the Princess, and there was not a man in the island
+who would not have gladly died to protect her from harm.
+
+Her heart was tender and good, and if she heard of any persons who were
+ill or in trouble, she was not contented till she had done her utmost to
+relieve them.  Her blooming countenance was radiant with smiles and
+animation, and she was beautiful, too, as she was amiable.  The poets of
+Gracia used to liken her to a graceful sea-bird floating on the calm
+bosom of the deep, as, followed by her attendant maidens, as was her
+daily custom, she tripped across the flowery mead, or through the shady
+woods, or along the yellow sands, herself the fairest and most agile of
+them all!
+
+The Princess and her youthful maids loved to pluck the sweet-scented
+flowers to make chaplets for their hair, or wreaths to twine round their
+sylph-like forms.  At other times they would amuse themselves by dancing
+on the smooth sands, or they would plunge fearlessly into the water, and
+would sport like sea-nymphs in the clear bright waves within the coral
+reefs, while the rocks and adjacent woods rang with their joyous
+laughter.
+
+The Princess also had a beautiful bower, where none but her own
+attendants dared intrude.  It was formed of branches of red and white
+coral, beautifully polished and interlaced.  The roof was covered with
+the long, thick leaves of the palmetto, and the outside walls were built
+of the long-enduring bamboo, so closely placed together that neither
+wind nor rain could penetrate; while the whole was shaded by a
+wide-spreading palm-tree, and surrounded by a grove of cocoa-nut and
+plantain-trees.  In front, through an opening in the wood, the sands of
+the sea-shore and its fantastic-shaped rocks, and the blue ocean,
+glittering in the sunshine, could be seen.
+
+Here the Princess Serena and her attendants used to retire during the
+heat of the day, to partake of their simple but delicious repasts of
+bread made from the quick-growing cariaca or the cassada root, the
+nutritive and luscious plantain, the heads of the cockarito-palm, and
+boiled pappaws, with sea-side grapes, and other fruits and vegetables
+too numerous to mention; or they would ply the distaff, or would make
+dresses of feathers and baskets of reeds, while they amused themselves
+with pleasant talk; and thus their days passed innocently and happily
+away.
+
+STORY SIX, CHAPTER TWO.
+
+In the very deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, directly under the
+Equator, Neptune, the Sovereign of the Seas, once held his regal court.
+His palace was of vast dimensions, capable of holding all the Ocean
+Spirits, the rulers and guardians of the realms of water below, and of
+all the islands which adorn its surface.  Its outside was composed of
+huge black rocks piled up like mountains, one upon another, and covered
+with dark masses of seaweed, which, floating upward, appeared like a
+forest of trees, of a growth far more gigantic than the earth can
+produce, and yet it seemed but like lichens growing on the roof of a
+house in comparison with the size of the edifice.  The inside was more
+magnificent than mortal eye has ever seen.  There was one vast hall,
+pervaded by a green yet clear light, which came from above, and
+increased the grandeur and solemnity which reigned around.  To say that
+the walls were of red coral and immense shells, each of which was as
+large as many a vessel which floats on the ocean, while pearls of
+surpassing brilliancy and whiteness were interspersed among them, and
+that the roof was of crystal of gorgeous tinge, can in no way picture
+the surpassing magnificence of the structure.  At one end was a lofty
+throne, proportioned to the size of the building, of jet-black rock,
+glittering with that gold which the toil of man had won from the bowels
+of the earth, but which his carelessness had lost in the stormy sea.  It
+was surrounded by many thousand other thrones, the seats of Neptune's
+vassal Spirits--his Governors, Tritons, and other attendants.  It must
+be understood that, once upon a time, whatever may now be the case,
+every fish which swims, every insect which crawls in the sea, had its
+governor and king.  The largest was the King of the Whales.  He was a
+vast monster of dark form, whose dwelling was in the regions of icebergs
+and glaciers at the North Pole.  The fiercest was the King of the
+Sharks; he had sharp teeth, and eyes full of malignancy and hatred to
+the human race.  He was the most wicked of all the Spirits.  The fastest
+and most beautiful was the King of the Dolphins; the most unwieldy the
+King of the Porpoises; the ugliest the King of the Cat-fish; and the
+tallest the King of the Big Sea Serpents--for they all partook somewhat
+of the forms of the fish over whom they were placed to govern.  Their
+thrones, too, were of appropriate forms; some sat on huge sea-eggs,
+others on shells.  The King of the Whales sat on an iceberg, but the
+King of the Big Sea Serpents was obliged to twist himself in and out
+about the pillars of the hall to find room for his long body.  It is
+impossible to describe their vast mysterious forms, shrouded as they
+were in their dark-green mantles of vapours and obscurity.
+
+That portion of the Pacific Ocean in which the Island of Gracia is
+situated was ruled over by a sea spirit of the name of Borasco.  As he
+was not the king of any particular fish (indeed, he was superior in
+power to most of them), his appearance was a mixture of many.  His body
+was covered with scales, and from his back mighty wings projected, to
+aid him in his flight across the ocean, while his feet were like those
+of a seal; his eyes were large, fierce, and glowing; his mouth had large
+tusks, and on either side were black bunches, like the feelers of a
+walrus.  On his head grew masses of long hair, like seaweed, streaming
+in the wind; while his arms and hands had more the appearance of the
+claws of a shell-fish than of anything else; at the same time that his
+vast size, and the indistinctness which surrounded him, gave to his
+appearance a grandeur which partook more of the terrific than the
+hideous.  Borasco had a palace which might vie in magnificence and
+beauty, though not in size, with that of Neptune.  One day he sallied
+forth, and mounting his prancing steed, which was a huge wave with a
+foaming crest, he rode furiously off, as he was accustomed to do, over
+the ocean.  The water roared and hissed, the mid wind howled, as,
+shouting loudly with a voice like thunder, onward he went in his fierce
+career; and these were the words he uttered:--
+
+  "I'm a wandering spirit where rolls the broad sea,
+  For no bonds, for no bonds, can e'er fetter me:
+  My steed is a wave, with a white crest of foam,
+  Which gallantly bears me wherever I roam;
+  Lashed to fury, he dashes the waters on high,
+  As bounding he lifts his proud head to the sky.
+  Oh! no charger of earth can so rapidly flee,
+  While no bonds, while no bonds, can e'er fetter me.
+
+  "I fly on the tempest while loud shrieks are heard,
+  And more shrilly I cry than the roaming sea-bird:
+  When rocks are resounding with ocean's loud roar,
+  And forms are rebounding, pale waifs on the shore--
+  When barks are deserted to roam o'er the waves,
+  And mortals are hurled unprepared to their graves--
+  Then, then is the time I shriek loudest with glee,
+  And no bonds are so strong they can e'er fetter me.
+
+  "My hair, the thick mist or the wild-driving snow,
+  All wildly floats round when the northern blasts blow;
+  My breath's in the whirlwind, my voice in the clouds,
+  And night, as a mantle, my stern visage shrouds.
+  The vivid fork'd lightnings which dart from mine eyes
+  Flash fearfully over the dark low'ring skies:
+  Oh! then my wild voice is heard shouting with glee,
+  As I ride o'er the boundless and fathomless sea."
+
+On, on he flew, terror before him, devastation in his rear; the
+footsteps of his steed, the dark furrows of the foaming waves; his track
+marked by the shattered wrecks of the hapless barks over which he
+passed, till at length he reached the Island of Gracia, his strength
+exhausted and his fury assuaged.  He gazed, delighted, on its smooth
+yellow sands, sparkling in the beams of the sun, its cool and waving
+groves giving forth their rich perfumes, and resounding with the
+harmonious notes of their feathered denizens; its smiling hills, its
+green meadows, and the thousand beauties of the landscape before him.
+The light spray, tinted with the varied hues of the rainbow, played
+round his mysterious form, as his steed, with a loud roar with echoed
+from rock to rock, receding towards the ocean, left him standing on the
+shore.
+
+Wildly throwing his arms around, he shook the water from his robe,
+which, as it fell, appeared like the spray from some mighty cataract,
+and then, reclining beneath the shade of an overhanging rock, he
+stretched forth his huge limbs, and, calmed by the fragrant air and the
+tranquillity of the scene, he slept.
+
+Tempted by the beauty of the evening, after the fierce storm which had
+raged all day, the Princess Serena and a troop of youthful maidens took
+their way to the sea-shore.  For a time they sang and sported in
+exuberance of spirits; then they formed a circle and danced around their
+mistress; then they bound her hair with bright flowers, and decked her
+neck with softly-tinted shells, and then, hand-in-hand, they ran towards
+the water; now they retired, and now advanced, uttering peals of
+laughter, as the bright waves rippled over their feet.  At last one,
+more daring, rushed into the sea; others followed, and as they threw
+about the sparkling spray in mimic fight, the rocks and woods echoed
+with their merriment.
+
+The sounds reached the ears of the sleeping Borasco.  He awoke, and
+rising, listened, when, advancing from among the rocks which had
+hitherto concealed him, he suddenly appeared before the eyes of the
+astonished maidens.  No sooner did they see the monster, than with
+shrieks of terror they fled into the woods, forgetting even the
+Princess--or, rather, they thought she was flying with them.
+
+Instead of flying, however, she stood entranced with horror, her feet
+refusing to move, and her eyes fixed on the hideous being before her.
+Borasco gazed at the Princess with deep admiration.  Neither on the sea
+nor under the sea had he ever in all his wanderings beheld anything to
+be compared to her in beauty.  Feelings totally strange and new to him
+rushed like a torrent into his bosom.
+
+The purest and most exalted love took possession of his soul; horror,
+disgust, and loathing, were the feelings most powerful in the breast of
+the Princess as she beheld him.  At length, forgetting the hideousness
+of his shape, and the natural repugnance she must have felt for him, he
+advanced towards her to address her.  "Beautiful creature!" he exclaimed
+in a voice as loud as thunder--"What are you?  Whence come you?"  No
+sooner did he speak than the spell was broken, and with a cry of fear
+she fled away from him as fleetly as a startled fawn.
+
+Her voice and action would have convinced an ordinary mortal that he had
+no hope of gaining her affections.  Not so the Spirit of the Storm.
+
+"Stay, sweet being! oh, stay and listen to me!" he repeated, but the
+words only hastened her flight.  He gazed after her till she
+disappeared, and when he found that it was useless to follow, and that
+there was not the remotest chance of her returning, he sat himself down
+on a rock which hung over the sea to consider what he should do.  As he
+sat, the water became perfectly calm as a glass mirror; and looking into
+it, after some minutes' deep meditation he beheld the reflection of his
+own monstrous form.  He had been so long accustomed to look at Tritons,
+and other sea spirits as hideous as himself, that he was not aware how
+ugly he was.  Now, with grief at his heart, he at once saw the
+difference between the Princess Serena and himself.  His late exposure
+to the sun had not added to his beauty, for his hands and arms and the
+top of his head had become red, while the anguish he was suffering
+increased the wild expression of his countenance.
+
+With good reason, he was at length very nearly giving way to despair.
+
+"Alas! unhappy spirit that I am," he cried, "why did I look at that
+mortal maiden?  Why do I long for what is beyond my reach?  Why am I not
+content with the enjoyment proper to my own fierce nature?  Alas! this
+new feeling overpowers me, and a delicate maiden has enslaved the mighty
+Borasco."  While he was speaking a sound reached his ears.  He knew it
+well, for it was the summons to Neptune's conclave.  "Ah!" he exclaimed,
+"I will consult King Neptune, and ask his aid.  If any one can help me,
+he can, to win the heart of that lovely damsel.
+
+  "And now my bold steed, with the white-flowing crest,
+  Come hither, come hither, arouse thee from rest.
+  Oh! what courser like thee can so rapidly bound,
+  When I mount thee to ride o'er the waters profound?
+  Then haste, my brave steed, again hie to me,
+  And together once more we will range o'er the sea."
+
+While he was uttering these words, a mighty wave rolled in towards the
+shore.  Leaping on it, away he went over the ocean at a rapid rate,
+leaving in his track a line of glittering foam, till he reached the
+centre of the Atlantic, over the palace of Neptune--then down, down he
+descended, till he entered the gateway of its rocky halls.
+
+STORY SIX, CHAPTER THREE.
+
+King Neptune, in great state, sat on his throne; the Tritons stood
+before him, but the chief seats were empty.  Waving his trident round
+his head, he spoke.  The words were those which reached the ears of
+Borasco, then thousands of miles away:--
+
+  "Haste hither, wild Spirits,
+  Who wandering roam
+  The wide-rolling ocean,
+  When covered with foam.
+  Abandon your fierce work
+  Of death and dismay;
+  Haste, fly o'er the billows,
+  My mandate obey.
+  From where the north gales
+  So ragingly blow,
+  On whiten'd wing flying
+  From frost and from snow;
+  Ye, in the storm striving,
+  To swell the loud blast,
+  The helpless bark driving,
+  While shivers the mast,
+  When a shriek is heard sounding
+  Mid ocean's wild roar,
+  And the doom'd bark is grounding
+  Upon the dark shore,
+  Haste hither, Sea Spirits,
+  I bid ye appear;
+  Haste, haste, at my call;
+  I summon ye here!"
+
+Even while Neptune was speaking, troops of sea-monsters of every
+wonderful form, and of every colour, came rushing into the hall, and
+having made their obeisance to him, took their seats on their respective
+thrones.  In they came, till the edifice, vast as it was, was almost
+full of them.  There were the King of the Whales, the King of the
+Sharks, the King of the Porpoises, and the King of the Dolphins, the
+King of the Cat-fish, and the King of the Big Sea Serpents; the Kings of
+Ice and Snow, of Tempests and Whirlpools, and there were the guardian
+spirits of every headland and bay, and of every island and river in the
+universe; so that it is not surprising that their number should have
+been so considerable.  Neptune then inquired in a loud voice how each
+had been occupied since the last convocation.
+
+"I," answered the King of the Whales, "have been engaged in protecting
+my subjects by hurling together large masses of ice, and by crushing the
+ships which come to attack them, even to the very heart of my kingdom."
+"And I," said the King of the Sharks, "have been engaged in sinking all
+the ships I could meet, so that I might give to my subjects an abundance
+of the food they like best."  The King of the Porpoises replied, that he
+had been teaching his subjects to keep in the deep sea out of harm's
+way; and the King of the Cat-fish said, he had advised his to make
+themselves as disagreeable as possible, so that no one would wish to
+catch them; while the tall monarch of the Big Sea Serpents observed that
+he had strictly enjoined his to keep out of sight altogether, which
+fully accounts, for so few of them having ever been seen.  Among the
+Spirits there was one who, in beauty of form, surpassed them all, for it
+was almost that of a human being, but more grand and majestic.  The
+Spirit rose and spoke:--
+
+"I have, mighty sovereign, been engaged in watching over the island of
+which you have made me guardian.  I found the women good and beautiful,
+and the men brave and hardy, true sons of the ocean, their barks roving
+to every distant clime, and bringing back the produce of each to their
+sea-girt shore."
+
+"'Tis well, Britannia," said the sovereign of the ocean; "let them
+understand, that as long as they remain faithful to me--as long as they
+keep their fleets well manned, their sea-barks ready to repel any
+aggression--as long as they refuse to submit to the slightest
+interference of any foreign prince or potentate, Albion shall be my
+favoured isle, the land of peace and liberty."
+
+When Neptune had ceased speaking, all the Kings of the Sea and Tritons
+signified their desire to support their sovereign's wishes.  Neptune
+then looked round, and seeing Borasco's throne vacant, inquired what had
+become of him.  Before any one could answer, the Spirit of the Storm
+entered the hall, and making a low obeisance, walked with a dejected air
+to his seat.
+
+To the customary inquiry, Borasco informed his sovereign of all the
+storms which had blown, and the shipwrecks which had occurred.
+
+"Now tell me, Borasco," asked the monarch, "why have you the downcast
+look I see you wear?"
+
+Borasco replied, "Dread chief, I come to crave your aid for a cause in
+which all the power I possess I find of no avail.  As I was lately
+wandering over the ocean, I reached the shores of a lovely island
+clothed with beautiful shrubs and trees and sweet-scented flowers, and
+canopied by skies of purest blue.  Never have I seen a spot more
+beautiful; and yet it is but the setting of a precious jewel--a pearl of
+matchless price.  That jewel is a lovely and youthful maiden, a
+princess, the daughter of the mortal sovereign of that island.  As I
+slept, concealed beneath the rocks, she and her maidens, she outshining
+them all, came to sport upon the sands.  Their laughter, sweet as the
+murmuring of the breeze upon the summer waves, roused me from my
+slumber; but no sooner did I present myself before them, than they fled
+with shrieks of terror, fast as the fleet dolphin from the voracious
+shark.  She alone remained behind.  I gazed delighted.  I endeavoured to
+approach her, to behold her nearer; but no sooner did I move, than,
+affrighted, she fled far away from me into the woods, where I could not
+follow.  I endeavoured to shout to her, to entreat her to tarry, to
+listen to what I had to say; but my voice (it was somewhat loud, I
+confess) only made her fly the faster.  When she and her attendants had
+disappeared, I sat me down on a rock, disconsolate, to consider the
+state of the case, when I by degrees began to suspect that she was
+frightened by the form I am doomed to wear, which I fear is somewhat
+more hideous than she is accustomed to see.  I meditated still further,
+and at length I came to the conclusion that I am what human beings call
+desperately in love.  Yes, dread Sovereign, the fierce Borasco is in
+love!"
+
+On hearing this confession of Borasco, all the Kings of the Sea and
+Tritons lifted up their hands with surprise, and a smile of incredulity
+rested on their countenances, while a murmur ran through the hall,
+"Borasco in love!  Borasco in love! oh, oh!" for no one would have
+guessed that he could have become a slave to the tender passion.  They
+smiled, too, at his only then having discovered his own ugliness, for,
+frightful as they were themselves, they all fancied that he was more so.
+
+Britannia was the only spirit who compassionated him, and she pleaded
+his cause with Neptune so successfully, that the Monarch expressed his
+willingness to assist him, if means so to do could be found.  "Tell me
+by what rules, in thy favoured island, youths manage to win the hearts
+of the maidens they love?" said Neptune, addressing Britannia.
+
+The Spirit smiled and replied: "In the first place, the youths wear
+forms somewhat more attractive than that of Borasco; but as to rules, I
+can lay down none, so various are the means by which the hearts of
+maidens are won, and of such different materials do they appear to be
+made.  Some seem to me to be composed of iron or adamant, some of glass,
+some of wax, some of lead, and some of stuff not more consistent than
+butter, while a few, I suspect, have no hearts at all.  Sighs and timid
+looks attract some, laughter and bold admiration others, and gold has no
+little influence in affairs of that description; but the man who
+requires rules to make love has but small chance indeed."
+
+Borasco sat in a very melancholy and downcast mood, with his chin
+resting on his hand, while several deep sighs, which sounded somewhat
+like thunder, burst from his heaving bosom, and echoed round and round
+the hall.  At last he looked up and said, "It is very well for you,
+brother Kings, who are fancy free, to laugh; but let me tell you, if you
+felt as I do you would find it no laughing matter.  And thou, O mighty
+Neptune, if thou canst not help me to win the lovely in aid, I know not
+what I shall do, while I remain as hideous as I own I am."
+
+Neptune, on hearing this, thought deeply for some minutes; he then
+spoke:--
+
+  "Be not, my brave Borasco, thus dismay'd,
+  You know my love, and I will give thee aid.
+  I grant thee leave to seek some human form
+  In which the life-blood yet is flowing warm,
+  Which from some sea-tossed, shattered wreck is torn,
+  And on the shore by raging billows borne.
+  Such you may enter, while your present form
+  Returns to mingle with the air and storm.
+  But also learn, the force of fire or steel,
+  Like other mortals, you'll be doomed to feel;
+  And if of mortal life you are bereft,
+  You must resume the native form you left,
+  And thence for ever in that shape remain,
+  Nor e'er in human semblance shine again;
+  And also, every year you most repair
+  To this my court in that same form you wear,
+  Leaving your mortal shape in seeming sleep,
+  While for one day you stay beneath the deep.
+  Such is, Borasco, tried and faithful friend,
+  The best assistance which I now can lend."
+
+On hearing these words, the looks of the Spirit of the Storm brightened.
+He rose and made obeisance.  "Thanks, mighty Sovereign," he exclaimed;
+"my hopes brighten, my courage returns.  I will, with your permission,
+at once hasten and put into execution this most excellent plan.  It must
+succeed, and cannot fail to secure my happiness; and I here promise to
+obey your mandates, and faithfully to return once a year, to pay my
+respects at your court."
+
+"Do so," replied Neptune; "but remember that I can give you power only
+over the form of a human being who in his lifetime has been guilty of
+many crimes.  With the innocent and virtuous no Spirit must interfere.
+Now let our court break up; and, Kings of the Sea, and ye, great Spirits
+of the Wind and Air, disperse yourselves across the billowy main."
+
+On hearing these words the Spirits answered:
+
+  "We fly, mighty Monarch, we fly at thy will,
+  With tempest and tumult the ocean to fill;
+  Where rocks and where sandbanks and whirlpools abound,
+  And barks are hurled onward, we there shall be found."
+
+When the Spirits ceased speaking they dispersed, with a loud rushing
+sound, in all directions, while the Kings of the Sea, the Islands, and
+Rocks, retired with a more dignified pace, and the vast hall was left,
+as before, in solitude and silence.
+
+STORY SIX, CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+The seas were, in those days, infested by a band of pirates, who were
+possessed of several large ships, with which they defied all efforts to
+destroy them.  The chief of the pirates was called Don Alonzo.  Though
+very blood-thirsty and wicked, for he robbed all he met, and spared no
+one who made any resistance, he was very brave, and young, and handsome;
+indeed, on looking at him, few would believe that he could commit the
+crimes of which he was guilty.  It happened that his ship, having
+separated from her consorts, was sailing across the Pacific.
+
+Now, as Borasco was returning from Neptune's conclave to his own palace,
+he espied her in the far distance floating calmly on the waves.  He soon
+knew her to be the ship of the pirate Alonzo, and instantly summoning
+all his wildest spirits to his aid, a violent tempest began to rage, and
+thus the Spirit of the Storm sang, as, riding on his foam-crested steed,
+he followed the doomed bark:--
+
+  "'Tis now that the billows are covered with foam--
+  'Tis now my wild spirit rejoices to roam,
+  When waves tossing high with dark clouds are at play,
+  To dim the pale moon with their bright frothy spray;
+  When loud-rolling thunder resounds thro' the skies,
+  And fast through the night air the northern mist flies;
+  Oh! now is the time when my spirit is free,
+  And wildly I ride o'er the fathomless sea.
+
+  "Yon tempest-toss'd vessel before me now flies,
+  And loudly I echo the mariners' cries,
+  As sadly they gaze on the breakers before,
+  Which madly leap over the iron-bound shore,
+  When hope has deserted, and, pallid with fear,
+  The stoutest heart trembles at death drawing near.
+  Oh! now is the time I shout loudest with glee,
+  And gaily ride over the foam-covered sea."
+
+Onward sailed the sea-robbers, thoughtless of coming danger, when
+suddenly the gentle breeze, which had hitherto been wafting them on
+their course, rose to a furious gale.  Over the ship heeled to its rage.
+The tall masts bent and cracked, and one by one, with crash upon crash,
+they were carried away, till the ship drove before the tempest a
+helpless wreck on the waste of waters.  The wild cries of the seamen, as
+they saw their doom approach, rose above the shrieks of the sea-bird, or
+the mocking laughter of the Spirits of the Storm.  Their chief alone
+stood undaunted, youth in his eye, and manly vigour in every limb;
+though the lightning flashed around his head--though the foaming billows
+washed over the frail planks on which his feet were planted, and death
+with all its horrors frowned upon him.
+
+On, on drove the ship--dark clouds above, the yawning waves below--till
+the land (it was the Island of Gracia), at that part fringed with sharp,
+threatening rocks, appeared ahead.  On she went.  The eager waves leaped
+round her; they lifted her to their summit, and then down she came,
+crashing upon the rocks.  Her timbers were riven asunder and scattered
+far and wide, and of the human beings who lately trod her deck but one
+alone was washed on shore, and from his body life had departed, though
+it was uninjured, either by the rocks or shattered planks and spars.  It
+was that of Alonzo, the captain of the pirate crew.  No sooner did
+Borasco behold the work which his powers had accomplished, than he
+hastened to the beach, and there he found, stretched on the sand, the
+body of the pirate.  He looked at it delighted, for the form was very
+handsome; and though life was gone, it yet retained its warmth.  High
+rocks surrounded the spot, so that no human being could observe what was
+happening.  A voice (it seemed to come from the air) then uttered, in an
+awful tone, the following spell:--
+
+  "Dark form! my mystic words obey,
+  To thin air vanish, haste away!
+  Go, wander o'er the boundless main,
+  Nor dare this shape resume again,
+  Till by dark spells of potent might,
+  I summon thee to re-unite."
+
+As he spoke the hideous form began gradually to expand into vast
+proportions, growing each moment more mist-like and indistinct.  Signs
+of animation now returned to the body of Alonzo, who speedily arose, and
+while he waved his arm, the shape Borasco had lately worn mingled with
+the surrounding atmosphere, till it finally disappeared like a mist
+blown off from the sea.
+
+Alonzo, or rather Alonzo's form animated by Borasco's spirit, walked
+slowly on, for he felt weary, as a person does who has long buffeted
+with the waves, for with the form so he partook in a measure of the
+human feelings of the pirate.  His nature, however, in other respects
+was not altered; his love for Serena was rather increased than lost, and
+he was still the same bold Spirit he had before been, with the same
+power, only softened and refined by the magic influence of love.
+
+He looked into a mirror-like pool of water among the rocks, and there,
+seeing his new figure reflected, he drew himself up, and stretching out
+his arms proudly, he exclaimed, "Ah, I now look like a man indeed; I
+feel the life-blood rush fleetly through my veins, my pulses beat
+steadily; methinks when the maiden sees me she will not fly from me as
+she did before.  Ah, now in truth I have a chance of winning her.
+Thanks, thanks, mighty Neptune! for the aid you have afforded me.  The
+dawn approaches; she will soon be here! and then once more, lovely
+Princess!  I shall again behold thy matchless beauty."  As he spoke a
+few faint streaks, the harbingers of the rising sun, appeared, in the
+eastern sky, the wind went down, and the sea grew perfectly smooth.
+
+After wandering along the sea beach for some distance to stretch his
+legs, for he naturally felt somewhat strange in his new form, he at
+length, overcome with fatigue and a desire for repose, laid himself down
+on the dry sand under the shade of an overhanging rock.  Here, in the
+course of a few minutes, he fell fast asleep; and so sound was his sleep
+that he appeared like some shipwrecked mariner who had been drowned and
+washed on shore by the stormy waves.
+
+STORY SIX, CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+The bright sun was shedding his beams across the dancing waves, when the
+lovely Serena and her maidens, tempted by the beauty of the morning,
+left the palace to enjoy the fresh air on the beach, no longer dreading
+to meet the hideous monster who had once so frightened them in the same
+spot.  As they walked on they talked of the storm which had raged during
+the night.  "And, my Princess," said Linda, one of the maidens, "they
+say that there was seen last night, by those who were on the watch, a
+huge black mass driving towards the shore, but that it burst asunder,
+and only fragments of wood and some extraordinary-shaped things were
+found among the rocks.  Some people think it was a big canoe, and others
+a monster, but no one is certain."
+
+"There are many strange things happening," replied Serena.  "Last night
+my father dreamed a dream; he dreamed that one of the sages of our
+people came to him, and reminded him of a prophecy which was uttered
+years ago: it ran thus:--
+
+  "`In hour of danger
+  Saved by a stranger,
+  The King and state
+  Give him guerdon great,
+  But a Sea-monster will prey
+  On his reward that day.'
+
+"My sire awoke repeating the words, and the sage was gone, but the storm
+was raging with greater fury than before."
+
+"Since the day we saw the dreadful monster, wonders have never ceased,"
+observed Linda; "now, I should not be surprised if some other wonder was
+going to happen."
+
+While they were speaking they happened to approach the very spot where
+the form of Alonzo was sleeping.  The Princess and her maidens started
+with surprise, and then cautiously drew near, curious to know what
+strange being he was; for, from his dress, which was the costume of
+Spain, and from his appearance being so totally different to that of the
+islanders, they did not at first suppose that he was a human being.
+
+Remembering the fright they had had before, from the strange monster
+which had appeared so suddenly out of the sea, they approached very
+cautiously, thinking this might do them some harm if they were not
+careful.  Hand-in-hand they advanced, treading lightly, and uttering no
+sound, and ready every instant to run away.  At last they all got close
+up to him, and began to examine him with curious eyes, their fears
+gradually growing less and less.  Linda was the first to make the
+wonderful discovery, that instead of a strange monster, he was a young
+and handsome man.  "Oh, my dear mistress, I am sure he must be a Prince,
+for he is so very good-looking and prince-like," she exclaimed, bending
+over him; as she did so she uttered an exclamation of sorrow, and wrung
+her hands; "Alas, alas!" she cried, "but I fear he is dead!"
+
+The maidens now all drew near, and knelt mournfully round him, when at
+last the Princess ventured to take his hand.  Instead of letting it
+drop, she exclaimed joyfully, "Oh, no! he is not dead; his pulse yet
+beats with life, and look, the colour mantles on his cheeks."
+
+Her touch, or the voices of her maidens expressing their satisfaction,
+awoke Alonzo, as Borasco now called himself, out of his deep sleep.  He
+opened his eyes, and fixing them on her, he said in a low voice,
+expressive of his surprise, "Do I dream?  Are you a mortal? or have the
+skies sent some being radiant with beauty to dwell on earth?"
+
+The Princess was not insensible to the compliment, though it was rather
+high-flown; but she was so astonished at hearing him speak, that,
+instead of answering him, and not knowing what else to say, she asked,
+"What are you? whence do you come?"
+
+Before Alonzo could answer these questions he had to collect his
+thoughts sufficiently to frame a story; for he had had till then no idea
+that they would naturally be put to him.  He therefore rose, and,
+kneeling at the feet of the Princess, took her hand, and replied, "I
+come from the sea, fair Princess!  My ship was dashed to pieces last
+night on those pointed rocks, while I, her chief, was cast on shore, and
+am the sole survivor of her crew.  My name is Alonzo, and I am your
+humble slave, fair lady."
+
+The Princess, though she did not comprehend all the stranger said, and
+certainly did not understand his compliments, had not the slightest
+doubt of the truth of the story.  She entreated him to rise, and then
+retired with her maidens to consult what should be done; for there
+existed in Gracia a law which condemned to death any stranger who should
+venture to the island, of whose character and history the chiefs and
+magistrates were not fully satisfied.  Without, therefore, their
+permission, she could not venture to invite him to her father's palace.
+At this juncture a number of the islanders appeared from the wood close
+by, and seeing a strange person standing by himself, for the Princess
+and her maidens were hid from them by the rocks, they rushed down and
+seized him, demanding who he was.  The Princess heard their voices, but
+before she could interfere, overwhelmed by numbers, the stranger was
+borne to the ground.  He struggled in vain, and was surprised to find
+how easily he was overcome; for he forgot that with a mortal form he
+possessed only the strength of a mortal, and had at first supposed that
+he could drive them off with as much ease as he would have done had he
+retained the form of Borasco.
+
+The Princess hurried forward.  "Oh, spare him! spare him!" she
+exclaimed; "I am certain he will do no harm.  See how amiable and gentle
+he looks!"
+
+The islanders loved their Princess, and therefore refrained from
+offering further violence to the stranger, but still they held him
+tight, and insisted on carrying him into the presence of King Zaphor.
+Now, Serena, as she felt that she might more successfully plead his
+cause before her indulgent father than any one else, gladly consented to
+this arrangement.
+
+King Zaphor sat in state, with his wise men and councillors around him,
+when Alonzo was brought bound before him by a large concourse of his
+subjects.  The Princess, attended by her maidens, also appeared in
+court, for there was no one else to plead his cause; and as she had been
+the first to discover him, she considered that she was in duty bound to
+protect him.  Alonzo stood before the King with a dignified air, and his
+arms folded on his bosom, his personal appearance gaining him many
+friends; but when he was questioned as to his occupation and calling, he
+began to reflect whether he had not done an unwise thing in entering the
+form of so wicked a person as the pirate captain, handsome though he
+was; for he feared that should the Princess discover that his form was
+that of Alonzo, nothing that he could say to the contrary would persuade
+her that he was not Alonzo himself.  He felt, indeed, the truth that
+beauty, without real goodness and a good character, is worthless indeed.
+He, however, gave the same account of himself that he had done to the
+Princess, in so clear and concise a way, that he gained much in the good
+opinion of the wise men.  He then vowed so earnestly, that far from
+wishing to injure any of the inhabitants of the Island of Gracia, he
+would devote himself to their service, that he made a still further
+advance; and when the Princess spoke in his favour, it was unanimously
+decreed that, not only should his life be spared, but that full
+permission should be given him to remain in the island.
+
+The fair Serena was delighted at her success, and consequently took
+greater interest than before in the stranger.  King Zaphor, with great
+courtesy and kindness, invited him to his palace, where a feast was
+prepared, and a chamber made ready for him.  All the chiefs of the
+island attended the feast, and were much pleased, as was the King, with
+his wisdom and general information.  The King, indeed, confessed that he
+was superior to any of the councillors who sat at his council-table; and
+this made them not a little jealous of him, as people of small minds are
+apt to be of strangers who surpass them in intellect.  Meantime the
+Princess listened attentively to all Alonzo said, and the interest she
+felt ripened into a still warmer feeling--a feeling with which Borasco
+in his proper shape would never have inspired her.  The stranger rapidly
+gained his way into her good graces, and days, weeks, and months passed
+happily away without their finding them an hour too long.
+
+STORY SIX, CHAPTER SIX.
+
+Months wore on, and the wisdom of Alonzo had wonderfully increased the
+prosperity of King Zaphor's dominions.  All the people began to respect
+the stranger, and to look upon him as the husband of the Princess, and
+their future sovereign.  One day, as Alonzo and Serena were wandering by
+the shore, they saw approaching far off on the sea, a number of large
+canoes.  Alonzo regarded them attentively till he felt convinced that
+they were war-canoes full of warriors, intending to attack the island.
+So he hurried back to collect all the fighting men to repel the enemy.
+On came the canoes, and it was soon seen that Alonzo was not mistaken,
+for before the fighting men of the island could assemble, they had run
+upon the beach.  Alonzo and a few followers were the only persons ready
+to meet, the invaders, who had already formed on the sand, expecting an
+easy victory.  With a sharp sword in his hand--a sword forged within the
+bowels of the earth, and which had been brought to him by a Sea Spirit
+from an island in the Mediterranean--he rushed down among them.  His
+sharp sword flashed fire, as he whirled it round his head, among the
+showers of arrows which flew about him, and numbers of the enemy lay cut
+to pieces at his feet.  Fearless of the deadly weapons aimed at him, so
+rapidly did he perform his work, that all the invaders were either
+destroyed or had fallen on their knees to sue for mercy before the King
+and his followers could get up to the scene of action.
+
+Thus the Island of Gracia was delivered from the greatest peril to which
+it had ever been exposed.  Then the King gave a banquet to commemorate
+the happy event, and he summoned to it his lords and councillors, and
+all the chief men of the island, and they all came and congratulated the
+King on his victory.
+
+The King, however, graciously would not claim the credit which was not
+his due; but, pointing to Alonzo, who sat on his right side, told them
+that they owed their freedom to him.  Then, taking him by one hand, he
+took Serena by the other, and informed his chiefs that he thus betrothed
+those whose hearts were already one, and he inquired whether they would
+consent to receive the stranger as their future chief.  No sooner had
+the King done speaking, than all the nobles arose, and exclaimed, "Hail
+to the brave stranger, our gallant defender! hail to Prince Alonzo, the
+husband of our beloved Princess, our future sovereign!"
+
+The King was much pleased with this expression of the loyalty of his
+subjects, nor was the Princess less so at their approval of a husband to
+whom she was so devotedly attached.  Thus the stranger Alonzo was raised
+to the highest dignity of the state.
+
+Nearly a year had passed since his arrival, when one day he espied a
+large ship, under full sail, approaching the island.  The people were
+surprised, and many were much alarmed, for they had never before seen so
+extraordinary a sight.  Some thought it some mighty sea-bird, and others
+some monster of the deep; but none could tell what the portend might
+forbode.  On the ship came, and, casting anchor, several of the crew
+landed.  They wandered about through the woods, singing and carousing,
+and otherwise amusing themselves.  When also they happened to discover
+any of the cottages of the natives, they did not scruple to enter, and
+to appropriate anything which struck their fancy.  Alonzo was attending
+to the affairs of state when news was brought him of the behaviour of
+the strangers, and that they were actually approaching the precincts of
+the Palace.  On this he immediately sent out to put a stop to the
+mischief.  As he was proceeding a shriek reached his ear.  He knew the
+voice at once--it was that of the Princess Serena--and, rushing on with
+the speed of lightning, he found her and her maidens in the rude grasp
+of the strangers.  When they saw him and his followers, while some held
+fast the damsels, the rest advanced with arms in their hands to meet
+him.  As, however, they got nearer to him, instead of attempting to run
+him through with their swords, they shouted out, "'Tis he! 'tis he! our
+long-lost chief!  Why, brave Captain Alonzo, we thought you long since
+dead.  What, don't you know us?  Don't you remember Almagro, and Sancho,
+and Pedro?"
+
+But Alonzo looked at them as on total strangers, for, of course, he
+could not remember having ever seen them before.  "I know you only from
+your own confession and your deeds to be wicked villains," he exclaimed;
+"and I order you instantly to quit this island, or I shall hand you over
+to the laws of the realm.  I spare you now.  Begone, but remember my
+warning."
+
+This made them very indignant.  "What, not know your old friends?  Come,
+come, you look very magnificent, doubtless, but we cannot let you or any
+other man interfere with our proceedings."
+
+As they said this, some drew their swords, while others attempted to
+drag off Serena and her maidens.  The magic weapon of Alonzo was in his
+hand in an instant, and as it struck the blades of the pirates, for such
+they were, it shivered them to atoms.  Some of the pirates were killed,
+but Alonzo was merciful, and the Princess being placed in safety, he
+allowed the rest to escape, as they fled before him.  That day he
+published a decree banishing the pirates from the island, on pain of
+death if they remained.  Instead of going, however, they hid themselves
+among the rocks on the sea-shore, for the purpose of issuing forth at
+night to weak their vengeance on one whom they supposed to have been
+their chief, but who had now become their enemy.
+
+STORY SIX, CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+It required but one day to complete the year since the Princess Serena
+first beheld Alonzo, when, as they sat in her bower, watching the blue
+tranquil sea in the distance, he folded her in his arms, and told her,
+with a voice of tenderness, that he must for a short time quit her.  In
+vain she endeavoured to draw from him the reason of his intended
+absence.  He assured her that it would be but for a few short hours,
+that he must go to a distant part of the island, and that he would
+faithfully return.  She entreated to be allowed to accompany him, but to
+that he could not consent.  Had he entrusted his awful secret to her,
+though it would have terrified her to find that she had got a Spirit for
+a husband, it might have been happier for him.
+
+Every argument which the Princess could use was employed in vain to
+induce the seeming Alonzo to remain; far more powerful were the stern
+decrees of Neptune.  Once more pressing her to his heart, he tore
+himself from her, and rushed out along the beach till the tall rocks hid
+him from her sight.  The Princess remained bathed in tears, and overcome
+with grief and forebodings of evil.
+
+Meantime Alonzo wandered along the shore in search of some sequestered
+cavern, where he might leave in security the mortal form he wore, while
+he repaired, according to his bounden duty, to Neptune's conclave.  For
+some time he could not satisfy himself, for he was naturally fearful of
+being disturbed or injured.  Far, far better would it have been had he
+entrusted his body to the safe and loving care of the Princess.  At last
+he discovered a cavern which could only be entered from the sea.  Inside
+it there was a small extent of sand and several ledges of dry rock, to
+which the waters never reached.  Nothing could be better suited to his
+purpose; so, standing at the mouth of the cave, he stretched out his
+hand over the sea, and uttered this potent spell:--
+
+  "Haste, wandering form,
+  Dark mist o'er the main.
+  From wind and from storm,
+  I call thee again.
+  I once bade thee retire,
+  But now hither repair,
+  Whether glowing in fire,
+  Or sailing in air.
+  Again this stern spell,
+  Dark shape, thou must hear,
+  Come, come, whence you dwell,
+  Haste hither, appear!"
+
+As he spoke a thick mist seemed to rise from the sea in the horizon,
+extending upward, and growing denser and denser, till it assumed the
+faint outlines of Borasco's form.  Then it glided forward, as if borne
+onward by a gentle wind, till it reached the mouth of the cavern.
+Meantime Alonzo placed himself on an upper ledge of the rock in an
+attitude of sleep, and forthwith his spirit passed into his proper form,
+from which an awful voice uttered these words:--
+
+  "Rest thee, mortal form, rest here,
+  Till I once again appear.
+  Cursed the hands that dare to smite thee,
+  Or by injury to blight thee.
+  Let with horror fate condemn them,
+  And the raging seas o'erwhelm them."
+
+While he was thus speaking, Borasco glided over the sea till he
+disappeared in the far distance.
+
+Now it happened, as we have said, that the pirates, whom Alonzo had
+ordered to quit the island, instead of so doing, had hid themselves
+among the rocks on the sea-shore, waiting for an opportunity to wreak
+their vengeance on him; and as they were rowing along in their boat,
+they reached the mouth of the cavern in which he had left the body of
+Alonzo.  Leaving their boat secured to a rock, they jumped on to the
+sand.
+
+"Ah, here is a secure place indeed, where we may remain concealed though
+all the people of the island were hunting for us, till an opportunity
+occurs for punishing our traitor Captain," said Almagro, who was now
+chief of the band, and was afraid, should Alonzo return, of losing his
+authority.
+
+"It's secure enough; but if the sea were to get up we should be caught,
+like mice in a trap," observed Sancho, one of the lieutenants.  "Why,
+where's the boat?"  As he spoke the boat drifted away from the cavern
+out of their reach.
+
+"What clumsy fellow pretended to secure the boat?  Ah, see, the sea is
+already rising," ejaculated Almagro, in a tone of horror.
+
+The pirates were now compelled to retire higher up the cavern.  What was
+their astonishment when, as they reached the further end, they saw
+before them the very man they had been seeking, as they supposed fast
+asleep.  Immediately they held consultation what should be done.
+Sancho, and some of the more merciful, were for binding him and carrying
+him off to their ship, but Almagro, who saw that thus his object would
+probably be defeated, was for destroying him while he slept.  Several of
+the worst sided with him, and before Sancho could interfere, they sprang
+forward and plunged their daggers into Alonzo's form.  Scarcely had they
+done so, when loud peals of thunder echoed along the rocks, vivid
+lightning flashed from the skies, and the foaming waves rushed up into
+the cavern.
+
+In vain the guilty and affrighted pirates fled into the interior of the
+cave.  The angry waters foamed up on every side.  Shrieking they fled
+from rock to rock; still the waves rose higher and higher, and swept
+them far off into the boiling sea, while the dead body of Alonzo was
+carried away into the depths of the ocean.
+
+STORY SIX, CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+The sun had risen twice upon the world, and again set, and now the moon
+was casting her silvery beams upon the dancing waves, when the Princess
+Serena went forth, on the sea-shore, to search for the brave Alonzo, for
+he returned not as he promised.  Long she wandered up and down, and with
+anxious gaze watched the shining ocean, but still he came not.
+
+She listened for his voice, but no sound was heard, only the low murmur
+of the rippling water upon the yellow sand.  Her heart sank with fear,
+and grief, hitherto a stranger to her, took possession of her bosom.  At
+length she climbed to the summit of a high rock which overhung the sea.
+There she stood, with straining eyes and arms stretched over the ocean,
+calling in a tone of anguish on Alonzo to return to her.  As she uttered
+his name, a form, vast, shadowy, and majestic, appeared beneath the
+moonlight, and a voice, so soft it seemed a note of sweet music,
+pronounced her name.  The Princess listened with eagerness and
+astonishment.  Again, from afar, came that low and sweetly solemn voice.
+"Serena, Serena, Serena!" it said.  Well did the Princess know the
+voice.  It was Alonzo's.  Though he was not seen, she felt that he was
+near her; nor did the vast form on the ocean bring any terror to her
+bosom.
+
+"Serena, Serena!" repeated the voice.
+
+  "Serena, dearest, haste to me,
+  And I will bear thee o'er the sea,
+  To halls so rich, so bright, so fair,
+  Sparkling with every jewel rare,
+  Where you, beloved, in peace shall reign,
+  The gentle guardian of the main.
+  Then, sweet Serena, come to me,
+  And I will bear thee o'er the sea."
+
+"Yes, beloved one, I will go to thee," she exclaimed, and fearlessly she
+sprang towards the bright ocean which slumbered below.
+
+The waters sparkled as she fell, a joyous voice again uttered her name,
+and a form, though it was Borasco's, no longer hideous in her sight,
+received her in his arms.
+
+The maidens of the Princess, when they saw the vast form of Borasco
+floating on the water, were horrified; but when they observed her throw
+herself off the rock, and watched her carried away in the arms of the
+seeming monster, they fled terrified to the palace, and reported what
+had occurred.  At first there was some doubt thrown on the matter, and
+when the stranger Alonzo did not return, people went so far as to say
+that the unhappy Princess had, in a fit of madness, thrown herself into
+the sea for love of him.  The enemies of Alonzo, who had heard the
+pirates claim as a friend, said that he was a pirate himself, and that
+he had carried off the Princess.  At all events, the poor King was
+overwhelmed with grief at the loss of his daughter, and called his
+chiefs together, to consult as to what could have become of her, or if
+means could be taken to recover her.
+
+The sages differed for some time in their opinions.  One said, "If she
+had jumped into the sea and was drowned, they could not expect her to
+return."  Another observed that, if she had been carried away by a
+pirate, it was to be hoped that the pirate would bring her back again;
+while a third sagaciously remarked that, in order to recover her, not
+knowing where she was, it would be necessary to look for her.
+
+At length one of the very oldest of the sages remembered the prophecy
+about which the King had dreamed on the night of the storm, when Alonzo
+came to the island.  "There can be no doubt," he observed, "that the
+first part referred to the stranger who had rendered such signal service
+to the state, for which service he received, as guerdon great, the hand
+of the Princess.
+
+  "`But a sea-monster shall prey
+  On his reward that day,'
+
+"Means, evidently, that a sea-monster will carry off and prey upon the
+Princess, who was his reward."
+
+The King and all his councillors acknowledged, with deep grief, that
+they saw the true interpretation of the prophecy, and from that time
+forth no one in the Island of Gracia doubted that the Princess had been
+carried off by a sea-monster.
+
+STORY SIX, CHAPTER NINE.
+
+The mighty Spirit of the Storm bore in his arms the gentle Serena
+rapidly across the ocean, till at length they arrived in front of a
+palace of crystal, which stood so completely at the very edge of the
+sea, that the walls which were reflected on its tranquil surface seemed
+to rise directly out of it.  No words can describe the beauty and
+elegance of its architecture, the gracefulness of its delicate pillars,
+and the light tracery-work of its innumerable arches, all of the same
+pure, glistening substance, extending on either side, in a succession of
+airy colonnades, as far as the eye could reach, and, arch above arch,
+rising almost, it seemed, to the skies.  No mortal workmen could have
+raised that wonderful edifice.
+
+The portals flew wide open as Borasco and the Princess approached, and
+placing her on the crystal steps which led down beneath the water, he
+conducted her forward through a hall, which surpassed in beauty and
+magnificence even the exterior of the building, so light and airy, so
+richly adorned at the same time was it with polished coral and delicate
+tinted shells, and emeralds, and precious stones of every description.
+
+It far surpassed in beauty anything which Serena ever in her most
+romantic imaginings had conceived to exist in the world.  Wonderful and
+strange as all appeared, no fear or misgivings of any description
+entered her bosom; for, although she saw that the shape beside her was
+wild and hideous, yet well she knew that the spirit which animated it
+was that which dwelt in the form of Alonzo, to which she had given her
+heart, her best, her deepest affections.  A soft light radiated through
+the hall, and gentle music floated in the air, while forms of every
+graceful shape and hue appeared before them, and made obeisance as they
+passed.  They advanced slowly among lines of aerial beings towards a
+superb throne at the further end of the hall, the canopy over which
+appeared as if formed of a fountain of glittering water thrown upwards,
+and petrified before it could again reach the earth.  Serena remained
+mute with astonishment, till by degrees she found words to express
+herself.  "Is what I see around me the work of enchantment, and do I
+tread on fairy ground?" she exclaimed.  "And you, my Alonzo, why have
+you led me hither, and why are you so strangely disguised?"
+
+"You tread, my Serena, the halls of my crystal palace, the home I have
+prepared for you," answered Borasco.  "Those bright gems are the same
+for which men toil and deem themselves happy if they gain a few, yet all
+you see and many more are yours."
+
+"Oh, I care not for those sparkling gems.  It is your love, Alonzo, I
+prize above all," said Serena, turning on him a look full of deep
+affection.  "But why hide from me those features on which I fondly used
+to gaze?--Why envelop thus strangely your noble form?"
+
+Borasco did not answer till he had placed her on the throne; then
+throwing himself before her on his knees, he told her of his plot to win
+her, and of all that had occurred, and implored her forgiveness.  As he
+knelt, the thousands of Spirits who filled the hall followed his
+example.  She answered in a gentle voice, that she had nothing to
+forgive; as she could scarcely find fault with him for falling in love
+with her.
+
+"But who are the bright beings who fill these halls, and pay me so much
+respect?" she asked, as the graceful Spirits continued kneeling round
+her.
+
+"They are," replied Borasco, "the Spirits of the summer air, the
+guardians of the moon-lit waves, the utterers of murmuring sounds, when
+the calm sea is hushed to rest.  Each light and easy duty is confided to
+their care.  They are the Spirits which obey my will, and you, my
+beloved one, shall from henceforth ride over them.  See also the mighty
+Monarch of the Ocean comes to kneel before your throne."
+
+As he spoke, a flourish of conch shells was heard, and Neptune, in a
+superb car, followed by an innumerable band of Tritons, glided into the
+hall.  Descending from his car, he knelt before the Princess, and
+exclaimed:--
+
+  "Welcome, fair Lady! since you come
+  To these bright realms, my watery home;
+  When I the happy tidings knew,
+  I clave the limpid billow through,
+  And hasten'd here to kneel before
+  The Lady whom all hearts adore:
+  For know, we rovers of the Sea,
+  Are truly famed for gallantry,
+  And when a beauteous Lady deigns
+  To visit thus our broad domains,
+  The sons of Ocean strive to show
+  The pride with which their bosoms glow.
+  Then, Lady, deign our Queen to be,
+  And we will serve thee loyally.
+  This crown marine in token wear,
+  That Ocean's realms confess thy care,
+  And to no other would I yield
+  The trident sceptre which I wield.
+  Now then let all with loud acclaim
+  And joy, our Ocean Queen proclaim!"
+
+Neptune having presented a crown and sceptre to the Princess, the
+Tritons and Sea Spirits broke forth with a loud chorus:--
+
+  "Oh! welcome to these coral halls,
+  Fair Lady of the radiant brow,
+  Thy beauty every heart enthralls,
+  Thy virtues claim our willing vow.
+  The trident sceptre of the main,
+   Oh! long, sweet Lady, may'st thou sway,
+  And far as spreads yon liquid plain,
+  Let every realm thy power obey."
+
+Serena then answered in a sweet thrilling voice:--
+
+  "Thanks, thanks, Great Neptune, we will strive to prove,
+  How much we prize our loyal subjects' love;
+  And long as o'er these noble realms we reign,
+  Will ever be the Guardian of the main."
+
+Neptune then again approached the throne, and bowing, said--
+
+  "Fair Queen, your brother sovereign hear;
+  I once more to your throne draw near,
+  And what I say will not displease
+  The gentle guardian of the Seas,
+  We made a law some time ago,
+  To which e'en you will gladly bow,
+  That those who in our realms remain,
+  Can ne'er their former name retain.
+  We'll change the one you bore above--
+  Victoria, is the name we love,
+  That name shall through our realms resound,
+  And echo far the Ocean round,
+  And she beloved will ever be
+  By Neptune's sons the bold and free."
+
+Once more the Tritons broke into an enthusiastic chorus--
+
+  "Oh! long may'st thou reign, fair Queen of the Ocean,
+  The blue waves are dancing in gladness and sheen,
+  We thy Empire proclaim with joyful devotion,
+  And repeat in glad chorus, Long life to our Queen.
+  The echoes are telling the tidings around,
+  And joy on her brow gives bliss to the scene.
+  And long may the realms of old Ocean resound,
+  That wish of our hearts, Long life to the Queen?"
+
+Story 7--CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY SEVEN--THE BOGIES OF GLEN BOGIE.
+
+A gaily-painted canal boat was gliding smoothly and swiftly through the
+still waters of the Crinan Canal, which intersects the Mull of Cantire
+in Argyleshire.  A steep bank of overhanging wood lay on one side, and
+on the other an open view stretched toward distant hills.
+
+The day had been showery; drops sparkled upon the leaves, and pattered
+down on the boat as she passed beneath the hanging boughs; light clouds
+were speeding across the clear blue heavens, and as the sun shone out a
+fairy-like rainbow lay along the hill-side.
+
+With a rustling sound the boat cut through the placid water, and for a
+time none other broke the silence; the exquisite peace and beauty of the
+scene cast a spell upon the party who were passengers on board, and,
+different as were the various tones of mind, one feeling seemed now to
+pervade the group.  During this pause, let us examine the figures
+composing it.
+
+That active well-formed man, with good sense and merriment in his clear
+kindly eye, and about his firm mouth, is Arthur Hardy.  His early life
+of laborious self-denial, in support of dependent young brothers and
+sisters, has been rewarded with success and present prosperity.
+
+The graceful lounging figure beside him, whose handsome features are
+clouded by such a look of inward dissatisfaction, is Edmund Bayntun, the
+luxurious and self-indulgent course of whose days lacks the stimulus of
+any object to rouse his faculties, brighten his eye, and dispel the
+dreamy gloom now habitual to his manner.
+
+He and Hardy were school-fellows, and have unexpectedly met, to their
+great mutual pleasure.  Edmund has just been introduced to Mrs Arthur
+Hardy and her pretty and rather romantic little sister, Helen Grey, and
+has been persuaded to join them in a visit they are about to pay to a
+hospitable Highland friend, instead of continuing his languid solitary
+wanderings.
+
+He and Hardy were soon agreeably engaged in talking over early
+recollections and subsequent events; and the genuine kindness and lively
+good sense of the whole party tended considerably to overcome Bayntun's
+moody feelings, and dissipate the somewhat peevish melancholy in which
+he usually indulged.
+
+Towards evening Hardy announced that they must prepare to go on shore,
+as they had reached the nearest available landing-place to Glennaclach,
+the residence of Mr Stewart.  The mountain mists were tinged with
+glowing gold, and under the shadow of the dark hill-sides the waters of
+the loch looked grey and cold, when the party stepped into the little
+boat which came out to meet them.  A few passengers of an inferior rank
+accompanied them, and were heartily welcomed by the men in the boat in
+their wild Gaelic.  Suddenly they all seemed to remember that there were
+strangers amongst them, and, with a courteousness which might put to the
+blush many more cultivated societies, continued their conversation in
+English; and addressing Hardy, as the evident head of the party,
+volunteered any assistance or information they could give.  His plan had
+been at once to obtain some vehicle to convey them to his friend's house
+in Glennaclach, but this he found to be impossible, as the distance was
+considerable, and part of the road liable to be overflowed by the tide.
+The only arrangement to be made, therefore, was to pass the night at the
+little inn near the landing-place, and proceed the following day on
+their visit.  So Edmund Bayntun was condemned to spend the evening in an
+uncarpeted room, redolent of whisky and tobacco, the fumes of which
+ascended from the kitchen, where, as their usual rendezvous was
+occupied, the frequenters of the inn were holding their evening
+carousal; but the moon shone in a spreading path of silver upon the
+waters of the loch as the tide came rippling softly and steadily in, and
+he gazed upon it, and actually felt enjoyment.  Soon from the party
+below rose and swelled a wild and melodious chorus, then a single voice
+sang alone, and again the chorus joined in, till it was suddenly hushed,
+and, after a little consultation, the landlord came up to ask, in the
+peculiarly delicate tone in which the Western Highlanders speak English,
+whether the ladies were annoyed by the noise below, as it should cease
+immediately if they wished it.  Softened as it was, the effect of the
+music added much to their enjoyment, and they begged it might not be
+checked on their account.
+
+Early the next day, in high spirits, and perfectly refreshed, though
+their accommodation had certainly been of the roughest description, the
+little party set off up Glennaclach, the gentlemen on foot and the
+ladies and carpet-bags in a cart full of straw, drawn by a rough
+wild-eyed pony, led by a Highlander equally so.
+
+"Donald's but a daft lad, but he knows the road and will guide ye
+safely, so ye'll no be troubled with that," said the mistress of the
+inn, as she shook up the straw in the cart so as to form cushions for
+the two ladies.
+
+Donald was at first sight what would, in England, be called a lad, till,
+on closer inspection, his thick loose curls were perceived to be
+mingled, not sparingly, with grey.  These he shook down over his wild
+light-blue eyes whenever he spoke, but, as he heard the mistress's
+remark, he signified his appreciation of her confidence by throwing his
+head backwards, and, taking an inverted view of his charge, he opened
+his wide mouth and uttered the exclamation "Hech!" with a prolonged
+guttural aspiration.  Then he addressed himself volubly to the pony in
+English and Gaelic indifferently, and not a word would he utter except
+for the information of this, his chosen friend and companion, in answer
+to any questions put to him.
+
+Merrily they travelled, for the roads in Argyleshire are excellent, and
+the jolting of the cart, consequently, much less than they had ventured
+to anticipate; so that there was nothing to interrupt their enjoyment of
+the varied, always lovely, scenery through which their road lay.  Now
+they crossed an elevated ridge, where heath and grey rock were mingled
+in rich though subdued tints; then they descended through a wood of
+fairy birches, whose light foliage quivered against the pure blue sky,
+to the margin of the loch, which glistened in the morning sunlight, on
+one hand, and the steep grey rock formed a wall on the other, over
+which, amongst pines and stunted oaks, the broad heads and short wide
+horns of the Highland cattle would occasionally appear.  As they
+ascended the glen new hills came into view, some apparently of smooth
+velvet surface, descending with an easy slope towards the waterside,
+where a fringe of varied wood was reflected so clearly that it was
+difficult to distinguish it from the reality; others, dark and rugged,
+refusing to smile even under the joyous rays of the young day.  Bayntun
+was less obdurate in his gloom, but he seemed to check himself whenever
+he yielded to the enlivening influences of place and circumstances;
+while Hardy gave himself up so entirely to the pure pleasure of the
+moment, that his chest heaved, and his eyes filled with tears, and he
+could have thrown himself down upon the heather in an ecstasy of joy.
+
+"How dark and gloomy that glen looks between the steep mountain and the
+round smooth hill on the opposite side of the lake!" exclaimed Helen
+Grey.
+
+"What is that glen called, Donald?" asked Mr Hardy.
+
+"Ye ken the name as weel as any other word ye speak, Sandie, so come
+away and dinna be wasting your breath with asking idle questions," said
+Donald, addressing the pony.  Then, giving a leer at Helen from behind
+his grizzly locks, he began singing a few words of a Gaelic song; next
+he addressed some sentences in the same language to the pony,
+accompanied by a chuckling laugh; after which, he tossed back his head
+to take another inverted view of the party, and then giving a jerk to
+the short bridle by which he led the pony, he nodded to him in a
+patronising manner, saying, "Your memory's short, Sandie; but we should
+ay pity folks that's weak in mind, and so I'll answer ye.  Yon's Glen
+Bogie, Sandie," he continued almost in a whisper; "but ye shouldna go
+there in the full of the moon, Sandie, for there's sights and sounds in
+Glen Bogie that would make a wise man quake and loosen his teeth in his
+head, much more a poor daft lad like you, Sandie.  Dinna _ye_ gang
+there, Sandie, to hear the Campbells come down the glen to cry the
+coronach over their dead, and them dead and gone themselves these
+hundred years.  Ha! ha!  Sandie.  I heard it once mysel' when the wind
+soughed in the trees and the burn roared amongst the stones; and I heard
+the rustle of their tartans, and when the moon shone out I saw them.
+Hush, Sandie!  Whisht, my bonnie man!  The sun shines now, and we're no
+going to Glen Bogie."
+
+The convulsive jerks he had given to the bridle here made the pony so
+restive, that Donald's whole attention was required to quiet him.
+
+"That all sounds very delightful," said Helen, still gazing at the dark
+glen which branched off from the wider one up which they were
+proceeding.
+
+"Have you a fancy for spectral coronachs, Helen?" asked Hardy, smiling.
+
+"I must go to Glen Bogie," she replied in a very decided tone.
+
+"And what says the little wife?" continued Arthur.
+
+"Oh, by all means give Helen an opportunity of making friends with real
+bogies, and in Glen Bogie they must be genuine," answered Mrs Hardy.
+"Besides, I cannot help thinking that there really was some ghastly
+tragedy enacted about here in which the Campbells were concerned.  Glen
+Bogie may be the very spot."
+
+"Oh, I hope so," exclaimed Helen, turning quite pale.
+
+Suddenly Donald checked the pony's pace, and his own half-dancing
+ambling steps, as, after passing a few thatched cottages roughly built
+of stone, they came in sight of a moderately-sized house, with wings
+added apparently as they were required; out-buildings and farm-house,
+surrounded by stately beech and spreading gene or wild cherry-trees.
+Immediately in front of the house, which, like most Highland mansions,
+was slated and white-washed, a lawn, shaded by fine trees, sloped
+towards the lake, where two boats were moored close to a boat-house;
+while the adjoining portion of the slope was laid out in a garden, now
+basking in the sunshine.
+
+"Tread lightly, Sandie; there's sorrow and pain at hand," said Donald,
+in a tone so mournful and different from the wild, half-scoffing manner
+he had before adopted, that a thrill of apprehension ran through the
+whole party.  "There's sorrow yonder in the house of Glennaclach, and no
+cheering welcome for the Sassenach strangers."  His keen wandering
+glance had discovered one of the boats now moored to the shore, rowed
+hastily across the loch a few minutes before, and two figures hurrying
+up from it to the house.  One of these he knew to be the only doctor in
+the glen.  There were other signs of alarm and confusion; servants
+hastening to and fro, cottagers meeting and pausing as if to ask
+questions; and with all his wildness, half of which was but assumed to
+excite an interest which flattered his weak intellect, poor Donald was
+an acute observer, and sincerely attached to the family of the laird of
+Glennaclach, so that he readily took alarm.  To the travellers, not
+perceiving the tokens by which he formed his suggestion, it had all the
+effect of the supernatural.
+
+"Go you forward alone, Misther Hardy," said Donald, addressing him for
+the first time; "and if there's a welcome for you, come back and fetch
+the ladies, and,"--here he designated Bayntun by a certain contemptuous
+turn of the chin towards him.
+
+"But why should you doubt it, Donald?" asked Hardy.
+
+"Go you forward, Misther Hardy, or I maun go myself," repeated Donald
+impatiently, and holding the pony firmly, as if determined that he at
+least should not proceed.
+
+To humour him, Hardy followed his directions, but as he neared the
+house, a sound fell upon his ear which alarmed him; a boyish voice
+uttered a suppressed moan of intense suffering, repeated, yet apparently
+controlled by an effort.  Seeing him pause, one of the group of people
+who stood with grief and terror in their countenances outside the door
+came towards him.
+
+"Make haste, sir, if you are a doctor and can do him any good.  He is
+not dead, though I never thought to hear the sound of his voice again
+when the tree gave way with him, and I saw the bonnie lad go down over
+the crags like a stane."
+
+"What has happened?" inquired Hardy.  "I am no doctor, but I will gladly
+give any help I can."
+
+Then followed a voluble explanation in Gaelic from the whole group,
+interspersed with a few words in English, from which Hardy learned that
+one of the laird's younger brothers, in climbing along the crags by the
+side of a waterfall, had trusted his weight to a slight tree which gave
+way with him, precipitating him into the rocky bed of the foaming
+torrent.  The doctor was now examining the injuries he had received.
+While the women were speaking, a young man appeared at the door and said
+a few words to them in a kind but determined tone, which had the effect
+of instantly silencing and dispersing them; and he then perceived Hardy.
+
+"Hardy, is this your promised visit?  Alone, and at this unfortunate
+moment?  Not that you are the less welcome," he added, shaking him
+warmly by the hand, and leading him into the house.
+
+The gleam of reason which had dictated Donald's suggestion vanished as
+soon as Hardy followed it, and he began indulging in crazy merriment at
+having produced the excitement and alarm so visible in the faces of the
+three remaining strangers.  Though Bayntun would not have confessed it,
+his imagination was strangely excited, and his nerves shaken, when Hardy
+and the young laird came together from the house.
+
+"I am sorry to say that Donald's conjecture was but too correct," said
+Arthur; after introducing his friend; "and I have succeeded in
+convincing Glennaclach, much against his hospitable inclination, that he
+would distress us all by receiving us under such circumstances."  He
+then briefly explained what had happened, and his own proposition that
+they should proceed to Glen Bogie.
+
+"Since you will positively not remain with me, it is some satisfaction
+to know that at Glen Bogie, notwithstanding the ill-omened connection it
+has with my house, you will meet with a more hospitable reception, if
+you do not fear it for its reputation of being haunted," said the young
+man.  "My boats are at your service to take you there; and I am vexed at
+not having the pleasure of myself introducing you to the scenery of the
+Glen; but in my mother's present anxiety respecting my brother, I cannot
+leave her even for a few hours.  His hurts are not dangerous, however,
+and I hope to-morrow to be able to bring you all back to my house."
+
+As he spoke, he carefully assisted the ladies to alight from the cart,
+returning Donald's reverential salutation kindly, and desiring him to
+convey what Donald called the _thravelling_ bags down to the boat.
+Helen thought of Fergus McIvor, of course, though nothing could be more
+dissimilar from the hero of Waverley than the frank, simple-mannered
+young Highlander, who, with kind quiet courtesy, was handing Mrs Hardy
+down the sloping lawn.  Two men were ready in the boat, which was
+carefully spread with plaids, and Mr Stewart, or Glennaclach, as he was
+called in a district where the name Stewart is so frequent that it is
+absolutely necessary to distinguish the proprietors by the names of
+their estates, having given his orders to the men in their native
+language, and placed his intended guests comfortably, gave the boat a
+shove off from the shore, and lifted his bonnet as a parting salute.
+
+"Now you have seen a real live Highland laird, Helen," said Mrs Hardy,
+smiling.
+
+As the men plied their square-handled oars, the young laird called out
+something to them in Gaelic, which made them look shy and shake their
+heads.
+
+"I want them to sing to you," said he in English; and after some
+hesitation, one of them struck up a wild song, which, in spite of the
+nasal sound he gave it, was full of beauty.  So they glided over the
+still waters of the loch, which was--
+
+  "All of the dazzling sheen,
+  Like magic mirror, where slumbering lay
+  The sun and the sky and the cloudlet grey;
+  Which heaved and trembled and gently swung;
+  On every shore they seemed to be hung;
+  For there they were seen on their downward plain
+  A thousand times and a thousand again;
+  In winding lake and placid firth,
+  Little peaceful heavens in the bosom of earth."
+
+"Where did you learn that, Alice?" inquired Hardy gently, as his wife
+concluded these lines, which she murmured rather than pronounced, as she
+leaned back in the boat looking down into the water, and rippling it
+with her delicate fingers.
+
+"It is in Hogg's `Kilmeny,'" she answered.  "You don't know the poem,
+Arthur, but we will read it some day.  Kilmeny was taken away to the
+spirit-land, and allowed to revisit her native Scotland, to show what a
+woman can be and what she can do."
+
+"And did she take you with her, Alice?" said her husband.
+
+Mrs Hardy's cheek glowed at the implied compliment.
+
+Soon they entered the little stream which Mr Stewart had pointed out to
+them, and truly it was a lovely scene.  Although evidently deep, the
+water was so transparently clear that each pebble and fibre of weed was
+distinctly seen.  Trees arched overhead, hanging at times so far across
+the stream that it was difficult to manage the oars.  Where it widened,
+little islands, covered with trees, ferns, and wild-flowers, broke it
+into still narrower channels, forming leafy vistas, occasionally
+terminating in the blue hills.
+
+"Oh, what is that?" exclaimed Helen, as a large bird rose with heavy
+flight from a point of land which they were approaching.
+
+"Hech! yon's ta bhird," commenced one of the rowers, with great
+animation; then, checked by the consciousness that, however well he
+might be supplied with information regarding the bird, he could not
+communicate it in English, he continued in a more subdued tone, "Yon's
+ta bhird ye may often see nigh ta wather."
+
+The heron, for such it was, continued to precede them up the stream,
+resting on a point of land till they came close to it, and then
+majestically and gloomily rising, to alight again.  In about an hour the
+boat touched a sandy beach, surrounded with magnificent chestnut trees,
+amongst which the stream still ran, but so shallow and rocky a's to be
+unnavigable.
+
+"And, now, are we in Glen Bogie?" asked Helen.
+
+"Ay, ye may say that," said the man who had before spoken.
+
+With some difficulty they followed him by the brink of the stream, as,
+with their bags on his arm, he led the way.  The glen became darker and
+narrower; gloomy firs, through which the summer wind moaned sadly,
+replaced the varied wood; a lofty mountain interposed its precipitous
+rocky side between the stream and the sun, which seemed never to shine
+on its troubled waters.  As if placed as far as possible within the dark
+ravine, stood the house of Glen Bogie, and immediately behind it rose a
+grove of firs.
+
+"What a beautiful sketch this would make!" said Helen, as they came
+suddenly upon a foaming torrent, which, descending the hill-side,
+emerged from the rocks, heather, and stunted trees, and fell into the
+stream by which they were guided.
+
+"We must have it, Bayntun," said Hardy.  "The stream is swollen by
+yesterday's rain, and by to-morrow would appear to less advantage."
+
+"I shall gladly attempt to render it justice," answered Bayntun, "but it
+must be a work of time."
+
+"If you do not mind remaining, I will take Mrs Hardy and my sister on
+to the house and return to guide you, for I am sure they must be tired,"
+said Hardy.
+
+Both ladies owned to considerable fatigue, notwithstanding their
+enjoyment.  In answer to Bayntun's inquiries, their guide assured him
+that he would have no difficulty in finding his way to the house alone,
+which he preferred.
+
+Hardy and the two ladies then climbed the rocks from which the waterfall
+issued, and crossed by an old stone bridge; then again descending to the
+stream they had left, they followed it till they arrived opposite to the
+house, when they were greeted by furious barking from a number of dogs
+which simultaneously rushed from every angle of the building, ranging
+savagely up and down the waterside.
+
+They were soon hushed by the appearance of a stout middle-aged woman,
+dressed in a gown of dark blue linsey-woolsey and a snow-white cap, who
+came out to see what had caused their noise.
+
+"Yon's Mrs Cameron," said the guide; and in answer to her greeting,
+which was in Gaelic, and shouted with the full force of her strong vocal
+organs, he apparently told her who her guests were, and the cause of
+their coming.
+
+"Any from Glennaclach are welcome to my roof," said she in English,
+surveying them for a few minutes with her head on one side and her arms
+folded across her portly person.  "Go you round to the bridge, and I
+will meet you; the lads are all away, but they'll be at home the night,
+and meantime I will make you as welcome as a lone wife may."
+
+Still shouting to them across the stream, she stepped out firmly over
+the loose stones and met them on a high arched stone bridge, bestowing
+on each a hearty shake of the hand, and on Hardy a hearty thump on the
+shoulders, accompanied by the compliment--
+
+"You've a right honest face, my lad."
+
+She then spoke with respectful interest of the family at Glennaclach.
+
+"There's no race like the Stewarts, meet them when and where you will,"
+added she.
+
+Passing by several out-buildings, from which all the dogs rushed forth
+again, she led the way to the principal entrance of what was once a
+Highland gentleman's mansion, gloomy and desolate as it now looked.
+
+"My daughters are all married and away, and none of the lads has brought
+home a bride to take their place," she said, rather sadly, and then
+bursting into a loud laugh, she continued--"But I am more than wife to
+all of them; look here," and opening a large chest, she drew forth
+pieces of cloth and linen of all descriptions.  "Spun it all with these
+hands, and there's plenty of work in them yet; and see there," she said,
+triumphantly pointing to dozens of woollen hose which hung in the wide
+chimney of the kitchen, to which she now led the way.
+
+Then remembering that her guests must be tired and hungry, she placed
+upon the table oat-cake, milk, and whisky in abundance, heartily
+inviting them to partake of them.
+
+The task which Bayntun had undertaken was longer than he had
+anticipated.  While engaged upon it, his mind recurred more than once to
+the hints he had heard of the place he was now in.  Donald's apparently
+prophetic announcement of the sorrow which had befallen the family they
+had intended to visit had also taken a strange hold upon his fancy.
+Moreover he was tired and hungry, and whatever ascetics may say to the
+contrary, the mind cannot work so healthfully in conjunction with a
+feeble body, as with one in such comfortable condition that none of the
+reasoning faculties are needed to master its sufferings.  In fact, he
+was neither more nor less than nervous.  The spot in which he was left
+was calculated to increase these feelings, so totally lonely and silent,
+except the sad music of the breeze in the fir-trees, and the stream
+gurgling and rushing down the rocks.  Just below him--for, although far
+beneath the level of the top of the waterfall, he was some feet above
+its base--was a smooth grassy nook, protected from the water by a wall
+of black rock, in which was a shallow cave overhung by a weeping birch.
+
+Bayntun had noticed this when he first began his sketch, but as his
+sight grew rather dazzled from watching the constant play of the water,
+and the sun sank behind the towering mountain, he lost sight of it
+altogether.  As he concluded his work and prepared to follow his
+friends, his steps were arrested by a harsh chuckle unlike any human
+voice, but which seemed equally unlike the sound of bird or beast.  It
+proceeded from the cave in the grassy nook, and so excited Bayntun's
+curiosity that he could not refrain from investigating its origin.  With
+some difficulty he lowered himself down the face of the rock by means of
+the large ferns and bushes, and as he neared the cave the sound became
+louder and harsher, and expressive of terror.  Just as he reached the
+spot and extended his hand to hold back the branches which overhung it,
+there was a shriek, and a violent rustle from within; and a form sprang
+out, passed him, and climbing the rock with the agility of a monkey, by
+clutching the boughs with its long lean arms and hands, fled away,
+continuing its wild chuckle.
+
+Edmund stood paralysed.  It must be something human or supernatural, but
+how it came there, and whether its glaring eyes had been fixed upon him
+as he sat there believing himself alone, he could not guess.  Resolved
+not to give way to the strange fears which came crowding into his mind,
+he climbed up the rock again, and crossing the bridge, followed, as he
+thought, the path described by the Highlander.  Instead, however, of
+soon finding himself at the farm-house, he lost all view of that or any
+other habitation; and pausing for a moment to peer amongst the trees for
+signs of a path, he heard again that unnatural chuckle at no great
+distance from him.
+
+"Absurd folly!" said he to himself; "it must either be a poor maniac or
+some mischievous young mountaineer;" so he turned towards the sound,
+pushing his way through the underwood till he perceived an opening in
+the wood.  There, on the shadowy hill-side, in a magic circle of mossy
+grey stones and whins, or furze, he witnessed a ghastly dance of pallid
+forms tossing their arms wildly above their heads, and, in the midst of
+them, the hobgoblin being which had just escaped from him, its grey
+garment fluttering, and its limbs jerking frantically as it bounded from
+one to the other of its spectral partners.  Edmund paused in
+bewilderment.
+
+"This is fearful," he mentally ejaculated.  "I confess I don't half like
+it."
+
+He then endeavoured to retrace his steps towards the stream, which he
+should have followed as a guide towards the house, and at length
+discovered it by the sound of its murmuring waters.  Hastening on, he
+had almost reached the old stone bridge on which Mrs Cameron had
+received her guests, when he perceived, as he thought, a tall
+Highlander, kilted, plaided, and bonneted, leaning against a tree a
+little to the right of the path, in an easy attitude, with one foot
+crossed over the other, one hand on his side, and the other supporting
+his head.  His face was ghastly in its whiteness, and not less so were
+his hands and knees, and Bayntun's first impulse was to hasten to his
+assistance, believing him to be ill.  Greatly was he startled to find,
+on reaching the tree against which the figure had leaned so immovably,
+that he was gone.  Not a trace or sound of him, and in the spot he had
+occupied was a twisted thorn, from which some branches had been lopped
+off.  In Bayntun's excited state of imagination he never suspected the
+truth, that these twisted branches, with the light shining through them,
+and the white wood showing where boughs had been removed, had formed the
+figure he had seen.  More than ever impressed with the idea that the
+place was haunted, or his own brain affected, he sprang upon the bridge,
+and in a few minutes was heartily welcomed into the kitchen of Glen
+Bogie, where Mrs Cameron and a stout Highland girl were busily
+preparing a substantial and savoury supper.
+
+Soon afterwards voices were heard outside, and home came the "lads," as
+Mrs Cameron called her sons.
+
+"Gude Lochaber stock, the whole of them," said she, giving each a hearty
+slap on his shoulders as he came in.
+
+And they certainly all did credit to Lochaber, from the eldest, who was
+a thoughtful-browed Highlander, to Dugald the youngest, a slight active
+lad of nineteen, with mirth and daring in his eye.
+
+The supper was laid out in what had once been the dining-room of the
+Campbells of Glen Bogie.  When it was concluded, a short consultation
+between the mother and sons was carried on in Gaelic, the result of
+which was, that the eldest Cameron invited "Misther Hardy and his friend
+to take their pipes and whisky in the kitchen along with the rest of
+us."
+
+"Might we not come too?" whispered Mrs Hardy, who felt rather oppressed
+with the idea of entertaining their hostess, who was rather deaf, in the
+dreary parlour.
+
+To the kitchen they all adjourned, where a bright peat-fire glowed on
+the ground, in the centre of the wide chimney.  Some of the dogs had
+crept in actually behind it, and lay dozing with one ear always on the
+alert.  Wooden settles were placed in the ingle-nook for the young men,
+and the guests were accommodated with heavy high-backed chairs.  Mrs
+Cameron drew her spinning-wheel towards her, and for a few minutes there
+were no sounds but its busy hum, and the roaring of the wind down the
+chimney, and amongst the old trees, and the ceaseless voice of the burn
+chafing in its rocky bed.
+
+"Was there not some sad story of a quarrel between the Campbells and the
+Stewarts of this neighbourhood?" asked Helen of the company in general,
+very much afraid of hearing her own voice, but still more afraid of
+losing the delight of hearing the story, whatever it might be, on the
+very spot where the events took place.
+
+"Neighbourhood!" repeated Mrs Cameron, "a neighbourhood should be a
+place where neighbours meet as friends, and the Campbells and Stewarts
+never can be friends.  Did not I see a bonnie bride of the house of
+Stewart leave her father's house with a Campbell for her husband, and
+was not blood shed even on the threshold? for, as the horses started off
+with their white cockades, one of the lads that rode them fell from the
+saddle in a fit, and was trampled to death under their feet, and
+sickness and Borrow waited on the bride till she was at rest in her
+grave.  There's no peace not friendship between the Campbells and
+Stewarts, and they should not be called neighbours."
+
+"But, mother, the young lady was asking you about the quarrel," said
+Dugald, "and not wishing to mend it."
+
+"The young lady is not angered with a foolish old wife," answered his
+mother, bursting into her loudest, harshest laugh, and laying her hand
+kindly on Helen's.  "She will pardon me, for I was born a Stewart, and I
+cannot hear with patience when any talk of the natural enemies of my
+family.  Do you tell how it fell out, Ian, for your English is better
+than mine," said she, addressing her eldest son.
+
+It should be remembered, that Gaelic being so universally spoken in the
+Western Highlands, English is only acquired in a degree to be spoken
+fluently by people of some education, and is pronounced by them with a
+softness and delicacy amounting to an appearance of affectation.  Ian
+Cameron related his story deliberately, and in choice language, giving
+each word and idea time to take effect before it was succeeded by
+another.
+
+"You will have heard that when the royal house of Stuart lost the day,
+the lands of many who had fought for the right were confiscated, and
+bestowed as rewards upon the Campbells and others who stood up for might
+rather than right.  This estate of Glen Bogie was one of them, and with
+it the Campbell to whom it was given received favours and authority,
+which he used as you would expect from a man that was not born to it,
+and had got it by ill means.  They that would rule over a Highlander
+must find their way to the heart, and must trust him as one honest man
+trusts another.  Campbell never did that.  He knew that he was not
+loved, nor welcome, but still there was not a man--from a Stewart to a
+McCall--that would have raised a hand against him, except it were in
+open fight.
+
+"You will have seen the rocky peak of Skuliahams, which shuts in the
+head of Glennaclach, as you came up the Toberdhu; that is the stream
+which we call the Blackwater.  Just to the right of that peak there is a
+pass over the hill, and for eight miles the way is rough and dreary.
+Often have I travelled that road by night and day, and with the snow
+drifting in my face I have thought never to see my own fireside again.
+Campbell had gone by that pass to collect rents, but he did not return
+when they expected him.  His wife grew alarmed, for she knew the hearts
+of the tenants were not with him; so she sent first one, then another,
+of his people, and lastly she went herself to watch for them on the
+hill-side, whence she could see far up the glen.  Singly the people
+crossed the hill, but they all returned together, and amongst them they
+carried the corpse of Campbell, who had been shot dead in the wood
+beyond the hills, which was on the property of a Stewart.  The widow
+went out to meet them; but she shed no tears nor spoke a word.  Some say
+she had been _warned_.
+
+"They brought him across the meadow yonder, and carried him up into the
+room overhead, and the Campbells came from far and near, and vowed
+vengeance upon the Stewarts; and it is said that as they hung up the
+dead man's plaid, all stiff with his blood, so they swore to hang up a
+Stewart on the spot where Campbell was found dead.  There was a show of
+law, too; for having fixed their suspicions upon a tenant-farmer like
+myself, a man named Stewart, they tried him by a jury--all of
+Campbells--and in the wood they hanged him, within sight of six
+residences of Stewarts; and watch was kept, day and night, lest the body
+should be removed.  Vengeance and law they called it, but it was murder;
+for before the bones of their victim had whitened on the gibbet, it was
+discovered that Campbell had been shot by a foreign soldier who had some
+private quarrel with him.  Can the Stewarts and Campbells be friends
+after that?"
+
+There was a pause, and the young Highlanders sat looking sternly into
+the glowing fire.  Tramp, tramp, came, heavy steps overhead, as of
+several persons moving some heavy burden.  Bayntun felt his heart beat
+faster.  He would not for worlds have let any one suspect it.  Even Mrs
+Hardy, drew involuntarily nearer to her husband, and Helen's eyes opened
+wider, while the most ghastly spectre would not have burst upon her
+sight unexpected.
+
+"The lassies are putting the Doctor's room in order for your friend,
+Misther Hardy.  Maybe he is not used to rough lodging, and it is well
+for him that, the Doctor being at the house of Glennaclach to-night, I
+can give him the room," said Mrs Cameron.
+
+Dugald made some remark in Gaelic, with a mischievous glance towards
+Bayntun, but was sternly checked by his mother.  Nevertheless, Bayntun
+perceived it, and determined more resolutely than ever not to divulge
+the strange sights and fancies which had haunted him.
+
+Night had fairly closed in, and the reflection of the lights in the room
+mingled on the window-panes with the other objects outside, just lighted
+by a crescent moon, when, as Bayntun glanced towards the window, he
+perceived close to it the face of the hideous goblin which had haunted
+him in the day, and at the same moment came that fearful chuckle.
+
+"Poor Marie Vhan," said Mrs Cameron, rising and going to the door;
+"where has the wild creature been straying?"
+
+"Marie has been naughty to-day," said Dugald, speaking in English from
+fear of another rebuke from his mother: "she has been tossing and
+tearing the fleeces which were left to dry upon the whins."
+
+"Poor body," rejoined Mrs Cameron.  "It is a poor daft lassie.  Her
+father is one of our shepherds, and it is a sad trouble to a poor man to
+have a feckless child that can do naught for herself, so she bides with
+me when she likes, and I give her food and shelter; but she will not
+stay long in any place."
+
+As she spoke, one of the servant girls opened another door, and began
+scolding the child in no gentle terms for the mischief she had done,
+which was serious in its way, for the fleeces had been prepared for
+spinning in long loose bands, and were required for her mistress's
+immediate use.  Instantly the wild creature fled chuckling into the
+wood, and up the dark dreary glen.
+
+"It is an evil deed you have done, Lizzie, to drive the poor body from
+the door with your angry tongue," said the mistress, as she resumed her
+place at the wheel.
+
+Lizzie was out of hearing, and could not have understood had she been in
+the room, but the expression of disapprobation relieved Mrs Cameron's
+indignant feelings.
+
+Bayntun's cheek glowed in the firelight at the solution of the terrific
+goblin dance which had so shaken his nerves.  Fortified by a good
+sapper, and cheered by the sound of many voices, he now felt himself
+proof against bogies of all kinds, and at an early hour the party
+dispersed for the night.  The home-made tallow candle which lighted
+Edmund's spacious and gloomy apartment rendered the outlines of the
+dark, heavy furniture more massive and unshapely than they really were.
+It had been the state-room of the mansion, and was now let to a doctor,
+who, though possessed of considerable skill, had so lost his reputation
+by his intemperate habits, that he was driven to conceal his disgrace in
+this unfrequented glen, where his services were valued and repaid, and
+his failings easily overlooked.  In a large closet adjoining were kept
+the phials and jars containing his supplies of drugs, etc, and from this
+closet was a narrow staircase, with a door by which the Doctor could
+come in and go out without disturbing the family.
+
+"It was in this room that the Campbells cried the coronach over their
+dead, and here the jury sat to try poor Stewart, and the dead man's
+plaid was hung in that closet, and by that staircase they brought
+Stewart in--the false-hearted murderers!" exclaimed Dugald Cameron; and
+having courteously begged the guest to ask for anything that was wanting
+for his comfort and repose, he left him to rest.
+
+Completely yet healthfully fatigued, Edmund soon fell asleep.  How long
+he slept, or whether he was still dreaming, he knew not, but distinct to
+his vision appeared the figure of a man leaning against the doorway of
+the closet adjoining his bedroom, from which shone a quivering spectral
+light.  His plaid hung heavily, as if steeped in moisture, round his
+tall gaunt form.  His bonnet was pressed down upon his brows, and under
+its shade his face looked pale and distorted by pain or sorrow, as he
+stood motionless, gazing intently upon the sleeper.
+
+"This is a dream.  The mysterious figure in the wood is haunting my
+memory.  I will not give way to these fancies," said Bayntun, mentally.
+"It is a very uncomfortable dream, too," continued he, as the figure,
+still keeping its glazy eyes fixed upon his face, moved slowly towards
+him.  The old floor creaked under his steps.  "Dreams are often
+suggested by some real sound associating itself with the previous train
+of our thoughts.  If I could but rouse myself, this phantom would be
+dissipated."  Yet his eyes felt perfectly wide open, and there was none
+of the painful sense of oppression on the eyelids and restraint upon the
+tongue which usually attends an unpleasant dream.  Nearer and nearer
+came that pale, haggard face, till the sound of his breathing became
+audible.  "That is myself breathing quick, and no wonder," thought he.
+"Edmund Bayntun, why don't you rouse yourself?  What a fool you are!"
+and uttering the last sentence with the full strength of his voice,
+Edmund started up, and at the same moment the spectre staggered back,
+exclaiming--
+
+"Ay, sirs!  That is not a civil way to speak to a gentleman, more
+especially finding himself turned out of his own bed when he comes home
+to it, wet and tired."
+
+More and more perplexed, Bayntun stammered out, "Really, sir, I beg your
+pardon, but I thought--I took you--that is to say, I fancied that I was
+dreaming, and I don't feel quite sure whether I am awake now."
+
+"Waking or dreaming, my man, you should always use civil language.  When
+I saw you lying so comfortably in my bed, I was just thinking I would
+leave you there, and go down myself to the kitchen fire; but really,
+your uncivil speech!--Ha! ha! it is a good joke, too, to be mistaken for
+a dream.  So, good night to you, young man, and I will not disturb you
+again."
+
+The next morning the Doctor was found fast asleep in the kitchen.  His
+young patient at the house of Glennaclach not needing his assistance so
+much as another sick person in the Glen, he had left him early in the
+evening, and preferred coming home to Glen Bogie rather than returning
+late at night to disturb the household of Mr Stewart.  Early in the day
+the young laird arrived, with a pressing invitation to the four English
+strangers to come and stay at his house.  They willingly accepted it,
+and whether they enjoyed the visit is a question to be best answered by
+those who have found themselves the guests of a Highland family, amongst
+their own beautiful glens, and mountains, and woods, and waterfalls,
+after passing months and years in cities, and amidst "the hum, the buzz,
+the crush of men."
+
+Bayntun spent much time after this in the society of his friend Hardy,
+and, yielding to his advice and example, adopted a more stirring,
+healthful, vigorous course of thought and life, and his favourite motto
+was--
+
+  "Let us, then, be up and doing,
+  With a heart for any fate."
+
+Story 8--CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY EIGHT--PIPER'S NEWS--A FAIRY TALE.
+
+There was once a piper, called Alaister Mackinnon, and he lived in the
+town of Inverknickle; he played better than any other piper in all the
+country side, and was deservedly esteemed by the gude wives, as he
+always brought the earliest news of the events in the distant villages;
+for though Alaister called Inverknickle his home, he rarely stayed there
+long at a time, but wandered about, hearing and telling news, and
+playing at all the merry-makings that were held within twenty miles.  At
+these he was always to be seen dressed in full Highland garb, with gay
+streamers floating from his pipes, and his bonnet set jauntily on the
+side of his head, surrounded by young and old, who listened with equal
+delight to his tunes and his stories.  Alaister's dancing was a thing of
+which he was very proud, as none of the lads could compete with him in
+it; he was, therefore, not so great a favourite with them as amongst the
+women, but none dared say a word against him, as it invariably reached
+his ears, and the next time he came to the village he was sure to have
+some story about them which turned the laugh against themselves.  One
+day there was a wedding at a village some miles from Inverknickle, and
+of course Alaister was there, marching at the head of the party as it
+returned from the manse, dressed in his newest kilt and hose, and
+playing the most appropriate tunes, while the young men shouted and
+fired guns and pistols at irregular intervals to do honour to the
+occasion; and every time they fired, the women screamed, and the men
+laughed, and in short they were a very merry party.  Then came the
+feast, which was more remarkable for quantity than quality, and was held
+in the house of the newly married pair; it was succeeded by dancing, the
+bride and bridegroom joining most energetically, but never being allowed
+to dance together.
+
+Reels were the usual dances; but when the lasses were tired, and sat
+down and fanned themselves with their handkerchiefs, the lads began to
+dance the sword-dance.  The lasses soon asked Alaister to dance; and
+after a great deal of pressing, for he always feigned modesty on such
+occasions, he danced, the men looking on anxious to catch him making a
+false step, the women in silent admiration of his neat foot, silver
+buckles, and new hose, which, from the beautiful shape of his leg, did
+not require to be gartered.
+
+None of the women saw that he twice touched the sword; but it was not
+lost on the men, who looked at each other with pleased smiles, though no
+one ventured to say anything, and Alaister's performance was finished
+amidst loud applause.
+
+Supper followed, which was much the same as the dinner, only there was
+more toddy, and therefore more noise; and Duncan Cameron, emboldened by
+the whisky, ventured to say that Alaister had not danced "clean" that
+night; to which Alaister answered, with a look of pity, that "Duncan,
+puir fellow, had never seen right since the night he had sic a fley wi'
+the fairies on the moor, when they shot him into a peat-moss, and the
+Will-of-the-Wisps ran so near him that they singed his nose, and it had
+been red ever since."  This had the effect of silencing Duncan, who had
+fallen in as described when coming home tipsy from a wake, and had told
+many wonderful stories of his ill-treatment by the "gude fouk," as he
+called the fairies.
+
+The conversation now turned on fairies, and all professed the deepest
+admiration and respect for them.  Alaister, however, rather laughed at
+the idea of their doing anybody good or ill, and even hinted that he
+doubted their existence.  Then began a warm discussion; and by degrees
+Alaister grew bolder, and expressed in plain terms his entire disbelief
+in these gentle spirits, challenging them to meet him that night on his
+way home, and let him play on the bagpipes heard by so many of his
+companions in the gloamin' among the heather on the hill-side; at the
+same time drinking glass after glass to his success in the exploit.
+
+Soon after this the party broke up, and Alaister started for
+Inverknickle, playing what he intended for "Wooed and married and a',"
+but it was a bad version of it, and sounded dismal and unearthly as it
+died away in the distance.
+
+He crossed the moor in the bright moonlight, and at last reached the
+birch wood, where the white stems shone like ghosts in their
+winding-sheets, and the branches swung noiselessly in the night breeze,
+and gave out their fresh sweet smell.  Let it not be supposed that
+Alaister actually observed all this, but it had an influence on his
+mind, and made him feel eerie, it was so different from the noisy scene
+he had left.
+
+Just then he heard "Wooed and married and a'" played as well as he could
+play it (this he only confessed silently to himself, he would on no
+account have let any one else say so), but on a bagpipe of the softest
+and moat silvery tone, and soon a band of bright little creatures came
+from among the green grass and bracken, and stopped directly in his
+path.  All wore the full Highland dress, but the checks in the tartan
+looked as if made of precious stones, for they sparkled and glittered in
+the moonlight, till Alaister was almost dazzled by their brilliancy; the
+red cherry tufts on their bonnets shone with a clear calm light, like
+glowworms, but as he had never seen one of these, he mentally said "like
+anything."  The party was headed by a piper, playing on pipes, the bag
+of which was a bluebell, the chaunter a hedgehog's bristle, and the
+ribbons made of dragonflies' wings.  He was followed by the king and
+queen, who wore beautiful crowns, from which shot rays of variegated
+light; then came the train of followers, and round the whole ran three
+Will-of-the-Wisps.  These were taller than the rest; from their hands,
+feet, and eyes came bright flashes like lightning, but their bodies were
+quite black and very slight.
+
+When they halted in front of Alaister, the piper stopped playing, and
+even the Will-of-the-Wisps did not run quite so fast; the king and queen
+stepped forward, and asked who it was who dared to disturb their
+midnight march through their own domain, but such a hubbub arose amongst
+their followers that, without waiting for his answer, they turned to
+inquire into the cause.
+
+This was very soon explained: it was an outburst of rage against the
+piper Alaister, with eager offers to bring forward proof of misconduct
+against him.  These were immediately accepted, and an old fairy-elf was
+commanded to speak first.
+
+There was now a dead silence, except when the night wind rustled amongst
+the birch branches, and bent the waving bracken, or some night bird
+uttered a wild cry.  The old elf stepped forward, and then, by suddenly
+twisting his legs and arms together, and sinking his head between them,
+he changed into the cup, with the picture of the real king in the
+bottom, which stood on the chimney-piece of the room where the wedding
+feast had been held, and from this cup came a voice which repeated all
+the scornful words of Alaister against the fairies.  When he ceased he
+resumed his former shape and retired; others were then called forward in
+his place, and took the form of cups, bowls, toddy ladles, and glosses,
+each repeating the same tale; but last of all appeared a lovely girl,
+who changed into the little square looking-glass in a red frame, in
+which Alaister had from time to time arranged his hair during that
+evening; and there was his face reflected in it, and it was his own
+voice which he now heard, and he saw his lips moving so distinctly, that
+he put up his hand to feel if he were really speaking, but his lips were
+still, and the loud ringing laugh of the glittering band made him feel
+so angry, that he tried to move away, but he then found that he was
+spell-bound, and must remain to be laughed at or ill-treated by his
+little enemies.  Now Alaister was a very sensible man, so when he found
+that he must stay, he tried to look as if he liked to stay, and when he
+heard the king command that he should have his wish, and might play on
+their bagpipes that night, he smiled blandly, and took the little
+instrument, which looked like a large spider as it lay in the palm of
+his hand.  In an instant it changed, and became as large as his own,
+which was carried off by one of the Will-of-the-Wisps, to whom he tried
+to say something civil, but before he could make up his mind what it was
+to be, the sprite was glancing amongst the trees far away.
+
+Thinking it might be the wisest plan to conciliate the gude fouk, he
+played his best tunes, and never had they sounded so well, for the tones
+of the fairy pipe were far softer and sweeter than his own, and the
+fairies danced so lightly and nimbly, that he forgot it was against his
+will he had been ordered to play, and was sorry when the king waved his
+crystal sceptre, and, pointing to the moon, now fast sinking towards the
+distant hills, commanded his followers to return home.  And now, of
+course, Alaister thought that he was to return home also, but no, he was
+commanded to follow, and in spite of himself he was obliged to run
+through the thick wood, down steep banks, and over rocks to the
+river-side, where a fleet of egg-shells came towards them at the
+fairies' call, and each jumping into one, they shoved off, laughing to
+see how Alaister plunged into the cold water, and how the
+Will-of-the-Wisps jostled against him in the deepest parts of the
+stream.
+
+Wet and weary, he at length reached the cave, which seemed to be the
+home of the party, and where he found many already busily employed in
+making preparations for a meal.
+
+The cave was hung with the trailing moss, called tod's-tail, while
+pieces of rock crystal, cairngorm, and amethyst reflected the light
+given out by the Will-of-the-Wisps, who suspended themselves like
+chandeliers from the stalactites which hung from the roof.  The floor
+was thickly strewn with stag-horn moss, which formed a soft and elastic
+carpet.  In the middle of the cave was a large mushroom, round which the
+fairies were now busy spreading the cloth, woven of the finest gossamer,
+and arranging the acorn-cups and dishes of delicate meats, which had
+been prepared during their absence by those who remained at home.
+
+When all was ready, numbers of green beetles ran forward to the table
+and ranged themselves round it; on these the fairies sat as they
+feasted.
+
+Never was there a merrier party; they laughed and talked, and pledged
+each other in bumpers of mountain dew, and sang sweetly while bunches of
+white hare-bells, which hung from the roof, chimed in as accompaniment.
+
+All this time Alaister had stood looking on, wondering what was to
+happen to him, and not feeling quite at his ease, for he knew it was a
+mark of displeasure when the gude fouk ate without offering anything to
+the mortal who was present, and besides, the younger fairies every now
+and then made faces at him.  At length the feast was ended, and the king
+called together the oldest of his followers, and retired to some
+distance from the rest, where, for a time, they held eager consultation.
+The king then advanced to Alaister and told him that as he had played
+so well for them that night, they had determined not to change him into
+a Will-of-the-Wisp, as was the fate of all who spoke ill of them, and
+who afterwards fell into their power, but they would send him out into
+the world again, under a ban which would follow him to the end of his
+life, but which they would leave him to discover.  While his sentence
+was being pronounced, the Will-of-the-Wisps were much agitated, darting
+about the roof, and giving out streams of pale cold light; the white
+hare-bells rang mournfully, shaken by a creeping blast which circled
+round and round; cold drops fell from the roof and trickled feebly down
+the sides of the cave, while the voices of the elves' and fairies
+sounded harsh and shrill.
+
+A Will-of-the-Wisp was then commanded to be his guide to the birch wood,
+and Alaister was again led through the river, up the rocks, and through
+the woods he had passed on his way to the cave.
+
+Arrived at the wood, his guide vanished, and he found himself alone on a
+bright sunny morning, the dew-drops glistening on the grass, amongst
+which he joyfully discovered his pipes; but at the same time he saw that
+his clothes hung about him in tatters, and oh! how wet and tired he was
+with his night's work!  He could not, however, show himself at
+Inverknickle in so disordered a state, so was obliged to remain in the
+wood till the evening, when he thought it safer to go home, in case his
+tormentors should again carry him off.  When he reached his cottage, he
+told his wife that he had lost his way in the dark, and had torn his
+clothes on the brambles and bushes, amongst which he had got entangled;
+but not a word did he say about the fairies, lest he should offend them,
+and be carried off, and turned into a black Will-of-the-Wisp, and have
+to dance about every night in the cold moonlight, which was not at all
+Alaister's idea of real comfort.
+
+Now Mrs Mackinnon had what is called "an ill tongue," and she did not
+spare poor Alaister as she turned over his torn garments; but he was
+well accustomed to her attacks, and had learnt that silence was his only
+safety, so he took one child on his knee as he sat by the fire, and
+rocked the cradle with his foot, in hopes of softening his wife's
+temper.  As the evening advanced, she became pretty tired of having all
+the talk to herself, so sat down opposite him, and with a cross face,
+and in a sharp voice, asked what made him sit there without speaking,--
+could not he tell her any news after being sae long away from his gude
+wife and the weans?
+
+When this question was put, Alaister was always sure the scold was over,
+however cross the voice was in which it was asked; so he began at once
+to tell all the events of a harvest home at which he said he had been
+the night before, but he was at once stopped by an angry "Hout!" from
+his wife, and then followed a storm of abuse for telling her about
+things which had happened three years before; then, pointing to the
+fields of green oats that were to be seen all around, she asked him what
+sort of harvest home there could be at that time of year.  Alaister was
+sorely puzzled, for certainly the corn was still green; but yet he felt
+sure it was only yesterday he had been at the harvest feast, and if not
+at that--where had he been?  He could remember nothing of the wedding,
+and stared at his wife, who at last began to be alarmed at his perfectly
+stupid look, and said, "Is the man fey?"  As soon as she said this, his
+night's adventure returned to his mind, and looking on the ground, he
+saw it alive with fairies, laughing and mocking him.  Had it been
+earlier in the day, he would have run out of the house, but it was
+nearly dark, and the uncomfortable Will-of-the-Wisp came into his mind,
+so he sank down again in his chair, and shut his eyes, fully determined
+not to speak; but he could not keep this resolution.  Again and again he
+was impelled to begin stories, and as often was he told that these
+things had happened years before.  He then tried to play, but could
+remember none but the very oldest tunes, such as had been out of date
+for many years, and when, wearied in mind and body, he fell asleep, he
+dreamed of fairies and discomforts all night long.
+
+Next day he set out again on his wanderings, hoping that it was only in
+his own house that the fairies would haunt him; but no--go where he
+would they were by him, nor could he tell any story which was not at
+least three years old.  His former admirers, the women, now asked him,
+jeeringly, for "three-year-old news;" when he was seen coming towards a
+farm, he was treated almost as a beggar, and was sent to the back door,
+where he got a piece of oat-cake and a drink of milk, but was never
+asked into the house.  Occasionally the servants asked him why he did
+not carry a wallet like other "puir bodies;" but Alaister, though often
+really in want, never would condescend to a wallet.  By degrees he
+became more and more impoverished; he was thin, and had a look of great
+unhappiness.  His hose hung over the heels of his worn shoes, from which
+the silver buckles had long since disappeared; his second-best kilt was
+very much the worse for wear, nor had he money to buy a new one; and as
+to the one he had worn on the night from which his woes dated, it had
+even beat the thrifty Mrs Mackinnon to get it into tolerable repair
+again.
+
+In all the country side it had become the common expression, when any
+old story was told, "Hout! that's Piper's news;" and at last Alaister,
+feeling that he was despised where he had been respected, and laughed at
+by those at whom he had laughed, without even having a comfortable house
+in which to hide himself, for Mrs Mackinnon's tongue was more abusive
+than ever, determined to retire from the world.
+
+Being in low spirits, of course he chose the most dismal spot he could
+find; it was a bleak glen, down which the north wind howled in winter,
+and in summer the sun hardly reached its depths; for the bare rocks were
+high and near each other, so that it was always cold and damp.  But this
+suited Alaister's frame of mind.  One chill day in autumn he crept into
+a sort of hollow in the rock; there was a constant trickle, trickle,
+trickle, down the sides of this hole, and the water soaked through
+blackened patches of liver-wort and moss; the floor was damp and
+slippery, and on it Alaister sat down to think how very uncomfortable he
+was, and to abuse the fairies as the cause of all his misfortunes.
+
+It grew colder and colder, and darker and darker, and Alaister began
+half to repent of his determination to die in a cave, when a flash of
+light shone into the hollow, and in an instant his old acquaintances,
+the three Will-of-the-Wisps, were dancing round him in a more frenzied
+way than ever; now they were up in the roof, now out in the open air,
+now far back in the darkness where he thought there was only rock.  But
+the cave seemed to become larger every moment, and the water dried up as
+the Will-of-the-Wisps darted along the sides, and then Alaister saw the
+well-remembered tod's-tail moss hang where liver-wort had been before,
+and stag's-horn moss again covered the dark floor.  The air felt dry and
+warm, and a comfortable sleepy peace crept over the heart of the
+distressed piper; he began to think that, on the whole, it was more
+enjoyable to be in the fairies' cave than in a hay-loft on a gusty
+autumn night; and when the glittering band sparkled into their hall he
+smiled, and offered to play to them again, and soon they were all
+dancing merrily on the moss, for it was now too cold, even for fairies,
+to spend the whole night in the woods.
+
+Then came the feast, and this time Alaister was given on acorn cup full
+of brightest mountain dew; and though he thought it a small allowance
+for a full-grown man, still he knew that the little creatures had no
+larger cups; and not to disappoint them or fail in his manners, he
+nodded to the king, and with a "Here's your very gude health, sir,"
+emptied his cup.  Immediately he sunk back on the floor and slept, for
+the dew that had been given him has, it is said, wonderful powers,
+making mortals forget their homes and former lives, and desire only to
+be with the fairies.
+
+How long he slept no one can tell; he never more was seen: but on calm
+summer nights his pipes can be heard droning under ground, or in the
+sweet birch wood.  From their being heard to this day it is supposed
+that those who enter the service of the fairies become immortal; but no
+one has ventured to watch the gambols of the "gude fouk," so as to
+ascertain whether it is Alaister himself who still leads their march, or
+whether another has succeeded him; indeed, the glen is more shunned than
+ever, and the cave goes by the name of the Piper's Cave in all that
+district, while the expression "Piper's news" is known over the whole
+world.
+
+Story 9--CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY NINE--THE GENIUS OF THE ATMOSPHERE.
+
+High up on the side of a lofty mountain, overlooking the wide ocean,
+several boys were seated together on the moss and lichens which clothed
+the ground, and were the only vegetable productions of that elevated
+region.  The bright sea sparkled in sunshine, far, far down below their
+feet, though hidden at times from their sight by the dark clouds which
+came rolling on, sometimes enveloping them in mist, and at others
+breaking asunder and floating away far inland towards other ranges of
+distant hills.  High above their heads rose a succession of rugged
+peaks, black, barren, and fantastic in form, which the foot of man had
+never trod.  The boys on a party of pleasure had climbed up from a town
+by the sea-side, and had brought with them, in knapsacks and baskets, a
+supply of provisions, which they now sat down to discuss.  The keen pure
+air, and the exercise they had undergone, sharpened their appetites and
+raised their spirits, and they sat laughing and talking, and apparently
+enjoying themselves to the utmost.  Far below their feet sea-fowl were
+skimming rapidly through the air, wheeling and circling, now descending
+to the bright water below, and then rising again up into the clear
+expanse of ether, rejoicing in their freedom.  On a crag below them,
+near where she had built her nest, stood an osprey.  With wings
+expanding she prepared to take her flight; then off with a cry of joy
+she flew, darting through the atmosphere, away, away, over the ocean,
+looking down upon the tall ships which sailed along slow and sluggishly
+compared to her rapid progress.  The boys eagerly watched her till she
+was lost to sight in the distance.
+
+"Oh, how I wish that I could fly, that I might skim over the world like
+that sea eagle!" cried one, clapping his hands; "what glorious fun would
+it not be?  I should never consent to walk again.  All other amusements
+would be tame and tasteless in comparison.  Truly yes, it mast be a fine
+thing to be able to fly like a bird.  To fly!--to fly!  Away!--away!"
+The speaker as he uttered these words rose and stretched out his arms
+over the ocean, as if in imagination at all events he was about to
+spring off from his lofty perch, and to follow the course of the osprey.
+
+His enthusiasm inspired his companions.  One after the other exclaimed--
+
+"Yes, indeed, it would be grand to be able to fly.  Glorious to mount up
+into the sky, without having tediously to climb up a hill as we have
+done to-day; or to plunge down beneath the waves, like those wild fowl;
+or to skim, as they can, over the crests of the raging seas when storms
+blow furiously, or to float in sunshine on the calm bosom of the ocean."
+
+"Ay, of all things I would rather be a bird," cried another.  "An eagle,
+a hawk, an albatross; any bird which can fly far and swiftly.  That is
+what I should like,--to fly, to fly, to fly!"  Thus one after the other
+they all expressed themselves.
+
+Suddenly, as they were speaking, a loud crashing noise was heard, and
+as, alarmed, they turned their heads, the rocks behind them opened,
+disclosing a vast and glittering cavern, out of which was seen slowly to
+advance, a lady, whose garments shone with a dazzling radiance.  Her
+form was commanding, her face beautiful and benignant.  The astonished
+and bewildered boys scarcely dared to gaze at her; but trembling and
+holding on to each other, they kept their eyes cost on the ground.  She
+spoke, and her voice reassured them.
+
+"You were all of you just now expressing a wish that you could fly," she
+said, in a sweet silvery tone.  "Why do you thus with to possess a power
+for which your All-wise Creator has not designed you?  Even could you by
+any means secure wings to your body, of size sufficient to lift you from
+the ground, your muscular powers are totally inadequate to work them;
+your senses are not adapted to the existence of a fast-flying bird; your
+brain would grow dizzy, your eyes dim, you would be unable to draw
+breath in the upper regions, through which your ambition would induce
+you to wing your flight; you would speedily destroy all your other
+senses.  Be content with your lot.  Still, if you have a good object for
+your wishes, perhaps under certain limitations they may be granted.  Let
+me hear why you wish to enjoy the power of flying?"
+
+The boys looked at each other, and then up at the face of the lady, and
+finding nothing in its calm expression to alarm them, one after the
+other replied, the eldest speaking first:--
+
+"Because I should like to see what people are doing in the world," said
+he; "what nations are fighting with each other, and how the hostile
+armies are drawn up.  I have read of fine processions, where priests
+walk with their sacred images, when kings come to be crowned, and when
+their subjects assemble to do them homage."
+
+"You need not say more," observed the lady, and pointed to another boy.
+
+"I should like to follow all those ships I see sailing out there," he
+answered; "I should like to visit the strange lands to which they are
+going, and to examine the curious things they bring back."
+
+"You can accomplish thus much without flying," answered the lady; and
+passed on to another boy.
+
+"I should like to fly, because it would be so curious to hover about
+over cities, to look into houses, and to watch what the inmates are
+doing," said the boy.
+
+The lady shook her head.  "Such an employment is utterly unworthy of an
+intelligent being," she answered; "you would make but an ill use of the
+power if you possessed it.  What have you to urge as a reason for
+obtaining the power you wish for?" she inquired of a fourth boy.
+
+"Oh! it would be so delightful to feel oneself floating up and down in
+the air; now rising high, high up like a lark, now skimming along over
+the smooth sea," he answered, giving expression to his words by the
+movement of his body.
+
+"You evidently place the gratification of the senses above the
+employment of the higher powers of your nature.  Such is but a bad claim
+for the possession of a new one."
+
+In this manner the lady questioned several other boys, but she did not
+appear satisfied with any of their replies.  At last she asked a slight
+and thoughtful boy, who had been sitting a little apart from the rest,
+why he had wished to possess the power of flying?
+
+"That I may better comprehend the glories of nature, and understand what
+now appear the mysteries of the universe," he answered quietly, yet
+promptly; "whence the rains, and mists, and winds come, and whither they
+go.  I would fly far away on the wings of the wind.  I would visit
+distant lands, to observe their conformation, to discover new
+territories fit for the habitation of man.  I would bear messages of
+comfort and consolation from those in one place to relatives far away.
+Oh! if I could fly, I am certain that I should never weary of the work I
+had to do."
+
+"Well and wisely answered," replied the lady.  "I am the Genius of the
+Atmosphere.  The power you ask I cannot give you: but follow me; I may
+be able to afford you some of the gratification you so laudably desire."
+
+The boy, without hesitation, followed the lady towards the rock from
+which she had emerged.  It closed round him, and he found himself in a
+cavern of vast size, and glittering with gems of every hue, and of the
+richest water.  The Genius cast on him a smiling look, when she saw that
+his attention was but little engrossed by these appearances.
+
+"I cannot enable you to fly," she remarked, "but I can render you
+invisible, and bear you with me whither I go, even to the uttermost
+parts of the earth.  Come, note well what you see.  You may never again
+have the some opportunity of observing the wonders of nature."
+
+As the Genius spoke, the boy found himself borne buoyantly from off the
+earth.  He passed close by his companions, who were thoughtlessly
+laughing and talking as before, and on he rapidly floated, they neither
+observing him nor the Genius of the Atmosphere.
+
+"Child of Earth, follow me," said the Genius; and the boy floated gently
+on, till he found himself in a region of perfect calms.  Below him, as
+he looked towards the earth, he saw mountains of snow, and fields of ice
+glittering gloriously in the slanting rays of the sun.
+
+"We are at the north-pole of the earth," said the Genius; "you desire to
+know the course of the winds, and how they are created--observe and
+learn."  As she spoke, she shook from her robes a shower of silvery
+particles, which floated buoyantly in the air.  "See, at this point the
+silvery cloud does not partake of the diurnal motion of the globe, but a
+slight current of air, scarcely perceptible, is sending it forward.  We
+will follow it towards the southern pole.  You can scarcely see the
+earth, we are so high up.  Lower down are currents rushing towards the
+pole, which would impede the progress of this silvery cloud."
+
+On, on, on, rapidly the Genius flew.  A golden cloud appeared.  The two
+clouds met, but so softly, that there was no commotion.  Attracted by
+the globe, probably, they both descended, slowly followed by the Genius
+and the boy, till once more the earth appeared in sight, clothed with
+the palm-tree, the orange, the pomegranate, the vine, and numberless
+tropical fruits and flowers.
+
+"We have reached a calm region, the tropic of Cancer," said the Genius.
+"Now watch the earth.  It is turning from west to east, while we move on
+in the direct line in which we started, so that we appear to be crossing
+the globe diagonally, and to the inhabitants of the earth that silvery
+cloud appears to be coming from the north-east, and going to the
+south-west.  That silvery cloud is merely a portion, made visible to
+your eye, of a great mass of air, which is continually blowing, and
+which the inhabitants of the earth, from the facilities it affords their
+commerce, call the north-east trade-wind.  Now see a golden cloud
+approaching us; that is a mass of air coming from the southern pole.  We
+are arriving near the Equator.  See, the two clouds meet.  They have an
+equal impetus; neither can give way, but, gently and noiselessly pressed
+together, they rise to a higher stratum of the atmosphere."
+
+On floated the boy and his guide, far up above the globe, still on, in
+rather a less direct line than before, till again a golden cloud was
+met, and gently that, and the cloud they followed, descended till the
+earth was seen once more.
+
+"We have reached the tropic of Capricorn, where these two opposing
+currents form a calm, almost continuous, except when certain interposing
+causes break it, and which I may hereafter explain to you."  Passing out
+of the calm region, away they floated towards the southern pole.
+
+"Remark," observed the Genius.  "The silvery cloud, having been pressed
+down by that other current from above, has a south-eastern direction
+given to it, and therefore appears to the people on earth to be coming,
+not from the north, but from the north-west."
+
+A wide extent of ocean was seen beneath their feet.  On they floated.
+Then fields of ice and icebergs, and wide extended lands covered with
+snow, and vast mountains of ice.  Once more they moved on, slowly as
+before.
+
+"We are at the antarctic pole," said the Genius.  "See, our cloud of
+silver meets another of gold, pressing gently."  Up, up, they mount.
+"Once more we will move towards the tropic of Capricorn, high up above
+the globe.  Now we descend in that calm region; and now close to the
+earth we are moving on.  But see, coming from the southern pole, the
+globe moves as before, from west to east; and thus this mass of air, of
+which our silvery cloud, remember, is but a portion, seems to those on
+the earth to be coming from the south-east.  As this wind is always
+blowing, and as ships by getting within its influence are borne easily
+forward, and it thus facilitates commerce, it is called the south-east
+trade-wind."
+
+On they went, till again the calms of the equator were reached, or
+rather, till the air, exhausted by its long course, met another gentle
+current, and the two pressing together rose upwards, the silvery cloud
+going on towards the tropic of Cancer, till forced by another current,
+known by its golden hue, to descend, it went on close to the earth
+towards the northern pole, where a calm, caused by another gentle
+current meeting it, was created.  Gently pressed up, however, the
+silvery cloud finally reached the higher region, whence the Genius and
+the boy had started with it on its long journey.
+
+"Had we started with the golden cloud, or rather with the mass of air
+which that cloud represents, from the southern pole, we should have seen
+precisely the same effects produced," said the Genius.  "You now
+understand what mortals call the theory of the trade-winds.  You read in
+the sacred word of God, which in his mercy and goodness he gave to men
+to guide them in their passage through life, that, `The wind goeth
+toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about
+continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits'
+(Eccles. i. 6).  Now, boy, you have seen how true and beautiful is that
+account written by the wise king of Israel."  The boy listened
+attentively.  "We will fly back to the equatorial calms," said the
+Genius; "see what effect the direct rays of the sun have on the earth,
+or that portion of its surface.  They affect the air likewise; heat
+expands it, and then makes it rise; and it also changes its specific
+gravity.  Cold contracts it, and also changes its specific gravity.
+These two causes are unceasingly at work to produce the currents of air
+whose courses we have been observing.  The heat of the sun at the
+equator expands the air, and thus it rises and flows north and south;
+having arrived once more at the tropics, owing to the counter current it
+meets, it descends, as we saw, and flowing along near the earth,
+receives from it a rotatory motion, which increases as it approaches the
+pole, where, contracted by the cold, it masses into a dense body, and
+ultimately is whirled upwards, forming an ascending column, when it once
+more commences its never-ceasing journey."
+
+As they flew towards the mountain whence they set out, the boy expressed
+his thanks to the Genius; if he did not comprehend all that she had
+shown him and told him, he knew more about the matter than he had before
+done.  She saw by the expression of his countenance the gratification he
+had enjoyed.  "'Tis well," she continued; "as a drop of water is to the
+ocean which lies beneath us, so is the knowledge you may obtain in a
+lifetime to the wonders nature has to reveal.  You desire to know more;
+gladly will I show you more.  Whenever you climb up to this rocky height
+I will meet you, as I have done to-day, and each time unfold new wonders
+to your view.  Ah, you think that I might descend to you, without making
+you toil up the mountain; but know that knowledge will not come to you;
+you must exert yourself, you must labour to attain it.  You say that you
+will willingly climb the height.  That is well.  That is the spirit
+which ensures success.  Return to your companions.  They will not have
+missed you."
+
+Suddenly the boy found himself as he had been before, sitting a little
+apart from his friends.  He was silent and thoughtful as he descended
+the mountain, resolving to return as soon as possible, to learn from the
+Genius more of the wondrous mysteries of nature.
+
+Story 10--CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY TEN--A TERRIBLE BLANKET.
+
+Well, we were on the continent when I met with my terrible blanket.  We
+were going up one of the passes on foot, and somehow I, as I usually do,
+lagged behind.  I, of course, had an Alpine stock in my hand, and I went
+swinging it away, until at last it struck against a lump of rock
+overhanging a precipice, so deep that, sailor as I am, I trembled as I
+looked down.  Well, the stick bounded from the granite against my shin,
+and so I made a vow that the lump of granite should take a run, or my
+name was not Theophilus.
+
+But it was a tough job, for the stone was very big, and well set in the
+rock; but after a deal of straining and pushing, down it went with dull
+thuds, as it fell from rock to rock, and at last it splashed into the
+water, which seethed up as though trying to get at and drown me.
+
+The job must have taken me longer than I thought for, for when I looked
+before me I could see no one, and as I looked I began to see that
+twilight was coming on.
+
+Now, I don't know whether you have been much among our own high hills in
+Scotland or Wales; but, if you have, you must know how rapidly night
+comes on.  It is day one moment and night the next, so to speak.
+
+Now I knew this, and made haste forward.
+
+I do not think I had gone twenty yards when I knew, by the great
+wuthering sound about me, that a storm was brewing, and it was on me in
+no time; and as the snow came down a great curtain seemed to be drawn
+over the sky, it grew dark so quickly.
+
+Well, I groped on, but I didn't like it.  If it had been a storm at sea
+now, I should not have cared much; if the mountains about me had only
+been of water, I should not have cared at all; but when I knew that a
+false step might send me toppling down as the rock had toppled before
+me, I don't mind owning that I grew to like it all less and less.
+
+I stooped down to look at the path, as well as I was able in the little
+remaining light, and I found I was in no path at all.
+
+As the last rays of light died out, and as the snow whirled about me, I
+remember, as though it would be glad to make my winding-sheet, I turned
+cautiously towards a slope of rock, feeling with my stick before I took
+a step, for the snow will fill up a crevice in no time, and you may sink
+twenty feet before you know where you are; and at last I touched the
+rock.
+
+There was still an atom of light left, and by it I just discerned a
+black part of the rock, which I took, and rightly, to be a cave.  So I
+crept towards it, into it, and crouched down on the ground to leeward;
+and I can tell you the wind was getting up.
+
+Well, I hadn't lain there three minutes when it was as dark as you could
+wish it.  I don't know whether any of you have ever been in the dark
+when full of anxiety; but if you have, you will believe me when I say
+every precious minute seemed an hour.
+
+Suddenly I thought of my fusee-box, and I believe shouted as I thought
+of it, for a second idea came into my head.  Suppose I struck the fusees
+about one a minute, they would not only help me through the darkness,
+but, luck willing, they might answer the purpose of a revolving light,
+and guide those who were looking for me to my place of shelter, or the
+light might be seen at the convent, from which I knew by the guide we
+were not far when I stopped to upset the rock.
+
+And I give you my honest word that not for one second did I feel any
+ill-will against my companions for leaving me behind; I somehow knew it
+was all right.
+
+So out came the fusee-box, and the next moment I had struck a light.
+Why I looked round the cave I can't tell, but I did, and I caught my
+breath, as you may suppose, when away in the dark I saw two great
+yellowish-green balls of fire.
+
+I don't think I moved for a moment, and then I began to question myself
+as to whether it was not all fancy.
+
+So I thought I would strike another light; but the box had fallen
+amongst the snow, and when I felt for the matches they were all mixed up
+with the powder, which is about the only name you can give the snow in
+those places; it is very different from the clammy snow we see here.
+
+Now, what was I to do?  If I went out of the cavern I should be frozen
+to death, while to remain in the cave, and near those dreadful lights,
+was maddening.
+
+Well, one way or the other, I determined not to go either backwards or
+forwards; so I curled myself up as small as possible, and lay shivering.
+I had only lain for what I now know to be a very short time, but which
+I took to be hours, when something soft came up against my knees and
+elbows.
+
+You may believe I dashed out my fist, and felt it sink a foot deep in
+the soft snow, which I rightly guessed had drifted up against the
+opposite side of the cavern till it fell over and rolled up against me.
+
+Good, so I was being snowed up, and I saw I must either go nearer those
+dreadful balls, which by this time I was sure were no fancy, and which I
+felt certain were looking towards me through the darkness, or I must
+stay where I was to be buried alive.
+
+I don't know how I came to the decision; but I did at last decide to go
+further into the cavern, and so I shuffled out of the way of the snow.
+
+And then I lay still again, waiting.
+
+In a moment or so, surrounded by danger as I was, I began to find myself
+actually going quietly to sleep.  I had no idea then that that sleep
+might have been the sleep of death.
+
+Well, in another minute or so, I felt a warm air on my face; but I was
+too sleepy to move, and so I lay still.
+
+And then, believe me I do not exaggerate, I felt four weights press, one
+after the other, upon my body, and then a soft, heavy weight sunk down
+upon me.  I had no doubt it was an animal of some kind; I felt quite
+sure of this when a muzzle was placed as near my mouth as possible.
+
+I dare say you will hardly believe it, but in a few moments all my fear
+had gone, and I found myself growing grateful to this creature, for he
+made me so good a blanket that the heat came back into my body, and I
+felt no longer that dull sleepiness of which I have spoken.
+
+I do not at all know how long I had thus lain, when a bark was heard,
+which disturbed the regular breathings of my hairy friend, and I felt
+his big heart beat above me.  Again there was a bark, the broad loud
+bark of a big dog, and it sounded much nearer than the first.
+
+As my blanket heard it, he uttered a harsh sound, and leapt from off my
+back.
+
+The barking and the start of the animal roused me from what drowsiness
+still remained in me, and the next moment I was plunging through the
+snow in the entrance to the cave.  It was above my head.  I was nearly
+snowed up; but then the wall of snow had served to keep the cold out.
+When I got through the snow, I found the whole mountains were light
+again with the stars and the rising moon, for the storm was over.
+
+But a more blessed sight than all was that of a brave, big dog, who
+leapt upon me and placed a fore-paw upon each of my shoulders.
+
+Not far off was one of the good monks, coming towards me graciously and
+smilingly.
+
+It seemed, I learnt afterwards, that when my party discovered my loss,
+and affrightedly told the guide, he, being weatherwise, told of the
+coming storm, and said it would be impossible to turn back; they might
+think themselves fortunate if they reached the convent themselves, when
+the monks and their dogs would do their best for me.
+
+They had reached the convent just as the storm began, and the monks, it
+seemed, had but little hope for me.
+
+I shall pass over my arrival at the monastery.  I was welcomed so kindly
+that I would not attempt to describe it, and as for my own party, you
+might, have supposed they had not seen me for a year.
+
+They were very willing to hear my adventures, but when I came to the two
+balls of fire, and the heavy animal who had made himself my blanket,
+they ventured to laugh out and say I was trying to impose a traveller's
+tale on them.
+
+They were still laughing when my eyes fell on my great-coat, which was
+hanging on a chair, and I at once remarked a number of yellowish brown
+hairs clinging to it.
+
+This was proof positive, and I was more of a hero than ever.
+
+The next morning, when all of us travellers assembled for our simple
+breakfast, the young monk who had discovered me--and whom I still look
+up to, and I am glad he and his companions live high up in the mountains
+above us all--the young monk had a tale to tell.  Out of curiosity he
+had gone down to the cave, which was a very little way from the convent,
+and in it he had found an immense wolf frozen and stark dead, for the
+cold of the night had been intense.
+
+And I am not afraid to tell you that I felt very sorry the poor old wolf
+was dead, and I don't think you will think any the worse of me for being
+sorry.
+
+I went down myself to see the poor old fellow, and I declare he looked
+as large as a calf; as for his fangs, I do think they would have gone
+through a deal board.
+
+Well, and now how do you think I am going to end the story?
+
+Why, I've got the old fellow now.
+
+Oh no; he was really frozen to death, and didn't come to life again; but
+I begged his body of the monks, had him skinned there and then, brought
+the skin home and had it stuffed; and I can tell you when I come into
+the room where he has a berth, and the sun is shining on his glass eyes,
+I often find myself giving a start, as if he were still alive and able
+to eat me up.
+
+Story 11--CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY ELEVEN--NINCO NANCO, THE NEAPOLITAN BRIGAND.
+
+Who has not heard of Ninco Nanco, the daring cut-purse, and sometimes
+cut-throat, of the Apennines, who, with his band of fifty chosen men,
+has long kept in awe the district of Basilicata in the once kingdom of
+Naples?  Certainly, those who have travelled from the Adriatic to the
+Bay of Naples, across that mountainous region which in the map looks
+very like Italy's ankle-bone, will retain a vivid recollection of the
+curiosity with which they examined every dry stick projecting from a
+bush or rock, lest it should prove the barrel of one of his followers'
+rifles; and the respect which they felt for every shepherd they
+saw feeding his flocks on the mountain side, lest the said
+peaceable-avocation-following gentleman should suddenly jump down,
+joined by many more from among the rocks, who could salute them in the
+choicest Neapolitan with words, which may be freely translated, "Stand
+and deliver!  Your money or your life!"  Yes; Ninco Nanco is not a hero
+of romance, but a veritable living, unkempt, unwashed, brown-cloaked,
+leather-gaitered, breeches-wearing, high-peaked-hatted Italian robber.
+Yet Ninco Nanco had not always been a cut-throat; for it may shrewdly be
+supposed that he was not born a brigand--that he did not begin life by
+shooting folks with a small bow and arrow when they crossed the
+precincts of his nursery.
+
+Ninco Nanco was once a Neapolitan gentleman of the _ancien regime_, who
+got into trouble by running his stiletto, through a slight
+misapprehension, into the ribs of the wrong man, which wrong man having
+powerful friends, poor Ninco Nanco, bitterly complaining of his
+misfortune, and of the cruelty of fate in making two men so much alike,
+was condemned to the galleys for life.  Had he killed the right man, no
+notice, he affirmed, would have been taken of his peccadillo.  While
+thus suffering under the frowns of fortune, he formed the acquaintance
+of several personages, like-minded with himself, who spent their spare
+time in grumbling against their hard fate at being placed in durance
+vile, and in concocting plans for revenging themselves upon those who
+had been instrumental in depriving them of their liberty.  There is a
+tide in the affairs of all men--that in the affairs of Ninco Nanco
+turned, so he thought, in his favour.  An opportunity occurred of making
+his escape--he availed himself of it, as did a few choice spirits of his
+own kidney.  They were compelled, to be sure, to knock three or four of
+their gaolers on the head; but to liberal-minded men, like themselves,
+that was a trifle.  They expected soon to be provided with ample funds
+to buy absolution for that act, or for any other of a similar character
+they might be compelled to commit.  Once free from the precincts of
+their prison, they were among friends, and by them assisted, hastened
+off inland, nor pulled rein till they had placed many a mountain range
+and dark ravine between themselves and those who ought to have pursued
+them, but did not.  There Ninco Nanco raised his standard, and prepared
+to set the laws of "meum and tuum" at defiance.  He and his associates
+soon made themselves at home in a hut, which they erected among some
+rocks, high up on the side of a lofty mountain, where no one was likely
+to come and look for them.  They only mustered nine or ten men, however,
+and it was agreed that their band must be greatly increased before they
+could undertake any enterprise of consequence.  Each of the party had
+friends on whom he could rely, so he said, to join them, but as they
+were rather out of the line of the penny postage, there was some
+difficulty in getting the letters conveyed to the persons with whom the
+band desired to communicate.  Another difficulty existed in the fact
+that only Ninco Nanco and Giuseppe Greco, his lieutenant, could write.
+Their leader, for reasons best known to himself, declined putting his
+hand to paper; the task of inditing these epistles fell, therefore, on
+Giuseppe, while another of the band was commissioned to find messengers,
+by whom to despatch them to their several destinations.
+
+Meantime, as gentlemen of the profession these worthies were about to
+adopt cannot live without food any more than those of a less
+enterprising character, they proposed making a little expedition along
+the high road, for the purpose of obtaining funds to supply their
+immediate necessities.  The proposal, emanating from Ninco Nanco
+himself, was so much to the taste of all, that it was immediately put
+into execution.  True, the band mustered but few men; but they were
+hungry.  They posted themselves on either side of the before-mentioned
+high road, among some rocks and bushes, and waited quietly for what
+fortune might send them.  The chief injunction Ninco Nanco laid on his
+followers was, not to fire across the road lest they should hit each
+other, and rather to aim at the men than the horses, as the horses might
+prove useful, while the men, objecting to be robbed, might possibly
+prove troublesome.  Before long, a carriage was seen approaching.  It
+had a small body with a hood, and was open in front, and had high
+wheels.  In the centre sat a man, with a chest on either side of him,
+the butt ends of pistols projecting from the pockets of the carriage,
+and a rifle across his knees.  Ninco Nanco's eyes brightened.  "The
+Padrone has something worth defending," he muttered, raising his rifle.
+He fired, and the traveller fell dead.  The rest of the band, not being
+good shots, missed.  The postilion lashed on his horses; but the robbers
+(the brigands, their pardon is asked), jumping out, stopped them, pulled
+him from his saddle, and commenced a hurried examination of the contents
+of the chest, the keys of which they found in their victim's pocket.
+The dead man had been steward of the Prince Montefalcone, and was
+returning to Naples after collecting the rents on his employer's
+estates.  At the sound of the firing, a horseman who was following the
+caleche turned to fly; but his steed fell, and he was thrown.  He was
+immediately seized on, and bound back to back with the postillion, while
+his horse was likewise caught.  The brigands were rapid in their
+proceedings.  The carriage was smashed to pieces, and its materials,
+with the body of the murdered man, being packed on the three horses and
+the two prisoners, the robbers themselves carrying what could not be
+thus transported, the whole party struck off up the mountain, their
+leader stopping behind for a moment to assure himself that no traces of
+the encounter remained.  Having picked up a couple of balls and some
+splinters, and stamped over some drops of blood, he sprang after his
+comrades.  They had reached a dark and secluded glen, with rocks and
+trees overhanging, when the chief called a halt.  After a little
+consultation, two graves were dug under the moss.  In one the body of
+the steward was deposited.
+
+"Now, friends," said the chief, in his mild, bland way, addressing his
+prisoners, "we require recruits; are either of you inclined to join us?"
+
+"Not I, indeed!" exclaimed the steward's servant.  "You've murdered my
+good master, and I hope to see you all hung--especially you, Signor
+Ninco Nanco; I remember you in the Bagnio of Castellamare--rogue that
+you are!"
+
+"Very well, friend, take your way," said Ninco Nanco, blandly, as
+before.  "And you, Signor Postiglione, what do you say?"
+
+"That I am unprejudiced; but it depends on the offer you can make me,
+most worthy signori," answered the postillion.
+
+"You see that grave; one of you two will fill it before ten minutes are
+over," said the bandit, with terrible calmness.
+
+"Oh, oh! then I will join you or do anything you wish, most worthy and
+honourable gentlemen," exclaimed the poor fellow, trembling in every
+limb.
+
+"You have selected wisely, friend," said the bandit, with an unpleasant
+smile; "but you will understand that we require proof of your sincerity;
+vows are, like strings of macaroni, easily broken.  You will have the
+goodness to take this pistol, and shoot yonder contumacious slave of the
+steward of the Prince Montefalcone.  I wish that I could have given you
+the satisfaction of shooting the Prince himself."
+
+The postillion took the pistol which the brigand handed to him, but
+hesitated to lift it towards the head of the victim.
+
+"Come, come! we are transacting business," cried the brigand, with a
+terrible frown.  "If you are in earnest, fire; if not, we will give him
+his choice of shooting you."
+
+The servant, who had not seemed till this moment to understand the cruel
+fate prepared for him, turned an imploring glance at the brigands
+surrounding him; but no expression of commiseration could he discover in
+the countenances of any of them.  He was in the act of lifting up his
+hands towards the blue sky above his head, when the report of a pistol
+was heard, and he fell flat on his face to the ground.
+
+Instantly the outer clothing was stripped off, the pockets rifled, and
+the yet warm corpse was thrown into the grave and covered up.
+
+"Put on this," said the brigand, handing the murdered man's jacket to
+the postillion; "you've made a good beginning, and, as your life is now
+not worth a half carline if you were to appear in Naples, when you have
+taken the oath you may consider yourself one of us; but you'll remember,
+that if you ever turn traitor, though you were to fly to the centre of
+the Vatican, or to cling to the altar of Saint Peter's, you would not be
+safe from our vengeance.  Now, onward, comrades!"
+
+After climbing some way the band reached their huts, where, the remains
+of the carriage being piled in a heap, a fire was lighted, and they set
+to work to cook the remainder of their provisions, with the pleasant
+knowledge that they had now the means amply to replenish their supply.
+Having eaten and drunk their fill of salt fish, oil, garlic, macaroni,
+and sour wine, they stretched themselves, wrapped up in their cloaks, at
+their lengths inside the hut, while one stood sentry at a spot whence he
+could watch the only approach to this rocky domain.  Such was the
+everyday life of these gentlemen.  It would require a curious twist of
+the imagination to conceive Ninco Nanco a hero, or his followers
+otherwise than unmitigated villains.
+
+Poor Pietro, the postillion, soon discovered that he was to be a mere
+hewer of wood to the band.
+
+While awaiting a reply to their letters, Greco and a companion were sent
+occasionally into the neighbouring village to procure provisions and
+necessaries, for which they honestly paid, the traders not finding it
+convenient to give credit to gentlemen of their profession.  Only two
+recruits joined them, invited by Greco, old hands at the trade.  No
+answers were returned to the rest of their epistles.
+
+"We must take other means of recruiting our forces," exclaimed Ninco
+Nanco, pulling his moustachios in a way which meant mischief.
+
+Story 11--CHAPTER TWO.
+
+A long, low cottage, with broad verandahs, over which luxuriant vines
+had been taught to creep, stood on the side of one of the numerous
+ridges of the Apennines, some way to the east of Naples, in the province
+of Basilicata.  It belonged to old Marco Maffei, a contadino, or small
+farmer, who had nothing very peculiar about him except that he was an
+honest man, and that he had a very pretty daughter, an only child, born
+when he was already advanced in life, and now the joy and comfort of his
+declining years.  It was no fault of the pretty Chiarina that she had
+admirers, especially as she did her best to keep them at a respectful
+distance.  Her heart, however, was not altogether made of stone; and
+therefore, by degrees, the young, good-looking, and gallant Lorenzo
+Tadino had somehow or other contrived to make an impression on it,
+deeper, perhaps, than Chiarina would have been willing to acknowledge,
+even to herself.  From the house could be seen, some way below, the high
+road already spoken of, which stretches from the Adriatic to the western
+waters of the Mediterranean.  Lorenzo, or 'Renzo, as he was more
+familiarly called, was standing just outside the entrance-gate of the
+farm, while Chiarina, distaff in hand, sat within, under the shade of
+the wide-spreading vines which, supported by trellis-work, formed an
+arch overhead.  Her father had gone to market some miles off, leaving
+her in charge with an old man, who had been with him for many years, and
+her serving-maiden as her attendant.  In the absence of her father, her
+sense of propriety would not allow her to admit 'Renzo within the gate;
+nor did he complain, for Chiarina had confessed that if she ever did
+such a foolish thing as to fall in love, she should in all probability
+select him as the object of her affections, provided always that her
+father approved of her choice.  'Renzo had just gone inside the arbour
+to thank her, it is possible, for her judicious selection, when their
+attention was drawn towards the road by the sound of horses' feet
+galloping furiously along it.  There were three horsemen, wild-looking
+fellows, each with a carbine or rifle in his hand.  As they were passing
+directly under the house one of the steeds fell, and the rider was
+thrown with violence to the ground.  His companions pulled rein, and
+dismounted to assist him.  He must have been severely hurt; for, after
+they had tied their horses to a tree, they were seen bearing him up the
+steep path leading to the cottage.
+
+"You will have the goodness to take care of this cavalier, and to see
+that no injury befalls him," said one of them to Chiarina, as they
+reached the arbour.
+
+'Renzo frowned, but to little purpose, at their impudent manner.  It
+would have been against Chiarina's gentle nature to refuse to take care
+of the injured man.  There was not another house along the high road for
+nearly half-a-league, and he would die before he could be carried there.
+
+The men turned their glances uneasily up the road.  Some object was seen
+approaching.  They immediately placed their burden on the ground, and
+were about to make off down the hill at full speed, when Chiarina
+exclaimed that it was her father.
+
+Old Marco, though he did not look over well pleased at seeing the
+strangers, after exchanging a few words with them, at once consented to
+take charge of their wounded comrade.  Calling 'Renzo to his aid, he
+lifted the man from the ground to bear him towards the house.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+"Remember, if harm befalls him!--" exclaimed one of the men, lifting up
+his finger, as he turned to hurry down the hill.
+
+"If harm befalls him it will be no fault of mine," answered Marco.
+
+The stranger was carried in and placed on Marco's own bed, and his
+injuries carefully looked to; while his comrades, having caught his
+horse, galloped off with it along the road at the same headlong speed as
+that at which they were before going.
+
+After some time the stranger opened his eyes and looked about him with a
+very troubled expression, till they fell on Marco.  He then seemed more
+satisfied.
+
+"What has happened?" he asked.
+
+Marco told him.
+
+"I can trust you, old friend?" he whispered.
+
+"Yes, yes, no fear," said Marco, turning away; "I would, though, that
+your shadow had never darkened my doorway."
+
+Chiarina longed to know who the stranger could he; yet she did not like
+to ask her father.  'Renzo, left equally in ignorance, at length was
+compelled to take his departure, not at all satisfied in his mind that
+all would go well.
+
+Story 11--CHAPTER THREE.
+
+Had the stranger been a son, Marco could not have tended him with
+greater care than he did, aided by Chiarina, who, however, never got
+over the mistrust she had felt of him from the first.  'Renzo came
+whenever he could, and never before had he been so sensible of making
+rapid progress in her affections.  The truth is, she felt that she
+required some one on whom she could rely for protection and support.
+Her father never gave a hint as to who the stranger was, and all she
+knew was that he looked at her in a way she did not like, and that he
+spoke in a bold, self-confident tone, which grated harshly on her ears.
+He had now almost entirely recovered his strength, but, except when the
+shades of evening came on, he did not go out of doors.  The only reason
+he gave for this was, that the light of day was disagreeable to his
+eyes.  It was evident that Marco wished that he would take his
+departure.  In the first place, Marco could not go to market; in the
+second, the stranger was making love, in a rough way, to his daughter;
+in the third, he was eating up his provisions; and, in the fourth
+place--but that reason, probably stronger than any of the others, he
+kept to himself.  'Renzo would gladly have volunteered to turn him out
+crop and heel, but that would not have suited Marco's notions of
+hospitality; nor was it likely that such proceeding would have passed by
+unnoticed in some disagreeable manner by the stranger's friends.
+
+One day, at noon, as Marco was working in his fields, and had just been
+joined by Chiarina, who came to tell him that his dinner was ready, they
+saw in the distance a cloud of dust, out of which shortly emerged a
+troop of dragoons.  Chiarina remarked her father's agitation as he
+hurried towards the house.  Their guest, on hearing who was approaching,
+instantly retired to his room, telling Marco to say, if any inquiries
+were made, that there was a sick man up-stairs with an infectious fever.
+"Invite the officer to come in and prescribe for me," he added,
+laughing.
+
+The body of cavalry halted under the house, but only an officer
+dismounted and came up the hill.  He entered the house, and asking
+carelessly for a jug of wine, inquired of Marco whether he had been
+annoyed by the brigands.
+
+"Ah, signore!  I am, happily, too small game for them to fly at," he
+answered; "yet I love them not, nor wish to have any dealings with
+them."
+
+The officer looked satisfied, and Marco hoped that he would ask no
+further questions.
+
+"Have you other inmates besides yourself and daughter?" asked the
+officer.
+
+"Assuredly, yes--a sick man up-stairs, who has been earnestly begging
+that any gentleman who has a knowledge of the healing art, passing this
+way, would come and see him," answered Marco, with all the calmness he
+could command.  "His fever, he says, may be infectious; and, at all
+events, I wish to have as little to do with him as possible.  Perhaps,
+if you have a surgeon with your troop, you could send him up; or, if you
+have any skill, signore, you would see him."
+
+"I!  My skill is to kill, not to cure," said the officer, laughing at
+his own wit, and completely deceived.
+
+It was with no small satisfaction that Marco saw him again moving on at
+the head of his men.
+
+The stranger soon after appeared.
+
+"I owe you a good turn, Marco Maffei," he said, with more cordiality
+than he generally exhibited.  "The day may come when I can repay it.  I
+shall not much longer trouble you with my society."
+
+Marco did not say what he thought--that the sooner he was gone the
+better.
+
+Day after day, however, passed by, the guest employing his time in
+making love, as before, to Chiarina, to her evident annoyance, though at
+this he seemed in no way disconcerted.
+
+At length, one evening after dark, a loud knock was heard at the door,
+and, when Marco opened it, an unshorn countenance was thrust in.
+
+"Come, signore, we have been watched, and shall have no little
+difficulty in rejoining our comrades if there is any delay," said a
+gruff voice from out of the hair-covered mouth.  "You have been here too
+long as it is."
+
+The stranger, without demanding any explanation of the last remark,
+jumped up, shook Marco warmly by the hand, and, endeavouring to bestow a
+kiss on Chiarina's cheek, which she narrowly escaped, disappeared
+through the doorway.
+
+"A good riddance of bad rubbish!" thought Marco, as he muttered
+something between a blessing and a curse between his teeth.
+
+Chiarina was thankful that the stranger was gone, yet she was not happy;
+for 'Renzo had not been to the cottage for three days, and she could not
+tell what had become of him.  She no longer concealed from herself that
+she loved him very dearly.
+
+Story 11--CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+'Renzo was one day on his way over the mountains to visit Chiarina, when
+before him appeared the barrels of three or four rifles, and a voice in
+an authoritative tone ordered him to stop.  As he knew that rifle
+bullets were apt to travel faster than he could run, he obeyed, and
+presently, found himself in the hands of a party of especially
+savage-looking bandits.
+
+After proceeding for a couple of leagues or more, 'Renzo found himself
+in a wild rugged part of the mountains, into which, though so near his
+home, he had never penetrated.  Here a large band of ragamuffins were
+collected, all armed; to the teeth, some of them being peasants whom he
+knew by sight.  He was welcomed by name as a future comrade.
+
+"Your comrade, indeed!  I will be the comrade only of honest men," he
+answered boldly.
+
+At this reply there was a laugh.
+
+"We'll see what persuasions our brave chief, Giuseppe Greco, can
+employ," exclaimed one of the band.
+
+"He our chief?  What do you mean, Oca?  Our chief is Ninco Nanco, and no
+one else," cried another.
+
+"Then he should show himself,--he may be dead, or captured, for what we
+know," said a third.
+
+"We want a clever leader, like Greco, who can at will increase the
+number of the band, and lay the whole country under contribution."
+
+"Who will bring traitors among us, and make enemies on every side,"
+muttered an old brigand, who had followed the craft from his earliest
+days.
+
+From all he heard 'Renzo knew that there was a division in the camp of
+the brigands, and soon ascertained that Greco was plotting to depose his
+absent chief.  This was satisfactory, as he hoped it might be the means
+of breaking up the confederacy.  It did not make him the less anxious to
+effect his escape.  In vain he watched for an opportunity all night.
+
+The next day the band moved some leagues farther to the east.  He found
+himself strictly guarded, but not otherwise ill-treated; while his
+companions used every means to impress him with the pleasures and
+advantages of the life they led.
+
+"I confess I do not perceive them," he answered.  "You have to live up
+in the mountains; often like wild beasts, hunted from spot to spot.
+Your fare is coarse, and often scanty.  Every day you run a chance of
+being shot.  If taken, you will be hung, or sent to the galleys for
+life; and, without scruple, you kill your fellow-creatures, if they
+attempt to defend their property."
+
+"Make the fellow hold his tongue," cried a voice near them; it was that
+of Greco, who had approached unperceived.  "We must induce you to change
+your mind, friend 'Renzo," he remarked.  "I want a sturdy fellow like
+you as a lieutenant."
+
+Greco was doing his utmost to increase the number of the band, hoping
+thus to overpower the adherents of Ninco Nanco.  Small parties were
+constantly sent out, therefore, who returned either with prisoners, or
+recruits as they were called, or some booty and provisions.  What was
+poor 'Renzo's grief and horror when, one day, he saw Marco Maffei, the
+father of his dear Chiarina, brought in a prisoner, mounted on his mule!
+He looked pale and alarmed.  Greco seemed highly satisfied at seeing
+him.
+
+"Ah! ah!" he exclaimed, "you refused me your daughter in honourable
+marriage three years ago.  I have waited ever since then to be revenged
+on you, and now I have the opportunity."
+
+The band was at this time collected in a hollow, with rocks and trees
+around, effectually concealing its members from the world beyond.  The
+only approach was by the pathway up which Marco had been led.
+
+"Now, friend 'Renzo, the moment has arrived to decide whether you will
+become one of us!" exclaimed Greco, in a harsh tone.  "I want yonder old
+man put out of the world--to you I award the task."
+
+'Renzo's heart sank within him.  He resolved, however, to make every
+effort to save the life of his old friend.  He pleaded and argued.  He
+might as well have talked to the surrounding rocks.
+
+"Give him a rifle," at length exclaimed Greco, losing patience.  "See
+that you use it as I direct."
+
+'Renzo took the weapon, and ascertained that it was loaded properly.
+The old man had been allowed to sit on his mule.  'Renzo approached him.
+
+"Friend, forgive me for the deed I am compelled to commit," he said
+aloud; then he hurriedly whispered, "I will draw off the attention of
+the villains, and, as I do so, dash down the mountain.  Your beast is
+trusty, and will not fall."
+
+Once more he retired nearer to Greco, and again pleaded earnestly for
+the old man's life.
+
+"Fire!" cried Greco, stamping on the ground.
+
+"Ay, I will!" exclaimed 'Renzo, swinging himself round so as to cover
+the would-be chief of the band.
+
+At that moment a report from another quarter was beard--a bullet
+whistled through the air, and Greco fell, shot through the head.
+
+"Fly, father, fly!" cried 'Renzo, springing towards Marco, and urging on
+his mule.
+
+The unexpected appearance of Ninco Nanco himself, who leaped down from
+the rocks among them with three well-armed followers, drew off the
+attention of the brigands from 'Renzo's proceedings.  Those who had
+openly sided with Greco grasped their weapons, expecting to have to
+fight for their lives.
+
+"Nonsense!  No fighting among friends," said Ninco Nanco.  "I heard of
+all that fellow was doing, and have settled scores with him pretty
+sharply.  In future you'll all follow my orders."
+
+Loud vivas greeted this address, and it was not for some minutes that
+the brigands discovered that their prisoners had fled.  Some proposed
+following them.
+
+"No, no!  To the old man I owe a debt; it were an ill way of paying it
+if I slew him," exclaimed Ninco Nanco.  "Though I love not the other, I
+can afford to be generous, and so let him go also.  I can trust them.
+They dare not betray us."
+
+This act of the chiefs was looked upon as the very acme of heroic
+generosity; and certainly nothing more worthy of praise has been
+recorded of Ninco Nanco, the Brigand.
+
+Having inspired the inhabitants of the surrounding districts with a
+wholesome terror of his name, Ninco Nanco soon discovered that the
+easiest way of collecting his revenue was to write a letter to any
+wealthy proprietor he might fix on, demanding the sum required, or
+horses, or provisions, as the case might be; and he seldom, fails to
+obtain what he demands.
+
+Marco and 'Renzo reached home safely, when Chiarina, who had been almost
+heart-broken at their absence, in the exuberance of her joy at their
+return, threw herself into the arms of her father, and then into those
+of 'Renzo, quite forgetting all rules of propriety.
+
+The young couple married soon afterwards; and, if they are not perfectly
+happy, it is that they dread lest Ninco Nanco should some day pounce
+down on them, and insist on 'Renzo joining his band.  They, therefore,
+very reasonably hope to hear some day that that gentleman has been shot,
+or hung, or sent to the galleys, or has been induced to accept a
+situation under the Government, or been disposed of in some no less
+satisfactory manner.
+
+Story 12--CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY TWELVE--THE STORY OF THE DEFENCE OF KARS.
+
+However averse we may be to war, we must acknowledge that it is often a
+stern and cruel necessity: that it is calculated to draw out many of the
+nobler qualities which exist in the human heart and mind, and that it
+shows more than most other callings a man in his true colours.  There
+were many gallant deeds performed during the late war with Russia; but,
+taking all things into consideration, none surpass the defence of Kars,
+or more completely prove what can be done by courage, energy and
+perseverance, devotedness and unanimity, when directed by wisdom and
+science.  All these qualities were displayed in a remarkable degree by
+the British officers who undertook the defence of Kars against the
+well-disciplined troops of Russia, with materials which ordinary men
+would have considered utterly useless.  I feel particular pleasure in
+writing a short account of that heroic undertaking, from having soon
+afterwards met some of the British officers engaged in it in Russia
+itself.  There, no longer enemies, but as honoured visitors, they were
+received by the Russians with that respect which their gallantry had
+won.  They were visiting, as I was, the gallery in Saint Petersburg of
+that talented artist and persevering Siberian traveller, the late Mr
+Atkinson.  While exhibiting his magnificent pictures, Mr Atkinson gave
+us a deeply interesting account of his own adventures when he was
+engaged in making the sketches from which he had painted them, and
+altogether I look back to that morning as one of the most agreeable
+spent during a short visit I made, soon after the war, to Russia.
+
+But to our story about Kars.  While the British, French, and Sardinian
+troops were before Sebastopol, the Russians hoped, by sending a powerful
+army by way of the Caucasus, to attack the Turkish dominions in Asia on
+the east, and to compel the Allies to despatch some of their forces to
+the assistance of the Sultan.  The English Government had foreseen that
+the Russians would do this, and had accordingly sent out General
+Williams, then holding the rank of Colonel, and other officers, to put
+the frontier Turkish fortresses in a state of defence.  On the confines
+of the Turkish dominions in Armenia, and to the south-east of the Black
+Sea, stands the town of Kars.  It is situated under a precipitous and
+rocky range of hills, running east and west, and in most parts
+impassable for artillery.  This range of hills is bisected by a deep
+gorge, through which flows the river Karschai, over which are thrown
+four or five bridges.  On the south side of Kars a fine level plain
+stretches away for many miles till it meets a range of easy-sloping
+heights.  Kars has a picturesque old feudal-looking castle, built on the
+summit of a craggy rock, rising out of the gully, with the brawling
+river at its base, and commanding the whole of the city.  The streets of
+the town are narrow and dirty, and there are very few even tolerably
+good houses, while the appearance of the population is sordid in the
+extreme.  Besides the castle, there were no fortifications of any
+consideration.  This was the place which, early in 1855, General
+Williams, Colonel Lake, Major Teesdale, Captain Thompson, and other
+English officers were sent to defend, with a disorganised Turkish force
+under them, against a well-equipped Russian army, commanded by General
+Mouravieff.  General Williams had received the rank of Ferik or
+Lieutenant-General in the Turkish army, with the title of Williams
+Pasha.  He and the gallant men with him had numberless difficulties to
+contend with.  The Turkish officers were generally utterly worthless--
+the neighbouring tribes of Kurdistan broke into revolt--the troops were
+ill clothed, and ill fed, and unpaid, and the whole _morale_ of the army
+was at the lowest state, while the town itself was to be placed in a
+defensible condition, to withstand the assaults of the powerful army
+advancing towards it.  The soldiers were upwards of two years in arrears
+of pay--their shoes were worn out, their uniforms were in tatters, and a
+large number were suffering from scurvy, caused by unwholesome food and
+their long confinement in the ill-ventilated huts of Kars.  General
+Williams and his companions were first engaged in fortifying the town of
+Erzeroum, which will be found on the map some distance to the west or
+rear of Kars, and from thence they proceeded to the defence of the
+latter place itself.  The Russians were at that time assembling an army
+at Gumri, and were evidently meditating a speedy attack on Kars.  As no
+time was to be lost in preparing for it, the English officers set
+manfully to work to overcome all obstacles, and to put the place in a
+proper state of defence.  All vied with each other in zeal.  In all
+weathers, at all times of the day and night, in the saddle or on foot,
+they were to be found labouring with head and hand, sometimes in the
+trenches with spade or mattock, sometimes drilling troops, receiving
+chiefs, settling disputes, encouraging the wavering, and organising
+various departments of the service.  Here is a description of General
+Williams when the enemy had arrived before the town:--"We are all in the
+saddle at half-past three a.m., and ride round the works; the troops are
+certainly full of enthusiasm, and Williams Pasha or Ingleez Pasha is
+already a great favourite.  They see him everywhere; he is with the
+sentries at the menaced point ere the morning has dawned, anon he is
+tasting the soldiers' soup, or examining the bread, and, if anything is
+wrong here, his wrath is terrible.  His eyes are everywhere, and he
+himself is ubiquitous.  Each soldier feels that he is something more
+than a neglected part of a rusty machine: he knows that he is cared for,
+and he is encouraged, and confident of being well led."  To Colonel
+Lake, however, belongs the credit of having formed the chief
+fortifications round Kars, as he was there while General Williams was
+still at Erzeroum.  They were of considerable extent.  The chief battery
+was on the summit of a semicircular range of hills, to the west and
+north-west, and at the distance of two miles or more from the town.
+This was Major Teesdale's position, and here General Kmety had his camp.
+To the north again was a line of fortifications known as the English
+Redoubts, where Colonel Lake commanded.  The river flowed between the
+town and the above-mentioned batteries.  To the east, at a distance of a
+mile from the town, was Captain Thompson's position--the Karsdagh
+Battery, and from thence a line of batteries circled round to the south,
+till they joined the river on the west.  Thompson's and Lake's positions
+were connected by a bridge thrown across the river by the latter.  The
+strongest position was a closed work, constructed by Colonel Lake, on a
+height overlooking the city to the west, and known as Veli Pasha Tabia,
+or Fort Lake.  It was armed with four heavy and several lighter guns,
+and was the key of the whole northern position.  Day and night, officers
+and men were employed in strengthening this extensive line of
+fortifications, the whole northern part being on a succession of rugged
+heights, commanding the surrounding country.  No one worked harder or
+was more enthusiastic than the gallant Teesdale, and there also was the
+brave Thompson with Dr Sandwith, the chief of the medical staff, who
+gives a most graphic account of the first attack of the Russians.  It
+was the 16th of June, the Feast of the Bairam, when the Turks generally
+deliver themselves up to idleness and rejoicing, and all duty is
+neglected.  But the vicinity of danger kept the garrison of Kars on the
+alert, and early in the morning news was brought that the enemy were
+advancing on the town.  The alarm was quickly raised, and all the
+citizens rushed to the batteries.  Every one was in gayest apparel--the
+gallant Karslis slung on their scimitars, buckled on their
+cartridge-pouches, and shouldered their rifles, and in groups by the
+dozen, with hearts beating high and glistening eyes, scaled the rocky
+heights above the city.  Here is a picture:--"The women crowd the
+house-tops, and cry to each passing warrior, `God sharpen your swords!
+Remember us--we are praying for you--go, fight the infidels--God speed
+you!'  In a short time each man is at his post, where, by those looking
+down from the batteries, were to be seen the dark masses of the enemy
+steadily advancing over the broad plain of rich meadow land, covered
+with brilliant yellow flowers.  As they advance, a beautiful living
+panorama is before the spectators--the enemy throw out their Cossacks
+and Georgian skirmishers of irregular cavalry; these are met by the
+Bashi-Bazouks, and a series of tournaments occur in the enamelled grassy
+space intervening between the stern masses of advancing troops and the
+breastworks of Kars.  Two or three regiments of cavalry now advance from
+the Russian lines, and, after a trot of a mile or two, charge the
+retreating squadrons of Turkish cavalry.  The rout of the latter is
+complete, but the Bashi-Bazouks, under a gallant native chief from
+Damascus, Ali Bey, fight well while retreating.  Suddenly puffs of dense
+white smoke issue from the Karsdagh and Hafiz Pasha batteries, and the
+screaming balls are seen to plough through the dense Russian masses.
+The enemy's artillery is now brought up, but their balls glance
+harmlessly from the dense earthworks.  The horsemen from both sides are
+mingled, and rush for the entrance; but the Cossacks fall under the
+deadly fire of the batteries, while those on whom our guns cannot play
+are singled out by the Turkish riflemen, who line the rocky sides of
+Karsdagh.  The attempt to rush into the works has failed; after less
+than an hour's cannonading the enemy retires, while this repulse raises
+the spirits of the garrison to the height of enthusiasm.  The Turkish
+loss has been trifling, perhaps twenty, while that of the enemy must
+have been considerably more."  So the fighting went on: sometimes the
+enemy approached the entrenchments and retired without making an
+attack--at other times they attempted to storm the place, but were were
+driven back with slaughter.  The British officers did not cease to
+strengthen their position; but they had soon to contend with a more
+terrible enemy than the Russians within their own entrenchments.
+
+All their supplies had been cut off--their provisions fell short, and
+fierce famine made its appearance.  Discontent among the troops--the
+irregulars chiefly--naturally followed; the town was closely beset by
+Cossack horsemen on every side.  Still the war was carried on in a
+civilised manner, and, from the first, the Russian General Mouravieff
+showed himself a truly chivalric and humane man.  It was felt that,
+should Erzeroum be taken, a vast number of siege-guns would be brought
+against Kars, and its doom be sealed.
+
+Another attack was made by the Russians on the 7th of August, but they
+were driven back with considerable slaughter.  But it is with the
+English officers we have to do:--"No sign of despondency clouded the
+honest face of General Williams.  His `Good morning' salutation was as
+cheerful as on the morrow of the first little victory.  He was thin--he
+could not well be thinner: no wonder, for he never seemed to sleep.
+Long ere daylight he was with the sentries of Major Teesdale's battery,
+the point nearest the Russians, and his glass learned every movement;
+anon he was encouraging the Bashi-Bazouks and settling their
+differences, or arranging some plan for feeding the townspeople; and in
+his confidential conversation with his officers on the state of affairs,
+he would impress on them the duty of maintaining a bright and hopeful
+bearing, since all the garrison looked up to them for encouragement,
+Thompson lived altogether on the Karsdagh, and his glass ranged the
+horizon from early morning until night; nor did he then go to a quiet
+couch; for, though he turned in, yet, after an hour's light slumber, he
+would visit each sentry round the whole works, and no part of the
+position was as well guarded as that where this Argus had taken up his
+quarters.  Teesdale lived with the gallant Hungarian, Kmety, and acted
+as chief of his staff.  Besides his graver duties, he was constantly
+harassing the Cossacks with parties of riflemen, or menacing and
+attacking the Russian cavalry with a company of rifles and a couple of
+guns."  Thus day after day skirmishing went on, but provisions became
+more and more scarce; scurvy, the cholera, and fever broke out; numbers
+died, but the courage of the brave leaders never flagged.  There was no
+longer provender for the horses, and some of the cavalry, with a fearful
+loss, cut their way through the enemy and escaped.
+
+But the day of battle was not longer to be delayed--that day which was
+to win the renown a soldier covets for the gallant strangers who led the
+Turkish forces.  On the 29th of September, before daybreak, one of the
+advanced sentries of the chief battery, nearest to the enemy, heard a
+sound in the distance, something like the rumbling of wheels and the
+tramp of infantry.  Kmety was soon on the spot.  He applied his ear to
+the ground, and recognised the rumble of artillery-wheels; while still
+the measured tread of infantry was heard advancing nearer and nearer up
+the valley.  The night was moonless, and very dark.  Again all was
+silent.  The Zebek riflemen look well to their percussion caps; the word
+is passed to the artillery-men, "_peshref_" (grape); the advanced posts
+creep into the lines with the ominous words "_Ghiaour gueliur_" (The
+infidels are coming).  A dark mass, faintly seen through the gloom, is
+observed.  It is moving; it is a column of men!  A gun is pointed in the
+direction, the match is applied, and a hissing shower of grape flies
+into the mass.  An unearthly scream of agony from mangled human frames
+follows the thunder of the gun, when both are drowned by a loud hurrah
+which rises on all sides, and soon the whole line of breastworks is
+assailed in front and flank.  All surprise is at an end.  The Russians
+advance in close column on the breastworks and redoubts, while some
+Russian batteries, well placed on a commanding eminence opposite, pour
+shot, shell, and grape into the redoubts.  Steadily each column
+advances, while grape, round-shot, and musketry are pelted into them.
+They still rush on; their officers, with wondrous self-devotion, charge
+in front, and, single-handed, leap into the redoubts only to fall
+pierced with bayonets.  Their columns, rent and torn, retire to reform.
+Meantime, on the left flank and rear of the position, the breastworks
+are carried; a number of tents are occupied by Russian troops, while
+their officers, ignorant that the redoubts are closed, flatter
+themselves that the position is won.  Kmety now, however, hastily
+gathers together a formidable body of his best troops; Teesdale turns
+some guns towards the rear and works them vigorously; Kmety's riflemen
+pour into these partially victorious Russians a continued and
+well-directed fire, which holds them in check, and woefully thins their
+ranks.  Meantime, the son has risen, and shows each position of the
+enemy.  A sulphurous cloud envelops the scenes of fiercest conflict,
+while reserves in formidable numbers crown the distant slopes.  Fresh
+columns of the enemy charge again and again the front line of
+breastworks and batteries, from which they are at first driven back:
+they are received with a deadly and withering fire; and thus the fight
+continues.  But this is not the only struggle going on.  The line of
+breastworks and forts protecting the heights on the north of the town
+are attacked simultaneously by overpowering numbers, and being defended
+only by a weak force, mainly of Laz irregulars, are carried and occupied
+by Russian troops, who pile arms and wait for further orders; while the
+Russian artillery-men employ their time in busily shelling the town,
+which they now command.  Meantime, General Williams from the centre of
+the camp is watching events.  He despatches a body under Kherim Pasha,
+which appears suddenly on the flank of a large body of Russians now
+gaining ground in the rear of the Turks on the chief battery.  A loud
+yell arises of triumph and vengeance.  Baba Kherim waves his sword; his
+troops pour a volley into the enemy; Kmety and his men, hitherto
+overpowered, raise a responsive cheer: they rush on, crying, "_Sungu_!
+_sungu_!"  (The bayonet! the bayonet!)  Teesdale pours fresh grape into
+the staggering masses; the Russians waver--they give way--the havoc
+slacks not.  The Turkish artillery hurl round-shots into these columns
+of brave and devoted men.  Captain Thompson, on the extreme east, is
+with might and main working a heavy gun, and keeping the enemy in check.
+Once, and once only, there is a slight sign of giving way, but General
+Williams despatching reinforcements, changes the backward into a forward
+movement.  The loud hurrahs of the Russian hosts are mingled with the
+yells of the Turks, who tight like tigers, charging repeatedly with the
+bayonet.  White-turbaned citizens are seen plunging into the fight,
+hewing with their scimitars; athletic and savage Lazistan mountaineers
+fight with the clubbed rifle, or hurl stones at the advancing foe, while
+the latter, ever obedient to a stern discipline, advance again and again
+to the deadly batteries, and are blown from the very mouths of the guns.
+Strong proof is there of the excellence of Colonel Lake's batteries.
+For seven and a half hours the furious contest rages; when about mid-day
+the Russian columns are seen running down the hill, their cavalry and
+artillery steadily protecting their retreat.  A confused mass of
+citizens follows them with the utmost temerity, firing into their
+retreating ranks.  But where was the Turkish cavalry?  Two thousand
+horsemen would have destroyed the Russian army, but none remain.  The
+enemy reform, and march off unmolested.
+
+The victory was complete, and the brave garrison looked forward with
+hope to relief, but relief did not come--cholera did, and famine.  The
+provisions decreased, and many soldiers died of starvation, of cholera,
+sometimes fifty in a night.  News, however, came that Selim Pasha had
+landed at Trebizond, and was advancing to their succour, and so our
+brave countrymen resolved not to yield.  Still the relief did not come.
+Famine, disease, and death stalked round the camp.  Human endurance
+could last no longer.  The 25th of November arrived, and General
+Williams and his aide-de-camp, Teesdale, rode over, under a flag of
+truce, to the Russian camp, to propose a capitulation.  They were well
+received by the humane Mouravieff.  Terms most honourable to the brave
+garrison were speedily arranged; private property was to be respected;
+the troops were to march out with colours and music, and surrender
+themselves prisoners; "and write," said the Russian General to his
+secretary, "that in admiration of the noble and devoted courage
+displayed by the army of Kars, the officers shall be allowed to retain
+their swords, as a mark of honour and respect."
+
+Thus was Kars defended chiefly by the wisdom, courage, and perseverance
+of a few Englishmen, gallantly supported by the Turkish troops; and thus
+it fell, not before the arms of Russia, but in consequence of the
+mismanagement, roguery, and pusillanimity of Turkish generals and
+officials.  It would be difficult to point out to young soldiers an
+example more worthy of imitation than that set by the gallant officers
+who have been mentioned in these pages.
+
+Story 13--CHAPTER ONE.
+
+STORY THIRTEEN--THE DOOMED SHIP.
+
+"You see me now an old and careworn man, with my few scanty locks white
+as the driven snow; my eyes dim, my cheeks hollow, my shrunk and
+tottering limbs scarce able to support my bent and emaciated body; my
+blood languid, and flowing slowly round my heart; my voice weak and
+tremulous as a child's; all my faculties deranged but memory, and that
+alone survives to tell me who I am.  Memory, mysterious, inscrutable
+power,--gladly would I have escaped its painful influence!  Alas! it
+cannot be.  Thought alone, while every other faculty has departed, will
+pursue me to the grave.
+
+"I was not always thus, young man.  Ah! once my blood coursed freely
+through my veins as yours, my limbs were stout and strongly knit, my
+muscles were firmly strung, my figure was tall and graceful, and with my
+arm few dared to compete.  No one ever cared a second time to tempt my
+anger; my eye was bright and piercing as an eagle's, and my voice was
+clear and powerful, so that it might be heard amid the raging of the
+fiercest storm.  My heart never beat with fear; aloft, no one was more
+active, or would so readily spring to the weather earing, when, in the
+strongest tempest, the last reef was to be taken in the topsails.  Ah!
+young man, you look incredulous.  I have stood securely on the main
+truck when landsmen could scarcely keep their feet on deck.  I have hung
+by one hand suspended to a single rope, tossing to and fro in mid air.
+I have swum for miles on the foaming bosom of the ocean.  I have
+contended with the wild beast of the desert.  I have stood amid showers
+of bell and grape when my shipmates have been falling thickly around.  I
+have with a few daring comrades fought hand to hand against overpowering
+numbers on an enemy's deck.  I have faced death in a hundred shapes, and
+I never trembled; yet now I bend even before the summer's breeze.
+Worthless and miserable as I am, I have loved, truly and devotedly, ay,
+and have been loved too in return.  The eye of beauty has sparkled, her
+lip has smiled sweetly on me, her heart has beat with tender emotions;
+when I drew near, those lips have uttered words of tenderest endearment
+for my ear alone.  I have been young, strong, handsome, and bold;--I am
+now old and broken, loathsome and nerveless.  Learn a moral, young man.
+To this all must come whose span of life is lengthened out like mine;
+then do the work to which you have been called while you have strength.
+Remember that this life, whether passed in sunshine and in calm, or amid
+cloud and storm, is like a voyage, speedily over, and that while it
+lasts every man on board is bound to do his duty, nor like a coward
+skulk idly below.  Vain and bitter are the regrets of age, and if all
+men did but feel the importance of acting their parts faithfully towards
+their Maker and their fellow-men, what an amount of misery and anguish
+would be saved them in their latter days! how different would he the
+world they are sent to inhabit!
+
+"But I asked you to sit down on this stone by my side, while we watch
+the shipping in the harbour below, and the deep blue sea sparkling in
+the rays of the setting sun, to listen to a tale of my younger days, and
+instead of that, I have been moralising, prating, you will say perhaps,
+of things which do not interest you.  Well, well, follow my counsel; it
+is all I ask; and so to my tale.
+
+"It is now more than half a century ago that I got the berth of second
+mate on board a fine ship belonging to the port of Liverpool.  Liverpool
+was a very different town in those days from what it is now.  There were
+no fine docks and spacious quays, no broad streets and magnificent
+buildings, but yet it was a place of much bustle and trade; and trade is
+the true mother of all the improvements.  Our ship was called the
+_Chameleon_.  She was bran new, and had never yet made a voyage; she
+measured four hundred and fifty tons burthen, was ship-rigged, and was
+well found and fitted in every respect.  Her master was as thorough a
+sailor as ever stepped, and, take them all in all, I suppose a stouter
+ship, a better crew, or a more able master, never sailed from the port
+of Liverpool.  But I have now more particularly to speak of the master.
+His name was Derick--Captain Ashby Derick.  He was a young man, about
+seven or eight-and-twenty, I suppose, and was very well connected and
+educated.  He was very good-looking--the women called him remarkably
+handsome--he was tall, with a firm, well-made figure and broad chest;
+his complexion was naturally fair, though now bronzed by the sun, with
+an abundance of light curly hair, and full whiskers; his eyes were large
+and grey; his lips firm, and his nose fine, though somewhat hooked,
+which prevented his face from having any approach to effeminacy.  He had
+from boyhood been rather wild; indeed, his principles were none of the
+best, and it was for that reason that his father, who was a very strict
+man, had sent him to sea, that he might not set a bad example to his
+brothers.  The world looked on him as a rollicking, careless blade, with
+more animal spirits than wisdom to guide him; but his employers knew him
+to be a first-rate seaman, and one liked by his crew, and that was all
+they had to inquire about.  Now for my part, I believe that had he been
+well guided at first, and properly instructed in his duty to God and
+man, he would not have turned out a bad man; but he had not his fair
+play; he was cast like a waif on the waters, without rudder or compass,
+to find his way as he best could over the troubled sea of life, and how
+could those who sent him expect him to escape shipwreck?  His fate has
+been the fate of many.  He grew up with numerous fine manly qualities.
+He was brave and bold as man can be; he was generous to his friends,
+kind-hearted to any in distress, and full of life and animation, but his
+temper was hot and hasty.  He had no religion, though he did not scoff
+at it in others; but he did not know what it meant; and he had no
+morality; indeed, no one could trust to his principles.  With women he
+had very winning ways, and was a great favourite with them.
+
+"After his return from his last voyage he went to stay with some friends
+living in Lancashire, not many miles from Liverpool.  At the distance of
+a mile or two from the house where he was staying, there lived on the
+borders of a wild heath or common, in an almost ruined cottage, an old
+woman.  The old woman's name was Kirby--Mother Kirby she was called--and
+she was reported to be a witch by the common people, who told all sorts
+of stories about her.  It is certain that she was of a sour bad temper,
+that she was very old and very ugly, and could use her tongue most
+fluently.  But it is not about her I am going to speak at present.  She
+had a granddaughter who lived in the hut with her, but was as unlike her
+in every respect as light from darkness.  Amy Kirby was one of the most
+beautiful girls you ever saw--she was slight and graceful, with a
+well-rounded form, and tall rather than short; her hair was black as
+jet; her eyes large, dark, and lustrous; and her cheeks bore all the
+bloom of health and youth; her complexion was clear, but it just showed
+that there was a slight touch of gipsy blood in her veins; her step, as
+she walked along, was as elastic as a young fawn's; and her voice was
+like the skylark's as it mounts into the blue sky at early dawn.
+
+"It was surprising to see how the old woman loved a being so unlike
+herself, how carefully she tended her, how well she had brought her up.
+She had taught her many things which girls in her rank of life never
+learn; she even got all sorts of books for her to read.  Amy was always
+neatly dressed, and while the rest of the cottage was almost in ruins,
+her room was as good as any in a well-to-do house.  No one knew how the
+old woman got the money for these purposes, but whenever any was wanted
+for Amy it was always forthcoming.  One thing, alas! she had not taught
+her--that was religion; and neither the old woman nor her grandchild was
+ever seen to enter a church.
+
+"Amy was about seventeen when Ashby Derick first saw her.  He met her on
+the common near her grandmother's cottage, and as he was a stranger
+there he stopped to ask his way, and from one question another was
+asked, and a few words led to many.  His heart in a moment was struck by
+her beauty, and he felt that he had never seen any one he admired so
+much.  She, too, was pleased with his look and fine manly bearing, but
+she would not tell him who she was, nor where she came from.  She
+laughingly said that she was the spirit of the heath, that she dwelt in
+the air, and that her carriage was the storm, and that whenever he would
+seek her he must come there to find her.  This excited his curiosity,
+and if she had told him that she lived in the ruined cottage hard by,
+from her dress and language he would not have believed her.  Every day
+he visited the heath, and each time he found her there on the same spot,
+and hour after hour he spent with her, more and more captivated by her
+charms.  What was extraordinary was, that he could never find out her
+name, nor anything about her, or he might perhaps have not gone so far
+as he did.  The strangeness of the affair pleased him, for he was of a
+romantic turn, and I believe fancied her some well-born lady in disguise
+who had fallen in love with him.  She must have been, from what I heard,
+full of life and wit, and of course showed out more to him than she had
+ever done to others.  Indeed, her mind was of no ordinary character, and
+had it been well guided she would have been equal to any lady in the
+land.  At last he offered her marriage.  She laughed, and told him that
+he would be marrying a spirit, and that he must come to her home, for
+that she would never go to his.  He had better think over it, for that
+no good could come of it.  This only made him more vehement, and he
+vowed and swore that he would marry her and her alone.  The belief is
+that she was of the gipsy religion as well as of the gipsy race, and
+gipsies look upon an oath as binding as any other form of marriage, and
+therefore after that she considered Ashby Derick as her husband.  I
+cannot say if what she told him about her being the spirit of the heath
+had anything of truth in it, as some people believed, but her heart and
+soul were his, and she loved him with all the passionate ardour of a
+child of a race which comes from the lands of the burning sun of Egypt.
+The consequence was, that she went to reside with him at his house near
+Liverpool.
+
+"Her grandmother had never come to see her, but at last the old woman
+could no longer resist the strong wish she had of visiting her.  Derick
+came in and saw the witch-like creature sitting by the side of the
+beautiful girl he professed to love so much.  He did not like the look
+of her, and in an angry tone he asked her what she did there.
+
+"`I've as much right to be here as you have,' answered the old woman.
+`I've come to see my grandchild, and I should like to know what fault
+you can find with that!'
+
+"`You come to see your grandchild!--you Amy's grandmother!  I don't
+believe it,' he exclaimed, starting back from her with a look of horror.
+`You, you wizen-faced, shrivelled old hag!'
+
+"`What! you dare to call me names!' screamed the old woman; `you'll
+repent it--that you will, my master.'
+
+"On this, Derick turned to Amy and asked if the old woman spoke the
+truth.  Amy confessed that she was her grandmother, and then burst into
+tears, which so enraged the dame that she went away muttering curses
+between her teeth, which Derick could not understand.  They had a great
+effect upon him, and from that time his love for the beautiful gipsy
+began to cool.  I ought to have said that before Derick had fallen in
+with the poor girl he had been paying his addresses to a young lady of
+family and fortune who had been captivated by his handsome face and
+figure.  While the above affair had been going on he had neglected his
+former attentions to this lady, but he now began to resume them.  He
+never told her the reason of his absence, and he made so much play to
+recover his lost ground, that he was soon reinstated in her good graces.
+She was not only rich, but handsome and clever, and she so quickly
+enslaved the heart of Derick, that he neglected poor Amy altogether.  He
+next proposed marriage to her; he was accepted, and the day of the
+wedding was fixed.
+
+"Poor Amy had heard nothing about it, whatever she might have suspected,
+and she had grown accustomed to his long absences, though her heart was
+breaking at his coldness.  Well, Captain Derick and his beautiful bride
+went to church to be married, and a very grand wedding it was, and
+numbers of relations and friends attended.  Just as the service began, a
+alight female figure, wrapped close in a cloak with a hood, was seen to
+steal into the church, and to hide itself behind one of the pillars
+which supported the roof.  Derick observed the circumstance and changed
+colour, and his hand trembled as he put the ring on his wife's finger.
+Just at that moment a piercing scream was heard ringing through the
+aisles and vaulted roof of the church, and filling the hearts of
+everybody present with dismay.  They searched the church throughout for
+the stranger in the hooded cloak, they looked around in every direction,
+but she was nowhere to be found, and no one had seen her quit the
+church, nor had any one observed her in the neighbourhood.  That night
+there was a fierce storm of thunder and lightning, wind and rain, and on
+the following morning the young and once beautiful Amy Kirby was found a
+blackened corpse on the very spot where Ashby Derick had first met her.
+Some said that she had been killed by lightning, but it was generally
+supposed that she had died by poison, which she had taken in her
+despair.
+
+"The old grandmother was the first person to tell Derick of what had
+happened, though he was a hundred miles or so from the spot on his
+wedding tour.  She came into the room where he and his young wife were
+sitting, without any one announcing her, and nearly frightened the bride
+to death by the way she swore and cursed Derick, so that at last he
+became so enraged that he called up the servants and turned her out of
+the house by main force.  She went away threatening that she would
+shortly wreak a bitter vengeance on him for his murder of the only being
+she loved on earth.  The same evening she was back again in her now
+desolate hut near Liverpool.  If she had with some reason been before
+suspected of being a witch, she was thought to be one now to a certainty
+from her strange look and ways of going on, and she took delight in
+making everybody believe her one.  The sudden appearance of the old
+woman so frightened the young bride that she fell ill, and the doctors
+all agreed that the best thing to restore her shattered nerves would be
+for her to take a long voyage to a southern climate.  Derick was not
+sorry to hear of this advice, for though he loved his wife, so he did
+his profession, and had no intention of giving that up, especially when
+he could take her with him.  At first her friends did not like the idea
+of her going, but he soon persuaded them, and she, poor young thing! was
+delighted at the thought of accompanying him, and of visiting foreign
+countries.  She had been nurtured in every sort of luxury, and had never
+been to sea before, so she little knew what she had to undergo.
+However, he had a cabin fitted up for her very elegantly, so that she
+might be as comfortable as possible.  The cargo was stowed, the ship was
+cleared at the custom-house, the lady and all her things were on board,
+our owners and different friends had gone on shore, and Captain Derick
+was standing close to the taffrail and waving his hat, as the ship, all
+her fastenings being cast off, moved away from the quay, when on a
+sudden there appeared at the end of a jetty, close to which we had to
+pass, the old hag, Dame Kirby.
+
+"I have not yet described her.  She had in her youth been very tall, but
+she was now bent nearly double, though she contrived to raise herself at
+times of great excitement to nearly her former height.  She was thin and
+wizened, with large prominent features, and eyes once large, now sunk so
+deep in her head that they would have been scarcely perceptible, except
+from their extraordinary lustre.  In her hand she carried a long twisted
+staff to support herself, and she wore a red cloak and a queer little
+hat, from under which her long grey locks straggled in the wind.  Her
+gown, such as it was, all rags and tatters, was looped up in front to
+enable her to walk, and as she raised herself up, her long bony leg,
+which was advanced forward, looked so like that of a skeleton that it
+was impossible to believe that it belonged to a living being.  Her arms,
+which were also quite bare, appeared composed of nothing but bone and
+sinew, and the skin which covered them, like that of her face, was as
+yellow as parchment.  They, as well as her hands and fingers, were of
+great length, and as she walked along in her usual way, she almost
+touched the ground with them.  When the captain first saw her standing
+directly in front of him, with her hideous features scowling malignantly
+on him, appearing, as she did, the prominent figure, while his friends
+faded in the distance, he started back and trembled violently.  He
+quickly, however, recovered himself, especially when he found his wife,
+who had come upon deck, close to his side.  Her presence seemed to
+enrage the old woman greatly.  She slowly raised up her bent body till
+she seemed taller than any woman I ever saw, and stretching out her
+staff, waved it round and round in the direction of the ship.
+
+"`Curses attend you, and follow all who sail with you,' she shrieked
+out, in a loud shrill voice, which pierced through our ears, and made
+the oldest seaman on board turn pale with apprehension.  `False-hearted,
+perjured murderer, betrayer of innocence, deceiver of a faithful heart,
+destroyer of one who would have clung to you through weal and through
+woe, through good report and evil report, through life unto death!  Now
+take the consequence.  As you valued not the treasure of her love, you
+shall rue the bitterness of my hate.  You are proud of your knowledge,
+you are proud of your hardy crew, you are proud of your stout ship, but
+your knowledge shall not avail you in the fierce tempest I will raise;
+the waters shall drown your hardy crew, and the hard rocks shall batter
+in pieces your stout ship!  Wherever you go I will follow you; in the
+furthermost parts of the wide ocean you shall find me, in the howling of
+the raging storm you shall hear me, in the flashes of the vivid
+lightning you shall see me.  My vengeance will not sleep, my hate will
+not abate.  Your bold heart shall quail and sink like a woman's, your
+cheek shall blanch, when you feel that I am nigh, and hiss into your
+ears the name of her you murdered, and you see borne before your eyes on
+the whirlwind the writhing form of her who was once so lovely, dying in
+agony on the wild heath alone and hopeless.  Blasted shall be the beauty
+of which you are proud, withered shall be your form, frozen your heart,
+and she who now stands in youth and loveliness by your side shall learn
+to repent she knew you, and shall share your fate.  Sail onward on your
+course, but never shall your eyes again behold your native land, or hear
+the greeting of the friends you leave behind.  But me you shall hear,
+and me you shall see, when you would give all the wealth of India not to
+see me or to hear me, and wish that I never existed.  Go now--sail--
+sail--sail away over the wide sea!  Curses hover over you where'er you
+go!  Curses attend your hardy crew!  Curses follow after the stout ship
+which hears you!'
+
+"While uttering these dreadful imprecations, she whirled her staff still
+more violently in the air, and uttered shrieks louder than ever, until
+she almost drove the captain and everybody on board mad with horror; and
+while we were all wondering what she would do next, a sudden squall took
+the ship aback, and it was of such violence that we were as nearly as
+possible driven stern on to the pier.  Everybody had to run to the
+braces, tacks, and sheets, and sharp work we had to slew the yards round
+in time; and when we looked again for the old woman, she was nowhere to
+be seen.  I never before or since have met in the Mersey a squall so
+sudden, or so violent, and in a minute it was over, and the wind blew as
+it had done before.  What was also strange was, that not one of the
+other ships in the river had felt it.  The old pilot who was taking us
+clear of the sands shook his head and said he did not at all like the
+look of things, that no good ever came of such strange doings; but
+Captain Derick, who was himself again the moment Dame Kirby had
+disappeared, laughed, and asked him what harm could possibly happen from
+the ravings of an old mad woman.
+
+"The young bride also did not at all like it, for she could not help
+recognising her as the old hag who had come and frightened her on the
+day of their marriage; and though Derick did his best to persuade her
+that there was nothing of truth in what she said, she could not bring
+herself to believe him.  Those dreadful shrieks and curses had pierced
+her young heart, and struck her soul with dread.
+
+"`Why, my love,' he said, `what power to do us harm can a wretched old
+creature like that have?  She is some unfortunate maniac who has escaped
+from her keepers, and has got this story about a grandchild she has
+lost, and whom, perhaps, some man has neglected, into her head, and has
+fixed it upon me.  Poor old hag! she is more to be pitied than feared.
+It would have been a mercy to have sent a bullet through her head, and
+put her out of her misery, when she was howling at us leaving the quay,
+and I confess I felt not a little inclined to do so.  I don't mean to
+say that it would have been right to hurt her--of course, I would not,
+poor thing.  So now let us laugh at the foolish fears of the crew, and
+think no more about the matter.'
+
+"Even while he was speaking, I saw his lip tremble, and his eye belied
+his words.  His wife, who by this time knew him pretty well, was aware
+all the time that he was not speaking his real feelings, though perhaps
+he was trying to deceive himself, as well as her and others.
+
+"Mrs Derick was certainly a very handsome woman, and she did not want
+wit or sense.  She was dotingly fond of her husband, though she had
+found out that he had a good number of faults to weigh in the scale
+against his good looks, which is what many a woman is apt to discover
+when she marries a man for his handsome face, instead of for his sense
+and goodness.  Though the captain appeared in high spirits, and laughed
+and talked as gaily as need be, the crew could not get the thought of
+the old hag out of their heads; and when the pilot left us, he looked
+very grave, and said that his heart would not be light again till he saw
+the ship safe back in the Mersey once more.  I believe that at that time
+one-half of the men would have left the ship if they could have done so.
+Indeed, some attempted to follow the pilot, but Derick rushed on deck
+with his pistols in his hands, and swore that he would blow out the
+brains of the first man who should attempt such a trick.
+
+"`You confounded idiots!' he exclaimed.  `I thought I had shipped a crew
+of men, who would face the devil if I led them; instead of that, I've
+got a number of sucking babies on board.  Pity I did not ship some casks
+of pap to feed you on!  But now I've got you, I intend to keep you, and
+to try if I can't make men of you; so I don't mean to part company just
+now, and shall keep my powder dry for ready use.'
+
+"This speech had the effect of shaming the men into their duty, and for
+some time we heard no more of the old witch.  I ought to have said that
+we were bound for Chili and the western coast of South America, and were
+to visit some of the islands in the Pacific before we returned home, so
+that we thus expected to be away the best part of two years.  We had a
+fair wind after leaving the Mersey, and enjoyed a fine run clear of the
+Channel, and until we got into the latitude of Gibraltar, so that the
+men entirely recovered their spirits and good humour, and, with the
+carelessness of seamen, even began to laugh at their former fears.  Mrs
+Derick took a great liking to the sea, and told her husband that she
+should always be ready to go with him.  Poor thing! she had only yet
+seen the bright face of it.  Those who know the ocean can say, that,
+like many a beautiful woman, it wears two very different aspects at
+different times.  We all began to like the lady very much, which
+officers and crew do not always do the skipper's wife; but she was like
+a gleam of sunshine on a cloudy day, and stood between us and the
+somewhat dark temper which the captain now often showed.  Thus things
+went on very well on board the _Chameleon_, and there appeared to be
+every prospect of a pleasant voyage.
+
+"I said that we were bound for Chili and the western coast of South
+America.  In those days the jealous and narrow-minded commercial policy
+of Spain prohibited the ships of any other nation than their own trading
+with her colonies.  The consequence was, that those provinces,
+notwithstanding their internal sources of wealth, remained poor and
+insignificant, and their inhabitants ignorant and bigoted, while in
+North America a state was springing up which not only surpassed their
+whole united provinces in power and influence, but soon became in a
+condition to bid defiance to the rest of the world.  We, therefore, did
+not hope to carry on a regular trade with these degenerate Spaniards,
+but our intention was to call off different parts of the coast, and to
+sell our goods wherever we found people ready to buy them, without
+troubling ourselves by entering at any custom-house.  There was some
+risk, it is true, in this species of traffic, but there was also some
+adventure, and it required considerable sagacity and courage, and this
+exactly suited Derick's taste.  I forgot to say that we carried four
+guns on a side, and were well supplied with muskets, pistols, and
+boarding-pikes, both to defend ourselves against the Spanish
+custom-house officers, and also against any piratical rovers, who, in
+that day, were known at times to frequent those seas, to rob any unarmed
+merchantmen they might fall in with.
+
+"The plan, in dealing with the Spaniards, when I had been in that part
+of the world before, was to call off the coast two or three leagues away
+from a town, and to send on shore, by some fishing-boat, to the
+merchants, to say what goods we had, and that we were ready to deal with
+them.  They would then send back word when they would come, probably on
+that or the following night.  If the weather were fine we used to anchor
+close in shore, always keeping a bright look out in case of treachery.
+As soon as it was dark, the merchant", or their agents, would come off
+in their boats, and take the goods on shore, and pay us good prices in
+hard dollars.  So much for restrictive duties.  Scarcely a ship entered
+at the custom-house at any of those ports, and the Government got no
+revenue, while, on account of the difficulties and risks, the people had
+to pay just as much as they would have done for the goods had moderate
+dues been levied, and the trade been regular and above board.  But I am
+running away from the subject of my story.  Well, as I was saying, we
+made very fine weather of it, though the wind was seldom fair, till we
+reached about twenty-seven degrees north latitude, when we got into the
+north-east trade-winds, which carried us along at a spanking pace, with
+studding sails alow and aloft on either side, till we were nearly in the
+latitude of Rio do Janeiro.  It was enough to make a man vain of his
+ship, of himself, and of the art which formed her, to see her thus
+walking along the water, with her wide spread of snowy canvas proudly
+sweeping the blue vault of heaven.  Captain Derick rubbed his hands, and
+smiled with satisfaction, as he walked the deck and looked up at the
+well-set sails, and then over the side, to watch the sparkling foam as
+it quickly flew past and formed a long wake astern.  He amused his young
+wife and himself in teaching her the names of the ropes and sails, and
+she fully shared his pleasure and satisfaction.  I remember them as if
+it were yesterday; she was sitting on the bench, on the after-part of
+the deck, with one arm resting on his shoulder, and her face looking up
+at his, while he was explaining some point she could not at first
+understand.  They certainly were a handsome couple.  The sea was smooth,
+the sky was blue, and the air was pure and warm.  That evening was the
+last we saw of fine weather.  It seemed sent us on purpose to show how
+pleasant the world could be, and to make us wish the more to remain in
+it.  On the morning following the one I have described, a dark mass of
+clouds was seen gathering in the south-west, rising out of the sea, and
+every instant growing denser and broader, as recruits from all quarters
+arrived; then, like some mighty host, which has been waiting the arrival
+of its various divisions, onward it began its march towards us.  As the
+dark body advanced, its movement became more rapid, and at last, as if
+urged on by some irresistible impulse, it rushed forward in an impetuous
+charge, covering the whole sky with its overwhelming masses.  The
+captain had been called on deck the moment the sky had assumed this
+threatening aspect, and he immediately ordered all the lighter sails to
+be handed, the courses to be brailed up, and the ship to be kept on the
+starboard tack, under her topsails.  As yet there had been a perfect
+calm, and the sails flapped idly against the masts, though the ship
+rolled heavily in the smooth ominous billows, which had been rising for
+some hours past.  Suddenly, the wind burst forth from the dark clouds,
+accompanied with rain and hail, and struck the ship on her broadside,
+while the forked lightning played round her on every side, as if eager
+to make her feel its power.  Like a reed bent before the wind, the stout
+ship yielded to the fierce blast.  It howled in triumph over her.  In an
+instant, her gunwale was under water, and the waves washed up her decks
+and threatened to fill her hold.  She was in as bad a position as a ship
+can be placed in, and it seemed that every moment would he her last.
+Derick now showed that he was a good seaman, cool and fearless in
+danger.
+
+"`Furl the mizzen-topsail,' he shouted out.  `Up with her helm--brail up
+the main-topsail--furl it--she'll not steer without it.'  The
+mizzen-topsail and main-topsail were furled, the fore-topsail was backed
+against the mast, the fore-staysail and jib were set, but to no purpose.
+Still she lay like a log upon the waters with her broadside to the
+sea."
+
+Story 13--CHAPTER TWO.
+
+"I ought to have said that all this time Mrs Derick, who had refused to
+stay below, was on deck seated aft under the weather bulwarks, and
+looking on less frightened perhaps than awe-struck at the wild scene
+before her.  On finding that the ship still refused to wear, the captain
+summoned the mates with some of the best hands aft, and gave them the
+order to cut away the mizzen mast.  With gleaming axes in our hands we
+set to work, the shrouds were severed, and after a few sharp strokes the
+mast tottered and fell with a crash into the boiling sea.  The
+looked-for effect was not produced--still the ship would not wear.
+Another mast must be sacrificed; no other remedy remained.  Again we
+gave the fatal strokes which must reduce our ship to a wreck upon the
+waters; over fell the tall mast with its spars and rigging, and a few
+more cuts served to sever it from the labouring hull.  The effect was
+instantly perceptible--the ship righted, the helm was kept up, and away
+she flew before the howling tempest.
+
+"Scarcely was she before the wind than the storm increased with tenfold
+fury, the wind blew more fiercely, the thunder rolled more loudly, the
+rain and hail came down in thicker torrents, the lightning flashed more
+vividly, while the waves rose on every side in black mountainous ridges
+covered with curling crests of foam, which the wind sent in showers on
+our decks even when the water itself did not break over us.
+
+"The foremast had hitherto stood secure, though weakened by the loss of
+the mainmast, but now as the tempest came down stronger on us, that too
+tottered, and went by the board, carrying the bowsprit with it.  As this
+last accident happened, the captain's wife shrieked with terror; it was
+answered by a shout of shrill laughter, so loud, so piercing, and so
+unnatural, that it made the heart of every one on board tremble.  It
+might well do so, for as we looked over the side of the driving ship,
+what should we see right abreast of us, in a small skiff, gliding over
+the frothy summits of the waves, but the very old woman who had uttered
+such dreadful curses at us as we were quitting Liverpool--Dame Kirby!
+There she sat in the stern sheets of the boat, steering by an oar with
+one hand, while the left bony arm was stretched out pointing derisively
+at us, and her countenance, as full of malignant revenge as is possible
+for any being possessing human features, was turned full upon us.  A
+large sail was hoisted on the single mast, enough, one would have
+supposed, to lift the light skiff right out of the water; but she sat as
+composedly as if she were floating on a lake on a summer's evening; her
+boat did not seem to ship a drop of water, nor ever to sink into the
+trough of the sea, but it somehow or other went along on the summit of
+every wave.
+
+"Every one on board saw the old woman, and knew her to be Dame Kirby.
+So did poor Mrs Derick; and after gazing at her wildly for some time,
+she could bear the dreadful sight no longer, and fell back in a swoon.
+Her husband ran to raise her, and as he supported her in his arms, he
+shouted out to the old woman to begone, and to be content with the
+mischief she had already caused.  Indeed, there was not a soul on board
+who did not believe that she had done all the damage we had suffered.
+The hag only laughed and jeered at him the more he stormed, and so madly
+enraged did he become at her mockery, that I do believe had he not been
+holding his wife in his arms, he would in his passion have flung himself
+overboard to get hold of her.
+
+"It must not be supposed that the officers and crew were idle all this
+time, for as soon as the foremast went we set to work to get up a jury
+mast on the stump of the foremast, to prevent the ship from broaching
+to; this, three men at the wheel had meantime the greatest difficulty in
+preventing her doing.  At length, after much labour, we got up a spare
+topgallant mast, and set a topgallant sail on it, and all present danger
+was over.  No sooner had we done this, than the witch uttered a loud
+`Ha, ha, ha,' which sounded like what one might suppose to be the croak
+of a frog in a merry mood, only a hundred times louder and shriller than
+any frog ever croaked; and about she put her skiff, and away she went
+right in the wind's eye, accompanied by a storm of lightning and rain,
+at the rate of not less than twenty knots an hour.  When she had
+disappeared, the poor lady began to come to herself again, and her
+husband tried to persuade her that what she had seen was all fancy, and
+laughed heartily at the idea of an old woman in a red cloak coming out
+into the middle of the Atlantic in a skiff, which could not live a
+moment in such a sea as there was running.
+
+"But she knew well enough all the time what she had seen, and nothing he
+could say to the contrary could persuade her that some dreadful disaster
+would not happen to them.  I will do him the justice to say that, with
+all his faults, he was as brave a fellow as ever stepped, or he would
+not have borne up as he did.  Any one to look at him, or to hear him,
+would suppose that he had no more seen the old woman than if she had
+never existed, while all the time it was on his account especially that
+she thus haunted us.
+
+"Where we should have got to, I don't know, at the rate we were driving,
+but the next day the wind shifted right round again to the north-east,
+and sent us back as fast as we came till we were off the city of Rio de
+Janeiro, in the Brazils.
+
+"We managed to steer into that magnificent harbour, and as we were in
+evident distress we were allowed to remain and refit; but the Portuguese
+in those days were not a bit wiser than their Spanish neighbours, and
+would allow no foreign trader to come into their ports.
+
+"The harbour of Rio is a magnificent expanse of water, and the country
+would be the finest in the world in the hands of any of the northern
+nations of Europe; but the Portuguese did not know how to take advantage
+of the blessings given them by Heaven, either at home or in the
+colonies, and except in the neighbourhood of Rio itself, the greater
+portion of the Brazils was uncultivated.  It is, however, a very
+pleasant place to visit, and our captain, leaving the ship in charge of
+the first mate, took his wife on shore, where, among the delightful
+orange groves and gardens, she soon recovered from the shock her spirits
+had received from the events I have described.
+
+"We remained here for several weeks refitting the ship, for the
+Portuguese carpenters and riggers, though they did their work well, got
+through it very slowly, and though our owners suffered by the delay, we
+had no reason to complain.  At last the ship was all ataunto and ready
+for sea.  As Captain Derick with his pretty wife on his arm came down on
+the quay before going on board, he stopped to admire the appearance of
+the _Chameleon_.  He pointed out her beauties with satisfaction as she
+lay in all her pride a short distance from the shore, looking as if
+nothing had ever hurt her.
+
+"`There she is, my love, as stout and brave a ship as ever sailed the
+salt ocean,' he exclaimed.  `We may bid defiance to the old woman, if
+she ever thinks fit to come near us again.  Not that I believe one was
+really seen--it was fancy, my love, fancy, the work of the imagination,
+that often plays strange freaks.  I was wrong to allude to the subject.'
+He spoke hurriedly, and afterwards broke into a laugh, for fear his
+wife should suspect he and the rest of us really had seen the witch.
+They came on board, the anchor was run up cheerily to the bows, the
+sails were loosened, and with a fine northerly breeze we stood out of
+the harbour, and kept away once more on our course.  We had beautiful
+weather for some days, and as our spirits rose in the pure fresh air, we
+forgot all our former fears, and fully believed that we were going to
+have a prosperous cruise.
+
+"An event, however, soon occurred, to make us think differently.  We
+were within sight of land, with the sky overhead bright and blue, and
+the sea calm as a millpond, when on a sudden a tremendous squall struck
+the ship, carrying away our topgallant masts, sails, and yards, and
+throwing her on her beam ends.  The topsails were clewed up, and the men
+were sent on the yards to furl them.  I was at the weather earing, on
+the main-topsail-yard, when just as she was righting, a second squall
+struck and hove her down again so suddenly that three of our best hands
+were shaken from their hold and hurled into the hissing waters under our
+lee.  Their loud shrieks reached our ears, but when we looked for them
+they were nowhere to be seen.  At that moment, I, as well as every man
+on board, beheld as clearly as I do you, right to windward of us, the
+old witch, in her skiff, skimming over the frothy waters, and pointing
+jeeringly at us with her bony hand.
+
+"There was not much sea on, and as soon as we could we hove the ship to,
+and Captain Derick ordered a boat to be lowered to look for the men.
+Now I believe our crew were as brave men as any fellows of their class,
+but when they prepared to lower the boat, instead of flying as usual on
+such occasions, to try and be the first in her, they all hung back, and
+not one of them would go.  They did not like the look of the old woman,
+even when they were comparatively safe on the deck of the vessel, but
+the idea of finding her close to them in the boat, perhaps of feeling
+the touch of her staff or the gripe of her bony fingers, was too
+dreadful to be thought of.
+
+"`What, you cowards, are you afraid of?' shouted the captain, in a
+furious rage.  `Your shipmates will be drowned while you're skulking
+there--lower away the boat, or I'll shoot some of you.'
+
+"These words had the desired effect.  Three hands sprang into the boat
+to be lowered in her, the third mate and another were following, when
+through the fright and carelessness of some of the people, one of the
+falls was let run too soon, the boat was swamped alongside, and the
+three hands were washed out of her before they could get hold of
+anything to save themselves.  A loud cackling peal of laughter was heard
+as this second catastrophe occurred, and the witch was seen whirling her
+staff round on the other side of the ship.
+
+"I thought most of the crew would have jumped overboard in their fright
+as they saw what she was about.  The captain all the time was as cool as
+if nothing out of the way had happened, though his wife, who was
+unfortunately on deck at the time, and saw it all, had fallen down again
+in a swoon from terror.  He scarcely heeded her; he was intent on
+something else.
+
+"`Lower the starboard quarter-boat,' he sang out.  `I shall go in her;
+who'll follow me?'
+
+"I and three hands declared our readiness, and this time more caution
+being used, the boat was got safely into the water with us in her.
+
+"`Take care of my wife, Mr Tanner,' cried the captain to the first
+mate, as he sprang over the side; `see if you can bring her to.'
+
+"We got clear of the ship, and with very misdoubting hearts pulled away
+in the direction where we hoped to find any of our shipmates who might
+still have kept themselves afloat.  By this time there was a good deal
+of sea running, stirred up by the violence of the squall, though not so
+much as there would have been had we not been under the lee of the land.
+As the boat rose to the top of a wave we fancied that we could see one
+of the poor fellows who had been cast off the yard struggling in the
+distance, but when we got up to the spot he had disappeared.  A cry from
+a drowning man was heard in another direction, and away we pulled
+towards it, but before we could clutch the poor fellow he had sunk
+beneath the waves.
+
+"A third man was seen at a distance still striking out boldly--now he
+rose to the top of a wave, now he sank into the trough of the sea.  We
+made sure that we at least should save him.  Every nerve was strained as
+we bent to our oars to reach the swimmer.  He saw us coming--he felt
+certain of being saved; but a power greater than his or ours was his
+enemy, and when we were within twenty yards of him we saw him throw up
+his arms in despair, his eyeballs started from his head, and with a
+shriek of agony he sank beneath the foaming waves.  He was the last--the
+others had disappeared, and no trace of them was to be seen.
+
+"Our search had been fruitless.  Intent upon our object, we had not
+observed where we were going.  Now, as we looked up to search around for
+our other shipmates, we saw directly before us the ill-looking witch in
+her skiff, turning her countenance, with a malignant scowl, over her
+shoulder to look at us.  The hideous sight seemed to drive the captain
+mad.
+
+"`Give way my men, give way,' he shouted, in a voice trembling with
+earnestness; `give way; we'll overtake the cursed hag, and I'll punish
+her for haunting us in this way.'
+
+"With a strange species of infatuation we bent to our oars as ordered,
+in the hopes of catching her.  We might as well have attempted to
+overtake the whirlwind.  The more we strained at our oars, the louder
+and more insulting became her cackling shrieks of derisive laughter.
+
+"`You hell-born hag, stay and speak, and tell me whence you come and
+where you are going!' shouted Derick, but the witch did nothing but grin
+more maliciously, and jeer and laugh the louder.  Still we continued the
+pursuit, but we never got an inch nearer to her, though she was going
+away with her sail set, right in the wind's eye.  The harder we pulled
+the faster she went, and at last disappeared in a squall of thick rain,
+which drove down upon us.  This was fortunate for us, for so mad had the
+captain become, that I believe he would have followed her till we all
+dropped down from fatigue, and he was not the man, in his present mood,
+the boldest of us dared disobey.  We now looked round for the ship.  She
+was nowhere to be seen.
+
+"I cannot describe to you the feelings which took possession of our
+hearts.  It was the blankest despair: Derick alone seemed indifferent to
+our fate, and only felt enraged at not having been able to overtake the
+witch.  I believe we were capable of jumping overboard, or of rushing at
+each other with our knives and fighting till we had stabbed each other
+to death, when, as I was standing upon the thwarts to look around, I saw
+the ship dead to leeward.  I pointed her out to the captain and men.
+
+"`We'll return on board then,' he answered, coolly, as if nothing had
+happened.  `And mind, let none of you talk about our chase after that
+accursed old hag--we shall have the people fancying next, I suppose,
+that the ship is doomed.'
+
+"`Ay, ay, sir,' we answered; but though I said nothing about it, I
+believe the men did not hold their tongues a moment after, they got down
+into the fore-peak.  As the sea went down after this we had little
+difficulty in getting on board again.  When we did so, we found that for
+some time they had given us up as lost.
+
+"Fortunately, poor Mrs Derick did not return to consciousness till just
+as her husband got on board, so that she was spared the misery of
+believing him lost.  He had her taken below, and sat up watching her
+most tenderly till she recovered.  In two days she was better, and on
+deck again, but I observed a great change in her.  She looked pale and
+anxious, and all her life and spirits were gone.  I fear she began to
+suspect that there was good reason for the old witch to haunt us.  The
+loss of six of our best hands was very serious, especially as we had no
+prospect of supplying their places in any port at which we were likely
+to touch.  On, however, we must go, and make the best of it.  The wind
+now came ahead, and we were obliged to make tack and tack, scarcely ever
+getting a fair slant till we reached the latitude of Cape Horn.
+
+"One would have supposed that we had had enough of storms and accidents
+for one voyage, but we had soon to learn that we had something more to
+go through.  Mrs Derick had by this time become something like herself
+again, and as for the captain, though he felt more than any one, he
+never changed.  He sang and joked as much as ever, and even sneered at
+the old woman and her jolly-boat, as he called it.  I cannot describe
+what happened every day of the voyage, so I must merely mention the most
+remarkable events.  It was in the afternoon watch, when, as I was
+sweeping the horizon with my glass, I observed an unusual dark
+appearance on the water.  Some said that it was a sand-bank, others an
+island, some a shoal fish, but I saw that it was a heavy squall driving
+furiously over the hitherto smooth unruffled sea.  I was not mistaken.
+I called Captain Derick on deck, and the hands were sent aloft to lower
+topgallant yards and to furl every sail, except the fore-topsail, which
+was closely reefed.  The men sprang to their duty, for they saw that not
+a moment was to be lost.  The ship was put before the wind just in time.
+Down came the squall upon us, roaring, and tearing, and hissing along
+the ocean.  Away we flew before it like a sea-bird on the wing.  Our
+only danger was lest we should not be far enough to the south to clear
+the land of the Patagonians--the renowned Cape Horn.
+
+"Every moment the fury of the gale increased, the waves rose higher, and
+the wind roared louder.  Everything on deck was secured, and preventer
+braces were put on the fore and fore-topsail yards to assist in securing
+them.  As night approached the terrific contest increased.  The sea,
+which ran on either beam in high mountainous surges, broke with an awful
+roar; the stern of the ship now lifted on the summit of a wave, and the
+next instant her bow was plunging madly into the dark trough which
+yearned apparently to engulf her.  The thunder rattled loudly through
+the heavy sky, the vivid lightning played threateningly round the masts,
+and the wind howled and whistled through the rigging.  Those who had
+never before felt fear in a storm, now trembled with alarm.  On we drove
+with impetuous violence, the hands at the wheel scarcely able to keep
+the ship before the boiling seas, which, as they curled up astern,
+seemed ready to rush down on our decks and overwhelm us.
+
+"It was in the middle watch, and the captain had just joined me on deck,
+when one of the look-outs shouted, `Land on the starboard bow.'  The
+startling cry was echoed through the ship, and every man sprang on deck.
+We were clearly in dangerous proximity to the coast, and with the
+foreboding of mischief on the minds of all, many thought that our time
+had arrived.  All eyes were directed anxiously towards the coast, which
+every instant was growing more distinct.  The wheel was kept a few
+spokes more to starboard, but we could not venture to haul the ship more
+up lest she should broach to, and as no land appeared ahead, we hoped to
+be able, if it were Cape Horn we saw, to scrape round it; at all events
+a short time would decide our fate.
+
+"The captain went into the cabin with me to consult the chart, and we
+had every reason to hope that the land we saw was the southernmost part
+of Cape Horn.  When we returned on deck we had drawn awfully near the
+coast, but it was broad on our starboard beam.
+
+"`We shall be round the Cape in another half hour,' exclaimed the
+captain in a cheerful tone, `and then, my lads, we shall be clear of the
+accursed witch and her devilish tricks.'
+
+"I do not know what madness induced him to remind the people of the old
+hag; it showed what his own mind was running on, notwithstanding all his
+pretended indifference and disbelief.  At all events he had better have
+let the subject alone; for at that instant, as if to refute his
+assertion, a roll of thunder, louder than was ever heard before, sounded
+in our ears, and in a blaze of forked lightning which flashed
+continually from the skies, the old woman herself was seen, increased
+into gigantic proportions, standing on a lofty rock at the very
+southernmost point of the Cape, exactly as she had appeared on the pier
+at Liverpool, and waving round in the air her long twisted staff, about
+which the most vivid flashes played in fiery circles.  Her face full of
+malignant fury, lighted up as now, was of a livid hue, her garments and
+her grey looks streamed in the wind, and as she pointed towards the
+western ocean she seemed by her gestures to threaten us with further
+mishaps.  Her lips moved and gibbered, but if she spoke, not a sound
+reached us.
+
+"We had two of the guns mounted, and on beholding the terrific figure,
+Derick ordered one of them to be loaded and run out.
+
+"`I'll see what impression a cannon ball can make on her,' he exclaimed,
+in a voice of mingled excitement, rage, and horror.  `Bring a lighted
+match here, one of you.'
+
+"While the match was being brought, he stood eyeing the witch with a
+look of defiance.  He seized the light eagerly from the hand of a
+seaman, and though, as you may suppose, in the tremendous way the ship
+was rolling and pitching, it was impossible to take an aim, he fired.
+The gun went off with an explosion louder than I ever heard before, and
+a flash far more vivid.  The noise was answered by a shriek of mocking
+laughter, and the flash only served to show still more clearly the
+hideous figure of the witch, jeering at us and threatening us with her
+staff.
+
+"Onward we rushed, and while the lightning lasted there she was seen as
+clearly, I tell you, as we had seen her at home.  When the lightning
+ceased, the darkness of the night shut her out from our sight, but some
+even then affirmed that they saw the dim outline of her form against the
+northern sky.
+
+"Not a man on board turned in again that night, you may be sure, but all
+the watch who should have been below shrunk together in knots uttering
+their forebodings to each other, and earnestly wishing for the return of
+day.  The longest night must have an end, and so had this, and, as the
+morning broke, the wind settled down into a moderate gale, which sent as
+forward on our course at the rate of twelve knots an hour.
+
+"The land was no longer in sight, the glorious sun came out bright and
+warm, and cheered our hearts, and we almost forgot the terrors of the
+night.  I said that Mrs Derick had not witnessed the sight we had, but
+from her husband's manner, when he went below, she discovered that there
+was something wrong, and she would not rest till he had told her.  He,
+as usual, tried to laugh it off, and to declare that there was nothing
+in it, but I saw that she was not satisfied, and that the circumstance
+was preying sadly on her mind.
+
+"In two days, by an observation made, we found that we were well to the
+westward of the south coast of America, and the wind veering round to
+the south, we kept away on a northerly course.  Every day, as we got
+into more temperate latitudes, the weather became finer and warmer, and
+the spirits of the seamen rose proportionably, though they were not the
+men they would have been in the natural course of things.  They had
+plenty of work to do, which kept their minds employed, in preparing for
+our visit to the Spanish coast; we got up the remainder of the guns from
+the hold and shipped them on their carriages, we sent up topgallant
+masts and yards, got out the flying jib-boom, and repaired the damages
+we had received in the gale.  The carpenters also set to work to build a
+boat to supply the place of the one we had lost; while the captain and
+supercargo made arrangements for their transactions on the coast.
+
+"I am not giving you extracts from my log, so that I need only tell you
+that about a month was consumed in successful trading with the
+Spaniards, in spite of the men-of-war on the look out for us at sea, and
+the custom-house officers and soldiers sent to intercept us in shore.
+We touched, I remember, at Conception, Coquimbo, Huasco, Point Negra,
+and other places on the coast of Chili.
+
+"At last the vigilance of the Spanish authorities being completely
+aroused, it was thought better to keep away from the shore for a short
+time, to throw them off their guard.  Captain Derick accordingly
+determined to visit a group of islands some distance to the westward, to
+lay in a stock of turtle, with which those islands abound.  I think they
+were the Gallipagos, but as we never reached them, I am not certain.
+The Pacific is very properly so called, but when the wind does take it
+into its head to blow, then it makes up for its general idleness.  The
+weather had long continued calm and beautiful, and everything went well
+on board.  Captain Derick once more laughed and joked, and his wife
+looked happy and contented.  Not satisfied, however, to let things
+alone, he must bring up the subject of the old witch again, and declared
+that the whole story, from first to last, was trumped up by the crew,
+and that neither he nor any one else on board had ever set eyes on her
+since the day we left Liverpool.  How he could venture on such
+assertions I don't know, but he wanted to persuade others of what he
+wished to believe himself.
+
+"The evening was beautifully calm and serene: it put me in mind of the
+one we had before the night on which we had lost our masts off the coast
+of Brazil, only this was calmer and warmer.  Not a breath of air was
+felt, the sails hung listlessly down against the masts, the sea was
+smooth as a polished mirror, and the sky of the purest blue; the
+atmosphere, notwithstanding the warmth, was pleasant, and every one on
+board was in good spirits.  As the night drew on, however, the air
+became more stagnant, the heat increased, and as there was not even a
+swell moving the bosom of the Pacific, the dead silence which prevailed
+became absolutely oppressive.
+
+"The captain and his wife were sitting aft and leaning against the
+taffrail with their hands clasped in each other's, for they were as fond
+now as when they were bride and bridegroom; the work of the day was
+over, and the crew were lying listlessly about the decks, not even
+amusing themselves with talking as usual.  I do not believe a person on
+board had uttered a word for a quarter of an hour.  I never felt so
+complete a silence; when on a sudden it was broken by a loud, piercing,
+derisive cackle, sounding close under our quarter.  Every one knew the
+voice, and as we sprang up and looked over the bulwarks, we saw, as we
+expected, the old witch, gliding along the smooth sea, and taking a
+course directly ahead of us, while she howled and jeered, and pointed
+with her staff just as she had done before.
+
+"The captain saw her too.  `Damn her!' he exclaimed, fiercely; `what
+does she want here?'
+
+"The words were scarcely out of his mouth, when an answer was given back
+which fully accounted for her presence.  Right astern there appeared,
+where a moment before the sky had been of beautiful blue, a cloud black
+as ink, spreading across the whole eastern horizon.  We all saw what was
+coming--the men instinctively sprang to the brails.
+
+"`Clew up, haul down, let fly everything!' shouted the captain.
+
+"It was too late: before a tack could be let go, or a brail hauled on,
+the fierce hurricane struck us.  In a moment, ere we could look round,
+the stout ship heeled over, and trembled in every timber.  Crash upon
+crash was heard, mingled with the shrieks of the seamen, and she was
+left without a mast standing, a mere hull upon the water.  Derick was
+the most undaunted, though he must have felt on whose account all these
+disasters were happening.  He sprang up with an axe in his hand, and
+summoning the crew, set to work to cut away the shrouds to clear the
+shattered spars from the ship.  It was done, and the ship drove
+furiously on before the howling blast.
+
+"`We shall ride it out and disappoint the accursed old hag; so never
+mind, my boys!' he shouted, as he worked away.
+
+"`Land right ahead,' sang out a man forward.
+
+"`Land on the starboard bow,' cried another.
+
+"`Land on the larboard bow,' exclaimed a third.
+
+"`Then we are lost!' shrieked out many voices, in an agony of despair.
+
+"Onward we drove before the hurricane.  `Breakers on the starboard and
+larboard bows,' cried the first mate, who had rushed forward to look out
+for any passage among the reefs through which to steer the ship, while
+I, with the third mate and another hand, went to the helm.
+
+"The darkness of the night came down, and added to the horrors of the
+scene.  `Breakers right ahead!' he shouted; `all's lost!'  He had
+scarcely uttered the words when the ship struck with tremendous violence
+on some rocks; the sea lifted her, but it was to let her fall with still
+greater force, amid a foaming caldron of waters.  The surges fiercely
+broke over us, and washed man after man from his hold.  Shrieks and
+cries rose on every side from the manly bosoms which had never before
+felt fear.
+
+"The captain stood firm, clasping his wife in his arms, for she had from
+the first refused to go below.  His countenance, as the lightning
+flashed brightly round him, looked deadly pale; she had fainted, and was
+happily senseless.  A third time the ship lifted, and down she came with
+a tremendous crash, every timber in her parting at the instant.  Two
+things I saw at that awful moment: the despairing countenance of the
+captain as the foaming waves whirled him and her he loved away in their
+wild embrace, his starting eyeballs to the last fixed on the malignant
+features of the fearful witch, whom I beheld sailing round us in her
+skiff, unharmed, among the breakers, her loud shrieks of triumphant
+laughter sounding high above the roaring of the tempest.
+
+"Notwithstanding the horrors of the scene, the principle of
+self-preservation prompted me to seize a plank, and supported by it, I
+found myself, I scarcely know how, carried by the waves on to a sandy
+beach.  A rock was near.  I climbed to its summit, and from thence I
+beheld, amid successive flashes of lightning, the old witch whirling her
+staff in triumph over her head, while her skiff scudded at lightning
+speed in the direction of Cape Horn.  I was on an uninhabited island.  I
+searched anxiously on every side to see if any of my shipmates had
+escaped, but alas! none appeared, and I discovered with sorrow that I
+was the sole survivor of the _Chameleon's_ gallant crew.
+
+"After living some months on the island, I was taken off, and in two
+years found my way back to Liverpool.  I had the curiosity to make
+inquiries for old Dame Kirby, and learned that she had been for months
+absent from home, and that nobody knew what had become of her, but that
+at length she returned, and was heard to boast that she had been doing a
+deed much to her satisfaction, but would tell no one what it was.  I
+inquired the date of her return; it was exactly five days after our
+shipwreck, so that although she must have made a quick passage, there
+could be no longer any doubt on the mind of a reasonable man that she
+had been the cause of all the disasters which had happened to us, and of
+the destruction of the Doomed Ship."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Foxholme Hall, by W.H.G. Kingston
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40692 ***