the prior sat down and at great leisure indited an epistle to brian de bois guilbert, and having carefully

th sealed up the tablets, delivered them to the jew, saying, this will be thy safe conduct to the preceptory of of the party, and having carefully locked the door, depostied the key under the threshold. art thou in condition to do good service friar, said locksley, or does the brown bowl still run in thy head not more than a drought of st dunstans fountain will allay, answered the priest; something there is of a whizzing in my brain, and of instability in my legs, but you shall presently see both pass away. so saying, he stepped to the stone basin, in which the waters of the fountain as they fell formed bubbles which danced in the white moonlight, and took so long a drought as if he had meant to exhaust the spring. when didst thou drink as deep a drought of water before, holy clerk of copmanhurst. said the black knight. never since my wine but leaked, and let out its liquor by an illegal vent, replied the friar, and so left me nothin to drink but my patrons bounty here. then plunging his hands and head into the fountain, he washed from them all marks of the midnight revel revel. thus refreshed and sobered, the jolly priest twirled hi heavy partisan round his head with three fingers, as if he had been balancing a reed, exclaiming at the same time, where be those false ravishers, who carry off wenches against their will. may the foul fiend fly off with me, if i am not man enough for a dozen of them. swearest thou, holy clerk. said the black knight. clerk me no clerks, replied the transformed priest; by sait george and the dragon, i am no longer a shaveling than while my frock is on my back when i am cased in my green cassock i will drink swear, and woo a lass, with any blithe forester in the west riding. come on, jack priest, said locksley, and be silent; thou art as noisy as a whole convent on a holy eve, when the father abbot has gone to bed. come on you, too, my masters, tarry not to talk of it i say, come on, we must collect all our forces, and few enough we shall have, if we are to storm the castle of reginald front de bcoesuf, what is it front de bcoesuf, said the black knight, who has stopt on the kings highway the kings liege subjects. is he turned thief and oppressor. oppressor he ever was, said locksley. and for theif, said the priest, i doubt if ever he were even half so honest a man as many a thief of my acquintance. move on, priest, and be silent, said the

yeoman; it were better you led the way to the place of rendezvous, than say what should be left unsaid, both in decency and prudence. chapter xxi. alas, how many hours and years have past, since human forms have round this table sate, or lamp, or taper, on its surface gleamd methinks, i hear the sound of time long passd still murmuring o er us, in the lofty void of these dark arches, like the ling ring voices of those who long within their graves have slept. orra, a tragedy. while these measures were taking in behalf of cedric and his companions, the armed men by whom the latte had been seized, hurried their captives along towards the place of security, where they intended to imprison them. but darkness came on fast, and the paths of the wood seemed but imperfectly known to the marauders. they were compelled to make several long halts, and once or twice to return on their road to resume the direction which they wished to pursue. the summer morn had dawned upon them ere they could travel in full assurance that they held the right path. but confidence returned with light, and the cavalcade now moved rapidly forward. meanwhile, the following dialogue took place between the two leaders of the banditti. it is time thou shouldst leave us, sir maurice, said the templar to de bracy, in order to prepare the second part of thy mystery. thou art next thou knowest, to act the knight deliverer. i have thought better of it said de bracy; i will not leave thee till the prize is fairly deposited in front de bcoesufs castle. there will i appear before the lady rowena in mine own shape, and trust that she will set down to the vehemence of my passion the violence of which i have been guilty. and what has made thee change thy plan, de bracy. replied the knight templar. that concerns thee nothing, answered his companion. i would hope however, sir knight, said the templar, that this alteratio of measures arises from no suspicion of my honourable meaning, such as fitzurse endeavoured to instil into thee. my thoghts are my own, answered de bracy; the fiend laughs, they say, when one thief robs another; and we know, that were he to spit fire and brimstone instead, it would never prevent a templar from following his bent. or the leader of a free company, answered the templar, from dreading at the hands of a comrade and friend, the injustice he does to all mankind. this is unprofitable and perilous recrimination, answered de bracy; suffice it ti say, i know the morals of the temple

order, and i will not gie thee the power of chating me out of the fair prey for which i have run such risks. psha, replied the templar, what hast thou to fear. thou knowest the vows of our order. right well, said de bracy, and also how they are kept. come, sir templar, the laws of gallantry have a liberal interpretation in palestine,