IVANHOE.

277

He’s expected at noon, and no wight till lie comesMay profane the great chair, or the porridge of plums;

For the best of the cheer, and the seat by the fire>

Is the undenied right of the Barefooted Friar.

6 .

He’s expected at night, and the pasty’s made hot,

They broach the brown ale, and they fill the black pot,

And the goodwife would wish the goodnian in the mire,

Ere he lack’d a soft pillow, the Barefooted Friar.

7 .

Long flourish the sandal, the cord, and the cope,

The dread of the devil and trust of the Pope ;

For to gather life’s roses, unscathed by the briar,

Is granted alone to the Barefooted Friar.

“ By my troth/’ said the knight, “ thou hast sungwell and lustily, and in high praise of thine order.And, talking of the devil, Holy Clerk, are you notafraid he may. pay you a visit during some of youruncanonical pastimes V 9

“ I uncanonical !” answered the hermit; “ Iscorn the charge — I scorn it with my heels ! — Iserve the duty of my chapel duly and truly — Twomasses daily, morning and evening, primes, noons,and vespers, axes , credos , paters -”

“Excepting moonlight nights, when the venisonis in season,” said his guest.

“ Exceptis excipiendis” replied the hermit, “ asour old abbot taught me to say, when impertinentlaymen should ask me if I kept every punctilio ofmine order.”

“ True, holy father,” said the knight; “ but thedevil is apt to keep ail eye on such exceptions; hegoes about, thou knowest, like a roaring lion.”

“ Let him roar here if he dares,” said the friar ;“ a touch of my cord will make him roar as loudas the tongs of St Dunstan himself did. I neverfeared man, and I as little fear the devil and hisimps. Saint Dunstan , Saint Dubric, Saint Wini-bald, Saint Winifred , Saint Swibert, Saint Williek,not forgetting Saint Thomas a Kent, and my ownpoor merits to speed, I defy every devil of them,come cut and long tail. — But to let you into asecret, X never speak upon such subjects, myfriend, until after morning vespers.”

He changed the conversation; fast and furiousgrew the mirth of the parties, and many a songwas exchanged betwixt them, when their revelswere interrupted by a loud knocking at the doorof the hermitage.

The occasion of this interruption we can onlyexplain by resuming the adventures of another setof our characters ; for, like old Ariosto , we do notpique ourselves upon continuing uniformly to keepcompany with any one personage of our drama.

CHAPTER XIX.

Away ! our journey lies through dell and dingle,

Where the blithe fawn trips by its timid mother,

Where the broad oak, with Intercepting boughs,Chequers the sunbeam in the greensward alley —

Up and away ! — for lovely paths are theseTo tread, when the glad sun is on his throne ;

Less pleasant, and less safe, when Cynthia’s lampWith doubtful glimmer lights the dreary forest.

JSttrick Forest.

When Cedric the Saxon saw his son drop downsenseless in the lists at Ashby, his first impulse wasto order him into the custody and care of his own

attendants, but the words choked in his throat.He could not bring himself to acknowledge, inpresence of such an assembly, the son whom lie hadrenounced and disinherited. He ordered, However,Oswald to keep an eye upon him; and directed thatofficer, with two of his serfs, to convey Ivanhoe toAshby as soon as the crowd had dispersed. Oswald,however, was anticipated in this good office. Thecrowd dispersed, indeed, but the knight was nowhereto be seen.

It was in vain that Cedric’s cupbearer lookedaround for his young master—he saw the bloodyspot on which he had lately sunk down, but himselfhe saw no longer; it seemed as if the fairies hadconveyed him from the spot. Perhaps Oswald (forthe Saxons were very superstitious) might haveadopted some such hypothesis, to account forIvanhoe’s disappearance, had he not suddenly casthis eye upon a person attired like a squire, in whomho recognized the features of his fellow-servantGurth. Anxious concerning his master’s fate, andin despair at his sudden disappearance, the trans-lated swineherd was searching for him every where,and had neglected,*n doing so, the concealment onwhich his own safety depended. O-swald deemed ithis duty to secure Gurth, as a fugitive of whosefate his master was to judge.

Renewing his inquiries concerning the fate ofIvanhoe, the only information which the cupbearercould collect from the bystanders was, that thekniglit had been raised with care by certain well-attired grooms, and placed in a litter belonging toa lady among the spectators, which had immediatelytransported him out of the press. Oswald, onreceiving this intelligence, resolved to return to hismaster for farther instructions, carrying along withhim Gurth, whom he considered in some sort asa deserter from the service of Cedric,

The Saxon had been under very intense andagonizing apprehensions concerning his son; forNature had asserted her rights, in spite of thepatriotic stoicism which laboured to disown her.But no sooner was he informed that Ivanhoe was incareful, and probably in friendly hands, than thepaternal anxiety which had been excited by thedubiety of his fate, gave way anew' to the feeling ofinjured pride and resentment, at what he termedWilfred’s filial disobedience. “ Let him wander hisway,” said he—“let those leech his wounds forwhose sake he encountered them. He is fitter to dothe juggling tricks of the Norman chivalry thanto maintain the fame and honour of his Englishancestry with the glaive and brown-bill, the goodold weapons of his country.”

“ If, to maintain the honour of ancestry,” saidRowena, who was present, “ it is sufficient to bewise in council and brave in execution—to beboldest among the bold, and gentlest among thegentle, I know no voice, save his father’s-”

“ Be silent, Lady Rowena !—on this subject onlyI hear you not. Prepare yourself for the Prince’sfestival : we.have been summoned thither withunwonted circumstance of honour and of courtesy,such as the haughty Normans have rarely used toour race since the fatal day of Hastings. Thitherwill I go, w'ere it only to shew these proud Nor­ mans how little the fate of a son, who could defeattheir bravest, can affect a Saxon .”

“ Thither,” said Rowena, “ do I not go; and Ipray you to beware, lest what you mean for