Rookwood

therefore, fu

y dismal p

fit for

bs

inscriptions, recording the titles and heraldic honors of the departed. There were no doors to the niches; and within might be seen piles of coffins, packed one upon another, till the floor groaned with the weight of lead. Against one of the pillars, upon a hook, hung a rack of tattered, time-out-of-mind hatchments; and in the centre of the tomb might be seen the effigies of Sir Ranulph de Rokewode, the builder of the mausoleum, and the founder of the race who slept within its walls. This statue, wrought in black marble, differed from most monumental carved-work, in that its posture was erect and l

fort of the creature had not been altogether overlooked. At the feet of one of the personages were laid a mattock, a horn lantern-from which the candle had been removed-, a crowbar, and a bunch of keys. Near to these implements of a vocation which the reader will readily surmise, rested a strange superannuated terrier with a wiry back and frosted muzzle; a head minus an ear, and a leg wanting a paw. His master, for such we shall suppose him, was an

e determined his rank as sufficiently humble in the scale of society, had not a certain loftiness of manner, and bold, though reckless deportment, argued pretensions on the part of the wearer to a more elevated station in life, and contradicted, in a great measure, the impression produced by the homely appearance of his habiliments. A cap of shaggy brown fur, fancifully, but not ungracefully fashioned, covered his head, from beneath which, dropping, in natural clusters over his neck and shoulders, a cloud of raven hair escaped. Subsequently, when his face was more fully revealed, it proved to be that of a young man, of dark aspect, and grave, melancholy expression of countenance, approaching

s a skeleton. His bald head reminded one of a bleached skull, allowing for the overhanging and hoary brows. Deep-seated, and sunken within their sockets, his gray orbs gleamed with intolerable lustre. Few could endure his gaze; and, aware of his power, Peter seldom failed to exercise it. He had likewise another habit, which, as it savored of in

at length condescended to speak. His voi

he, pouring out a modi

nion shoo

m: "and you, who are not so much accustomed as I am to the damps of a vault, m

But the flash of his eye r

your firmness. But if you won't drink, I will. Here's to the rest eternal of Sir Piers Rookwood!

e proffered potion, "who showed no fatherly love for me? He disowned me i

as Susan Bradley, your mother, was

gether-to exult in your daughter's disgrace and your own dishonor. Shame! shame! Speak not of them in the same breath, if you woul

oth, good grandson," rejoined Peter, with

that has gone abroad respecting my mother's fate; and unless report has belied you foully, had substantial reasons for keeping sealed lips

ght-time. The exact hour I k

at ail

His end was sudden, yet n

ing?" inqu

early a quarter of a mile in length, and as noble a row of timber as any in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Well, there is one tree-the last on the left hand before you come to the clock-house-larger than all the rest-a huge piece of timber, with broad spreading branches, and of I know not what girth in the trunk. That tree is, in some m

D OF THE

arched above with li

ads unto the Rookwo

s towering crest one

like mighty wings,

would scarce embrace-

and foliage dark,

o ravens house, and b

their black brood watch-

hen playfully the

, and there is heard a

storm blast speaks its

ke human groans, the

alm prevail, or threa

edestinate, a limb

uched, I trow, by ax

an omen dread of fa

instinct must be with

h's note to knell at

t on its bough are

m human veins, commin

are maintain that o

fiends have laid thei

e raven calls thrice f

oth signify what sp

legend says, as gri

footsteps drag bene

e called amain, and str

orest green, so fie

Ranulph came each re

sight forlorn!-the h

s turned the clay, an

h ribald mirth, by Ra

soil was wet with t

Ranulph take, and pi

hat next befell!-that b

n its bed, strong suc

esh boughs appear-it

, this prodigy Sir

eath that tree, recli

pon the ground-the n

fatal power has rul

a warning sign o

found, I trow, benea

rice in the skies a Ro

emise?" said Luke, who had listened with

oaking as those carrion fowl are wont to do when they scent a carcass afar off. Just then a livelier sound saluted my ears. The cheering cry of a pack of hounds resounded from the courts, and the great gates being thrown open, out issued Sir Piers, attended by a troop of his roystering companions, all on horseback, and all making the welkin ring with their vociferations. Sir Piers laughed as loudly as the rest, but his mirth was speedily checked. No sooner had his horse-old Rook, his favorite steed, who never swerved at stake or pale before-set eyes upon the accursed branch, than he started as if the fiend stood before him, and, rearing backwards, flung his rider from the saddle. At this moment, with loud scre

rence, although it was evident, from his manner, that he himself was not so ent

e else. Thrice hath it occurred to my own knowledge, and ever with the same result: first, with S

such it be, was always confined to the immediate famil

of that house, be t

o my mother? Was she of th

he was not?" rej

uke, repeating the words with indig

ry sunbeam, played upon

not, or look to yourself. In a word, have you anythi

doggedly. "Go, if you will, and take the consequences. My lips are sea

with the gipsy gang at Davenham Wood, you bade me meet you in the

Rookwood who lies around us-and all that ever bore the name, except Sir Piers himself-who lies in state

wh

ned the sexton, in

choed Luke,

one foul blot on all. Blo

al

ommon crime. Even murder hath its de

!-you cannot

d it, then? Ha! ha! 'tis a trick they

ever bro

of the

speedily removed-that's certain. They had all, save poor Sir Piers, the knack of sto

stry to do with Sir Piers," muttere

wife-and she is a match for the devil himself-

of aught?" asked Luke, his

I but

the worst. Did he kill her?" And Luke glared at the

cold, bright eye returned Luke's gaze s

said all

all you

erance, else we might often endanger

se than idle. I will have an answer, y

h-she

ot enough. W

sleep-in

at was n

ile crossed th

the shoulder of the man of graves with such force as nearly to annihila

ed the sexton, shak

to avenge, that you brought me to the tomb of her de

tle apprehension that his intellects were unsettled by the shock of the intelligence. It was, there

it shrinks-who, with half-expressed insinuations, tortures my soul, awakening fancies that goad me on to dark and desperate deeds? Dead mother! upon thee I call. If in thy grave thou canst hear the cry of thy most wretched son, yearning to avenge thee-answer m

her might do so," returned the sex

He spoke not, but fell with a violent shock agains

one?" he excla

coffins, dislodged from its position by his fall, tumbled

s a dead body, clothed in all the hideous ap

xton, coldly; "I brought you hither to behold

knees by the body, and seizing one of its chilly ha

k the candle f

ble! Oh, God! she stirs-she moves. The ligh

which betrayed more emotion than was his wont. "'Tis

dark veil over the bosom and person of the dead, and presented a startling contrast to the waxlike hue of the skin and the pallid cereclothes. Flesh still adhered to the hand, though it mouldered into dust within the gripe of Luke, as he pressed the fingers to his lips. The shroud was disposed like night-gear about her person,

nd indefinable expression, half apathy, half abstraction. For one single instant, as he scrutinized the features of his daughter, his brow, contracted by anger, immediately afterwards was elevated in scorn. But otherwise you would have sought

y leaves to the flame of the candle, they were instantly ignited, and the momentary brilliance played like a smile upon the features of

he expiring ashes of the