The Herd Boy and His Hermit

pomp nor co

thoughts d

y in the

DSWO

enry seemed almost imbecile, and no doubt his attack of melancholy insanity, the saddest of his ancestral inheritances, had shattered his powers of decision and action; but he was one who 'saw far on holy ground,' and he was

nd to have his countless questions answered, or at any rate attended to. Add to this, he had a deep personal love and reverence for his saint, long before the knowing him as his p

kness was coming on, and Piers came and pulled him up, indicating by gestures and u

ng had got a hold of thee. Only Hob said he saw Master Simon with them. Have th

, with all her caresses, elicit nothing from him but that his hermit was gone. No, no,

ue knight, and that is better for a young baron to look to than a saint fitter for Heaven than for earth

brought him to rise and accept his bowl of pottage, though he

een riding his rough pony over the moor. Hal repaired to

er you fear, sir! B

y scathe?-I-I never knew-I only t

sed aught, she would be loyal as became your father's wife, and methinks she w

ir Lan

lurking in some of these moors, and the Countess Clifford being his wife, he fell under suspicion of harbouring him. Nay, there was some perilous talk in his own household, so that, as I understand the matter, h

d Hal. 'When I mind me I am sure my mother cut me short when I descri

trian at heart, though much bent on not offending her hu

times better!-he gav

you in hand to make you a traitor, and offered you your lands i

al, with a fierce gesture, clasping his staff. 'But

'In sooth, I myself do not know whither h

e they? They look

ing a watch on the King,' replied Simon. 'We had made up our minds that he had been long enough in one place, and that he must have taken shelter

ith him? I would have saved him,

as if you wanted to drive a puddock with a reed! Though you have be

e, my true King! Let me go to him when you know where, good Simo

a man to keep his

ould wai

and Sir Lancelot stirred to make a hue and cry all the more? No, no, sir, bide in peace in the safe homestead wh

knight, and do deeds of derri

old weather. When it was not possible to go far afield in the frosts and snows, he conned King Henry's portuary, trying to identify the written words with those he knew by heart, and sometimes trying to trace the shapes of the letters on the snow with a stick; visiting, too, the mountains and looking into the limpid grey waters of the lakes, striving hard to guess

had been betrayed by treachery, and seized by John Talbot at Waddington Hall in Lancashire. Deep were the curses that the outlaws uttered, and fierce were the threats against the Talbot if ever he should venture himself on the Cumbrian moors; and still hotter was their wrath, more bitter

d to the misery of Hal as he heard the tale; and he lay on the ground before his hut, grinding his teeth with rage and longing to take revenge on Warwick, E

slackness in acquiring or practisin