THE VISION OF THE THAMES. A LEGEND OF CREMORNE. By E. L. BLANCHARD. CHAPTER I.-THE WHITSUN FESTIVAL. WHEN the sun rose on the 10th of June, 1601, the first of his beams that fell upon a holiday group on the banks of the Thames must have yielded a reward for solar punctuality in an ample illustration of the pleasures of early rising. It was the dawn of the festival of Whit-Monday, and, busily occupied in the preparation of garlands for the coming festivity, a joyous party of laughing blue-eyed maidens were gathered round the Abbot's-green that abutted on the river near to the spot where the old bridge of Battersea is now situated. Flowers were scattered profusely around them, for they had begun with the earliest gleam of dawn to collect their materials; and as fresh floral contributions poured in from the new comers, there was a hearty welcome to their assistants, and a murmur of delight at the variegated colours of their offerings that mingled pleasantly with the rush of rivulet and trill of lark that made sweet music in the morning sunshine. Honeysuckle and wild roses were woven by taper fingers into many a leafy chaplet that was enriched besides with the rarer flowers of the parterre; and the air, heavy with the exhaled fragrance, became an atmosphere of perfume that was as potent an ancesthetic agent in the absorption of every symptom of care as the modern chloroform, and far preferable to breathe. And then, whilst the merry sounds of laughter rose at intervals from the cheerful throng, the sun rose higher into the cloudless sky, and apparently entering into the spirit of the scene, cast a bright reflection of himself into the sparkling river, and sent a sunny smile in every ripple that glanced along the sedgy margin, whilst his rays, gleaming among the flowers, lit up their glowing leaves, glistening with the dew, into a blaze of coloured brilliancy, and ran like molten gold through the glossy tresses of the damsels who were successfully trying to set them both off to the best advantage. Birds carolled joyously from the neighbouring boughs-bees and dragon-flies went booming past on a merry mission of enjoyment and from the long thin blades of grass there came a buzzing chorus of conviviality that showed the smaller flies of the insect tribe were blithely participating in the general hilarity, and fully aware of the seasonable sports that were to distinguish the coming day. It was just that kind of landscape which a poet or a painter would have been delighted to embody and perpetuate; and the forms and features of the girls, quaintly attired in the old English costume of the period, and grouped with an eye to the picturesque, would have doubtless been the very focus of attraction at the next Royal Academy. Behind the lofty grove of elms and poplars that sheltered this assemblage of cheerful hearts and industrious hands rose the sombre towers of Urlscot Hall, the gloomy mansion of the Lord De Veriglumme, a nobleman descended in a direct line from the honourable family of the Bluedevilles, who came over to this country with William the Conqueror in the November after the invasion. After the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII., the grandfather of the present De Veriglumme had been presented with the ruins of the monastic edifice that then occupied its site, and he, having something of a taste for architecture, had converted them into the mansion afterwards known as Urlscot Hall, which had retained all the solemnity of the original structure, without-if the gossips of the neighbourhood said sooth-any of the sanctity attached to the edifice it had superseded. The noble lord who was the owner of these possessions at the period to which our vera cious chronicle refers, bore, in fact, a character that, notwithstanding alleged calumnies, was manifestly too bad to be taken away by anybody. The precise crimes, indeed, of which he had been guilty no one distinctly knew, but his reserved and repulsive demeanour, his avowed antipathy to all innocent recreations, and, above all, his oppressive ordinance that no sport or pastime should take place within the range of his domains, had conspired to render him particularly unpopular with the residents in the district, who were naturally prone to the exercise of such diversions as were then in vogue. Never had the radiance of a smile been seen upon the features of a Veriglumme within the memory of the most elderly inhabitant; and a laugh heard within the precincts of the estate would have created an excitement far beyond an announcement of the most astounding novelty. In person his appearance was characteristic of his morose habits, and his short, thickset figure, beetling eyebrows, and stern, vinagred features were so far from creating a prepossession in his favour, that those who saw him joined wishfully in the opinion of the Prince of Denmark, and fervently hoped that they ne'er should" look upon his like again." But, as if to exemplify the profound axiom that extremes meet, there also dwelt within these walls of the Veriglummes a young relative of the noble lord, who was the very antithesis of him we have described. Mistress Mabelor the Ladye Mabel, as she was styled in the neighbourhood, from a current belief that she was the rightful heir to the estate, and only excluded from its possession by the machinations of her misanthropic uncle-was just then in her twentieth year, and in the full possession of the most bewitching charms that ever made up the aggregate of female loveliness. A round expressive face, lit up by two dark eyes flashing with intelligence, and a mouth associated with that roguish dimple so indicative of a disposition for pleasantry, gave evidence of a temperament far removed from that which characterised the head of the family. Often had she stolen away from the mansion to mingle in the joyous pastimes of the country people, who regarded her with a feeling in which both reverence and affection were blended, and on one amongst them she had bestowed such an unequivocal preference in the song and dance that had nearly turned the head of the chosen swain for joy and the heads of the rest for jealousy. But as the opportunities for such furtive enjoyment were rare, the report that destined the hand of the involuntary recluse to some powerful noble at court, was pretty generally believed, and strengthened by the proceedings of De Veriglumme himself, who set now a stricter watch than ever over the actions of his supposed niece. Such were the principal inmates of the melancholy mansion that now flung its massive shadow athwart the daisied grass, and formed a contrast as marked as the light and shade which were thus typified and produced by its reflection. The last wreath had been woven, the ribands-with colours as variegated as the blossoms they united—had been twined round the last garland; and as the sonorous chimes of old Chelsea Church proclaimed the transit of the eighth hour, the preparations were pronounced complete, and the merry party rose to proceed to the scene of their festivities, a broad arena of green sward sloping down to the river, and forming the southern boundary of the Veriglumme estate. Though this was contrary to the expressed mandate of the noble owner, it was not deemed probable that he would interfere with the holding of a festival so time-honoured as that of Whitsuntide, and which had been celebrated on that spot for more than a century before; so light of heart and fleet of foot went the holiday-makers in that direction, and a few minutes sufficed to bring them to the spot where the expectant swains and villagers of the neighbourhood had already assembled to await the floral devices symbolical of the arrival of "Jolly June." A joyous shout of congratulation heralded their approach. "Huzza!" cried Will Eyenden, better known under his soubriquet of “Will of the Willows," which had been bestowed upon him from his temporary employment as basket-maker among the osier-beds of Chiswick; “huzza! my merry camaradoes. Here's a choice collection of Nature's fairest giftswomen and flowers! and, by my troth, ye shall hardly tell the carnations from their cheeks, the roses from their lips, or the lily from the brow that so rivals it in whiteness. What says my friend of the ferry-my gallant water-duck, Hal Bowyer?" "In truth, Master Will," cried the party addressed-a young waterman, who was ever the first to attend the ferry and the last to forget the fair-as the damsels were now mingling with the party, "I know not which to admire most-the beauty of the one or the unrivalled charms of the other; they have both my adoration and admiration." "Well said!" chimed in a third, robed in a more motley garb than his companions, for what says the poet?— "Woman's love is like a flower, Born for dark or sunny skies- "There spoke the rhymes, not the reason, of our Lambeth Laureate—eh, my pet of Parnassus," exclaimed the basket-maker. "And why not the reason?" muttered the bard, detected in the quotation of one of his own stanzas. 66 Marry, because, to my poor thinking, the love of woman resembles more one of our own fine oak trees-the English oak- that stands rooted to the spot where it grew, at once a shade and a shelter, and the last to shed its leaves when shaken by the winter's storm." "Treason against our master of the revels! Have at him with a quip in return, Digby, or i'faith we'll depose thee forthwith," laughed the young ferryman, bringing the jest-loving bard into the front of the group and with mock solemnity laying his hand on the wand which was the symbol of his dignity. Nay," returned the personage who filled the office to which allusion had been made, "I am content to leave mine honest friend Will-o'the-Willows, to be judged by his own handicraft, for his argument is like one of his own baskets, which derives its only value from what is put into it by another hand than his own." A loud burst of laughter rewarded the sally of the speaker, and would have doubtless elicited a retort in revenge, but at that moment was seen approaching the gaunt figure of Mumchantz, the steward of his lordship; and, as the nature of his mission was easily divined, a rigid silence was preserved until he camę close upon the startled assemblage. They were not suffered to remain long in doubt as to the nature of his communication. "Out, ye mumming knaves and varlets," he began; "must the unholy sound of music ever profane the ears of those who dwell within these precincts? Have ye no respect for our authority-no obedience for our orders-no memory for the ordinance that since his lordship hath here taken up his abode, hath been well known to forbid all sports and pastimes on this hallowed territory? Away all of ye, I say." “But, good Mumchantz—” "Not a word-not a syllable. Would ye have me so great a sharer in the sin as to behold a dance upon these lands without protesting against such iniquities with my hands upraised in horror. Nay, tell not me of your old customs and privileges, they savour only of Papistry, and such like webs to snare souls. Away, and take heed if ye must thus celebrate the rites of the evil one that ye do it beyond earshot of the good Lord Veriglumme, or fear the punishment that he hath in store for such offenders." "Does the fair Lady Mabel sanction this abolition of our oldest custom ?" inquired the basket-maker, repressing with a gesture the rising indignation of his companions. "What is that to thee, vile twister of peeled wands ?" returned the steward. "The hearts of the young are ever too prone to leap at the sound of a lute or the jangle of a virginal. She is safe within the eastern turret, far away from the influence of such pipings, wherein she hath, I confess, shown of late more interest than befitted her station." "Enough!" ejaculated Evenden, as the sinister form of the morose functionary was seen slowly to move away back to the mansion. "We will have our merriment yet-ay, and our morrice, too, upon the green, ere the sun shall shine upon the morrow; but there is much to be done between this and then. It will be useless to thwart the churlish lord on his own ground; so away with ye, lads and lasses, back to the Abbot's-green, and have what sport ye will till sundown. Hal Bowyer and I have business afoot, after despatching which we will meet ye at the old rendezvous; so fare-ye-well for the nonce-and mark, to-morrow sees our rights restored.” The speaker drew the waterman on one side as he finished his address, and, having whispered a few words of deep import in his ear, the two separated themselves from the rest, and, passing onward to the ferry, entered a boat, and were soon on their way across the river in the direction of Mortlake. CHAPTER II.-THE MAGICIAN. THE ripples glanced along the surface of the tranquil stream as the sculls dipped quickly into the water, and sent a sparkling shower of feathery spray into the air, and in a period only long enough for Evenden to mature his plans, and allow the interchange of some brief conversation thereanent, the boat arrived at its destination. Leaving his companion in charge of the wherry, Evenden sprang to the bank, and pursued, by a circuitous path well-known to his practised footsteps, the road that led to a retired spot situated at the back of the village. Pausing before a house that, though still in good repair, bore evidence of having been erected at least some hundred years before, he was about to give the usual summons for admission, when a stalwart Hollander, retaining the costume of his country, threw open the massive door, and anticipated his demand. "I am expected, it seems, Mynheer Van Booren," said Evenden, smiling, as he received the courteous salutation of the mysterious personage who thus officiated. A prolonged "Yah!" followed by some pantomimical signs, intimated he was right in his conjecture, and, threading the windings of a long and gloomy lobby, he was thus ushered into the presence of one whose name was at that time held in mingled fear and veneration throughout England, being no less than the redoubtable Dr. DEE, of necromantic memory. Around was scattered, in picturesque confusion, the usual furniture of a laboratory, wherein retorts and alembics, curiously-fabricated glasses, and imple.. ments of chemical application, were blended with marvellous machines of complicated construction. Though now borne down by age, and revealing features in which the effects of profound study, and possibly the evidences of care and disappointment, were distinctly visible, there was nothing repulsive about the appearance of the venerable alchymist, and, surrounded by these attributes of his vocation, he might have readily been mistaken for either a polytechnic lecturer, or an eminent professor of the art of legerdemain about to give his marvellous entertainment, after the fashion of the Doblers, Herrmanns, and Houdins of the present day. Attired almost to the feet in a long robe, embroidered with such mystic devices as the electric telegraphs are presumed to have perpetuated in their signals, his figure appeared tall and majestic, and, waving his visitor to the possession of a seat, he entered at once upon the business which had brought them together. "And so the churlish lord of Urlscot hath again stepped in between our peasantry and their harmless merriment," exclaimed the learned doctor, still keeping his eyes intent on the smoky exhalation that was slowly rising from a crucible at his side. 66 'Swiftly shall he learn that the gentle stream, pent up by force in narrower channels, may destroy that in its fury which it would have fertilised unrestrained. But the aid you come to seek shall be given, and there is that to follow which, a punishment to him, shall be a rich reward for thee. As the shadow of the eastern turret is cast by the moonlight on the withered trunk of the fairy oak, be within the boundary of its congenial gloom, and thou wilt win a prize to-night which shall make the die worth casting for. You know the spot ?" "At the end of the Abbot's-mead, within an arrow's flight from the apartment of the Ladye Mabel ?" "Right! Leave the remainder of the task to me, and fear not. The crimson fume that begins to flicker in the crucible warns me that the task I had in hand is near completion. Join the companion of thy journey, and rest content with the information I have given thee." Familiar with the habits of the astrologer, to whom he had from time to time rendered some essential services, Will Evenden paused not to inquire further, but, content with the terse communication and brief interview he had obtained, returned to the waterside, and imparting to Bowyer the result of his mission, so far, at least, as affected the perpetuity of the Whitsun festivals, the swift strokes of the sculls soon brought them back to the place of their original embarkation. CHAPTER III.-THE MYSTERIES OF THE FUTURE. A FEW hours after the events just narrated the noble representative of the De Veriglummes was seated in the library of the old hall, endeavouring, from the few legal volumes it contained, to strengthen the power he had assumed by the authority of the law, when the arrival of Mumchantz cut asunder the thread of his investigations, and gave his meditations a turn which, perhaps, deserved another. "Did I not, caitiff, tell thee I would have no interruption in my studies?" growled his lordship, angrily, showing his old ferocity of disposition, though he began to turn over a new leaf at the same time. "You are wanted below, my lord," was the explanation. 66 Psha, my time is not yet up!" answered the patrician, though evident misgiving crossed his mind that the almanack and his own affairs wanted both looking into. 66 "It is not the the gentleman your lordship expects," stammered the steward, looking cautiously around, though, perhaps, somewhat akin to him. The visitor is an astrologer, and his name is "Fiddle-de "Dee!" added the official, unconsciously completing the sentence. "Hum!" meditated the nobleman: "He is an empiric-a shallow impostor; but, for the sake of public opinion, Mumchantz, you had better take care and show him up." "And the papers, my lord, connected with the estate?" "I will look them over in the morning." The careful functionary, thus admonished, gave up business and retired, leaving the nobleman to his book and the passage clear for the astrologer, who entered into conversation and the room simultaneously. "At last, proud baron, we meet within the halls of Urlscot," said the astrologer, as he drew up his stately form before the wavering eyes of his old associate; "thrice have I before warned ye of your coming doom. In Germany, in Austria, and in Holland, have I whispered in thine ear the words of wisdom, but in vain. Still do I find ye the same as of yore, wrapped in the shadow of a dark spirit, and a destroyer of that happiness which thou can'st not enjoy thyself." "Why, then, again, this unnecessary attempt to pour thy wise counsel into an unwilling car?" |