receiving so unexpected an answer to his proposal may best be imagined: his visage naturally dark and morose, underwent many frightful and menacing expressions; his eyes flashed fire around him, and in a voice deep and emphatic, which remained long in the remembrance of many, he exclaimed, "Woe unto that descendant of my name who shall mate with the house of Maldenhein."

At Sir Conrad's death his castle devolved to Sir Herman, his son, from him to another, and so on till it fell to Sir Rudif, the hero of my story, and the eighth successor to Sir Conrad. I should, however, make mention, that each preceding owner had paid the most religious observation to the words uttered by Sir Conrad; therefore had the true spirit of inveteracy betwixt the house of Brondinberger and that of Maldenhein descended in regular rotation from Sir Conrad to Sir Arnold down to Sir Rudif and Sir Argand.

It was a remarkable coincidence that an affair of a like nature to that which originated the friendship of the former, created also a strict and lasting intimacy between the latter; the implacable hatred which had hitherto existed betwixt their houses was at once and entirely forgotten, and to cement their intimacy still closer, the sister of the lord of Maldenhein was shortly, and with her own full concurrence, to become the bride of the knight of Brondinberger.

Albeit Sir Rudif's predecessors had every one inherited to the fullest extent the haughty and insolent demeanour of Sir Conrad; statues of whom, clad in their heavy sable armour, decorated the walls of the huge banquetting apartment. Rudif himself presented a strong and powerful contrast, arrogance and contumely, the chief characteristic of his ancestors, had in his disposition no share whatever; he was mostly mild and dispassionate, though not a whit less valiant; and his features, though somewhat rugged and uneven, generally wore a pleasant and good-humoured expression.

Now it was rumoured among the vassals at Brondinberger Hall, that during the hunt which took place some time since in the forest adjoining, a voice was suddenly heard to exclaim in a hollow and sepul chral tone-"Woe unto the Brondinberger who shall wed with a daughter of the house of Maldenhein." The knight at that moment was urging his steed through a heap of furze and long tangled weeds, which fringed a dark and deep morass, and which required his utmost skill to pilot his way safely through, for the moon, which was riding high in the

heavens, became repeatedly overcast.As those mysterious words, however, rang loudly on his ear, a brilliant stream of moonlight suddenly illuminated the swamp, and discovered a tall, grisly figure wading slowly through it, which many declared to have been a perfect resemblance of Sir Courad's effigy in Brondinberger Hall. The vision, however, was but momentary, and the scene became again buried in profound darkness, when the bugle of Sir Rudif brought the lord of Maldenhein to his assistance, for a grim and gigantic wolf had fastened on his steed.

It was on the evening of that day which saw the nuptials of the lord of Brondinberger, that a princely assemblage of knights and dames, gorgeously attired, illumined with their presence the vast and splendidly decorated hall of Sir Rudif. The laurelled goblets of rich and sparkling gold, and foaming with choice and cooling beverages, were quaffed again and again to the happiness of the newly allied pair; the jest careered, the pledge went round, and the high vaulted roof rang repeatedly with the names of the brightest and fairest in Germany. The minstrels, fired with wine and the praises which were incessantly showered upon them, sang with redoubled ardour the valorous achievements of the noblest and bravest of the land.

Thus sped the greater portion of the night, when the festivities grew languid; the most mercurial spirit began to tire, and the sunniest eye to diminish of its brightness, Some proceeded to the chambers allotted to them, and others, whom wine and wassail had rendered sluggish and drowsy, slumbered in their seats; while the numerous flambeaux which had hitherto blazed with unmitigated splendour, began now to shed a dim, quivering and uncertain light. The minstrels seeing their services no longer required had every one departed, and a deep and impressive silence shortly succeeded to the late uproarious mirth. Then it was that the boom of the midnight breeze, heralding the storm which was every moment expected to burst, might have been distinctly heard among the clustering foliage of the aspen beech and linden trees in the gardens of the tower, accompanied by the waves of the Rhine dashing with angry violence on the huge crag at its base. Bright and repeated exhalations had been observed for some time playing upon the hot and turbulent horizon, which oftentimes startled from his slumbers the lord of the hall, who sat beneath a superb canopy at the head of the board, inmediately fronting the

I worshipped nature for awhile,
And thought that I beheld her smile,
And smiling, round my temples twine,
The ivy wreath with band divine.

Last I was reckless, and I gave

My hand away as nothing worth; And threw it to the wind and wave,

Ay, even with a show of mirth;
Though, when the holy rite was sald,
My spirit sunk within me dead,-
Yet then my face its smiles put on,
I smother'd with a laugh the groan,
The bitter throe, and struggling sigh,
That shook my bosom forcibly,
That passed away.-Oh, then there came
That one, that chosen one, which grew
Up with my bosom's infant flame,

And o'er the youthful senses flew
Like some bright bird, whose beauteous form
Seems sent to charm away the storm;
And I could only look on her,
And feel that while I look I err;

And dare not, must not e'er reveal

A type or tythe of what I feel;
And yet must see, or think I see,
A drop of pity in her eye,
A smile that seems to rise for me,

A fond, fond look-a gentle sigh,
And thrill; oh! with a bursting heart,
Whene'er in mutual grief we part,
And have the parting look impressed,
Deeper than sorrow in the breast;
And feel her pressure soft and bland
Remaining on the tingling hand,
Burnt in as is the felon's mark,

'Mid thoughts and feelings deep and dark.

W. M.

THE BEST BED-ROOM;

OR, THE APPARITION LAID.

66

gloomy our family went every one their own way to rest, but anxiously and fearfully as to what might be the result. The doctor had not been long in bed ere a figure came silently along the room and drawing aside the curtains, glanced on his face, and as quietly departed. He leapt out of bed, and taking the lamp, carefully examined every nook, but to no satisfaction. As he was sure he had heard footsteps outside the room door, he opened it gently, and to his surprise he saw our gardener, who said, "I hope, Zur, the ghost has'nt hurt ye.' "Nay!" said the doctor, "but what brought you here, Harry." "Why, zur!" replied Harry, himself an almost apparition, "I came here to listen, and if I should be wanted, to take your part; cause how, ghosts I know be pratty deadly.' "Not to doctors, Harry," said Alsop, you had better go to sleep and leave me alone." "As you like, zur," said Harry, but not a wink of sleep would he get, for he remained in hushing anxiousness in the passage-with an old sword in his hand all the night through. Meanwhile, the doctor returned thoughtfully to his bed. The figure, which was wrapped in a long gown, came a second time. The doctor being prepared for the visit, collected his vision, and observed a restless expression of countenance, the face of an elderly man-deathly and cadaverous in the extreme, but mild in eye and sorrowful in heart. As the figure glanced away from the curtain he snatched it aside with his hand; and, ere he could trace the place of its retreat, a blank pervaded the spot. We had a good library in our study; and from which, several old bibles, testaments and other black lettered sages were heaped on the table. The doctor after ruminating sometime, came to a determination to dress himself, and reviving the lamp, he sat beside the table and began to read portions of the New Testament. Considerable time had elapsed. He could hear Harry occasionally heave a deep groan, adding the "I.ord have mercy upon us!" And he resolved the next approach to ask the object of the apparition. Harry had got near the door and was peeping through the keyhole. Intense silence reigned in the room. The "apparition' came before the doctor for a third time. "In God's name," said he. God's name!" answered Harry. God's name,' why hauntest thou this place? What disturbs thy rest?" The apparition pointed to a corner of the room and once more disappeared. The doctor opened the door. “I zeed he, zur," said Harry, "of all the world like my old master." "Come in," said the doctor,

To the Editor of the Olio. SIR-Your interesting notice of Dr. Alsop on the Apparition,' page 329 of the Olio, brings to my recollection a circumstance which happened in my own' family, whom the worthy doctor attended. Known to be a skilful and clever man on most subjects, he was applied to, for the cure of an evil often known to exist in manorial houses in the darker ages throughout England. Our best bedroom, as it was called, that is, a large room, whose walls were covered with a series of family portraits, painted in massive frames, the bed and furniture of yellow damask, and the chairs tall and thin, with cane bot toms and backs, the table massive and dark with cloven paws, and every part kept in the neatest manner fit for any distinguished guest that might be treated hospitably during his stay with us. course of time, it became a topic of conversation that this room was haunted. This catching the doctor's ear, he inquired more minutely into the matter. My grandfather, full of a persuasion that the doctor, by reading a portion of the New Testament, could settle the point, induced him to come over from Calne for that purpose. He was lit to this bedroom,and the night being

In

in

AY. In

The tale now hastens to a conclusion. The Robber Captain, who had taken advantage of the confusion to rush out of the hall, seize the nearest horse, and gallop furiously to the forest, had nearly gained the Brazen Helmet, when certain of his scouts met and informed him that the King, the Duke, Bishop Burghill, Sir Lionel Biddulf, and a vast attendance, were then a short distance east of the forest, and would, doubtless, pass through it on their road to Lichfield. He spurred on his horse, and with what feelings may be imagined, saw at the very porch of the hostel the Lady Rosamund, accompanied by the sturdy clown mentioned before, in the very act of escaping. She saw her fate in his countenance; he did not notice her companion, who with a cry of terror fled into the wood, but grasping her emaciated arm, drew rather than led her into the old kitchen.

The host, in the most hopeless insanity, sat muttering, scowling and grinning by the hearth, and the unearthly peals of laughter with which he hailed the entrance of Warner with his victim, shocked even the blood-hardened robber himself. Soon, however, with forced calmness more horrible to the luckless lady than the most outrageous violence, he commanded her to kneel; she mechanically obeyed, and he thus spoke

"Baroness of Courtnaye!-I address thee by that style, for it is thy sentence! -Thou, fatal as well as fated woman, hast been the evil star of my destiny!For thee I first relinquished the rank and influence of a Free Leader, to become the instrument of thy thrice false Lord! When I encountered crime to which my former life was innocence, thou wert the cause! When I was forced to mingle as a menial in a retinue less numerous than a wave of my gauntlet might once have commanded, thou, Rosamund de Court

naye, didst force me there !—I have spared thy life when I might have slain thee; and what has been my reward? I have been scourged like a slave,-my gallant followers have been murdered,-fame, fortune gone! my life has been made a burden. And yet thou livest," he gnashed his teeth horribly,-" livest to. be the high dowered widow of De Courtnaye!"

"Widow!" ejaculated the Baroness faintly.

"Widow ?-ay, widow! though, trust me, thou shalt not wear weeds long!Hear me ! This day was thy brother's dainty leman to have been carried off in the midst of the mummeries yonder, and brought hither,-to be by turns the partner of thy captivity, and the companion, par amours, of thy faithful Lord. We were foiled. The Baron grew peevish, turned upon his old comrade; and that comrade, not being in his mildest mood, answered him with this!" and Warner held up the still bloody war-knife.

Rosamund sprang at once to her feet with a ringing cry, that made the maniac host shiver and moan, and in the attitude of a vengeful Pallas,

"Villain!" she exclaimed, "thou hast consummated the diabolical arts by which thou didst decoy my wretched husband from truth and honour, by thrusting an unprepared soul to that judgment where its guilt shall be heaped upon thine own! -What, ho!" she shrieked till the roof, nay, the forest rang,- "What, ho! lieges attach the murderer!"

"Stay, wild frenetic! till I join ye both there!" and the knife was within an inch of her bosom, when the lunatic host sprang up, and with gigantic force seizing his arms, exclaimed

"Hold, cousin! there be those yonder," pointing to the dusky end of the room, "would fain have speech with thee; he thou wot'st of is there, with his gray dress, and many another that I know as well as thou!"

"Loose me, dotard!" said Warner; and after vain struggles, finding himself overpowered by the sheer strength of roused madness, he aimed his knife at the maniac; but it was a movement fatal to himself, for in a trice Gotta wrenched the weapon from his hand, and dealt him swifter than thought two strokes under the fifth rib, that stretched him with a groan like an explosion, a quivering corpse!

A trampling as of a multitude of horse was heard on the turf before the hostel of the Brazen Helmet, and in the next instant the stout rustic, who had fled at the approach of Warner, came hastily into

the room, closely followed by two stately figures, who gazed with equal but various emotion on the scene before them. Both were in complete armour, but had their vizors raised. The first, his care-worn but still handsome features proclaimed to be Richard Plantagenet. His conical helmet, richly foliated, had the regal diadem in jewellery round its lower rim; his gorgeous suit of Milan armour was covered, except his arms and legs, by a tabard of scarlet velvet, quartering the arms of England and France. The other personage, by his sagacious and majestic tranquillity of face, by the broad gold collar of S.S., implying his haughty and prophetic motto," Souverain," but chiefly by his well-known crimson cargan, embroidered with pearls, and drooping in rich folds over his basinet, might quickly be recognised as the returned Duke of Lancaster.

The Bishop of Lichfield, the Abbot of Westminster, Sir Lionel Biddulf, and others followed, each as they entered uttering exclamations as the ghastly sight in that dismal apartment presented itself to their view. The wretched host, his beard of hideous growth, his small eyes bright with madness, his hands and face smeared with blood, sat astride on the corpse of his victim, mowing, howling, and gibbering. The beautiful Lady de Courtnaye, in the most miserable attire, and stiffening with the horror that prevented, by its intensity, either words or tears, stood in the centre of the floor, while the great wolf-dog, growling and glaring, seemed to hesitate on whom he should first fasten his bared fangs. Sir Lionel sprang to his sister, and the warm flood of tears that streamed over her pale thin neck, first recalled the poor lady to herself, and then finding herself safe and clasped in the dear arms of an only brother, she gave way at once, and with a faint ejaculation of joy, was borne by Sir Lionel in a deep swoon into the outer air. The ill-starred Richard, overwhelmed in his hour of adversity by so many occular testimonies of his mis-government, stood with clasped hands, head and body drooping, and at length, turning to Bolingbroke, "See, fair cousin," he said, "see from what a load you are about to relieve us! -all this bloody mischief lies at the sovereign's door. We thank heaven and you that the seclusion of a cloister will afford us leisure to assoil us of its stains!" "Say rather, my noble liege, that many years of good government on the throne of your royal fathers," said the generous-hearted Dominican, kindly yet reverently approaching his master, will enable your grace, by the aid of the noble

"My Lord of Lichfield speaks well," said the deep but reverential tones of Bolingbroke, "far be it from Harry of Lancaster to seek higher rank in this disturbed realm, than that which may entitle him to reclaim his sovereign's confidence from the traitors who have abused his princely disposition so long.'

Plantagenet being still absorbed in sorrow, the Duke gave orders that Warner's body should be removed, and the wretched maniac placed under proper care. The trumpets soon after sounded to horse, and the whole company passed from this dismal scene, into the fresh green forest. A vast train of horses, some with noble and knightly riders, and others whose richly embroidered saddles were empty, held by pages and yeomen in costly liveries, filled the turfy glade in front of the Brazen Helmet.

The great banner of England waved over a thousand pennons and guidons of multifarious blazonry, mingled with flashing glaives, gisarmes, maces, burgonets, and bucklers, illuminated by the placid radiance of the declining sun, that sparkled through the leafy vistas of the forest, or fell in broad yellow flakes on the thick turf. Two steeds, the one white as snow, the other coal-black, stood pre-eminent from their size and beauty, and the magnificence of their caparisons. Their sautoirs were of gold heavily embossed, the saddles, covered with purple and scarlet brocade, resembled the back of an armchair; the chanfrons were of red leather, embossed with gold, while the poitral and croupiere of laced mail, were almost hidden by the cointise of purple silk, that of the white steed being powdered with fleur-de-lys, while the black barb was embroidered with the S.S.

"High Hereford" led his royal cousin with great humility to the white barb, whose quivering ears and low trembling neigh confessed his liege master. Just as Bolingbroke, with solemn parade of deference, knelt and was assisting the Plantagenet to his stirrup, the King's large white greyhound came bounding up to her master, but after snuffing his surcoat for a moment, turned away and leaping upon the Duke of Lancaster, placed her long white paws carelessly on his shoulders, in which action the golden circlet about her neck became unclasped, and rolled at at his feet.