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noble gentleman that rode in the band of the Douglas."

"He is, then, a soldier?" said the lady.

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"When his country or his lord need his sword," replied Bertram-" and, to say the truth, they are seldom at peace; but otherwise, he is no enemy, save to the wolf which plunders his herds."

"But forget not, my trusty guide,” replied the lady," that the blood in our veins is English, and consequently, that we are in danger from all who call themselves foes to the ruddy Cross."

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"Do not fear this man's faith," answered Bertram."You may trust to him as to the best knight or gentleman of the land. We may make good our lodging by a tune or a song; and it remember you that I undertook (provided it pleased your ladyship) to temporize a little with the Scots, who, poor souls, love minstrelsy, and when they have but a silver penny, will willingly bestow it to encourage the gay science— I promised you, I say, that we should be as welcome to them as if we had been born amidst

their own wild hills; and for the best that such house as Dickson's affords, the glee-man's son, fair lady, shall not breathe a wish in vain. And now, will you speak your mind to your devoted friend and adopted father, or rather your sworn servant and guide, Bertram the Minstrel, what it is your pleasure to do in this matter ?"

"O, we will certainly accept of the Scot's hospitality," said the lady, "your minstrel word being plighted that he is a true man.-Tom Dickson, call you him?"

"Yes," replied Bertram, "such is his name; and by looking on these sheep, I am assured that we are now upon his estate."

"Indeed!" said the lady, with some surprise; " and how is your wisdom aware of that?"

"Ah,

"I see the first letter of his name marked upon this flock," answered the guide. learning is what carries a man through the world, as well as if he had the ring by virtue of which old minstrels tell that Adam understood the language of the beasts in Paradise. Ah, madam! there is more wit taught in the shepherd's shiel

ing than the lady thinks of, who sews her painted seam in her summer bower."

"Be it so, good Bertram. And although not so deeply skilled in the knowledge of written language as you are, it is impossible for me to esteem its value more than I actually do; so hold we on the nearest road to this Tom Dickson's, whose very sheep tell of his whereabout. I trust we have not very far to go, although the knowledge that our journey is shortened by a few miles has so much recovered my fatigue, that methinks I could dance all the rest of the way."

CHAPTER II.

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Rosalind. Well, this is the Forest of Arden.

Touchstone. Aye, now am I in Arden; the more fool I. When

I was at home I was in a better place; but travellers must be

content.

1 Ros. Aye, be so, good Touchstone.-Look you, who comes here; a young man and an old, in solemn talk.

As You Like It.-Scene IV. Act II.

As the travellers spoke together, they reached a turn of the path which presented a more extensive prospect than the broken face of the country had yet shown them. A valley, through which flowed a small tributary stream, exhibited the wild, but not unpleasant, features of " a lone vale of green braken;" here and there besprinkled with groups of alder-trees, of hazels, and of copse oakwood, which had maintained their stations in the recesses of the valley, although they had vanished from the loftier and

more exposed sides of the hills. The farm-house, or mansion-house, (for, from its size and appearance, it might have been the one or the other,) was a large but low building, and the walls of the out-houses were sufficiently strong to resist any band of casual depredators. There was nothing, however, which could withstand a more powerful force; for, in a country laid waste by war, the farmer was then, as now, obliged to take his chance of the great evils attendant upon that state of things; and his condition, never a very eligible one, was rendered considerably worse by the insecurity attending it. About half a mile farther was seen a Gothic building of very small extent, having a half-dismantled chapel, which the minstrel pronounced to be the Abbey of Saint Bride. "The place," he said, "I understand is allowed to subsist, as two or three old monks and as many nuns, whom it contains, are permitted by the English to serve God there, and sometimes to give relief to Scottish travellers; and who have accordingly taken assurance with Sir John de Walton, and accepted as their superior a churchman on whom

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