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THE CRUSADERS.

CHAPTER I.

In the summer of 1188, the inhabitants of a cottage in the ancient village of Laughtonen-le-Morthen, in the west riding of Yorkshire, were suddenly diverted from their silent labour of copying a valuable Missal by the entrance of a neighbour's son, whose uncouth manners and coarse features did not obscure the expression of genuine joy which illuminated his broad, good-humoured

countenance.

"Oh, Theodore! oh, Dame Alice! feether ha come hoame fra Dancaster, and ha brot sich news as ye nivver hard an; it's aw true to the letter."

"Indeed! my good boy," said the mistress of the cottage, as she smilingly laid aside her employment, "and pr'ythee, what says thy father?"

"He says, that the warder o' Conisbro' Castle told him, that down at Knaresbro' there's going to be the grandest revels that ever were seen, for the son of Lord Eustace Fitzjohn (the son of Richard the Red) is going to wed the fair daughter of Sir Hugh de Marville, and the young Earl of Cornwall himself gives away the bride, and the Bishop of Ely, her old great uncle, marries her, and the free foresters show their archery,

and the vassals dance the sword dance in white Holland

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"But will there be a tournament ?" cried Theodore, with an air of impatient and intense interest.

"Oh! ay, there's to be jousting amang the knights, and wrestling for the villains, and throwing the javelin for men at arms—my feether means to have a tug wi’ em, I promise ye; and I'll warrant, Theodore, if yere grandfeether had been alive, he'd a tried hard tul a got there, and showed 'em a touch o' the old times, and the way to spill the blood of infidels.”

"Yes! that he would," exclaimed the boy, springing from his seat, and involuntarily assuming an attitude of defiance; but in another moment he sat down again dejectedly, adding, "but he is not alive, and I am very sorry for it."

"Ye may well say that, and me too," observed the visitant, "for what fine tales about wars, and wounds, and killing Saracens, he used to tell us. I shall never forget him; he made a soldier a me, that's certain; not but I hope never to be starved, as he wear starved at Jaffa : that's a death I've no fancy for; Theodore, have you?"

"If I were a soldier, I hope I should never shrink from my duty, whatever it might demand, but I fear there is but little reason to hope I shall be tried," answered the boy.

"I fear so too, for ye're always at yere clerk work nowa-days: I wot it's e'en tiresome enough; I'd rather drive pleugh, or go ditching, by hafe. Oh! I wed ye were a Knight, and I yer Squire, dear Theodore-by'r Lady, when a new Crusade turns up, we'd off for the Holy Land."

The dreams of poor Humphrey were interrupted by the

arrival of his father, who not only confirmed the news of the splendid fête about to take place at Knaresbro', but proceeded to say, "that himself and family were going thither to enjoy that part of it in which people of his station were permitted to partake, and to assure Alice, that if she were inclined to give her nephew Theodore a treat, he would take charge of him as if he were a son of his own;" adding, in a tone which he considered persuasive : "And you see, dame Alice, though you be a clever woman, and more learned than I be, seeing you can read and write, and all that and much more wiser, having been beyond seas with your father, and seen a deal of trouble, which God knows I can't pretend to: yet still you be but a woman, and it can't be right to tie such a lad as Theodore to any woman's apron-strings, 'specially when her own feether has put, as one may say, the very soul of a man into him, and taught him a store of useful knowledge."

During this speech the countenance of Alice had exhibited some changes, and the first expression was by no means so favourable to the honest petitoner's wishes as Theodore desired: before its conclusion, however, her features relaxed into a pensive smile, and when she said "she would consider of it," he almost felt certain that he should go; for he well knew that his aunt never would permit him to indulge a hope she did not mean to gratify, although her refusal, if given, would have been scrupulously adhered to.

When Humphrey and his son had departed, Alice remained for a long time immersed in profound thought, and even when she arose and began to prepare the evening meal, although her countenance was open, she continued silent, and evidently considering. When at length she spoke, it was to ask Theodore, "on what day

Humphrey had said this noble marriage would take place?"

"To-morrow se'nnight," said Theodore, adding, "pray is not Knaresbro' in the very road to Bolton, where my good grandsire so often wished to take me?-that goodly land, where the Wharfe laves meadows of emerald that feed a thousand kine; where innumerable sheep bleat on the hills, and rich woods stretch along the plains-the very land to which you have wished to conduct me so often, aunt ?"

"Very true, child, and whither I still wish to conduct you. I am as desirous of giving you pleasure, too, in this affair of Knaresborough Castle, as you can be of obtaining it; but the manner of doing it calls for much thought. Go to bed, my dear Theodore, assured that, though I do not yield to poor Humphrey's reasons for taking you (being persuaded that your aunt's occupations have not tended to make you an effeminate, any more than an ignorant youth), yet that I am determined no trifling obstacle shall prevent you from an enjoyment you so naturally wish for."

Theodore retired to his humble pallet, but he did not soon drop into his usual state of repose; he reflected on the difference there was between his aunt and all the other women of Laughton, to whom, although her lot in life seemed no way superior, she could in no respect be compared, and over whom she always appeared to exercise a kind of quiet influence, more mild, yet not less despotic, than that which was exacted by the wives and daughters of the lords to whom they belonged as vassals. He even remembered that the few times when these great personages saw his aunt at church, they had noticed her with much and unusual courtesy, not unfrequently giving her the appellation of "Dame," to which she had

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