they and strained and panted without either getting the mastery until both came to the ground and rolled upon the green just then the may day ill came by she saw her lover in fierce as she thought and in danger in a moment pride and were forgotten she rushed into the ring seized upon the rival champion by the hair and was on the point of on him her vengeance when a country the sweetheart of the prostrate upon her like a hawk and would have stripped her of her fine in a twinkling had she not also been seized in her turn a tumult ensued the chivalry of the two villages became blows began to be dealt and sticks to be flourished was carried off from the field in in vain did the of the village interfere the endeavoured to pour the soothing oil of his upon this sea of passion but was tumbled into the dust the who is a great lover of peace went into the midst of the throng as of the day to put an end to the commotion may day but was rent in twain and came out with his garment hanging in two from his shoulders upon which the prodigal son dashed in with fury to revenge the insult which his patron had sustained the tumult i caught glimpses of the cap of old like the of a about in the midst of the while mistress separated from her protector was and striking at right and left with a faded being tossed and about by the crowd in such wise as never happened to maiden before at length i beheld old ready money jack making his way into the very of the throng tearing it as it were apart and peace vi et it was surprising to see the sudden quiet that ensued the storm settled down at once into tranquillity the parties having no real grounds of hostility were readily and in fact were a little at a loss to know why and how they had got by the ears was speedily together again by his friend the tailor may pay and resumed his usual good humour mrs drew on one side to her feathers and old having repaired his took her under his arm and they swept back again to the hall ten times more bitter against mankind than ever the family alone seemed slow in recovering from the agitation of the scene young jack was evidently very much moved by the heroism of the unlucky his mother who had been summoned to the field of action by news of the was in a sad panic and had need of all her management to keep him from following his mistress and coming to a perfect reconciliation what heightened the alarm and perplexity of the good managing dame was that the matter had aroused the slow apprehension of old ready money himself who was very much struck by the interference of so pretty and delicate a girl and was sadly puzzled to understand the meaning of the violent agitation in his family vol ii i may day when all this came to the ears of the squire he was that his should have been disgraced by such a he ordered to appear before him but the girl was so frightened and distressed that she came sobbing and trembling and at the first question he asked fell again into lady who had understood that there was an affair of the heart at the bottom of this distress immediately took the girl into great favour and protection and made her peace with the squire this was the only thing that disturbed the harmony of the day if we except the discomfiture of master and the general by the radical upon the whole therefore the squire had very fair reason to be satisfied that he had rode his throughout the day without any other the reader learned in these matters will perceive that all this was but a faint shadow of the once gay and fanciful rites of may the have lost the proper feeling for these may day rites and have grown almost as strange to them as the of la were to the customs of chivalry in the days of the don indeed i considered it a proof of the discretion with which the squire rides his that he had not pushed the thing any further nor attempted to revive many of the day which in the present matter of fact times would appear affected and absurd i must say though i do it under the rose the general in which this festival had nearly terminated has made me doubt whether these rural customs of the good old times were always so very loving and innocent as we are apt to fancy them and whether the in those times were really so as they have been fondly represented i begin to fear � � days were never airy dreams sat for the picture and the poet s hand substance to an empty shade imposed a gay delirium for a truth grant it i still must envy them an age that favour d such a dream i the manuscript yesterday was a day of quiet and repose after the bustle of may day during the morning i joined the ladies in a small the windows of which came down to the floor and opened upon a terrace of the which was set out with delicate shrubs and flowers the soft sunshine that fell into the room through the branches of trees that the windows the sweet smell of the flowers and the singing of the birds seemed to produce a pleasing yet effect on the whole party for some time elapsed without any one speaking lady and miss were sitting by an elegant work table near one of the windows occupied with some pretty lady like work the captain was on a stool 