Year: 1866

over her with beautiful head upon it
J almost all the rest were queer grinning ap
} ish faces. By what strange rule of con
, traries did our ancestors put such things


into their churches y 1t was evidently tn,
: portrait of a queen, n,-the companion,a Rich
ard H. sadly mutilated, was still deciphcr
able,--but Maurice always took it for al
angel, and said it was like Rachel, and hii
prayer that day, if its vague longings had
been translated into words, would have
read, "Santee Rachele, ora pro me-"


AT last the church was "loosed" 1t was
pretty sight to watch the little rivulets
cf people streaming in their different direc
tions, over Lreen field and through wooded
glade home white surplices (the smock
frock) and red cloaks abounded the fiat
black silk hat, however, which went with
it had even here disappeared into the bon
net.


That evening Maurice's father began up
on him about the "powney" she was
growing tho old for the bavin*trade and
ye mid get me another in no time, Maurice,
if ye were the boy ye was, and had mind
tot. There's stag of prime, to be found
most nights now by the Squab-hollow, and
I'd acome round wi tn the powney for to
carry on him whom"


Perugiho makes his arch-tempter in the
Vatican fresco very reverend old man.
His was shrewder guess at human ma
ture than the usual form given to that
worthy there is certainly no more dan
gerous or subtle one and Maurice, stung
in the morning by Leverton's gibe, and un-
der the sort Of fascination which makes
man of another class spend the day in
the wet reeds after wild duck, or pay
e 1000 year to stalk the red deer in the
Highlands, consented to go. For fort
night after, however, there was a great
down-pour of rain, and the nights were
dark moreover, Maurice was not anxious
to go while he thought Leverton was on
the alert. At last one night the moon was
full the rain had ceased, and the clouds
were high, bnt they went drifting across
the heavens with a strong wind in the up
per sky. 1t was gusty, wild-looking
night,-great tieecy masses of enormous
size careering along, and making the moon
as murky at times as if there were none,
though the lower sky and the earth were
very still. Maurice did not start from
home, the keepers might be upon his trail,
so he walked at sunset across the forest
by the high road, and as soon as night fell,
beat towards the haunt of the stag which
he had marked for the last month He
passed over hill and dale, watching the
moonlit glades, and the glancing holly
bushes, and the dark masses of shade un-
der the trees and though without troub-
| ling himself much about the picturesque,
there was keen sense of enjoyment in it.
| At last stalking cautiously a little emf
nence in the middle of an open healthy part
which the wary deer had chosen for his
bedchamber, in order to be able to see all
around he caught sight of the branching
antlers among herd of does. He dragged
himself nearer and nearer STILL and at last
fired The head fell, and he ran rapidly up
the hill, the kinds racing off in all direc-
tions he took out his knife to finish the
poor things life, and begin cutting him up,
when very low on the still night breeze
came the bay of hound "They've agot
the bloodhound out after me-" thought
Maurice, will thrill, not exactly of terror,
though there were terrible stories told of
the hound, and he was only brought out on
great occasions.


There was no use in attempting to get
the stag off now and he set off at long
! trot towards running water, and fire.
quented road to destroy the scent. He
ran up little stream, but the rain had
| filled it, and it was unpleasantly deep, and
prevented his getting on. He passed into
a byre, where some lean cows had been
driven in, for the same reason still on
and on, for he could hear the low bay of
the hound growing nearer and nearer ev-
idently he was upon the scent, and was
summoning his master. The perspiration
ran down Maurice's face, and his blood cur
died, for he was beginning to grow faint
with fatigue the horrible brute's dreaded
and dreadful voice was the only sound ex-
cept the wind that reached his ear and
besides the physical dread of being torn by
a beast which even brave man shrinks
from, the thought came over him with a
force he never had felt before, that if ever
Leverton caught and put him in prison,
what chance it was giving him with Ra-
chefs grandfather and he ground his teeth
at his own folly. He might have thought
of this before, says sage reader. Yes, but
Maurice was not the first or the last young
man who has eaten sour grapes, and whose
teeth has been consequently set on edge.


His strength was very nearly gone. He,
| the swiftfoot of the village, was reduced
to pace that a child might have overtak-
en-, when he suddenly remembered that
the river was so full with the rain, that
it could not be crossed save at the bridge
far below and that, if he could but jump
a crtain place which he we'll knew, where
the overarching banks had narrowed the
channel he should be safe for time from
the human part of his pursuers. No man
but himself he knew would dare such a
| leap, and he could do battle with the best
as from vantage-ground. He felt very
uncertain whether he could cross it himself,
exhausted as he was but it was his last
chance, and he plunged short off to the
right. The river was overhowing it's banks
on either side dark mass Of troubled
water, bringing with it matted clods of
grass and boughs of trees broken away in
its forest course, swept past. When it
reached the narrow, it foamed and tumbled
and swirled into whirlpools the ground
about was wet and swampy with rain. 1t
was an ugly leap, and Maurice felt that il
he missed his footing, he must be lost !; for
neither man nor beast could live in such a
torrent He had generally, too, taken the
iurnn from the other side whore the ground