"Ay, ay, you have seen the demon hunter, no doubt," replied the keeper at the close of the recital."I neither saw the light, nor heard the laughter, nor the wailing cry you speak of; but Bawsey crouched at my feet and whined, and I knew some evil thing was at hand.Heaven shield us!" he exclaimed, as the hound crouched at his feet, and directed her gaze towards the oak, uttering a low ominous whine, "she is at the same trick again."The earl glanced in the same direction, and half expected to see the knotted trunk of the tree burst open and disclose the figure of the spectral hunter.But nothing was visible--at least, to him, though it would seem from the shaking limbs, fixed eyes, and ghastly visage of the keeper, that some appalling object was presented to his gaze.
"Do you not see him?" cried the latter at length, in thrilling accents; "he is circling the tree, and blasting it.There! he passes us now--do you not see him?""No," replied Surrey; "but do not let us tarry here longer."So saying he laid his hand upon the keeper's arm.The touch seemed to rouse him to exertion: He uttered a fearful cry, and set off at a quick pace along the park, followed by Bawsey, with her tail between her legs.The earl kept up with him, and neither halted till they had left the wizard oak at a considerable distance behind them.
"And so you did not see him?" said the keeper, in a tone of exhaustion, as he wiped the thick drops from his brow.
"I did not," replied Surrey.
"That is passing strange," rejoined the other." I myself have seen him before, but never as he appeared to-night.""You are a keeper of the forest, I presume, friend?" said Surrey."How are you named?""I am called Morgan Fenwolf," replied the keeper; "and you?""I am the Earl of Surrey;' returned the young noble.
"What!" exclaimed Fenwolf, making a reverence, "the son to his grace of Norfolk?"The earl replied in the affirmative.
"Why, then, you must be the young nobleman whom I used to see so often with the king's son, the Duke of Richmond, three or four years ago, at the castle? " rejoined Fenwolf "You are altogether grown out of my recollection."Not unlikely," returned the earl." I have been at Oxford, and have only just completed my studies.This is the first time I have been at Windsor since the period you mention.""I have heard that the Duke of Richmond was at Oxford likewise,"observed Fenwolf.
"We were at Cardinal College together," replied Surrey."But the duke's term was completed before mine.He is my senior by three years."I suppose your lordship is returning to the castle? " said Fenwolf.
"No," replied Surrey." My attendants are waiting for me at the Garter, and if you will accompany me thither, I will bestow a cup of good ale upon you to recruit you after the fright you have undergone."Fenwolf signified his graceful acquiescence, and they walked on in silence, for the earl could not help dwelling upon the vision he had witnessed, and his companion appeared equally abstracted.In this sort they descended the hill near Henry the Eighth's Gate, and entered Thames Street.
II.Of Bryan Bowntance, the Host of the Garter--Of the Duke of Shoreditch--Of the Bold Words uttered by Mark Fytton, the Butcher, and how he was cast into the Vault of the Curfew Tower.
Turning off on the right, the earl and his companion continued to descend the hill until they came in sight of the Garter--a snug little hostel, situated immediately beneath the Curfew Tower.
Before the porch were grouped the earl's attendants, most of whom had dismounted, and were holding their steeds by the bridles.At this juncture the door of the hostel opened, and a fat jolly-looking personage, with a bald head and bushy grey beard, and clad in a brown serge doublet, and hose to match, issued forth, bearing a foaming jug of ale and a horn cup.His appearance was welcomed by a joyful shout from the attendants.
"Come, my masters!" he cried, filling the horn, "here is a cup of stout Windsor ale in which to drink the health of our jolly monarch, bluff King Hal; and there's no harm, I trust, in calling him so.""Marry, is there not, mine host;" cried the foremost attendant."I spoke of him as such in his own hearing not long ago, and he laughed at me in right merry sort.I love the royal bully, and will drink his health gladly, and Mistress Anne Boleyn's to boot."And he emptied the horn.
"They tell me Mistress Anne Boleyn is coming to Windsor with the king and the knights-companions to-morrow--is it so?" asked the host, again filling the horn, and handing it to another attendant.
The person addressed nodded, but he was too much engrossed by the horn to speak.
