Ellustrated Article. THE REVENGE OF HUGOLINE. (For the Olio..) "DOES no one approach, Ethelwulph? Is there no spear or pennon in sight?Alas! mine old eyes ache with watching: pray heaven the Norman has not gained the day!" Thus spoke Redwald the Saxon, as he sat in one of the turrets of his castle, which stood on an almost inaccessible rock on the coast of Sussex. The sun was fast sinking in the west, and poured a flood of golden light on the waters of the Channel; but the scene had no charms for the aged chief: his four brave sons had joined Harold, their king, and this was the day on which the Norman's power would be tried. For three hours had Redwald sat in torturing suspense, awaiting the issue of the combat. Twilight had spread its thin veil over the surrounding country, when, as the chief descended in despair from the turret, the clattering of horses' VOL. II. H hoofs was heard, and four horsemen rode into the court-yard. Their steeds were jaded, and their armour was hacked and splashed with blood. "Ah! Hugoline, my brave boy!" cried the aged Redwald, as he received in his arms the foremost horseman, who had dismounted with all haste. "Art thou returned scathless?-is the Norman driven back, or slain, or-" "Harold is down!" cried the youth wildly, " and the blood of Gurth and Leofwynne crimson the turf! Father, we are lost-the Norman lion triumphs! And, oh, my brethren are " "Ha!" cried Redwald eagerly, "what would'st thou say?-Not dead-no, thy tongue dares not utter that word. Thou would'st not tell me that, and stand here unharmed." "Father," replied the youth, "they are dead, my kinsmen here saw them fall. The Norman host has scattered all our force; but there is time to save thee from their vengeance.' "Away with thee!" shrieked the old chief-Away, or bring me back thy brothers! Where's Edwin, Kenrick, and Ella? 35 coward, hast thou deserted them in the hour of peril? Hence with thee !-Oh! that I could wield weapon again!" "This is madness, my father," replied Hugoline; "I did all that man could do for them the shaft that slew Edwin grazed my face. See you this hacked buckler? it opposed a vain resistance to the axe of a Norman knight, who, with his followers, slew Kenrick and Ella." ""Tis false dastard as thou art," cried the old chief. "By the soul of Hengist ! thou art no son of mine-hence with thee. Now, now the Norman may come, and do his worst, for all I loved is lost. My monarch slain, and my brave boys too!" "Father," said Hugoline, "I am no coward; ask my kinsmen here if I flinched from the fight till my brethren fell. King Harold thought me no craven when I struck my javelin through the giant Dane, who kept the bridge at Stamford. I left the field to save thee, for the Norman's cry is up, and woe to the armed Saxon that escapes not his clutch. Quick, let me convey you to the water's edge, a boat lies behind yon rock." At this moment a horn was sounded at a short distance, and loud shouts were heard. "Ah!" cried the gallant youth," the blood-hounds have followed at our heels. Look to the gate, Waltheof-we will die here!"-Then, turning to his aged sire, he continued-" Father, I have not deserved this; had it not been for thee, I would never have left that bloody fatal field alive." In obedience to the command of Hugoline, his kinsmen and serfs had secured the gate, and prepared the engines on the walls, determined to resist their pursuers to the last. The aged Redwald, somewhat appeased by the protestations of his son, encouraged his followers to hold out the castle against the Norman soldiers, who were now arrived at the gate. They were headed by a knight of gigantic stature, mounted on a horse corresponding in size with its rider, whose surtout of azure, on which was embroidered a wolf's head, erased, now splashed with blood, gave evident token that the wearer had not been idle in the day's strife. "Saxon," said the knight, addressing Hugoline, who stood on the ramparts with his followers, "resistance is vain; open your gates, or, by the light of heaven, ye shall all swing in the night air." "Norman dog!" shouted Hugoline, 68 we fear thee not-do thy worst, we can but die !" "Boy,” replied the knight calmly, "thou art working thine own destruction; once more I command thee to admit us, or thou shalt see that Lupus keeps his word." 66 Thy word, base plunderer!" said Hugoline. "The men thou see'st around me shrink not from the swords of your followers; think ye then that idle threats will fright them ?" The Norman's countenance lowered, and it was sometime before he replied to this speech; at length he spoke, not however to Hugoline, but to his father, who had been an attentive listener to the colloquy. "Old man," said he, "has this malapert boy thy countenance? Bethink thee of thy peril, and give us entrance. Woe to him who provokes the vengeance of the Duke of Normandy, now your King!" "Norman !" replied the old chief, as his dim eye kindled with ire, “ think ye that in one battle the force of England can be crushed? No! kinsmen of the slain Harold yet live, and will avenge his death -for me, I can die here!" Lupus ground his teeth with rage, and replied fiercely " ""Tis well for thee, grey beard, to vaunt thus; but know, that if your castle be not rendered up ere moon-rise, thou and thy kinsmen shall be consumed in it.” He pointed to the horizon as he spoke, which was beginning to brighten, though the moon had not yet appeared. A pale light glimmered on the Channel, which served to distinguish the ails of those fugitives who had quitted their native shore, after escaping from the disastrous conflict. The Norman soldiers, in the mean time, kindled a fire, and lit several torches. Hugoline watched them intently, and perceived that they were bringing forward a quantity of dry underwood from a neigh bouring copse. They advanced to the gates, against which they placed the wood, and appeared to be only waiting for the signal from their leader. The moon rose above the horizon, and threw her red glare on the scene. Lupus advanced, and in a threatening tone demanded instant admittance. Hugoline replied by loosening his bow at the knight, whose hauberk of proof protected its wearer the arrow snapped, and fell to the grounded harmless. Lupus calmly seized a torch, and threw it into the midst of the wood, which blazed fiercely, and the gates were instantly in flames, when the aged Redwald, at the highest pitch of his voice, cried "Hold, Norman! hold, for the blessed Virgin's sake have mercy, and the place shall be given up-but spare my boy!" "Fear not, my father," said Hugoline, "let us die in the flames which consume our hall, for they are more merciful than the Norman who has kindled them.” "Oh! for our Lady's sake, take pity!" cried the aged chief, who heeded not his son's remonstrance" Have mercy, and all we have is yours!" "Then quickly open thy gates, or thou and all thy household shall perish!' Lupus, as he spoke, perceived the old chief giving orders to unbar the gates, when Hugoline spoke. "Are we," said he, " to pass free? or do'st thou purpose keeping us to make sport for thy fierce leader?" Boy," replied Lupus, " 'tis witless to parley thus-open your gates, or, by my father's soul, I'll have thee flayed alive, if the flames should spare thee." "Never!" shouted Hugoline. "None but cravens fear to die. Hence with thee, dog, or wait and see us perish; for, by the soul of Hengist, whose blood runs in my veins, I will not yield to thee, or twice thy force." Then die in thine obstinacy," said the knight. "Behold the flames are kindling round your gates, another moment makes you ours." A loud yell of despair arose from the Saxon followers, in the midst of which the Norman soldiers let fly a shower of arrows, which killed three of them, and wounded several others. The rest, seeing the hopelessness of their case, flew to the gates, which they threw open, and the Normans, rushing forward with a shout, entered the castle, and disarmed the feeble garrison. Redwald was instantly seized. His son, springing forward, slew the foremost of the Norman soldiers; but the rest closing round him, he was struck to the ground and secured. 66 Away with him to the next tree," said Hugh Lupus; when Redwald threw himself at the feet of the knight. "Oh, Norman," he cried, "" thou hast not heart to do a deed so vile-spare him, or let me suffer first, but do not kill my only boy!" At this moment the eye of the old chief rested on a youth splendidly dressed, who stood by the side of Lupus. Oh," continued Redwald, "if thou would'st not have that child meet as dreadful a death, spare Hugoline, whose only crime is that he has this day fought for his king and country!" "Saxon," replied the knight, 66 thy son has sought his own death: bears he sword or lance, and knows not that to defend an untenable place is to forfeit say the lives of the garrison? He shall die!" "Nay, nay," cried Redwald, " not so-revoke your sentence! Here at thy feet I entreat thee to spare him!" and he clasped the knees of the knight, while the perspiration stood in large drops on his aged brow. The countenance of Lupus lowered.— Old man," he said, "ye plead in vain, What! by my father's soul he shall die! shall a Norman knight be bearded by a wretched Saxon slave like him? Hence! or I may forget thy grey hairs, and do thee violence." "Then take thy quittance fierce Norman!" cried the old chief. He started on his feet, and quick as thought plucked a small dagger from his bosom, and struck with all his force at the breast of the knight; but one of the soldiers with a pole axe struck Redwald a blow on the head, which stretched him lifeless at the feet of his conqueror. Hugoline beheld it; a groan of agony burst from his overcharged bosom, and the cords with which he was bound snapped as though they had been rushes. In an instant he sprung forward, and seized in his arms the youth who stood by the side of Lupus, and rushed up the stairs of one of the towers. Several of the Norman soldiers followed him; but he quickly closed an iron door upon his pursuers, and the next moment appeared on the top of the tower. A dozen bows were bent, but he held before him as a shield his innocent victim. "Oh, Saxon "" cried the knightspare my boy, and thou shalt not be harmed." "Ah!" shouted Hugoline, " dost thou offer terms now ?-Give me back then my father and my brothers-raise up that old man, whom your followers have murthered!-restore him, I say, and thy boy is free! What! do'st thou hesitate ?Nay," looking at his victim, "struggle not, child, I will not torture thee," he clutched the throat of the boy as he spoke, and the stifling breath and convulsive struggle told that death was nigh. Shoot! shoot the Saxon dog," screamed Lupus; but at the same moment the body of his child, hurled from the fearful height, fell into the court-yard a mutilated mass; while a dozen shafts transfixed the Saxon, who leaped convulsively from the tower, with a shout of O, queen of the ocean! Borne do.. n by the billow, Gazes she on thee? Then, be thy beams volumes Whose close-crowded columns Then, be thy rays gladness Exert all thy powers, Let thy tears fall in showers, Tell, tell her I love her, Lamp of the even, When thy love gazes on thee, S. RIVETT. A SCENE ON THE ROAD. when we were inspired, partly by Deakins's imperial port, and partly by wrath have we at the impediment to our course, slang'd till our very self was frightened at our vehemence, and our sleeping friend has awakened and stared with mute horror in our face! But there the insensate termagant stands flatly in your way, and unless you have the eloquent vituperations of Jon Bee or Mr. Brougham to aid you, your best plan is to lay your whip on the right flank of your restive horse, and trot out of hearing of her abuse, (celerimo curse you!) Önce and once only, were we happy at such an interruption. It was in that beautiful tract of country between Stirling and the Trosachs. We were slowly driving our old horse, Tempest, in our quiet easy WHAT a piece of work is man! In shandrydan, admiring, as all who have every situation he is infinitely inferior hearts and souls must do, the noble vistas to the softer sex,- except, indeed, as which open every moment upon the sight. we remarked before, upon the road. Far down we heard the gurgling of the Here a man of the minutest intellect is joyous river leaping over rock and stone, fifty degrees more sensible than the trot- yet saw not the glittering of its bubbling ting, plodding, weary looking woman course for the thick leaves which clusby his side. Do you see that bunch of tered on its precipitous bank. Then at red rags swaying from side to side on the a winding of the way we saw a smooth back of that wandering Camilla? In it calm reach, circling with its limpid warepose two chubby children, while the ters round a projecting point, and just nine others, of all shapes and sizes, are below us the tiny billows glistening to straggling along the way. The insigni- the noonday sun, half-seen, half-hid by ficant individual, with the tail of his the brushwood which decked with greencoat (for it has only one) dangling down ness and beauty the rocky ledge over nearly to the junction between his bat- which we gazed. We gave Tempest a tered stocking and his hard brown shoe; gentle hint to proceed, and not far had that mortal with but the ghost of a hat we gone, when, gliding before us in soliupon his head,-a staff within his hand, tude and loveliness, we beheld a form, his shoulders not distinguishable be--and by the quickened pulses of our neath the ample sweep of his deciduous heart-we knew whose only that enchantcoat; that being is the husband of the ing form could be. Immersed in "maiwoman, and, in the estimation of the den meditation," she heard not the rollworld, the father of the eleven children. ing of our chariot wheels. Nearer and A gig sweeps on, containing some red- nearer we approached, and at last, as if nosed, small-eyed Bagman, with his whip roused from a dream, she started and stuck in the arm-rod, a book in his hand, turned round. The large brown eye, and the reins dangling in easy flow over glistening in its lustrous beauty, till it the long bony back of his broken-knee'd appeared almost in tears, the dark archcharger. Hey! hey! cries the conveyer ed eye-brows, the glowing cheek, and of patterns. The paternal vagabond then the enchanting smile, it was-it slips quietly to the side, but guineas to was our Ellen! Three years were passed sixpences the woman creeps steadily on, since we had seen the fawn-like maiden. or even if she be on the right side, diver- We had seen her in the lighted hall, ges into the path, as if on purpose to where she was the cynosure of every cause the Bagman's apprehension for eye-the loadstone of every heart. We careless and furious driving along the had gazed on the ringlets of her dark King's highway. Often and often in our auburn tresses that floated in many a own young days, when mounted in our curl along the pure marble of her snowy friend Seekham's most knowing Stan- neck; we had followed with admiration hope, bowling along the beautiful road every movement of her graceful form, between Bicester and Summertown, at and looked with more than rapture on the easy rate of thirteen miles an hour, the twinkling of her small and fairy-like have we halloed till our throats ached feet, and we had wondered that a flower again to the female part of a pedestrian so fair was still left alone, and was not cavalcade, but all in vain. And then, gathered to bloom on in blessedness, the |