"thou wouldst have me atone for my rashness by doing service to the soul of my adversary-But how may this be? I have no money to purchase masses, and gladly would I go barefoot to the Holy Land to free his spirit from Purgatory, only that"

"My son," said the old man, interrupting him, "the sinner for whose redemption I entreat you to labour, is not the dead but the living. It is not for the soul of thine enemy I would exhort thee to pray-that has already had its final doom from a Judge as merciful as he is just; nor, wert thou to coin that rock into ducats, and obtain a mass for each one, would it avail the departed spirit. Where the tree hath fallen, it must lie. But the sapling which hath in it yet the vigour and juice of life, may be bended to the point to which it ought to incline."

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"Art thou a priest, father?" said the young man; or by what commission dost thou talk of such high matters?"

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By that of my Almighty Master," said the traveller, "under whose banner I am an enlisted soldier."

Halbert's acquaintance with religious matters was no deeper than could be derived from the Archbishop of Saint Andrews' Catechism, and the pamphlet called the Twa-pennie Faith, both which were industriously circulated and recommended by

the Monks of St Mary's. Yet, however indifferent and superficial a theologian, he began to suspect that he was now in company with one of the gospellers, or heretics, before whose influence the ancient system of religion now tottered to the very foundation. Bred up, as may well be presumed, in a holy horror against these formidable sectaries, the youth's first feelings were those of a loyal and devoted church vassal. "Old man," he said, "wert thou able to make good with thy hand the words that thy tongue hath spoken against our Holy Mother Church, we should have tried upon this moor which of our creeds hath the better champion."

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Nay," said the stranger, "if thou art a true soldier of Rome, thou wilt not pause from thy purpose because thou hast the odds of

years and of strength on thy side. Hearken to me, my son. I have shewed thee how to make thy peace with heaven, and thou hast rejected my proffer. I will now shew thee how thou shalt make thy reconciliation with the powers of this world. Take this grey head from the frail body which supports it, and carry it to the chair of proud Abbot Boniface; and when thou tellest him thou hast slain Piercie Shafton, and his ire rises at the deed, lay the head of Henry Warden at his foot, and thou shalt have praise instead of censure."

Halbert Glendinning stepped back in surprise. What are you that Henry Warden so famous

among the heretics, that even Knox's name is scarce more frequently in their mouths? Art thou he, and darest thou to approach the Halidome of Saint Mary's ?"

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"I am Henry Warden of a surety," said the old man, "far unworthy to be named in the same breath with Knox, but yet willing to venture on whatever dangers my Master's service may call me to."

"Hearken to me then," said Halbert; " to slay thee, I have no heart—to make thee prisoner, were equally to bring thy blood on my head-to leave thee in this wild without a guide, were little better. I will conduct thee, as I promised, in safety to the Castle of Avenel; but breathe not, while we are on the journey, a word against the doctrines of the holy church of which I am an unworthy-but though an ignorant, a zealous member.-When thou art there arrived, beware of thyself—there is a high price upon thy head, and Julian Avénel loves the glance of gold bonnet-pieces.'

"Yet thou sayest not, that for lucre he would sell the blood of his guest ?"

"Not if thou comest an invited stranger, relying on his faith," said the youth; " evil as Julian

A gold coin of James V., the most beautiful of the Scottish series; so called because the effigies of the sovereign is represented wearing a bonnet.

may be, he dare not break the rites of hospitality; for, loose as we are in all other ties, these are respected amongst us even to idolatry, and his nearest relations would think it incumbent on them to spill his blood themselves, to efface the disgrace such treason would bring upon their name and lineage. But if thou goest self-invited, and without assurance of safety, I promise thee thy risk is great."

"I am in God's hand," answered the preacher, for such was Henry Warden; “it is on His errand that I traverse these wilds amidst dangers of every kind; while I am useful for my Master's service they shall not prevail against me, and when, like the barren fig-tree, I can no longer produce fruit, what imports it when or by whom the axe is laid to the root ?"

"Your courage and devotion," said Glendinning, " are worthy of a better cause."

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"That," said Warden, "cannot be-mine is the very best."

They continued their journey in silence, Halbert Glendinning tracing with the utmost accuracy the mazes of the dangerous and intricate morasses and hills which divided the Halidome from the barony of Avenel. From time to time he was obliged to stop, in order to assist his companion to cross the black intervals of quaking bog, called in the Scottish dialect hags, by which the firmer parts of the morass were intersected.

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Courage, old man," said Halbert, as he saw his companion almost exhausted with fatigue, we shall soon be upon hard ground. And yet soft as this moss is, I have seen the merry falconers go through it as light as deer when the quarry was upon the flight."

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True, my son," answered Warden, " for so I will still call you though you term me no longer father; and even so doth headlong youth pursue its pleasures, without regard to the mire and the peril of the paths through which they are hurried."

"I have already told thee," answered Halbert Glendinning, sternly, "that I will hear nothing from thee that savours of doctrine."

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Nay, but, my son," answered Warden, "thy spiritual father himself would surely not dispute the truth of what I have now spoken for your edification ?"

Glendinning stoutly replied, "I know not how that may be but I wot well it is the fashion of your brotherhood to bait your hook with fair discourse, and to hold yourselves up as angels of light, that you may the better extend the kingdom of darkness."

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May God," replied the preacher, "pardon those who have thus reported of his servants! I will not offend thee, my son, by being instant out of season-thou speakest but as thou art taughtyet sure I trust that so goodly a youth will be still rescued, like a brand from the burning."