eant!" replied the hermit. "Rail not against the King of
the Franks, for he is a man of God."

"Of God, say you? Nay, rather of the devil! Has he not ravaged and
wasted the Breton land? The gold that he wrings from the Breton folk
is expended for the good of Satan. Open, hermit, open!"

"Not so, my son, for should I do so the Franks would surely fix a
quarrel upon me."

"You refuse?" shouted Morvan in a voice of thunder. "Good; then I
shall burst into your cell," and with these words he threw himself
against the door, which creaked ominously.

"Hold, my son, hold!" cried the old hermit in tremulous tones.
"Forbear and I will open to you"; and seizing a torch he lit it at the
remains of his fire and went to open the door.

_The Severed Head_

He unlocked it and drew it back, but as he did so he recoiled
violently, for he saw advancing upon him a terrible spectre, holding
its head in its two hands. Its eyes seemed full of blood and fire, and
rolled round and round in a most horrible manner. The hermit was about
to shriek in terror when the head of the apparition, after laughing
grimly, addressed him:

"Come now, old Christian, do not be afraid. God permits this thing to
be. He has allowed the Franks to decapitate me, but for a time only,
and as you see me now I am only a phantom. But He will permit you
yourself to replace my head on my shoulders if you will."

The hermit stammered and drew back. This was not his first encounter
with the supernatural, which he had good reason to dread, but like all
Bretons he had come under the magnetism of Morvan, even although he
believed that the King of the Franks was his rightful overlord; so,
steeling himself against his natural timidity, he said:

"If God permits this thing I shall be very willing to replace your
head on your shoulders."

"Take it, then," said the decapitated Morvan, and with trembling hands
the priest took the gory trophy and replaced it on the Breton chief's
shoulders, saying at the same time: "I replace your head, my son, in
the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit."

And by virtue of this benediction the phantom once more became a man.

"Morvan," said the hermit, "you must do penance, heavy penance, with
me. You must carry about with you for seven years a robe of lead,
padlocked to your neck, and each day at the hour of twelve you must go
to fetch water from the well at the summit of the mountain yonder."

"I will do as you desire,"