ion
towards the left cheek;
expression, therefore, sinister."

_Dickens._

THE WOLF TOWER.

I.

Long ago, in Brittany, under the government of St. Gildas the Wise,
seventh abbot of Ruiz, there lived a young tenant of the abbey who was
blind in the right eye and lame in the left leg. His name was Sylvestre
Ker, and his mother, Josserande Ker, was the widow of Martin Ker, in his
lifetime the keeper of the great door of the Convent of Ruiz.

The mother and the son lived in a tower, the ruins of which are seen at
the foot of Mont Saint Michel de la Trinite, in the grove of
chestnut-trees that belongs to Jean Marechal, the mayor's nephew. These
ruins are now called the Wolf Tower, and the Breton peasants shudder as
they pass through the chestnut-grove; for at midnight, around the Wolf
Tower, and close to the first circle of great stones erected by the
Druids at Carnac, are seen the phantoms of a young man and a young
girl--Pol Bihan and Matheline du Coat-Dor.

The young girl is of graceful figure, with long, floating hair, but
without a face; and the young man is tall and robust, but the sleeves of
his coat hang limp and empty, for he is without arms.

Round and round the circle they pass in opposite directions, and,
strange to tell, they never meet, nor do they ever speak to each other.

Once a year, on Christmas night, instead of walking they run; and all
the Christians who cross the heath to go to the midnight Mass hear from
afar the young girl cry,--

"Wolf Sylvestre Ker, give me back my beauty!" and the deep voice of the
young man adds, "Wolf Sylvestre Ker, give me back my strength!"

II.

And this has lasted for thirteen hundred years; therefore you may well
think there is a story connected with it.

When Martin Ker, the husband of Dame Josserande, died, their son
Sylvestre was only seven years old. The widow was obliged to give up the
guardianship of the great door to a man-at-arms, and retire to the
tower, which was her inheritance; but little Sylvestre Ker had
permission to follow the studies in the convent school.

The boy showed natural ability, but he studied little except in the
class of chemistry, taught by an old monk named Thael, who was said to
have discovered the secret of making gold out of lead by adding to it a
certain substance which no one but himself knew; for certainly, if the
fact had been communicated, all the lead in the country would have been
quickly turne