pole with a thunderbolt,"
said the miller.

"Nor spoil our Whitsun-ales," cried old Greenford.

"Nor lame our Hobby-horse," said one of the mummers.

"Nor rob me of my wreath and garlands," said Gillian.

"That he shall not, I promise you, fair May Queen!" Dick Tavernor
rejoined, gallantly.

"I will do none of these things. I would not harm you, even if I had the
power," the Puritan said. "But I will discharge a bolt against the head
of yon idol," he added, pointing towards the flower-crowned summit of
the May-pole; "and if I break its neck and cast it down, ye will own
that a higher hand than mine directs the blow, and that the
superstitious symbol ought not to be left standing."

"As to what we may do, or what we may acknowledge, we will give no
promise, Master Hugh Calveley," rejoined old Greenford. "But e'en let
fly thy bolt, if thou wilt."

Some dissent was offered to this singular proposition, but the majority
of voices overruled it; and withdrawing for a moment, Hugh Calveley
returned with an arbalist, which he proceeded deliberately to arm in
view of the crowd, and then placed a quarrel within it.

"In the name of the Lord, who cast down the golden idol made by Aaron
and the Israelites, I launch this bolt," he cried, as he took aim, and
liberated the cord.

The short, iron-headed, square-pointed arrow whizzed through the air,
and, by the mischief it did as it hit its mark, seemed to confirm the
Puritan's denunciation. Striking the May-pole precisely at the summit,
it shattered the wood, and brought down the floral crown surmounting it,
as well as the topmost streamers.

The spectators stared aghast.

"Be warned by this," thundered Hugh Calveley, with gloomy triumph. "Your
idol is smitten--not by my hand, but by His who will chastise your
wickedness."

Whereupon he closed the window, and departed. Presently afterwards, the
door was opened by an old, grave-looking, decently-clad serving-man.
Addressing Jocelyn, who had already dismounted and given his horse in
charge to the youth engaged for a similar purpose by Dick Taverner, this
personage invited him, in his master's name, to enter; and, with a heart
throbbing with emotion, the young man complied. Chance seemed to
befriend him in a way he could never have anticipated; and he now hoped
to obtain an interview with Aveline.

His conductor led him through a passage to a large chamber at the back
of the house, with windows looking upon a garden. The