as abstracted as
before, and crossed her hands upon her breast in an attitude of
devotion. Gilbert looked to his companion with an inquiring eye, but the
priest was silent.

The next instant they were treading the marble aisle. Gilbert knelt down
upon a tombstone, and endeavored to compose himself for the Mass. He
perceived from the glances thrown upon him from time to time by some of
the peasantry, that he was recognized as an enemy, yet respected as one
under the aegis of religion. These glances became more frequent when
Father Omehr, in his brief discourse, eloquently adverted to the example
of Jesus in the forgiveness of injuries, and enforced the sacred duty of
a Christian to imitate that Divine model. In powerful terms the
gray-haired priest portrayed the miseries of discord, and the blessings
of mutual forbearance; and Gilbert felt that a change was creeping over
him.

He left the church when the Holy Sacrifice had been completed,
meditating upon the pastor's powerful exhortation. But the train of his
thoughts was broken upon the steps by that wild face almost touching
his. As the maniac stared fixedly at him, she muttered in a hoarse
whisper:

They laid him 'neath a noisy tree,
And his glossy head was bare;
They piled the cold earth on his breast,
Then left him helpless there.

While the youth listened in amazement, and almost in terror, the frantic
woman drew from her bosom a long knife, and inflicted a deep wound upon
him before he could wrench it from her determined grasp. The knife had
penetrated to the rib, but not farther, having glanced off to the side.
As the blood spread rapidly over his hunting-shirt, the maniac gave a
wild laugh, and repeated in the same low, dismal tone:

'T is red, 't is red, as red as his;
Man's blood is ever red;
'T was thus his side was crimsoned o'er
When they told me he was dead.

With the last words, she laughed again, more wildly than before, and,
darting into the wood, was soon lost among the gigantic trees.

Some serfs were standing around, but offered no assistance. They seemed
rooted to the ground in terror at the rash act, and crossed themselves
in mute astonishment. At this juncture, while Gilbert was examining the
extent of the wound, and vainly endeavoring to stanch the blood, the
Lady Margaret and the priest appeared at the doorway, having been
attracted by the loud laugh of Gilbert's assailant.

Comprehending in an instant that G