of the names of people, and
places.

"The first letter is 'A'. There it is, in that horn book, you see. It
looks like two men, or two trees, leaning against each other for
support; with a line, which might be their hands, in the middle.

"Now, make a letter like that, on your board. The little 'a' is a small
circle with an upright, with a tail to it; you might fancy it a fish,
with its tail turned up.

"Now, write each of those, twelve times."

So he continued with the first six letters.

"That will be as much as you will remember, at first," he said. "Now we
will begin spelling with those letters, and you will see how they are
used. You see, it is a mixture of the sounds of the two: 'b a' makes
ba, and 'b e' be, 'c a' ca, 'da' da, 'd e' de, and so on. Now, we will
work it out."

Oswald was intelligent, and anxious to learn. He had been accustomed,
when riding, to notice every irregularity of ground, every rock and
bush that might serve as a guide, if lost in a fog, and he very quickly
took in the instruction given him; and, by the time the convent bell
rung to dinner, he had made a considerable progress with the variations
that could be formed with the six letters that he had learned; and the
friar expressed himself as highly satisfied with him.

"You have learned as much, in one morning, as many of the boys who
attend schools would learn in a month," he said. "If you go on like
this, I will warrant that, if Percy delays his return for two months,
you will know as much as many who have been two years at the work. I
have always said that it is a mistake to teach children young; their
minds do not take in what you say to them. You may beat it into them,
but they only get it by rote; and painfully, because they don't
understand how one thing leads to another, and it is their memory only,
and not their minds, that are at work."

The next day came news that the Scotch had crossed the border, and
there was great excitement in the castle; but it was soon learned that
the invasion was not on a great scale, neither the Douglases nor the
Earl of March having taken part in it.

"There is no fear of our being attacked, here," Alwyn Forster said to
Oswald. "The sheriffs of the county will call out their levies, and
will soon make head against them. At the same time, we shall make
preparations against any chance of their coming hither."

This was done. Vast quantities of arrows were prepared, stones
collected and carri