friars had broken their morning fast--stood in the middle of the room.
The ample board soon groaned beneath the weight of the savory caldron,
the unctuous contents of which proved to be a couple of dismembered
pheasants, an equal proportion of poultry, great gouts of ham,
mushrooms, onions, and other piquant condiments, so satisfactory to Dick
Turpin, that, upon tasting a mouthful, he absolutely shed tears of
delight. The dish was indeed the triumph of gipsy cookery; and so
sedulously did Dick apply himself to his mess, and so complete was his
abstraction, that he perceived not he was left alone. It was only when
about to wash down the last drumstick of the last fowl with a can of
excellent ale that he made this discovery.

"What! all gone? And Peter Bradley, too? What the devil does this mean?"
mused he. "I must not muddle my brain with any more Pharaoh, though I
have feasted like a king of Egypt. That will never do. Caution, Dick,
caution. Suppose I shift yon brick from the wall, and place this
precious document beneath it. Pshaw! Luke would never play me false. And
now for Bess! Bless her black skin! she'll wonder where I've been so
long. It's not my way to leave her to shift for herself, though she can
do that on a pinch."

Soliloquizing thus, he arose and walked towards the door.

_CHAPTER III_

_SYBIL_

The wiving vine, that round the friendly elm
Twines her soft limbs, and weaves a leafy mantle
For her supporting lover, dares not venture
To mix her humble boughs with the embraces
Of the more lofty cedar.

GLAPTHORNE: _Albertus Wallenstein_.

Beneath a moldering wall, whither they had strayed, to be free from
interruption, and upon a carpet of the greenest moss, sat Sybil and her
lover.

With eager curiosity she listened to his tale. He recounted all that had
befallen him since his departure. He told her of the awful revelations
of the tomb; of the ring that, like a talisman, had conjured up a
thousand brilliant prospects; of his subsequent perils; his escapes; his
rencontre with Lady Rookwood; his visit to his father's body; and his
meeting with his brother. All this she heard with a cheek now flushed
with expectation, now made pale with apprehension; with palpitating
bosom, and suppressed breath. But when taking a softer tone, love,
affection, happiness inspired the theme, and Luke sought to paint the
bliss that should be theirs in his ne