for Samson greatly feared an
ambush of the Sarrasins in rocky spaces betwixt us and the Castle. And
good companies of men were left in a little camp, hastily thrown up by
the shore, lest there should be a mishap upon our march.

But at length the men-at-arms were drawn up in order of march, and every
man sent forward gave word that no sign of Sarrasin could be seen in the
Vale. So, steadily, with the great standard of the two lions unrolled,
we marched across the common, and soon the great mass of Vale Castle, on
its seat of rock, towered up before us, and along the rampart we saw
gathered the defenders, like saints of heaven, welcoming us as we came.
And the women, so long pent up with anxious minds therein, waved their
light kerchiefs, and wept for very joy at the sound of the soldier's
tramp shaking the plain. And along the wall, as at a set signal, when we
passed the black ruin of the old cloister and church, uprose the deep
sound of men's singing, and we heard the goodly round Latin tongue roll
its heavy cadence o'er our heads--"Magnificat anima mea Dominum"--ay,
magnificat of praise and glory, as greeting this deliverance wrought by
the most Holy One, and the downfall of Satan's power. And ever, when
they sing that hymn of blessed Mary, I seem again to be a-marching with
all the triumph of a noble lad in the successful doings of his first
great enterprise over the wind-swept grass of the Vale up to the Castle
gate--marching with a great army, that knows naught of sin and guile,
full-stedfast and full-faithful through all its sunny ranks.

Then, without let or hindrance, we stood before the gate, and once more
the great bolts shot back, the mighty bars clanged as they moved, and
the huge gate swung heavily on its massy hinges, and the advance guard
sweeping on one side, left the way free for Samson and myself to enter.

Could I enter in such stately wise with trumpet-blare and step of
dignity into that place on that day as a young prince or saviour from
afar? Nay, here were the very stones I had played upon through all my
boyhood, and around me stood the good nurses and governors of my early
years. It was no place for me to enter in this pomp. Nor were these
simple monks the men for me to come back to so ceremoniously.

I stood for a moment by Samson's side in hesitation. Then, seeing Hugo
and the abbot, I forgot the army and Samson and my place, and ran
straight forward, like a babe to his mother, and in a momen