in,
And knotted them with care,
Then bade the Stags pull once again
Upon the ropes of hair.

And lo! the slender harness held,
And lo! the antlered steeds
Went forth to prove their generous love
Lent to a maiden's needs.

Straight to the King her gift they bore
To fill his heart with shame;
And her true maiden went before
To show him whence they came.

Now when the King this wonder saw
He turned all pale and red,
"She hath a greater power than law,"
He vowed, and bowed his head.

"She hath a greater power than I,
Whose slaves the wild stags be,
And golden hair like this might snare
E'en the wild heart of me.

"No need to her of castles stout,
No need of moat or tower,
With antlered guardians about
Her lonely wild-wood bower.

"No need to her of watch or ward,
With friends like these at hand;
Bid her from me henceforth to be
Queen of her little land.

"Henceforth she is no serf of mine,
Nor subject to my throne;
Where'er her golden hair may shine
That is her realm alone."

So where the seven cross-roads met
Still dwelt the holy maid,
Her hut a place of refuge set
For all who shelter prayed.

Her realm a holy place of peace,
Where, with the ancient nags,
Lived out their days in pleasant ways
Athracta's faithful Stags.

SAINT KENTIGERN & THE ROBIN

ONCE upon a time Saint Servan kept a school near Glasgow in Scotland,
and many boys, big and little, came there to study. Now of all these
boys there was one who surpassed the rest in everything that makes a
good scholar. Kentigern was one of the smallest boys in the school, and
yet he stood at the head of all his classes. It was Kentigern who found
the answer to the knottiest problem, and who read off the hardest
passages of Latin when no one else was able to make sense of them. It
was Kentigern who learned his lessons first and who recited them best.
It was Kentigern who sang the loudest and was never off the pitch; and
good Saint Servan loved him best of all his pupils.

For all these reasons, and for several more like t