n front of his
altar, yet had no objection to Cuthbert making himself as comfortable as
he could under the circumstances.

At the end of the fourth day Cuthbert asked him how long he had been
there, and how he came to take up his abode in so desolate and fearsome
a place. The hermit was silent for a time, and then said:

"It is long indeed since my thoughts have gone back to the day when I
was of the world. I know not whether it would not be a sin to recall
them; but I will think the matter over to-night, and if it appears to me
that you may derive good from my narrative, I will relate it to you
to-morrow."

The next day Cuthbert did not renew the request, leaving it to the
hermit to speak should he think fit. It was not until the evening that
he alluded to the subject; and then taking his seat on a bank near the
edge of the river, he motioned to Cuthbert to sit beside him, and began:

"My father was a peer of France, and I was brought up at the court.
Although it may seem strange to you, looking upon this withered frame,
sixty-five years back I was as bold and comely a knight as rode in the
train of the king, for I am now past ninety, and for sixty years I have
resided here. I was a favorite of the king's, and he loaded me with
wealth and honor. He, too, was young, and I joined with him in the mad
carousals and feastings of the court. My father resided for the most
part at one of his castles in the country, and I, an only son, was left
much to myself. I need not tell you that I was as wild and as wicked as
all those around me; that I thought little of God, and feared neither
Him nor man.

"It chanced that one of the nobles--I need not mention his name--whose
castle lay in the same province as that of my father, had a lovely
daughter, who, being an only child, would be his heiress. She was
considered one of the best matches in France, and reports of her
exceeding beauty had reached the court. Although my allowance from my
father, and from the estates which the king had given me personally,
should have been more than enough for my utmost wants, gambling and
riotous living swallowed up my revenue faster than it came in, and I was
constantly harassed by debt.

"Talking one night at supper with a number of bold companions as to the
means we should take for restoring our wasted fortunes, some said in
jest that the best plan would be for one of us to marry the beauty of
Dauphiny. I at once said that I would be the man