can
outstrip time; toil quenches the fire of youth; and despair traces
wrinkles deeper than old age.

"Happy whom none of these befall;
But this poor Palmer knew them all."

Lord Marmion made known his request, and the Palmer took upon himself
the task of guide, on condition that they set out without delay, saying:

"'But I have solemn vows to pay
And may not linger by the way;
Saint Mary grant that cave or spring
May back to peace my bosom bring,
Or bid it throb no more!'"

Then the page, on bended knee, presented to each guest in turn the
massive silver bowl of wassail, "the midnight draught of sleep," rich
with wine and spices. Lord Marmion drank, "Sound sleep to all"; the earl
pledged his noble guest; all drained it merrily except the Palmer. He
alone refused, although Selby urged him most courteously. The feast was
over, the sound of minstrel hushed. Nought was heard in the castle but
the slow footsteps of the guard.

At dawn the chapel doors unclosed, and after a hasty mass from Friar
John, a rich repast was served to knight and squire.

"Lord Marmion's bugles blew to horse:
Then came the stirrup-cup in course;
Between the Baron and his host
No point of courtesy was lost;
Till, filing from the gate, had passed
That noble train, their Lord the last.
Then loudly rang the trumpet call;
Thundered the cannon from the wall,
And shook the Scottish shore;
Around the castle eddied slow,
Volumes of smoke as white as snow,
And hid its turrets hoar;
Till they rolled forth upon the air,
And met the river breezes there."

[Illustration: THE LIBRARY, ABBOTSFORD.]

CHAPTER II.

The breeze which swept away the rolling smoke from Norham, curled not
the Tweed alone. Far upon Northumbrian waters, it blew fresh and strong,
bearing on its wings a barque from the Abbey of Whitby on the coast of
Yorkshire, sailing to St. Cuthbert's at Lindisfarne, on Holy Isle.

"The merry seamen laugh'd to see
Their gallant ship so lustily
Furrow the green sea-foam.
Much joy'd they in their honor'd freight;
For, on the deck, in chair of state,
The Abbess of Saint Hilda placed,
With five fair nuns, the galley graced.

"'T was sweet to see these holy maids,
Like birds escaped to green-wood shades,
Their first flight from the cage;
How timid, and how curious, too