ll was dark and silent as
before. Just as he was about to depart he thought he heard a rustling
near him, and presently the croaking voice of the hag close at his ear.

"Lord William," said she, "thou art a bold man to come hither after
nightfall."

He felt something startled, but he swerved not from his purpose.

"Can'st help me to a bride, Mother Helston?" cried he, in a firm voice;
"for I feel mightily constrained to wed!"

"Is the doomed maiden of Bernshaw a bride fit for Lord William's bosom?"
said the invisible sorceress.

"Give me some charm to win her consent,--I care not for the rest."

"Charm!" replied the beldame, with a screech that made Lord William
start back. "Spells have I none that can bind her. I would she were in
my power; but she hath spell for spell. Nought would avail thee, for she
is beyond my reach; her power would baffle mine?"

"Is she too tainted with the iniquity that is abroad?"

"I tell thee yea; and my spirit must bow to hers. Wouldst wed her
now--fond, feeble-hearted mortal?"

Lord William was silent; but the beautiful form of the maiden seemed to
pass before him, and he loved her with such overmastering vehemence that
if Satan himself had stood in the gap he would not have shrunk from his
purpose.

"Mause Helston," said the lover, "if thou wilt help me at this bout, I
will not draw back. I dare wed her though she were twice the thing thou
fearest. Tell me how her spell works,--I will countervail it,--- I will
break that accursed charm, and she shall be my bride!"

For a while there was no reply; but he heard a muttering as though some
consultation were going on.

"Listen, Lord William," she spoke aloud. "Ay, thou wilt listen to thine
own jeopardy! Once in the year--'tis on the night of All-Hallows--she
may be overcome. But it is a perilous attempt!"

"I care not. Point out the way, and I will ride it rough-shod!"

The beldame arose from her couch, and struck a light. Ere they separated
the morning dawned high above the grey hills. Many rites and
incantations were performed, of which we forbear the disgusting recital.
The instructions he received were never divulged; the secrets of that
night were never known; but an altered man was Lord William when he came
back to Hapton Tower.

On All-Hallows' day, with a numerous train, he went forth a-hunting. His
hounds were the fleetest from Calder to Calder; and his horns the
shrillest through the wide forests of Accrington and R