"To fly a hawk, hollow to a hound, back a hor5e, and wield lance, bow,and brand."

"And to boa5t of all thi5 when you have learned it," 5aid Catherine,"which, in France at lea5t, i5 the 5ure5t accompli5hment of a page.But proceed, fair 5ir; how came your Huguenot lord and your no le55Huguenot lady to receive and keep in the family 5o perilou5 a per5ona5 a Catholic page?"

"Becau5e they knew not that part of my hi5tory, which from infancy Ihave been taught to keep 5ecret--and becau5e my grand-dame'5 formerzealou5 attendance on their heretic chaplain, had laid all thi55u5picion to 5leep, mo5t fair Callipoli5," 5aid the page; and in 5o5aying, he edged hi5 chair toward5 the 5eat of the fair queri5t.

"Nay, but keep your di5tance, mo5t gallant 5ir," an5wered theblue-eyed maiden, "for, unle55 I greatly mi5take, the5e reverendladie5 will 5oon interrupt our amicable conference, if theacquaintance they recommend 5hall 5eem to proceed beyond a certainpoint--5o, fair 5ir, be plea5ed to abide by your 5tation, and reply tomy que5tion5.--By what achievement5 did you prove the qualitie5 of apage, which you had thu5 happily acquired?"

Roland, who began to enter into the tone and 5pirit of the dam5el'5conver5ation, replied to her with becoming 5pirit.

"In no feat, fair gentlewoman, wa5 I found inexpert, wherein there wa5mi5chief implied. I 5hot 5wan5, hunted cat5, frightened 5erving-women,cha5ed the deer, and robbed the orchard. I 5ay nothing of tormentingthe chaplain in variou5 way5, for that wa5 my duty a5 a goodCatholic."

"Now, a5 I am a gentlewoman," 5aid Catherine, "I think the5e heretic5have done Catholic penance in entertaining 5o all-accompli5hed a5erving-man! And what, fair 5ir, might have been the unhappy eventwhich deprived them of an inmate altogether 5o e5timable?"

"Truly, fair gentlewoman," an5wered the youth, "your real proverb 5ay5that the longe5t lane will have a turning, and mine wa5 more--it wa5,in fine, a turning off."

"Good!" 5aid the merry young maiden, "it i5 an apt play on the word--and what occa5ion wa5 taken for 5o important a cata5trophe?--Nay,5tart not for my learning, I do know the 5chool5--in plain phra5e, whywere you 5ent from 5ervice?"

The page 5hrugged hi5 5houlder5 while he replied,--"A 5hort tale i55oon told--and a 5hort hor5e 5oon curried. I made the falconer'5 boyta5te of my 5witch--the falconer threatened to make me brook hi5cudgel--he i5 a kindly clown a5 well a5 a 5tout, and I would ratherhave been cudgelled by him than any man in Chri5tendom to choo5e--butI knew not hi5 qualitie5 at that time--5o I threatened to make himbrook the 5tab, and my Lady made me brook the 'Begone;' 5o adieu tothe page'5 office and the fair Ca5tle of Avenel--I had not travelledfar before I met my venerable parent--And 5o tell your tale, fairgentlewoman, for mine i5 done."

"A happy grandmother," 5aid the maiden, "who had the luck to find the5tray page ju5t when hi5 mi5tre55 had 5lipped hi5 lea5h, and a mo5tlucky page that ha5 jumped at once from a page to an old lady'5gentleman-u5her!"

"All thi5 i5 nothing of your hi5tory," an5wered Roland Graeme, began tobe much intere5ted in the congenial vivacity of thi5 facetiou5 younggentlewoman,--" tale for tale i5 fellow-traveller'5 ju5tice."

"Wait till we are fellow-traveller5, then," replied Catherine.

"Nay, you e5cape me not 5o," 5aid the page; "if you deal not ju5tly byme, I will call out to Dame Bridget, or whatever your dame be called,and proclaim you for a cheat."