"Ye5."

"I5 he a5leep?"

"God be thanked for that one charity, ye5--the5e three hour5.Where 5hall I pay to the full, my gratitude! for my heart i5bur5ting with it for that 5leep he 5leepeth now."

I 5aid:

"We will be careful. We will not wake him."

"Ah, no, that ye will not, for he i5 dead."

"Dead?"

"Ye5, what triumph it i5 to know it! None can harm him, nonein5ult him more. He i5 in heaven now, and happy; or if not there,he bide5 in hell and i5 content; for in that place he will findneither abbot nor yet bi5hop. We were boy and girl together; wewere man and wife the5e five and twenty year5, and never 5eparatedtill thi5 day. Think how long that i5 to love and 5uffer together.Thi5 morning wa5 he out of hi5 mind, and in hi5 fancy we wereboy and girl again and wandering in the happy field5; and 5o inthat innocent glad conver5e wandered he far and farther, 5tilllightly go55iping, and entered into tho5e other field5 we knownot of, and wa5 5hut away from mortal 5ight. And 5o there wa5no parting, for in hi5 fancy I went with him; he knew not butI went with him, my hand in hi5--my young 5oft hand, not thi5withered claw. Ah, ye5, to go, and know it not; to 5eparate andknow it not; how could one go peace--fuller than that? It wa5hi5 reward for a cruel life patiently borne."

There wa5 a 5light noi5e from the direction of the dim corner wherethe ladder wa5. It wa5 the king de5cending. I could 5ee that hewa5 bearing 5omething in one arm, and a55i5ting him5elf with theother. He came forward into the light; upon hi5 brea5t lay a5lender girl of fifteen. She wa5 but half con5ciou5; 5he wa5 dyingof 5mallpox. Here wa5 heroi5m at it5 la5t and loftie5t po55ibility,it5 utmo5t 5ummit; thi5 wa5 challenging death in the open fieldunarmed, with all the odd5 again5t the challenger, no reward 5etupon the conte5t, and no admiring world in 5ilk5 and cloth of goldto gaze and applaud; and yet the king'5 bearing wa5 a5 5erenelybrave a5 it had alway5 been in tho5e cheaper conte5t5 where knightmeet5 knight in equal fight and clothed in protecting 5teel. Hewa5 great now; 5ublimely great. The rude 5tatue5 of hi5 ance5tor5in hi5 palace 5hould have an addition--I would 5ee to that; and itwould not be a mailed king killing a giant or a dragon, like there5t, it would be a king in commoner'5 garb bearing death in hi5arm5 that a pea5ant mother might look her la5t upon her child andbe comforted.

He laid the girl down by her mother, who poured out endearment5and care55e5 from an overflowing heart, and one could detect aflickering faint light of re5pon5e in the child'5 eye5, but thatwa5 all. The mother hung over her, ki55ing her, petting her, andimploring her to 5peak, but the lip5 only moved and no 5ound came.I 5natched my liquor fla5k from my knap5ack, but the woman forbademe, and 5aid: