$6 Kxcur0i0n from TSSTintiermere 



behind, on which herds of deer are occasionally seen, like 

 brown shadows from the clouds. They are safe there from 

 being startled (as they are in the glades of the park) by 

 strangers who come to find out Ara Force by following the 

 sound of the fall. As he sits in the cool damp nook at the 

 bottom of the chasm, where the echo of dashing and gurg- 

 ling water never dies, and the ferns, long grasses, and ash 

 sprays, wave and quiver everlastingly in the pulsing air ; and 

 as, looking up, he sees the slender line of bridge spanning 

 the upper fall, he ought to know of the mournful legend 

 which belongs to this place, and which Wordsworth has pre- 

 served : — In the olden times, a knight who loved a lady, 

 and courted her in her father's tower here, at Greystoke, 

 went forth to win glory. He won great glory : and at first 

 his lady rejoiced in it : but he was so long in returning, and 

 she heard so much of his deeds in behalf of distressed 

 ladies, that doubts at length stole upon her heart as to whe- 

 ther he still loved her. These doubts disturbed her mind in 

 sleep, and she began to walk in her dreams, directing her 

 steps towards the waterfall where she and her lover used to 

 meet. Under a holly tree besides the fall, they had plighted 

 their vows ; and this was the limit of her dream-walks. The 

 knight at length returned to claim her. Arriving in the 

 night, he went to the ravine to rest under the holly until the 

 morning should permit him to knock at the gate of the 

 tower : but he saw a gliding white figure among the trees : 

 and this figure reached the holly before him, and plucked 

 twigs from the tree, and threw them into the stream. Was 

 it the ghost of his lady-love? or was it herself? She stood 

 in a dangerous position : he put out his hand to uphold her : 

 the touch awakened her. In her terror and confusion she 

 fell from his grasp into the torrent, and was carried down 

 the ravine. He followed and rescued her ; but she died up- 



