168 LEGEND OF KNOCK-A-THAMPLE. 



object in living was to find thy caitiff self ; a world would not 

 purchase thee one moment's respite !" and before the wretch 

 could more than clutch his weapon, the Knight's sword passed 

 through his heart the hilt struck upon the breast bone, and 

 the Red Pedler did not carry his life to the floor. 



The stranger for a moment gazed upon the breathless body, 

 and having with the dead man's cloak removed the blood from 

 his blade, replaced it coolly in the sheath. The Pedler's purse 

 he flung scornfully to the peasant, but the cross he took up, 

 looked at it with fixed attention, and the herdsman's wife 

 remarked, that more than one tear fell upon the relic. 



Just then the gray- haired Monk stood before him ; he had 

 left his convent to offer up the mass, which he did on every 

 anniversary of the pilgrim's murder. He started back with 

 horror as he viewed the bleeding corpse ; while the Knight, 

 having secured the cross within his bosom, resumed his former 

 cold and haughty bearing. 



" Fellow!" he cried to the trembling peasant, "hence with 

 that carrion. Come hither, Monk why gapest thou thus ? 

 hast thou never seen a corpse ere now ? Approach, I would 

 speak with thee apart" and he strode to the further end of 

 the cottage, followed by the churchman. " I am going to 

 confide to thee what " 



"The penitent should kneel," said the old man, timidly. 



" Kneel!" exclaimed the Knight, "and to thee, my fellow 

 mortal ! Monk, thou mistakest / am not of thy faith, and I 

 laugh thy priestcraft to derision. Hearken, but interrupt me 

 not. The beauteous being whose blood was spilled in these 

 accursed wilds, was the chosen lady of my love. I stole her 

 from a convent, and wedded her in secret ; for pride of birth 

 induced me to conceal from the world my marriage with a 

 fugitive nun. She became pregnant, and that circumstance 

 endeared her to me doubly, and I swore a solemn oath, that if 

 she brought a boy, I would at once announce him as my 

 heir, and proclaim my marriage to the world. The wars called 

 me for a time away. Deluded by the artifice of her confessor, 

 my loved one was induced to come hither on a pilgrimage, to 

 intercede with thy saint, that the burden she bore might prove 

 a son. Curses light upon the shaveling that counselled that 

 fatal journey ! Nay, cross not thyself, old man, for I would 

 execrate thy master of Rome, had he been the false adviser. 

 Thou knowest the rest, Monk. Take this purse. She was of 



