96 
LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
pointed out the way by which she might escape; 
telling her that his trusty squire and page were 
awaiting, with swift and surefooted steeds, at the 
secret postern behind the castle: that it was her 
alone his father sought to capture, that he might 
prevent their being united; and so, after a few 
tears, a few smiles, a few sighs, and unnumbered 
kisses, he succeeded in carrying off the Daisy of the 
Dale. The few followers who remained alive sallied 
with her out of the narrow postern, and went forth 
without a murmur to share the weal or woe of 
their beloved mistress; for her father was then 
afar off, fighting under the banner of his lawful 
sovereign. 
Picture the rage and the astonishment of the 
old knight, when he had succeeded in beating the 
battered doors off their hinges, and discovered that 
the bird he sought to capture had flown, and that 
his son was nowhere to be found. Thrice did he 
order the castle to be burnt and razed to the 
ground; then, before a brand was lighted, counter¬ 
manded the charge in the same breath: for as he 
stalked sullenly from chamber to hall, he everywhere 
met with some object that recalled the remem¬ 
brance of his youthful days, when, sworn in the 
solemn bond of friendly brotherhood with her father 
they had in their younger years been the first to 
plunge into the foremost ranks of battle together. 
-. 
