Wyseby

ss wyseby: a legend
many expressions of fervent gratitude to the father
and child, he departed, but in a few days he return-
ed again. Then he frankly confessed himself to be
Henry de Harris, brother of the chief of a sept bit-
terly hostile to the Carrutherses ; but he told a sad
tale of wrong and suffering, and besought Walter,
as the preserver of his life upon a former occasion,
to afford him shelter then. What could the brave
warrior do ? To have denied that under such cir-
cumstances, even to a foe, would have been churlish
indeed. The youth remained a guest in the hospi-
table dwelling of Walter, and his image became a
guest in the tender heart of Marion. That heart
was simple, but it was holy and pure ; it had listen-
ed to few homilies, and knew no sage sayings, but
the voices within, night and day, talked of the in-
visible heaven, and the spirit of evil found no audi-
ence. Knowledge! — bah! That unloosing of the
furies, that after fearful conflicts we may bind them
up again. In the fervent, ever-eloquent language
of real passion, the youth breathed his fond wish.
Marion frankly confessed her love, but referred him
to her father.
" ' Guest of mine,' said Walter sternly, when the
youth had ended his passionate solicitation for per-
mission to make Marion his bride, ' against the
weary, the wounded, or the oppressed of the family
of mankind, my door is never shut. My duty as a
man requires that ; but my duty as a vassal forbids
that I should enter into any alliance with the foes of
my chief; and my feelings as a soldier,' cried he,
indignantly, ! lead me to spurn the wretch who could
avail himself of the opportunities afforded by the
hospitality of the father, to steal the affections of