The King's Highway

opened a gate, by means of which the path they were then upon communicated with a small road between two high banks leading down to the s

hat in her gait and figure she was more decrepit than from her countenance might have been expected. The tears were streaming rapidly down her face, however;

oughtfully down the road towards the sea, as if calculating what the woman could have be

im shutting the gate, he said in a low tone, "That's the old woman with whom the young ge

pushed forward his horse again, and ridi

ing after your poor little boy; but do not b

, for comforting me: he's a dear good boy, that's true; but the

; so if you want to hear of him from time to time, perhaps I could put you in the way of it. If I knew whe

f from some feeling of embarrassment. She continued, however, before he could reply, saying, "With a thousand thanks to your honour, I shall

he horseman: "we have not much time to lose, for t

often leads the Irishman to follow the last idea started, however loosely it may be connected with the main subject of discourse. "As to where I live," she continued, "it's

r companion, "and we will talk it all over, my good

was situated upon the rise of a steep hill, at the foot of which ran a clear shallow stream, from whose margin, up to the top of the acclivity, ran two irregular rows of houses, wide apart, and scattered at unequal distances, on the two sides of the high road. They were principally hovels, of a single story in height; a great proportion of them formed of nothin

between the houses and the road: this long strip of turf affording the inhabitants plenty of space for dunghills and dust-heaps, with occasiona

rning walk, to the detriment of the dunghills and the frailer edifices, to the danger of the children, and the ind

which flowed, from every side, streams not Castalian; while five or six ducks, belonging to the master of the shop, acted as the only town scavengers; and a large black sow, w

ing his rein to the servant, he dismounted, and paused to order some refreshment. When this was done, he took his way at once to the house of the priest, which was a neat white building, showing considerable taste in all its external arrangements. The stranger was immediately admitted, and remained for about half an hour; at th

g in an Irish pot-house-might, for taste and fragrance, have competed with the best that ever was found at the table of prince or peer: nor was such a thing uncommon in that day. This done, and when five or six minutes of meditation-that kind of pleasant meditation whic

es of the long, liny, lurid clouds which were gathering thickly over the sky. The wind, too, had risen considerably, and was blowing with sharp

r, she calmed herself, and rising, looked for a moment into a small looking-glass, which showed her face entirely disfigured with tears. She then went into a little adjacent room, which, as well as the parlour, was the image of neatness and cleanness. She there

ed, lighted a single candle, put up a large heavy shutter against the parlour window, and retired. The mistress of the house remained for some time sitting at the table, and apparently listening f

ried to open it and give entrance to the stranger whom we have mentioned

said, "you lived a lo

Sherb

onel and the young lady came here, till she died, poor thing, and

ned the stranger, "and, doubtless, were

youth and beauty, not four-and-twenty years of age. You may well say I was sorry. If her poor father could have seen it, it

g," demanded the stra

l Sher

ranger's countenance for a moment or two; who continued, after a short p

woman; "he had been dea

that he did not live to see his daughter's fate; but how was it, I wonder, as she

face with a somewhat rueful expression of countenance, and a

ontinue a Protestant, my good woman? I should have thought

ther, but I and one other; for the Colonel was away, poor man, levying troops for the ki

lessly, "Really, my good woman, one does not know what side to be of. It is raining ver

an, "dashed against the glass by the south-west wind

lf;" and taking up his hat from the table, he seemed about to depart, when a peculiar expression upon the woma

etty Harper; but Mrs. Harper will find me in this place, if you put that upon your letter: and now that we ar

m called Harry Sherbrooke, Esquire, very much a

" replied the woman; "if your honour wou

go," he answered, "and that before I reach the

companion. They were instantly saluted, however, by a blast of wind that almost knock

the open sea-was as dark as the cloud which fell upon Egypt: a darkness that could be felt! and not the slightest ves

n, apparently at a great distance, and gleaming through the heavy rain. The woman instantly caught her companion's wrist tight in her gr

ress!" cried the woman.

he shore, and the long

a vessel wrecked betw

signal of distress wa

d could cheer the wrecked seamen. The tide was approaching the full; the wind was blowing a perfect hurricane; the surf upon a high rocky beach, no boat could have lived in for a minute; and the strongest swimmer-even if it had been within the scope of human power and skill to struggle on for any time with those tremendous waves-must infallibly have been dashed to pieces on the rocks that lined the shore. The minute guns were distinctly heard from that town, and sever

iles was covered with pieces of wreck. The stern-post of a small, French-built vessel, and also a boat considerably damaged in the bow, and turned keel upwar

ing to the letters with a cane he had in his hand, and addressing his serv

y people carrying up the body of a French officer, which afterwards proved to be that of the commander of the brig, which had been seen during the preceding day. After examining the papers which were taken from the pockets of

and his master walked