Westward might be seen a curl of blue smoke from the newly-dignified priory at Upholland, recently invested with that honour through the grants and intercessions of Sir Robert de Holland, a proud knight in the train of Thomas Earl of Lancaster.  It was northward that the pilgrim turned, with a look of more intense anxiety.  The mansion of Haigh stood at the extremity of a broad slope, surmounted by shady woods, now fading into the warm and luxuriant tints of autumn.  Dark and cumbrous turrets, projecting from the wings, grimly caught the first gleam of the morning; whilst a tower of considerable strength and elevation rose above what could only be surmised as the principal gateway.  It was apparently designed to overlook the whole fabric, serving as a refuge to the besieged, and a stronghold in case of attack.  Narrow loopholes might be traced, irregularly disposed in the heavy masonry; and at the summit stood a small turret resembling a large chair, from which, at stated occasions, waved the richly-emblazoned escutcheon of the Norris and the Bradshaigh.  The staff was just visible, but unaccompanied by its glittering adjunct.  It was this circumstance principally that seemed to engage the attention of the stranger.  He broke into a loud and involuntary exclamation:—­

“Sir William’s birthday is forgotten!—­That staff opened a rich blossom to the breeze ten years agone.  It is the day—­the very hour of Sir William’s birth!”

He smote his forehead, scarcely able to contain the violence of his emotion.

“Let that day darken!—­let it be cursed with storms and tempest!—­let the shadows of death brood over it, and the teeming night bring tenfold horrors!—­Yet how calm, how peacefully yonder sun approaches in his strength!  Nature is the same—­bright, joyous, and unchanging!—­Man, man alone, is mutable—­his days are full of mourning and bitterness!”

He bowed his head, crouching almost to the dust, in that overwhelming agony.

Suddenly he was aroused, and in a manner as unceremonious as unexpected.  A smart blow on the back announced a somewhat uncourteous intruder, whilst a loud and discordant laugh struck shrilly on his ear.  Starting, he beheld a figure of a low and unshapely stature, clothed in a light dress, fantastically wrought.  A round cap, slouched in front, fitted closely to his head, from which depended what the wearer no doubt looked upon as a goodly aggregate of ornaments.  These consisted of ear-tassels and rings of various dimensions, that jingled oddly as he twisted his head from side to side with a knowing and important grin.  A pair of large leathern boots, slipped on for travelling purposes, with ample flaps turning down from the knee, formed the lower costume of this strange being.  Round his neck he wore an iron collar:  its import, whether in the shape of punishment or decoration, is at this time doubtful.  A visage of more than ordinary size projected from between a pair of shoulders