er babes,
but would only weep over them. That angered the Black Wolf, and there
were chidings which made matters little better, till at last the poor
lady pined away, and died while I was still an infant."

"A sad tale," said Eustace.

"Ay! I used to weep at it, when the old crone who nursed me would tell
it over as I sat by her side in the evening. See, here is holy relic
that my mother wore round her neck, and my nurse hung round mine. It
has never been parted from me. So I grew up to the years of pagehood,
which came early with me, and forth I went on my first foray with the
rest of them. But as we rode joyously home with our prey before us, a
band of full a hundred and fifty men-at-arms set on us in the forest.
Our brave thirty--down they went on all side. I remember the tumult,
the heavy mace uplifted, and my father's shield thrust over me. I can
well-nigh hear his voice saying, 'Flinch not, Gaston, my brave
wolf-cub!' But then came a fall, man and horse together, and I went
down stunned, and knew no more till a voice over me said, 'That whelp
is stirring--another sword-thrust!' But another replied, 'He bears the
features of Alienor, I cannot slay him.'"

"It was your mother's lover?"

"Montagudo? Even so; and I was about to beg for mercy, but, at my
first movement, the other fellow's sword struck me back senseless once
more, and when I recovered my wits, all was still, and the moonlight
showed me where I was. And a fair scene to waken to! A score of dark
shapes hung on the trees--our trusty men-at-arms--and my own head was
resting on my dead father's breast. Us they had spared from
hanging--our gentle blood did us that service; but my father and my
three brethren all were stone dead. The Count de Bearn had sworn to
put an end to the ravages of the Black Wolf, and, joining with the
Montagudos, had done the work, like traitor villains as they were."

"And yourself, Gaston?"

"I was not so badly wounded but that I could soon rise to my feet--but
where should I go? I turned towards the Castle, but the Bearnese had
been there before me, and I saw flames bursting from every window. I
was weak and wounded, and sank down, bleeding and bewailing, till my
senses left me; and I should have died, but for two Benedictines
journeying for the service of their Convent. The good brethren were in
fear for their bags in going through the Black Wolf's country, but they
had pity on me; they brought me to myself,