y sunk down, but
himself he saw no longer; it seemed as if the fairies had conveyed him
from the spot. Perhaps Oswald (for the Saxons were very superstitious)
might have adopted some such hypothesis, to account for Ivanhoe's
disappearance, had he not suddenly cast his eye upon a person attired
like a squire, in whom he recognised the features of his fellow-servant
Gurth. Anxious concerning his master's fate, and in despair at his
sudden disappearance, the translated swineherd was searching for him
everywhere, and had neglected, in doing so, the concealment on which
his own safety depended. Oswald deemed it his duty to secure Gurth, as a
fugitive of whose fate his master was to judge.

Renewing his enquiries concerning the fate of Ivanhoe, the only
information which the cupbearer could collect from the bystanders
was, that the knight had been raised with care by certain well-attired
grooms, and placed in a litter belonging to a lady among the spectators,
which had immediately transported him out of the press. Oswald, on
receiving this intelligence, resolved to return to his master for
farther instructions, carrying along with him Gurth, whom he considered
in some sort as a deserter from the service of Cedric.

The Saxon had been under very intense and agonizing apprehensions
concerning his son; for Nature had asserted her rights, in spite of the
patriotic stoicism which laboured to disown her. But no sooner was he
informed that Ivanhoe was in careful, and probably in friendly hands,
than the paternal anxiety which had been excited by the dubiety of his
fate, gave way anew to the feeling of injured pride and resentment, at
what he termed Wilfred's filial disobedience.

"Let him wander his way," said he--"let those leech his wounds for whose
sake he encountered them. He is fitter to do the juggling tricks of
the Norman chivalry than to maintain the fame and honour of his English
ancestry with the glaive and brown-bill, the good old weapons of his
country."

"If to maintain the honour of ancestry," said Rowena, who was present,
"it is sufficient to be wise in council and brave in execution--to be
boldest among the bold, and gentlest among the gentle, I know no voice,
save his father's---"

"Be silent, Lady Rowena!--on this subject only I hear you not. Prepare
yourself for the Prince's festival: we have been summoned thither with
unwonted circumstance of honour and of courtesy, such as the haughty
Normans have rarely u