ce, when men
are called upon to take a desperate resolution, after having placed
themselves in circumstances where it is alike difficult to advance or
to recede. The precipice looked deeper and more dangerous as they
approached the brink, and each waited with an inward emotion of awe,
expecting which of his confederates would set the example by plunging
himself down. This inward sensation of fear and reluctance acted
differently, according to the various habits and characters of the
company. One looked grave; another looked silly; a third gazed with
apprehension on the empty seats at the higher end of the table, designed
for members of the conspiracy whose prudence had prevailed over their
political zeal, and who had absented themselves from their consultations
at this critical period; and some seemed to be reckoning up in their
minds the comparative rank and prospects of those who were present and
absent. Sir Frederick Langley was reserved, moody, and discontented.
Ellieslaw himself made such forced efforts to raise the spirits of the
company, as plainly marked the flagging of his own. Ratcliffe watched
the scene with the composure of a vigilant but uninterested spectator.
Mareschal alone, true to the thoughtless vivacity of his character, ate
and drank, laughed and jested, and seemed even to find amusement in the
embarrassment of the company.

"What has damped our noble courage this morning?" he exclaimed. "We seem
to be met at a funeral, where the chief mourners must not speak above
their breath, while the mutes and the saulies (looking to the lower end
of the table) are carousing below. Ellieslaw, when will you LIFT?
[To LIFT, meaning to lift the coffin, is the common expression for
commencing a funeral.] where sleeps your spirit, man? and what has
quelled the high hope of the Knight of Langley-dale?"

"You speak like a madman," said Ellieslaw; "do you not see how many are
absent?"

"And what of that?" said Mareschal. "Did you not know before, that
one-half of the world are better talkers than doers? For my part, I am
much encouraged by seeing at least two-thirds of our friends true to the
rendezvous, though I suspect one-half of these came to secure the dinner
in case of the worst."

"There is no news from the coast which can amount to certainty of the
King's arrival," said another of the company, in that tone of subdued
and tremulous whisper which implies a failure of resolution.

"Not a line from the Earl o