's stable, and takes
out his best charger. She mounts him proudly,
and so, laughing and singing, rides through
the forest. When she reaches the middle of
the forest, she meets the Lord Halewyn.

"'Hail!' said he, approaching her, 'hail,
beautiful virgin, with eyes so black and brilliant!'

"They proceed together, chatting as they go.

"They arrive at a field in which stands a
gallows. The bodies of several women hang
from it.

"The Lord Halewyn says to her: 'As you
are the loveliest of all virgins, say, how will
you die? The time is come.'

"'It is well: as I may choose, I choose the
sword.

"'But, first of all, take off your tunic; for
the blood of a virgin gushes out so far, that it
might reach you, and I should be sorry.'

"But before he had divested himself of his
tunic, his head rolled off and lay at his feet:
his lips still murmured these words:

"'Go down there into that corn-field, and blow
the horn, so that my friends may hear it.'

"'Into that corn-field I shall not go, neither
shall I blow the horn. I do not follow the counsel
of a murderer.'

"'Go, then, down under the gallows, and
gather the balm which you shall find there,
and spread it over my bloody throat.'

"'Under the gallows I shall not go; on your
bloody throat I shall spread no balm. I do
not follow the counsel of a murderer.'

"She took up the head by the hair, and
washed it at a clear fountain.

"She mounted her charger proudly, and,
laughing and singing, she rode through the
forest.

"When she reached the middle of the forest,
she met the mother of Halewyn. 'Beautiful
virgin, have you not seen my son?'

"'Your son, the Lord Halewyn, is gone
hunting: you will never see him again.

"'Your son, the Lord Halewyn, is dead. I
have his head in my apron, which is red with
his blood.'

"And when she arrived at her father's gate,
she blew the horn like a man.

"And when her father saw her, he rejoiced
at her return.

"He celebrated it by a feast, and the head
of Halewyn was placed on the table."

Flemish writers claim as entirely their own that epic of the people,
"Reynard the Fox." Their right to it was long contested; nor has
anything been done since the labors of Willems, who, in opposition to
the opinion of William Grimm, settles the authorship of the "Reinaert
de Vos" on Utenhove, a priest of Aerdenburg. It seem