he old man tremblingly obeyed. In an instant the mysterious being
vaulted on its back, and in a voice of resistless authority cried, 'To
the forest!--to the forest!' With this, he dashed forward, and the whole
party, hounds and men, hurried after him.

"They rode at a furious pace for five or six miles over the great park,
the keepers wondering where their unearthly leader was taking them, and
almost fancying they were hurrying to perdition, when they descended
a hillside leading to the marsh, and halted before a huge beech-tree,
where Herne dismounted and pronounced certain mystic words, accompanying
them with strange gestures.

"Presently, he became silent and motionless. A flash of fire then burst
from the roots of the tree, and the forester Urswick stood before him.
But his aspect was more terrible and commanding than it had seemed
heretofore to the keepers.

"'Welcome, Herne,' he cried; 'welcome, lord of the forest. And you his
comrades, and soon to be his followers, welcome too. The time is come
for the fulfilment of your promise to me. I require you to form a band
for Herne the Hunter, and to serve him as leader. Swear to obey him, and
the spell that hangs over you shall be broken. If not, I leave you to
the king's justice.'

"Not daring to refuse compliance, the keepers took the oath
proposed--and a fearful one it was! As soon as it was Urswick vanished,
as he came, in a flash of fire. Herne, then commanded the others to
dismount, and made them prostrate themselves before him, and pay him
homage.

"This done, he blew a strike on his horn, rode swiftly up the hillside,
and a stag being unharboured, the chase commenced. Many a fat buck was
hunted and slaughtered that night; and an hour before daybreak, Herne
commanded them to lay the four finest and fattest at the foot of the
beech-tree, and then dismissed them, bidding them meet him at midnight
at the scathed oak in the home park.

"They came as they were commanded; but fearful of detection, they
adopted strange disguises, not unlike those worn by the caitiffs who
were put to death, a few weeks ago, by the king in the great park.
Night after night they thus went forth, thinning the herds of deer,
and committing other outrages and depredations. Nor were their dark
proceedings altogether unnoticed. Belated travellers crossing the forest
beheld them, and related what they had seen; others watched for them,
but they were so effectually disguised that they esca