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person of royalty itself, for this treason hath deep root, and its branches are widely spread throughout the land." "Shall we put him to the question?" "Nay, let present difficulties be brought to issue first; afterwards we shall be able to inquire, and with more certainty, as to the line of examination we should pursue." The speakers separated, one to communicate with Dick Empson, and prepare him for the important functions he would have to perform; the other to his lodgings, where he might ruminate undisturbed on the events then about to transpire, and of which he hoped, finally, to reap the advantage. It was past midnight, and the flickering embers threw a doubtful and uncertain gleam, at intervals, through the royal chamber, as it was then called, in the Castle of Fouldrey. All around was so still that the tramp of the sentry sounded like the tread of an armed host; sounds being magnified to a degree almost terrific, in the absence of others by which their intensity may be compared. Even the dash of the waves below the walls was heard in the deep and awful stillness of that portentous night. Simon started from the pallet whereon he lay, beside the couch of his master, at times looking wildly round, as though just rousing from some unquiet slumber, expecting, yet fearful of alarm. He lay down again with a deep sigh, muttering an Ave or a Paternoster as he closed his eyes. Again he raised his head, and a dark figure stood before him. "What wouldest thou?" inquired he, with great awe and reverence. "Ye must depart!" said a voice, deep and sepulchral. "Depart!" repeated the priest, with an expression of doubt and alarm. "Yes," said the mysterious figure; "wherefore dost thou inquire?" "Our only resting-place, our point of support, our sustenance and our refuge! Are we to leave this, and buffet with the winds and waves of misfortune, without a haven or a hiding-place? Surely"---- "I have said it, and to-morrow ye must depart!" "Whither?" inquired the priest; his opinion evidently controlled by the belief that a being of a superior nature was before him. "Beyond the Abbey of Furness. Choose a fitting place for your encampment, and there abide until I come." "It doth appear to my weak and unassisted sense," said the priest, in great agony of spirit, arising from his doubt and unbelief, "that it were the very utmost of madness and folly to give up this strong and almost impregnable position
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