l. "Hast thou seen aught
of this Manners of late, Hugh?"

Manners' first impulse was to grapple with his pursuers, but he
controlled himself, and trusting to the perfection of his disguise to
screen him, without a moment's hesitation he boldly answered in the
negative.

"Not I," he said, emphatically. "I left my axe just outside, and it
looks so like rain that I went to fetch it in, but I saw nobody; no,
not a soul. Methinks it will rain hard, too, before the morning."

"Tut," interrupted Sir Edward. "Did you hear anybody?"

"No, not even a mouse."

"Then we must search. Out, men, and help us. The man that catches
him shall be rewarded well. We must find him; he is hereabouts, for
I heard his voice. A murrain on the fellow--all this trouble for a
woman's whim."

He glanced suspiciously round the cot, but finding no suspicious
tokens he led them out and set them to work to discover him. Few of
them, however, were zealous, for Manners had made himself popular
among them during his visits to the Hall. Dorothy they adored and
they were not at all anxious to bring sorrow upon her to oblige the
imperious Stanleys. Besides these considerations, the whole affair was
so romantic that it seemed more like an acted ballad than a serious
reality while Manners' position appealed to them in such a powerful
fashion that they sympathised with him, and had not the search been
conducted immediately under the eyes of the two nobles it would have
been far more half-hearted than it was. A few, and a few only, were
tempted to diligence by the offer of reward, and made a display of
alacrity, and amongst the busiest, with a price upon his head, John
Manners searched vigilantly for himself.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

NOT YET

You might esteem him
A child for his might,
Or you may deem him
A coward through his flight.
But if she whom love honours
Be concealed from the day,
Set a thousand guards on her,
Love will find out the way.

ANON.

If love cannot sharpen the faculties of mankind; if it cannot quicken
the perceptions; if it has not the power to make the deaf hear,
the blind see, the lame walk--at least, sufficient for its own
success--then, indeed--! But it is possessed of all these virtues, and
more. If necessity be the mother of invention, then is love the mother
of both; and surely the most ingenious devices and the cleverest
productions had been connected with this subtle passion.

Divers an