"I am a stranger, and sore oppressed with long travel. Penury and
misfortune have been my lot, and I am driven from place to place without
a home or a morsel of bread. Last night, long after the curfew, I came
hither, but no _hospitium_ or religious house being near, I sat down by
the hill-side yonder, until morning should enable me to crave help for
my hopeless journey. The morning had not dawned ere I awoke--a loud
trampling, and a rush of many voices had broken in upon my slumbers. I
beheld crowds of strange-looking men, laden with terrific burdens. They
seemed to be eagerly and earnestly at work, under heavier loads than I
thought mortal man could sustain; the whole space too, as far as the eye
might carry, seemed alive with them, the flickering of their torches
forming a scene of almost unimaginable splendour. Right before me were a
number of these labourers, hauling up a heavy beam from the river;
others were apparently crossing, laden with materials no less bulky and
intractable. All were in motion, wriggling along like so many ants on a
hillock. The party just before me stayed immediately below where I sat,
watching their proceedings with no little curiosity and amazement. They
threw down their load,--then pausing, appeared to view with some
hesitation the steep bank above them. The foremost of the group now
came softly towards me. Pulling off his bonnet, with a grave and
beseeching aspect he craved help to accomplish the ascent. Not then
dreaming of goblins and their deceitful glamour, I put my shoulder to
the work with a right good will; and truly it were a marvel to watch the
tough beam, how it seemed to obey the impulse. I worked with all the
might I could muster, but it appeared as though little were needful; and
in a trice we scrambled to the top, when the whole party scampered off,
leaving me to follow or not, as I chose. I saw something tossed towards
me, which glistened as it lay at my feet. Stooping, I found a silver
ring, beauteously bedecked with one glowing crystal. Round the rim is
formed a quaint legend, bearing a fair device, which some learned clerk