The blood returned to Gilbert's cheek as she spoke. Feeble with pain and
the loss of blood, he with difficulty replied:

"I little expected ever to receive such kindness as you have shown me
from the daughter of my father's foes; but come what may, kind lady, I
shall never forget your services. I feel assured that the kinsmen of
her whom I address, could never be guilty of so ignoble an action."

It was not without pleasure that the noble maiden heard an answer so
flattering to her pride, and so earnestly pronounced. Her cheek became
brighter than Gilbert's as she bowed and left the apartment, attended by
the old woman servant.

We will leave Gilbert, for the present, in the care of Father Omehr, to
follow the footsteps of the fair lady of Stramen.

Margaret led the way rapidly to the border of the forest, where she had
left a groom with horses. She sprang lightly upon her spirited palfrey,
and exchanging a few words with the old woman, dismissed both domestics
to the castle, and galloped off alone in an opposite direction. As she
rode along, she was greeted with smiles and blessings by all who met
her; yet she seemed to heed but little the frequent reverence and
heartfelt salutation.

After proceeding about three miles, she struck into a deep, dark ravine,
through which there rushed a slender stream, whose waters, seldom
gladdened by a sunbeam, seemed to groan and murmur like an angry
captive. The way, thickly strewn with moss-bound stones and the
mouldering skeletons of trees, required all the maiden's horsemanship.
But she struggled on, until she reached something midway between a