And he pointed to a weird figure, mounted on a steed as weird-looking
as itself, galloping through the trees with extraordinary swiftness, at a
little distance from them. This ghostly rider wore the antlered helmet
described by Surrey, and seemed to be habited in a garb of deer-skins.
Before him flew a large owl, and a couple of great black dogs ran
beside him. Staring in speechless wonder at the sight, the two youths
watched the mysterious being scour a glade brightly illumined by the
moon, until, reaching the pales marking the confines of the Home Park,
he leaped them and disappeared.

"What think you of that?" cried Surrey, as soon as he had recovered
from his surprise, glancing triumphantly at the duke. "Was that the
offspring of my fancy?"

"It was a marvellous sight, truly!" exclaimed Richmond. "Would we had
our steeds to follow him."

"We can follow him on foot," replied the earl--" he is evidently gone into
the forest."

And they set off at a quick pace in the direction taken by the ghostly
rider. Clambering the park pales, they crossed the road leading to Old
Windsor, and entered that part of the forest which, in more recent
times, has been enclosed and allotted to the grounds of Frogmore.
Tracking a long vista, they came to a thick dell, overgrown with large
oaks, at the bottom of which lay a small pool. Fleeter than his
companion, and therefore somewhat in advance of him, the Earl of
Surrey, as he approached this dell, perceived the spectral huntsman
and his dogs standing at the edge of the water. The earl instantly
shouted to him, and the horseman turning his head, shook his hand