LEONARD. Then James still is left among you? PRIEST. "Tis of the elder Brother I am speaking: But, as I said, old Walter was too weak To strive with such a torrent; when he died, The Estate and House were sold, and all their Sheep, And Leonard, chiefly for his Brother's sake, 'Tis now twelve years since we had tidings from him. If there was one among us who had heard That Leonard Ewbank was come home again, From the great Gavel*, down by Leeza's Banks, The day would be a very festival; And those two bells of ours, which there you see Upon the Barbary Coast.-"Twas not a little Was sadly crossed--Poor Leonard! when we parted, If ever the day came when he was rich, 1 *The Great Gavel, so called, I imagine, from its resemblance to the Gable end of a house, is one of the highest of the Cumberland mountains. It stands at the head of the several vales of Ennerdale, Wastdale, and Borrowdale. The Leeza is a river which flows into the Lake of Ennerdale: on issuing from the Lake, it changes its name, and is called the End, Eyne, or Enna. It falls into the sea a little below Egremont. LEONARD. If that day Should come, 'twould needs be a glad day for him; He would himself, no doubt, be happy then You said his kindred all were in their graves, And that he had one Brother PRIEST. That is but A fellow tale of sorrow. From his youth Yet still the spirit of a Mountain Boy In him was somewhat checked; and, when his Brother Was gone to sea and he was left alone, The little colour that he had was soon Stolen from his cheek; he drooped, and pined, and pinedLEONARD. But these are all the graves of full-grown men ! PRIEST. Ay, Sir, that passed away: we took him to us; He was the Child of all the dale-he lived Three months with one, and six months with another; And wanted neither food, nor clothes, nor love: And many, many happy days were his. But, whether blithe or sad, 'tis my belief His absent Brother still was at his heart. He in his sleep would walk about, and sleeping I judged you most unkindly. LEONARD. But this Youth, How did he die at last? PRIEST. One sweet May morning, (It will be twelve years since when Spring returns) Which stands at the Dale-head. James, tired perhaps, Or from some other cause, remained behind. You see yon Precipice—it almost looks Like some vast building made of many crags; That rises like a column from the vale, Whence by our shepherds it is called THE PILLAR. And told them that he there would wait for them: Which at that time was James's home, there learned That nobody had seen him all that day: The morning came, and still he was unheard of: |