"
"Nay, nay, Ruth; dost not remember that the beast is the favorite of my
father, who will ill brook his passing a night within the palisadoes?"
"Husband, you err; there is one in the fields!"
"Is there place, where one is not?"
"But I have seen creature of mortal birth, and creature too that hath no
claim on thee, or thine, and who trespasseth on our peace, no less than on
our natural rights, to be where he lurketh."
"Go to; thou art not used to be so late from thy pillow, my poor Ruth;
sleep hath come over thee, whilst standing on thy watch. Some cloud hath
left its shadow on the fields, or, truly, it may be that the hunt did not
drive the beasts as far from the clearing as we had thought. Come; since
thou wilt cling to my side, lay hand on the bridle of the horse, while I
ease him of his burthen."
As Content coolly proceeded to the task he had mentioned, the thoughts of
his wife were momentarily diverted from their other sources of uneasiness,
by the object which lay on the crupper of the nag and which, until now,
had entirely escaped her observation.
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