[Frontispiece: "SHE STOOD SPELLBOUND ON THE THRESHOLD AT THE SIGHT OF LADY BRYN UPON ON HER KNEES UPON THE FLOOR."--P. 254.] A NOBLE SACRIFICE BY EMILY GRACE HARDING, AUTHOR OF "A MOUNTAIN DAISY," "HAZEL; OR, PERILPOINT LIGHTHOUSE," ETC., ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY T. EYRE MACKLIN. _THIRTY-EIGHTH THOUSAND._ LONDON: WALTER SCOTT, LTD., PATERNOSTER SQUARE. CONTENTS. CHAP. 1. THE GIPSY'S WARNING 2. LITTLE MISS PRIMROSE 3. THE STAR IN THE EAST 4. THE EARL'S VISIT 5. A MYSTERIOUS JOURNEY 6. WITHIN THE CASTLE 7. SHADOWS 8. FORTUNE-TELLING 9. SIR GALAHAD 10. THE LADY OF THE CASTLE. 11. A NEW NAME 12. A GLIMPSE OF THE WORLD 13. SIR GALAHAD'S MISSION 14. THE LEGEND OF THE POOL 15. THE SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGE. 16. THE CHAPLAIN'S VISION 17. THE VISION EMBODIED 18. THE GIPSY'S HAUNT 19. MASTER VERE'S CONFESSION 20. THE WORLD ONCE MORE 21. A LONG-DREADED SUMMONS 22. A MOTHER'S STORY 23. PERCIVAL'S PRIVILEGE 24. THE PHYSICIAN'S DISCOVERY 25. A NEW REVELATION 26. THE "LILY" AND THE "PRIMROSE" 27. BEFORE THE WEDDING 28. THE GIPSY'S TALE 29. LADY SHANNO'S VOW 30. RENUNCIATION 31. AMONG THE MOUNTAINS 32. THE RIVER-SPRINGS 33. THE WEDDING-DAY 34. A DEATH-BED 35. THE BOATMAN'S REFUSAL 36. THE CURSE UNDONE 37. FETTERS OF GOLD 38. MASTER TAYLOR AT CRAIG ARTHUR 39. THE WARNING FULFILLED 40. REUNION A NOBLE SACRIFICE. CHAPTER I. THE GIPSY'S WARNING. "All within is dark as night; In the windows is no light; And no murmur at the door, So frequent on its hinge before. Come away: no more of mirth Is here or merry-making sound. The house was builded of the earth, And shall fall again to ground!" --TENNYSON. "'Tis many a year since the River Spirit hath burst his bonds, and thus run riot in the valley!" soliloquised Jack the boatman, pausing in his task of re-soling a much-worn shoe, to look out, from the tiny window of his workshop, upon the brawling river below, which, swollen by the winter rains to a roaring, foaming current, dashed angrily past the little dwelling close upon its banks, threatening to sweep it bodily away in its fury, while through the valley the wind howled a melancholy accompaniment to the noisy music of the waters, and moaned, like a human being in pain, in the dark woods beyond. "It will verily be well an my bridge should prove itself equal to so fierce a foe!" continued Jack, leaning his elbows on the window-sill, and gazing out into the blackness, in which the frail hand-bridge, stretched across the river, just showed itself, like a streak of white light, in the surrounding gloom.