"It is mine!" he cried aloud, as he reached the top of the cliff, and drew his fine though boyish figure up to its full height in an attitude of defiance--"mine by every law. King Henry holds his throne by no better right! I care not how strong they be, they shall give it back, or may a curse rest on them every one--may they all, from king Henry down to his hirelings, be as homeless as I am this night! Send down, O God of Justice!--if there be such a God--fire and sword upon their houses, as they have brought them on mine; curses on their meat and drink, curses----" He paused, then sank down on the ground and groaned bitterly. Had he not been so enrapt in his fiery thoughts, he might have noticed a face peering at him with malignant satisfaction from the shadow of a rock scarce ten feet from the spot where he stood in full moonlight, with his clenched right hand raised toward heaven, calling down vengeance for his wrongs. But now, as he sank to the earth, the figure stooped and became invisible, for at that instant another footstep was heard along the path, and a still more boyish form sprang across the little open space. "Geoffrey! dear Geoffrey!" "What are you doing here, Hubert?" cried the elder lad, springing to his feet, like all other lads displeased at being found giving way to his emotions. "Get you back to the cottage; this is no place for you, on the mountain-top at night!" "Do not be angry, brother!" said the younger beseechingly. "I saw you rise and go out, and I followed, it is so wild and desolate for you to be here alone, and you so miserable." "Miserable!"--the word was spoken in a contemptuous tone--"that is for a woman to say. I am a man now, I must stand up for my lawful rights; I must pursue to the death those blood-hounds, those hirelings of the foul fiend himself, whom may Heaven----" "Geoffrey! Geoffrey! stop; do not say such words. We may not curse, we must pray--we must bless!" And the boy clung to his brother in passionate entreaty. Geoffrey flung him off. "You are a child, Hubert! you do not understand these things. Go back to your bed. I choose to be alone." He strode off to the furthest extremity of the little rocky platform, close, close to the lurker in the shadow! When he had styled his enemies blood-hounds, he was not far from the truth; for dearly they loved to track silently their victim’s footsteps, to spring upon him when he felt most secure. "Geoffrey," said the little pleading voice, "it is very cold, I thought you would wrap me in your cloak." The hard, stern look passed from the lad’s face at the words; he turned, sat down by his brother, and clasped him tightly in his arms. Neither spoke for some time; at last Hubert broke the silence. "How beautiful the moonlight is to-night!"