'Hush,' she said, laying her hand on his arm, 'such words may not pass between you and me. Did I not tell you, did I not warn you that so it must be. And now, my little son,' she continued, 'get down from your high perch, if Master Humphrey is so good as to put you on your feet, for we are nearly at home.' Ambrose, as soon as his feet touched the ground, ran off at full speed, and, turning into the lane, was hidden from sight for a few moments. It was scarcely more, but his mother rushed after him, calling him by name to stop. But the child was a swift runner, and Mary, putting her hands to her side, said,-- 'Master Ratcliffe, pursue him. Don't let him run out of sight, I--I cannot follow.' It needed only a few of Humphrey Ratcliffe's long, quick strides to overtake Ambrose, and seize him by the arm. 'What a plague you are to your mother, child; first you can't walk, and then you run off like a young colt.' 'There was a black man in the hedge yonder that made me run so fast.' 'A black man! away with such folly. The black man is the stump of that old tree covered with ivy, so you are a coward, after all.' Mary had come up now, breathless. 'Ambrose, Ambrose, why did you run like that?' 'I saw a black man,' the child repeated, 'and I wanted to get to the gate.' Mary said not a word, but, taking the boy's hand, held it fast, and went towards the house. CHAPTER V RESISTANCE 'God giveth heavenly grace unto such as call unto Him with outstretched hands and humble heart; never wanting to those that want not to themselves.'--SIR T. WILSON, 1554. The two brothers, Humphrey and George Ratcliffe, left Mary Gifford and Lucy at the gate of Ford Place. From a barn came the sound of voices singing a psalm, in not very musical tones. Mistress Forrester was engaging in a Puritan service with a few of the chosen ones, who would not join in what they deemed the Popish ceremonies of the church in the valley. These stern dissenters from the reformed religion were keeping alive that spark which, fanned into a flame some fifty years later, was to sweep through the land and devastate churches, and destroy every outward sign in crucifix, and pictured saint in fair carved niche, and image of seer or king, which were in their eyes the token of that Babylon which was answerable for the blood of the faithful witnesses for Christ! The stern creed of the followers of Calvin had a charm for natures like Mistress Forrester, who, secure in her own salvation, could afford to look down on those outside the groove in which she walked; and with neither imagination nor any love of the beautiful, she felt a gruesome satisfaction in what was ugly in her own dress and appearance, and a contempt for others who had eyes to see the beauty to which she was blind.