Dick started in his saddle, while Bess reared and plunged at the sight of this unexpected apparition. "What, ho! thou devil's dam, Barbara, is it thou?" exclaimed Dick, reassured upon discovering it was the gipsy queen, and no spectre whom he beheld. "Stand still, Bess--stand, lass. What dost thou here, mother of darkness? Art gathering mandrakes for thy poisonous messes, or pilfering flesh from the dead? Meddle not with their bones, or I will drive thee hence. What dost thou here, I say, old dam of the gibbet?" "I came to die here," replied Barbara, in a feeble tone; and, throwing back her hood, she displayed features well-nigh as ghastly as those of the skeletons above her. "Indeed," replied Dick. "You've made choice of a pleasant spot, it must be owned. But you'll not die yet?" "Do you know whose bodies these are?" asked Barbara, pointing upwards. "Two of your race," replied Dick; "right brethren of the blade." "Two of my sons," returned Barbara; "my twin children. I am come to lay my bones beneath their bones--my sepulchre shall be their sepulchre; my body shall feed the fowls of the air as theirs have fed them. And if ghosts can walk, we'll scour this heath together. I tell you what, Dick Turpin," said the hag, drawing as near to the highwayman as Bess would permit her; "dead men walk and ride--ay, _ride_!--there's a comfort for you. I've seen these do it. I have seen them fling off their chains, and dance--ay, dance with me--with their mother. No revels like dead men's revels, Dick. I shall soon join 'em." "You will not lay violent hands upon yourself, mother?" said Dick, with difficulty mastering his terror. "No," replied Barbara, in an altered tone. "But I will let nature do her task. Would she could do it more quickly. Such a life as mine won't go out without a long struggle. What have I to live for now? All are gone--she and her child! But what is this to you? You have no child; and if you had, you could not feel like a father. No matter--I rave. Listen to me. I have crawled hither to die. 'Tis five days since I beheld you, and during that time food has not passed these lips, nor aught of moisture, save Heaven's dew, cooled this parched throat, nor shall they to the last. That time cannot be far off; and now can you not guess _how_ I mean to die? Begone and leave me; your presence troubles me. I would breathe my last breath alone, with none to witness the parting pang." "I will not trouble you longer, mother," said Dick, turning his mare; "nor will I ask your blessing." "My blessing!" scornfully ejaculated Barbara. "You shall have it if you will, but you will find it a curse. Stay! a thought strikes me. Whither are you going?" "To seek Sir Luke Rookwood," replied Dick. "Know you aught of him?" "Sir Luke Rookwood! You seek him, and would find him?" screamed Barbara. "I would," said Dick.