LEONARD.

Then James still is left among you?

PRIEST.

"Tis of the elder Brother I am speaking:
They had an Uncle ;-he was at that time
A thriving man, and trafficked on the seas:
And, but for that same Uncle, to this hour
Leonard had never handled rope or shroud.
For the Boy loved the life which we lead here;
And, though of unripe years, a stripling only,
His soul was knit to this his native soil.

But, as I said, old Walter was too weak

To strive with such a torrent; when he died,

The Estate and House were sold, and all their Sheep,
A pretty flock, and which, for aught I know,
Had clothed the Ewbanks for a thousand years.
Well-all was gone, and they were destitute.

And Leonard, chiefly for his Brother's sake,
Resolved to try his fortune on the seas.

'Tis now twelve years since we had tidings from him.

If there was one among us who had heard

That Leonard Ewbank was come home again,

From the great Gavel*, down by Leeza's Banks,
And down the Enna, far as Egremont,

The day would be a very festival;

And those two bells of ours, which there you see
Hanging in the open air-but, O good Sir!
This is sad talk-they'll never sound for him
Living or dead. When last we heard of him
He was in slavery among the Moors

Upon the Barbary Coast.-"Twas not a little
That would bring down his spirit; and, no doubt,
Before it ended in his death, the Youth

Was sadly crossed--Poor Leonard! when we parted,
He took me by the hand and said to me,

If ever the day came when he was rich,
He would return, and on his Father's Land
He would grow old among us.

1

*The Great Gavel, so called, I imagine, from its resemblance to the Gable end of a house, is one of the highest of the Cumberland mountains. It stands at the head of the several vales of Ennerdale, Wastdale, and Borrowdale.

The Leeza is a river which flows into the Lake of Ennerdale: on issuing from the Lake, it changes its name, and is called the End, Eyne, or Enna. It falls into the sea a little below Egremont.

LEONARD.

If that day

Should come, 'twould needs be a glad day for him;

He would himself, no doubt, be happy then

You said his kindred all were in their graves,

And that he had one Brother

PRIEST.

That is but

A fellow tale of sorrow. From his youth
James, though not sickly, yet was delicate;
And Leonard being always by his side
Had done so many offices about him,
That, though he was not of a timid nature,

Yet still the spirit of a Mountain Boy

In him was somewhat checked; and, when his Brother

Was gone to sea and he was left alone,

The little colour that he had was soon

Stolen from his cheek; he drooped, and pined, and pinedLEONARD.

But these are all the graves of full-grown men !

PRIEST.

Ay, Sir, that passed away: we took him to us;

He was the Child of all the dale-he lived

Three months with one, and six months with another; And wanted neither food, nor clothes, nor love:

And many, many happy days were his.

But, whether blithe or sad, 'tis my belief

His absent Brother still was at his heart.
And, when he lived beneath our roof, we found
(A practice till this time unknown to him)
That often, rising from his bed at night,

He in his sleep would walk about, and sleeping
He sought his Brother Leonard.-You are moved!
Forgive me, Sir: before I spoke to you,

I judged you most unkindly.

LEONARD.

But this Youth,

How did he die at last?

PRIEST.

One sweet May morning,

(It will be twelve years since when Spring returns)
He had gone forth among the new-dropped lambs,
With two or three Companions whom it chanced
Some further business summoned to a house

Which stands at the Dale-head. James, tired perhaps,

Or from some other cause, remained behind.

You see yon Precipice—it almost looks

Like some vast building made of many crags;
And in the midst is one particular rock

That rises like a column from the vale,

Whence by our shepherds it is called THE PILLAR.
James pointed to its summit, over which
They all had purposed to return together,

And told them that he there would wait for them:
They parted, and his Comrades passed that way
Some two hours after, but they did not find him
Upon the Summit-at the appointed place.
Of this they took no heed: but one of them,
Going by chance, at night, into the house

Which at that time was James's home, there learned

That nobody had seen him all that day:

The morning came, and still he was unheard of:
The neighbours were alarmed, and to the Brook
Some went, and some towards the Lake: ere noon
They found him at the foot of that same Rock-
Dead, and with mangled limbs. The third day-after
I buried him, poor Youth, and there he lies!