. Highways and byways in Devon and Cornwall. e one who has travelled far anddwelt among strange peoples, yet no one could induce him tosay whence he came, or what his errand was in this far part ofEngland. He lived alone, and spoke willingly to none, butwent out at nightfall, and sat till dawn on the sea shore, doingno one knew what. There were those who said that since hecame neither the lords enchantments nor the ladys music hadbeen heard; but, whether that were so or not, certain it is thatone night there came a mighty tempest, and that in the midstof the darkness and the storm a sudden awf
. Highways and byways in Devon and Cornwall. e one who has travelled far anddwelt among strange peoples, yet no one could induce him tosay whence he came, or what his errand was in this far part ofEngland. He lived alone, and spoke willingly to none, butwent out at nightfall, and sat till dawn on the sea shore, doingno one knew what. There were those who said that since hecame neither the lords enchantments nor the ladys music hadbeen heard; but, whether that were so or not, certain it is thatone night there came a mighty tempest, and that in the midstof the darkness and the storm a sudden awful glare broke out,a pillar of flame shot up the sky above Pengerswick, roaringand scintillating with myriads of sparks and volumes of blacksmoke, till at last the flames sank as suddenly as they had risen,and the black night swept back across the sky. In the morningthe wondrous castle was a pile of ashes, and neither Millitonnor his lady nor the bronzed stranger wras ever seen again. This is but one of many tales about the castle; another,. 290 THE SILVER TABLE hardly less striking, tells how Pengerswick and a company ofguests were banqueting in a stately barge upon the blue watersof Mounts Bay. The barge was splendidly equipped, the tablewas of solid silver, and was spread with plates and vessels ofpure gold. There was music too, and laughter rippling acrossthe summer sea, when suddenly without warning the wholecompany sank and disappeared. All along the coast thechildren are still searching for the silver table. If you see abare-legged urchin digging in the sand, he will tell you he isafter bait, but he has the silver table in his heart; and hisfather, if you win his slowly given confidence, will tell you thatoften when his boat has been drifting slowly over the deeptransparent water, he has seen the whole company seated farbelow him, and watched them drinking to each other from theircups of gleaming gold. I •LS 1
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