"Surely some prodigious merry-making is going on," exclaimed he. "Ihave laughed very little since I left home, sir, and should be sorryto lose an opportunity. Shall we step round the corner by that darkishhouse, and take our share of the fun?""Sit down again, sit down, good Robin," replied the gentleman,laying his hand on the skirt of the gray coat. "You forget that wemust wait here for your kinsman; and there is reason to believe thathe will pass by, in the course of a very few moments."The near approach of the uproar had now disturbed the neighborhood;windows flew open on all sides; and many heads, in the attire of thepillow, and confused by sleep suddenly broken, were protruded to thegaze of whoever had leisure to observe them. Eager voices hailedeach other from house to house, all demanding the explanation, whichnot a soul could give. Half-dressed men hurried towards the unknowncommotion, stumbling as they went over the stone steps, that thrustthemselves into the narrow foot-walk. The shouts, the laughter, andthe tuneless bray, the antipodes of music, came onwards withincreasing din, till scattered individuals, and then denser bodies,began to appear round a corner at the distance of a hundred yards.
"Will you recognize your kinsman, if he passes in this crowd?"inquired the gentleman.
"Indeed, I can't warrant it, sir; but I'll take my stand here,and keep a bright look-out," answered Robin, descending to the outeredge of the pavement.
A mighty stream of people now emptied into the street, and camerolling slowly towards the church. A single horseman wheeled thecorner in the midst of them, and close behind him came a band offearful wind-instruments, sending forth a fresher discord, now that nointervening buildings kept it from the ear. Then a redder lightdisturbed the moonbeams, and a dense multitude of torches shonealong the street, concealing, by their glare, whatever object theyilluminated. The single horseman, clad in a military dress, andbearing a drawn sword, rode onward as the leader, and, by his fierceand variegated countenance, appeared like war personified: the redof one cheek was an emblem of fire and sword; the blackness of theother betokened the mourning that attends them. In his train were wildfigures in the Indian dress, and many fantastic shapes without amodel, giving the whole march a visionary air, as if a dream hadbroken forth from some feverish brain, and were sweeping visiblythrough the midnight streets. A mass of people, inactive, except asapplauding spectators, hemmed the procession in; and several women ranalong the side-walk, piercing the confusion of heavier sounds withtheir shrill voices of mirth or terror.
"The double-faced fellow has his eye upon me," muttered Robin, withan indefinite but an uncomfortable idea that he was himself to beara part in the pageantry.
The leader turned himself in the saddle, and fixed his glancefull upon the country youth, as the steed went slowly by. When Robinhad freed his eyes from those fiery ones, the musicians were passingbefore him, and the torches were close at hand; but the unsteadybrightness of the latter formed a veil which he could not penetrate.
The rattling of wheels over the stones sometimes found its way tohis ear, and confused traces of a human form appeared at intervals,and then melted into the vivid light. A moment more, and the leaderthundered a command to halt: the trumpets vomited a horrid breath, andthen held their peace; the shouts and laughter of the people diedaway, and there remained only a universal hum, allied to silence.
Right before Robin's eyes was an uncovered cart. There the torchesblazed the brightest, there the moon shone out like day, and there, intar-and-feathery dignity, sat his kinsman Major Molineux!
