"You slept so soundly, sir, that I did not like to disturb you; but my
good wife only waits your rising to have all ready for breakfast."

"It were a thousand pities," cried the guest, leaping from his bed,
"that so pretty a face should look cross on my account, so I will not
keep her waiting an instant."

The gypsy smiled, as he answered, "I require no professional help from
the devil, sir, to foretell your fortune."

"No!--and what is it?"

"Honour, reputation, success: all that are ever won by a soft tongue,
if it be backed by a bold heart."

Bright and keen was the flash which shot over the countenance of the
one for whom this prediction was made, as he listened to it with a
fondness for which his reason rebuked him.

He turned aside with a sigh, which did not escape the gypsy, and
bathed his face in the water which the provident hand of the good
woman had set out for his lavations.

"Well," said his host, when the youth had finished his brief toilet,
"suppose we breathe the fresh air, while Lucy smooths your bed and
prepares the breakfast?"

"With all my heart," replied the youth, and they descended the steps
which led into the wood. It was a beautiful, fresh morning; the air