confounded hand in sight of me, which has often bothered me before, and now it won't let me fill my glass with a good will.'

"I rose to change places with him accordingly, and he pointed out this hand, which, like the writing on Belshazzar's wall, disturbed his hour of hilarity.

"Since we sat down,' he said, 'I've been watching it; it fascinates my eye; it never stops; page after page is finished and thrown on that heap of manuscript, and still it goes on unwearied; and so it will be till candles are brought in, and God knows how long after. It is the same every night. I can't stand the sight of it when I am not at my books.'

"Some stupid clerk !' cried one of the party. 'No, boys,' said our host, I know what hand it is, it is Walter Scott's!'"

This was the hand which wrote Waverley in the evenings of three weeks in summer.

Scott's success as a novelist in his own time was immediate and complete. From the first publication of Waverley the fame and fortune it brought were like the wonders of a fairy-tale. He had always made money freely by his poems. One of the least popular of these had sold ten thousand copies in three months; but this success was nothing to the success of the novels. From one story alone he received in two months three thousand pounds. It was like the opening up of a gold mine. The ease with which money flowed in upon him was only equalled by the ease and rapidity with which he wrote. His pen seemed never to tire. And he said himself, "When I once get my pen to paper, it will walk of itself.”

In spite of the great number of novel writers who have succeeded him, and whose works cover such a varied field of fiction, Scott's stories still hold over a large number of readers, old and young, a lasting enchantment. It is hardly to be expected that in this busy age, so full of books, we should read every one of his stories. But there are at least half a dozen which we cannot afford to leave unread. Each lover of Scott will have his favorites; I shall only give my preference when I name as the first halfdozen, Ivanhoe, Quentin Durward, Kenilworth, The Fortunes of Nigel, The Talisman, and Woodstock. There is

perhaps something of accident in these preferences, and those who only read those I have named will miss many characters which have almost as much a place in the past as the characters of history, the spirited Die Vernon, in Rob Roy; Lucy Ashton, in The Bride of Lammermoor ; the quaint figure of Dominie Sampson, in Guy Mannering; and the original traits of Jonathan Oldbuck, in The Antiquary. It is said that of all his novels, Scott himself preferred The Antiquary; although an author's liking for any one of his books is not often a good criterion for a reader.

In so wide a range to choose from, it is difficult to settle upon an extract from Scott's novels which shall give an example of his style. I have finally taken a scene from Ivanhoe, the most widely read of all his books; and after that a scene from Kenilworth.

The scene from Ivanhoe is from the description of the grand tournament held by Prince John at Ashby, in which Robin Hood, under the disguise of Locksley, wins the prize for his skill in archery.

"The sound of the trumpets soon recalled those spectators who had already begun to leave the field, and proclamation was made that Prince John, suddenly called by high and peremptory public duties, held himself obliged to discontinue the entertainments of to-morrow's festival. Nevertheless, that, unwilling so many good yeomen should depart without a trial of skill, he was pleased to appoint them, before leaving the ground, presently to execute the competition of archery intended for the morrow. To the best archer a prize was to be awarded, being a buglehorn mounted with silver, and a silken baldric richly ornamented with a medallion of Saint Hubert, the patron of sylvan sport.

"More than thirty yeomen at first presented themselves as competitors, several of whom were rangers and under-keepers in the royal forests of Needwood and Charnwood. When, however, the archers understood with whom they were to be matched, upwards of twenty withdrew themselves from the contest, unwilling to encounter the dishonor of almost certain defeat; for in these days the skill of each celebrated marksman was as well known for many miles round him as the qualities of

a horse trained at Newmarket are known to those who frequent that well-known meeting.

"The diminished list of competitors for sylvan fame still amounted to eight. Prince John stepped from his royal seat to view more nearly the persons of these chosen yeomen, several of whom wore the royal livery. Having satisfied his curiosity by this investigation, he looked for the object of his resentment,1 whom he observed standing in the same spot, and with the same composed countenance which he had exhibited upon the preceding day.

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Fellow,' said Prince John, 'I guessed by thy insolent babble thou wert no true lover of the long-bow, and I see thou darest not adventure thy skill among such merry men as stand yonder.'

"Under favor, sir,' replied the yeoman, I have another reason for refraining to shoot, besides the fearing discomfiture and disgrace!'

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And what is thy other reason?' said Prince John, who, for some cause which perhaps he could not himself have explained, felt a painful curiosity respecting this individual.

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Because,' replied the woodsman, 'I know not if these yeomen and I are used to shoot at the same mark; and because, moreover, I know not how your Grace might relish the winning of a third prize by one who has unwittingly fallen under your displeasure.'

"Prince John colored as he put the question: 'What is thy name, yeoman?'

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Locksley,' answered the yeoman.

"Then, Locksley,' said Prince John, 'thou shalt shoot in thy turn, when these yeomen have displayed their skill. If thou carriest the prize, I will add to it twenty nobles; but if thou losest it, thou shalt be stript of thy Lincoln green, and scourged out of the list with bow-strings for a wordy and insolent braggart!'

"And how if I refuse to shoot on such a wager?' said the yeoman. 'Your Grace's power, supported as it is by so many men-at-arms, may indeed easily strip and scourge me, but cannot compel me to bend or to draw my bow.'

“If thou refusest my fair proffer,' said the Prince, ‘the Provost of the lists shall cut thy bow-string, break thy bow and

1 This was Locksley, or Robin Hood, whom the Prince had noticed the preceding day applauding a Saxon triumph, which John interpreted as an insult to the Normans.

arrows, and expel thee from the presence as a faint-hearted

craven.'

"This is no fair chance you put on me, proud Prince,' said the yeoman, 'to compel me to peril myself against the best archers of Leicester and Staffordshire, under the penalty of infamy if they should overshoot me. Nevertheless, I will obey your will.'

"Look to him close, men-at-arms,' said Prince John, 'his heart is sinking; I am jealous lest he attempt to escape the trial. And do you, good fellows, shoot boldly round; a buck and a butt of wine are ready for your refreshment in yonder tent when the prize is won.'

"A target was placed at the upper end of the southern avenue which led to the lists. The contending archers took their station, in turn, at the bottom of the southern access; the distance between that station and the mark allowing full distance for what was called a shot at rovers. The archers, having previously determined by lot their order of precedence, were to shoot each three shafts in succession. The sports were regulated by an officer of inferior rank, termed the Provost of the games; for the high rank of the marshals of the lists would have been held degraded had they condescended to superintend the games of the yeomanry.

"One by one the archers, stepping forward, delivered their shafts yeoman-like and bravely. Of twenty-four arrows shot in succession, ten were fixed in the target, and the others ranged so near it that, considering the distance of the mark, it was accounted good archery. Of the ten shafts which hit the target, two within the inner ring were shot by Hubert, a forester in the service of Malvoisin, who was accordingly pronounced victorious.

"Now, Locksley,' said Prince John to the devoted yeoman, with a bitter smile, 'wilt thou try conclusions with Hubert, or wilt thou yield up bow, baldrick, and quiver to the Provost of the sports?'

"Sith it may be no better,' said Locksley, 'I am content to try my fortune, on condition that when I have shot two shafts at yonder mark of Hubert's, he shall be bound to shoot one at that which I shall propose.'

"That is but fair,' answered Prince John, and it shall not be refused thee. If thou dost beat this braggart, Hubert, I will fill the bugle with silver pennies for thee.'

"A man can but do his best,' said Hubert; but my greatgrandsire drew a good long-bow at Hastings, and I trust not to dishonor his memory.'

"The former target was now removed, and a fresh one of the same size placed in its room. Hubert, who as victor in the first trial of skill had the right to shoot first, took his aim with great deliberation, long measuring the distance with his eye while he held in his hand his bended bow, with the arrow placed in the string. At length he made a step forward, and raising the bow at the full stretch of his left arm, till the centre, or grasping place, was nigh level with his face, he drew the bowstring to his ear. The arrow whistled through the air, and lighted within the inner ring of the target, but not exactly in the

centre.

"You have not allowed for the wind, Hubert,' said his antagonist, bending his bow, or that had been a better shot.'

"So saying, and without showing the least anxiety to pause upon his aim, Locksley stepped to the appointed station, and shot his arrow as carelessly in appearance as if he had not even looked at the mark. He was speaking almost at the instant that the shaft left the bowstring; yet it alighted in the target two inches nearer to the white spot which marked the centre than that of Hubert.

"By the light of Heaven!' said Prince John to Hubert, 'an thou suffer that runagate knave to overcome thee, thou art worthy of the gallows.'

"Hubert had but one set speech for all occasions. 'An your Highness were to hang me,' he said, 'a man can but do his best. Nevertheless, my grandsire drew a good bow —'

"The foul fiend on thy grandsire and all his generation,' interrupted John; 'shoot, knave, and shoot thy best, or it shall be the worse for thee.'

"Thus exhorted, Hubert resumed his place; and not neglecting the caution which he had received from his adversary, he made the necessary allowance for a very light air of wind which had just arisen, and shot so successfully that his arrow alighted in the very centre of the target.

"A Hubert! A Hubert!' shouted the populace, more interested in a known person than in a stranger. In the clout! in the clout! A Hubert forever!'.

"Thou canst not mend that shot, Locksley,' said the Prince, with an insulting smile.

"I will notch his shaft for him, however,' replied Locksley; and letting fly his arrow with a little more precaution than before, it lighted right upon that of his competitor, which it split to shivers. The people who stood around were so astonished at his wonderful dexterity that they could not even give vent to