no information; he evidently knew nothing about it; and fear was all it excited. Still the sounds came nearer and nearer; and as they turned off into the road before mentioned, a long and evidently funeral procession was winding slowly along.
They drew up in a small open space, beneath the shelter of a huge beech, to allow it to pass by, for the foremost horsemen were already beside them. A band of troopers, two and two, in the buff jackets, large boots, and slouched hats, which marked soldiers in the Parliamentary service, rode first; their arms were reversed, and every eye bent gloomily on the ground—sorrow was obviously no mere form, to be observed and forgotten. The trumpeters came next, and their wild lament filled the air; then two pages, dressed in black, led a gallant steed; but there was no need of a rein, for the head of the noble creature drooped, and it seemed to have an almost human consciousness that it was now paying its last duty to its master. An open bier, drawn by four horses, whose tossing heads covered with plumes tangled the white boughs, and shook down the glittering icicles at every step, followed; and on it was the coffin, covered with a velvet pall, on which lay the sword and gloves of the dead who slept below.
