Page:Tales of the White Hills.djvu/56

60 earth contains no fitter ornament for the great hall of my ancestral castle? There shall it flame for ages, making a noonday of midnight, glittering on the suits of armor, the banners, and escutcheons, that hang around the wall, and keeping bright the memory of heroes. Wherefore have all other adventurers sought the prize in vain but that I might win it, and make it a symbol of the glories of our lofty line? And never, on the diadem of the White Mountains, did the Great Carbuncle hold a place half so honored as is reserved for it in the hall of the De Veres!&rdquo;

&ldquo;It is a noble thought,&rdquo; said the Cynic, with an obsequious sneer. &ldquo;Yet, might I presume to say so, the gem would make a rare sepulchral lamp, and would display the glories of your lordship&rsquo;s progenitors more truly in the ancestral vault than in the castle hall.&rdquo;

&ldquo;Nay, forsooth,&rdquo; observed Matthew, the young rustic, who sat hand in hand with his bride, &ldquo;the gentleman has bethought himself of a profitable use for this bright stone. Hannah here and I are seeking it for a like purpose.&rdquo;

&ldquo;How, fellow!&rdquo; exclaimed his lordship, in surprise. &ldquo;What castle hall hast thou to hang it in?&rdquo;

&ldquo;No castle,&rdquo; replied Matthew, &ldquo;but as neat a cottage as any within sight of the Crystal Hills. Ye must know, friends, that Hannah and I, being wedded the last week, have taken up the search of the Great Carbuncle, because we shall need its light in the long winter evenings; and it will be such a pretty thing to show the neighbors when they visit us. It will shine through the house so that we may pick up a pin in any corner, and will set all the windows aglowing as if there were a great fire of pine knots in the chimney. And then how pleasant, when we awake in the night, to be able to see one another&rsquo;s faces!&rdquo;