Upward  still,  her  pale  lips  saying,  "  Curfew  shall  not

ring  to-night  I"


She  has  reached  the  topmost  ladder ;  o'er  her  hangs

the  great,  dark  bell ;
Awful  is  the  gloom  beneath  her,  like  the  pathway  down

to  hell.
See!  the  ponderous  tongue  is  swinging ;  'tis  the  hour

of  curfew  now.
And   the  sight  has  chilled  her  bosom,   stopped   her

breath,  and  paled  her  brow.
Shall  she  let  it  ring  ?     No,  never !     Her  eyes  flash

with  sudden  light.
As  she  springs,  and  grasps  it  firmly:   "Cm few  shall

not  ring  to-night !"


Out  she  swung, — far  out.    The  city  seemed  a  speck  of

light  below, —
There  'twixt  heaven  and  earth  suspended,  as  the  bell

swung  to  and  fro.
**  CURFEW  MUST  NOT  RING    TO-NIGHT."      267

And  the  sexton  at  the  bell-rope,  old  and  deaf,  heard

not  the  bell,
Sadly  thought  that  twilight  curfew  rang  young  Basil's

funeral  knell.
Still  the  maiden,  clinging  firmly,  quivering  lip  and  fair

face  white,
Stilled  her  frightened  heart's  wild  beating :  ^^  Cutfew

shall  not  ring  to-night!"

It  was  o'er,  the  bell  ceased  swaying;  and  the  maiden

stepped  once  more
Firmly  on  the  damp  old  ladder,  where,  for  hundred

years  before.
Human  foot  had  not  been  planted.     The  brave  deed

that  she  had  done
Should  be  told  long  ages  after.    As  the  rays  of  setting

sun
Light  the  sky  with  golden  beauty,  aged  sires,  with

heads  of  white,
Tell  the  children  why  the  curfew  did  not  ring  that  one

sad  night.
O'er  the  distant  hills  comes  Cromwell.      Bessie  sees

him ;  and  her  brow,
Lately  white  with  sickening  horror,  has  no  anxious

traces  now.
