"Would we had
our steeds to follow him."
"We can follow him on foot," replied the earl--" he is evidently gone into
the forest."
And they set off at a quick pace in the direction taken by the ghostly
rider. Clambering the park pales, they crossed the road leading to Old
Windsor, and entered that part of the forest which, in more recent
times, has been enclosed and allotted to the grounds of Frogmore.
Tracking a long vista, they came to a thick dell, overgrown with large
oaks, at the bottom of which lay a small pool. Fleeter than his
companion, and therefore somewhat in advance of him, the Earl of
Surrey, as he approached this dell, perceived the spectral huntsman
and his dogs standing at the edge of the water. The earl instantly
shouted to him, and the horseman turning his head, shook his hand
menacingly, while the hounds glared fiercely at the intruder, and
displayed their fangs, but did not bark. As Surrey, however, despite this
caution, continued to advance, the huntsman took a strangely shaped
horn that hung by his side, and placing it to his lips, flames and thick
smoke presently issued from it, and before the vapour had cleared off,
he and his dogs had disappeared.
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